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Platform Comparison

EditingTests.com vs HackerRank

HackerRank is the industry standard for assessing software developers, data engineers, and technical candidates. EditingTests.com is the industry standard for assessing editors, proofreaders, writers, and content professionals. These are different tools for fundamentally different roles.

If you are hiring engineers and developers, use HackerRank. If you are hiring editors, proofreaders, or writers, use EditingTests.com. Most editorial teams encountering HackerRank have done so because a technical HR platform was adopted organisation-wide — but a coding platform cannot reliably screen editorial talent.

Feature Comparison

Feature comparison: EditingTests.com against HackerRank
Feature EditingTests.com HackerRank
Primary use case Editorial, content & publishing roles Software developers, data engineers, coders
Editorial specialisation Seven purpose-built editorial tests English communication tests (general, not editorial)
Track-changes editing Yes — core product feature No
Proofreading assessment Yes — accuracy tested against embedded errors No
Grammar test Yes — 25-question specialist assessment Basic English grammar only
Industry vocabulary testing 4,400+ editorial specialisms No
MS Word assessment Yes — knowledge and practical tasks No
Benchmark pool 130,000+ editorial candidates, 28 years of data Technical candidates, not comparable for editorial
Founded 1998 2012
Pricing $50 per credit, pay-as-you-go Subscription-based, enterprise pricing

The technical hiring platform problem

Many editorial teams find themselves evaluating HackerRank because their organisation adopted it for engineering hiring and HR extended it across all roles. This is a category mismatch with real consequences.

A general English communication test — the kind found in HackerRank's library — cannot assess the specialist skills that distinguish a capable editor from a great one: the ability to restructure a paragraph without changing the author's voice, to catch a consistency error 40 pages into a manuscript, or to correctly apply track changes in a Word document under time pressure.

These skills require purpose-built instruments written for editorial work and benchmarked against editorial professionals — not software engineers or business communicators.

Frequently asked questions

Does HackerRank have editorial or proofreading tests? +
HackerRank offers English communication and business writing assessments, but these are general language tests designed primarily for non-native English speakers in technical roles. There are no track-changes editing, specialist proofreading, or industry vocabulary tests in HackerRank's library.
Can I use HackerRank and EditingTests.com in the same hiring process? +
If you are hiring editorial candidates with a technical component — such as a content engineer or a technical writer who codes — you could use both. For purely editorial roles, HackerRank adds no value and may create a poor candidate experience. Use the right tool for the role.
Our company already uses HackerRank. Is it difficult to add EditingTests.com? +
No. EditingTests.com works independently of any other platform. You can invite candidates via a link added to any ATS email workflow, or use the REST API for full automation. There is no conflict with an existing HackerRank deployment.
How does EditingTests.com validate its editorial assessments? +
Our items are written and reviewed by practising editorial professionals and have been refined in live use since 1998. AI-assisted items are held inactive until an editor enables them. Percentile rankings are recomputed nightly against a benchmark pool of 130,000+ attempts accumulated over 28 years.

The right tool for editorial hiring.

Seven specialist assessments, 130,000+ candidate benchmark, in use since 1998. Try any test free — no account required.

Editors from these organisations have used our services since 1998

Reuters BBC Oxford University Press Penguin Random House Springer Microsoft Suncor Energy United Nations Fisher Investments IBM The Home Depot KODAK CHEVRON