TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl

Testing the skills and qualities of job applicants is crucial, as it not only helps to verify that an applicant is proficient in the skills they've listed on their resume but also evaluates whether they would be a good fit for your company.

If you want to make better acquisition decisions and eliminate human bias from your hiring process, it's essential to use the right pre-employment testing software. To help you decide between your options, this guide compares TestGorilla and Ducknowl.

How does TestGorilla work? 

TestGorilla is a pre-employment screening platform that lets you evaluate candidates based on their cognitive abilities, personality traits, technical skills, and more. All TestGorilla plans include training to help your hiring team get the most out of pre-employment testing.

One of the key advantages of TestGorilla’s platform is flexibility. You can easily mix and match 400+ tests to create a tailored assessment for any job role. You can also add custom questions to gain additional insights into an applicant's approach to solving problems.

Whether you’re a startup needing to make a single hire or an enterprise-scale company with many positions to fill, TestGorilla caters to companies of all sizes. In fact, TestGorilla even offers a Free plan that businesses can use to start screening job applicants at no cost.

How does Ducknowl work?

Ducknowl (Duck’n’owl) is a talent screening and assessment platform. It’s designed to reduce paperwork in the hiring process by offering resume screening, skills assessments, and video interviewing through a web interface.

Companies contact Ducknowl for a custom employee screening and assessment setup that varies in price based on its complexity and the company size.

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Test libraries

Both TestGorilla and Ducknowl have a library of tests you can use to evaluate applicants. The number and quality of these tests are very important, as they define how accurately you’ll be able to assess applicants.

TestGorilla’s test library

TestGorilla has a massive library of 400+ tests in a wide range of categories, including:

• Situational judgment

• Job-specific skills

• Language skills

• Software skills

• Programming skills

• Personality and culture

• Cognitive ability

The test library is continuously updated with new tests. For example, we recently added a Working with Generative AI test. 

You can find recommended tests just by entering the skill or role you want to hire for, plus preview any test.

In addition, you can create a customized assessment by combining up to five tests from the library and adding custom questions to your assessments. A variety of question formats are available, including multiple-choice, text, audio, video, and file uploads. A search feature makes it easy to find assessments you’ve used in the past.

Finally, tests are available in 12 languages to support hiring candidates around the world.

Ducknowl’s test library

Ducknowl has a library of more than 200 tests covering a wide range of categories. These include general aptitude, computer literacy, business intelligence, management, sales and marketing, software development, and more. 

Ducknowl doesn’t specifically mention important tests such as language and culture-add, but companies can collaborate with Ducknowl to create custom tests that suit their needs.

Test libraries: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Functionalities for hiring developers

Software development requires a particularly rigorous set of tests to ensure you get the best programmers on your teams. It’s all too easy for applicants to overstate their skills on their resumes. 

Programming skills tests enable candidates to prove they really have the capabilities to perform the job.

Hiring developers with TestGorilla

TestGorilla's comprehensive library of tests includes more than 120 programming skills tests and more than 60 software skills tests. Our custom integrated development environment (IDE) offers smart features to boost efficiency and accuracy.

With TestGorilla, you can easily assess an applicant's proficiency with popular programming languages like C++, Node.js, Python, and PHP. We also have a language-agnostic coding test, which lets developers solve challenges in their preferred language. Other tests assess developers’ skills at mobile app development, web development, and smart contract development.

You can add your own coding problems or debugging challenges to create a more tailored assessment. TestGorilla can grade programming tests automatically, saving hiring managers valuable time and ensuring a fair and unbiased evaluation process. 

Hiring developers with Ducknowl 

Ducknowl offers software programming skills and IT skills as technical assessments, but the focus is very much on soft skills. 

The types of tests listed for software development are business analysis, project management, and cloud computing, with no mention of specific programming languages or coding frameworks. 

Functionalities for hiring developers: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Video interviews

Video interviews are conducted via video conferencing software, enabling hiring managers to assess candidates remotely. There are several ways to perform video interviews, including live interviews and one-way interviews with prerecorded questions. 

TestGorilla’s video interviews

With TestGorilla, you can include custom one-way video questions in your assessments, requiring candidates to record video responses. You can limit responses to 30, 60, or 120 seconds, and candidates have up to three attempts to record their answer. 

Video interviews can be played back on any device and you can leave ratings and comments to share your thoughts with your team. You can also modify video playback to watch videos at a faster or slower speed.

There’s even an option for custom video questions, which enables hiring managers to add personalized questions to the interview process.

Ducknowl’s video interviews

Ducknowl offers both live video and prerecorded video interviewing. The live video feature is quite straightforward, letting recruiters conduct a one-to-one interview with candidates like they could with any video conferencing software. 

Employers can create one-way video interviews by prerecording questions and assigning a time limit to answer them. Completed video interviews can be shared with other members of the hiring team to garner feedback on applicants’ responses. 

However, some features, like recording the number of candidates’ attempts, are not supported.

Video interviews: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Candidate experience and company branding

An excellent hiring experience gives applicants a good impression of your company from the beginning. 

Features such as company-branded assessments, mobile-friendly tests, and intro or outro videos create a professional experience that can attract the best candidates and encourage them to take your job offer.

The candidate experience with TestGorilla

TestGorilla offers qualifying questions before the assessment to prevent unqualified candidates from wasting their time, and you can set a custom deadline for test completion.

Our software also lets you customize assessments with your company's logo and brand colors, plus welcome candidates with a custom video. Alternatively, you can choose to add an outro video to thank them for their time.

Applicants can access assessments on any device without having to create a TestGorilla account, and if they have questions about the testing process, they can contact our customer support for assistance.

Assessments typically take 45 minutes to complete, and candidates who complete an English-language assessment can create a TestGorilla account afterward to view their results.

The candidate experience with Ducknowl

Ducknowl doesn’t specify whether it enables you to customize the platform with your company’s branding.  You can invite candidates by email, but it’s not clear if they can take tests on mobile. Ducknowl also does not specify how long its assessments take to complete.

Candidate experience and company branding: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Enterprise and startup friendliness

Regardless of your organization’s size, it’s important to choose a pre-employment testing platform that will accommodate your company’s hiring needs in the future. 

Larger businesses must look for pre-employment testing with features that make evaluating a large number of candidates easy. 

TestGorilla’s enterprise and startup friendliness

TestGorilla offers a free plan and flexible paid plans to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes.

For organizations with a global presence, TestGorilla has tests available in 12 languages, including Spanish, Polish, and French.

Hiring for multiple positions at once is a breeze with TestGorilla's bulk candidate invitations. You can also track how candidates discover your company’s open roles by creating unique public links for each job board you use. Plus, our own job board enables our customers to find strong candidates directly on the platform.

Integrating TestGorilla with popular ATS platforms such as JazzHR and SmartRecruiters is a seamless process. For enterprise-scale companies that use an internal ATS, we offer an API for easy integration.

Finally, when evaluating candidates, you can comment on reports to share your thoughts with your entire hiring team, making the hiring process more collaborative.

Ducknowl’s enterprise and startup friendliness

Ducknowl doesn’t offer set plans from which to choose. Instead, it offers a bespoke service for each business. For more complex setups, there’s an API that companies can use to interact with Ducknowl’s system.

Ducknowl does offer the option to integrate with a few other systems, including JazzHR, Greenhouse, Zoho, SmartRecruiters, LinkedIn, and Indeed. 

However, it doesn’t appear to offer some important features, such as role-based rights management and bulk invites to candidates from CSV uploads.

Enterprise and startup friendliness: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Quality control

Quality control in applicant prescreening tests ensures they are accurately evaluating the skills you really want from your employees. It helps to eliminate biases and ensures you can continually improve your testing through anonymous applicant feedback.

TestGorilla’s quality-control processes

TestGorilla emphasizes quality control when developing and administering tests. 

Our tests are data-driven and undergo a rigorous 28-step quality-control procedure to ensure validity and reliability. TestGorilla’s proprietary algorithms continually enhance test quality and ensure they provide accurate results.

TestGorilla regularly solicits feedback from both applicants and recruiters. This feedback helps us identify areas for development and make necessary changes to improve our testing process.

Each TestGorilla test comprises a minimum of 100 questions, but candidates will only see 12-20 questions during each test. This prevents overexposure and ensures the fairness and accuracy of the assessment. 

Furthermore, we retire questions from the question bank after extended usage to maintain fresh and accurate assessments.

Ducknowl’s quality-control processes

Ducknowl doesn’t provide any information about the quality-control measures it uses when developing its skills assessments.

Quality control: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Anti-cheating measures

Falsifying prescreening job applications is all too prevalent, with candidates often looking up answers online or getting assistance from others. So, for pre-employment tests to have any validity, you must have strong anti-cheating measures in place.

TestGorilla’s anti-cheating measures

TestGorilla implements various measures to ensure that candidates don’t cheat while taking assessments. 

Copy and paste is disabled by default, preventing candidates from leaking questions. Plus, test-takers see a different set of questions each time they attempt an assessment.

TestGorilla also takes steps to prevent candidates from researching during assessments – for example, you can enforce time limits so candidates can’t look up answers. 

The system also notifies you if a candidate opens another window during a test, and you can choose to take snapshots using a candidate’s webcam (with their permission).

Ducknowl’s anti-cheating measures

Ducknowl detects when candidates move their mouse away from the test window and issues them a warning. This stops applicants from researching the answers to test questions online. 

The platform can also be set to take images of test-takers using their webcam so recruiters can check if they have anyone in the room helping them. However, no further anti-cheating measures are listed on the Ducknowl website.

Anti-cheating measures: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Reporting and analytics

Top-rated employee prescreening platforms show you detailed analytics of your applicants so you can choose the best candidates. It’s useful to be able to export these reports into PDFs, Excel, and CSV, too, so you can better analyze your potential workforce in other applications.

TestGorilla’s reporting and analytics features

TestGorilla presents candidates' assessment results in an easily digestible, user-friendly report. You can efficiently view each applicant's performance, including scores and responses for each test section, as well as compare and rank candidates based on their abilities.

Hiring managers can find scores on each candidate’s result page and see their percentile score. Filters make it easy to compare candidates based on factors like test scores, responses to custom questions, and answers to multiple-choice questions.

TestGorilla also lets you assign custom weights to each test in an assessment. That way, you can compare candidates based on the skills that are most important for your role.

Additionally, our reporting feature enables you to add notes and comments to reports, providing additional context and insights for your team. You can share these reports with ease in PDF, XLSX, or CSV format, or export them directly to your ATS, streamlining your hiring process.

Ducknowl’s reporting and analytics features

Ducknowl displays applicants’ performance with level indicators showing how they ranked on basic, intermediate, and advanced level questions. It also breaks down scores by question category.

Ducknowl’s website doesn’t note whether PDF reports and Excel exports are available.

Reporting and analytics: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Customer support

It’s always important for a business-critical system like applicant prescreening to have readily available customer support. Ideally, support should be accessible for both you as a company and for the applicants themselves. 

Further to this, look for platforms that offer support via phone, email, and live chat, so you can get answers to your queries through the method you prefer.

TestGorilla’s customer support

TestGorilla offers live chat, email support, and a huge help center full of information on how to get the best from the system. 

Both your company and test candidates can receive support from TestGorilla, so the amount of time you need to spend assisting applicants is minimal.

Ducknowl’s customer support

Ducknowl has a limited set of pages outlining its products and services. These pages are focused on the benefits of prescreening applicants and lack detail on the specifics of the Ducknowl platform. 

Although you can schedule a live demo of the system through Ducknowl’s website, it has relatively limited customer support, and the only way to get in touch is via email.

Customer support: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Pricing

Pre-employment testing platforms typically offer pricing on an annual subscription model. In most cases, the cost rises based on the number of applicants and tests performed.

TestGorilla’s pricing

TestGorilla has transparent pricing, with three pricing options to suit any need.

• Free forever at $0: Full access to five free tests and up to five custom questions.

• Starter from $75 per month: Unlimited access to the test library and the ability to create unlimited assessments.

• Pro from $115 per month: Everything in the Starter plan, plus access to ATS integrations, an API, the ability to add one-way video interview questions, and the ability to add custom branding to your assessments.

Pricing for the Starter and Pro plans scales based on how many full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) are in your organization. Two part-time employees each working 20 hours per week count as one FTE since their combined work hours are equivalent to full-time work hours.

For a company with 1 to 15 FTEs, the Starter plan costs $75 per month and the Pro plan costs $115 per month. As an example of how pricing scales, for a company with 50 FTEs, the Starter plan costs $208 per month and the Pro plan costs $310 per month.

Companies with up to 15 FTEs must purchase an annual plan. Companies with more FTEs can choose between monthly or annual pricing.

TestGorilla offers a 15-day free trial of all features in the Starter or Pro programs to companies who are new to TestGorilla and have more than 50 FTEs.

Ducknowl’s pricing

Ducknowl doesn’t disclose its pricing. You must contact the company for a quote based on your requirements. The price paid will depend on the specific types of screening and assessments you use.

Pricing: Comparison chart at a glance

TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl: Ease of use

Both candidates and hiring teams benefit from a user-friendly assessment experience. A platform that is easy to use supports applicants in completing their tests while also enabling your hiring team to access and interpret the results.

To ensure the effectiveness of pre-employment assessments, it’s essential that your chosen platform provides clear instructions, a clean design, and simple navigation.

TestGorilla’s ease of use

TestGorilla's user-friendly platform is designed to meet the needs of both hiring teams and candidates. Creating an assessment is easy, thanks to auto-suggested tests based on job title and the ability to quickly generate custom questions.

You can easily invite candidates in bulk, and tests can be completed from any device without creating an account. Candidates who take an English-language assessment can view their results after testing by signing up for a TestGorrilla account. Additionally, you can communicate with candidates through TestGorilla’s platform to keep them informed throughout the hiring process.

Why TestGorilla excels in candidate screening

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Ducknowl’s ease of use

Ducknowl states that it makes pre-employment testing easier because recruiters can use resume screening, skills assessment, and video interviewing through one site. 

The user interface is relatively easy for applicants to use, with big green buttons guiding them to navigate from page to page.

Conclusion: TestGorilla vs. Ducknowl 

For businesses of any size, TestGorilla stands head and shoulders above Ducknowl in terms of features and simplicity. 

TestGorilla offers a free-forever plan, transparent pricing, and a larger set of tests for applicants. It’s more customizable than Ducknowl, offering better modes of support and more detailed reports on candidates. 

TestGorilla also has much better anti-cheating measures, more ways to contact customer support, and performs extensive quality control on its tests to continually ensure the most accurate testing.

Overall, TestGorilla is a much better applicant prescreening service than Ducknowl on just about every metric. It’s easy to recommend TestGorilla over Ducknowl for any business looking to improve its hiring process.

Sign up for a free TestGorilla account or schedule a 45-min demo to streamline your recruitment process today.