Simple, transparent pricing.
Pay only for what you use.
No monthly fees. No contracts. No per-user charges. Buy reference credits when you need them — they never expire.
Choose your pack. Scale as you grow.
All packs include everything — email chasing, SMS reminders, PDF reports, full audit trail and unlimited team access.
Every credit includes everything — no add-ons, no extras, no surprises
How we compare to the alternatives
Most reference checking platforms charge £50–£500 per month before you've sent a single reference. RefAssure charges only for what you use.
| Others (Xref, Zinc etc) | RefAssure | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | £50–£500/month | £0 — none ever |
| Per reference cost | £3–£8 per reference | From 99p per reference |
| Setup fee | Often £200–£500 | None |
| Contract required | Usually 12 months | No contract |
| Per-user fees | £10–£50 per seat/month | Unlimited users included |
| Credits expire | Monthly allowance lost | Never expire |
| PDF reports | Often extra cost | Always included |
| SMS chasing | Rarely included | Always included |
Stop paying monthly for references you haven't sent yet
Traditional reference checking platforms lock you into monthly subscriptions regardless of your hiring volume. RefAssure works the other way — you buy credits when you need them, use them at your own pace, and they never expire. Perfect for agencies with variable hiring volumes or seasonal peaks.
How the credit system works
Simple pay-as-you-go. No surprises, no hidden costs, no expiry dates.
Buy a credit pack
Choose the pack that suits your volume. Credits are added to your account instantly. No contract, no commitment.
Add a candidate
Enter the candidate's details and their referee's contact information. Takes under 2 minutes.
One credit is used
When you send the reference request, one credit is deducted. The automated chasing and PDF report are all included in that one credit.
Credits top up anytime
Running low? Top up instantly from your dashboard. New credits are added to your existing balance — they all share the same expiry: never.
One balance, whole team. Credits are shared across your account — add as many colleagues as you like at no extra cost, and everyone draws from the same balance. And one credit always means one complete reference request: the initial email, every automated email and SMS chaser, the referee's response and the final PDF report are all covered by that single credit.
What's included in every reference
One credit buys the complete process — from candidate consent to a finished PDF report. Nothing on this list costs extra.
Candidate consent capture
Before any referee is contacted, the candidate gives GDPR consent with a digital signature. The signed consent record is stored and forms part of the audit trail — evidence that your process is transparent and lawful.
Automated email & SMS chasing
Referees are chased automatically by email and SMS over around 12 days. You never have to pick up the phone or send another "just following up" email — the platform does the persistence for you.
Online form or email reply — both captured
Referees get a secure single-use link to a structured online form. If they'd rather just hit reply and answer by email, that works too — email replies are captured into the reference record automatically.
Structured PDF report
Every completed reference produces a professional, structured PDF — ready to file in the recruitment record, drop into a compliance file, or produce at inspection.
Full audit trail
Every step is timestamped: consent given, request sent, chasers delivered, reference completed. If anyone ever asks how a reference was obtained, the answer is already in the report.
Whole-team access
Add unlimited colleagues at no extra cost. Everyone shares the same credit balance, and you can see who requested what — no per-seat fees, ever.
Want the full walkthrough? See how RefAssure works step by step, or explore the reference checking software in detail.
Why pay-per-reference beats a subscription for most employers
Most reference checking platforms charge a monthly subscription — typically somewhere between £50 and £300 a month — and the fee is due whether you hire that month or not. That model works beautifully for the platform. It only works for you if your hiring volume is high and steady all year round.
That's the whole comparison in one line: before even the cheapest £50-a-month subscription beats 99p credits, you need to be sending around 50 or more references every month, quiet months included. Most UK SMEs, care providers, schools and independent recruiters simply don't hire at that pace — which means every quiet month on a subscription is money spent on nothing.
Hiring comes in bursts — subscriptions don't
Real hiring is lumpy. A care provider might onboard six staff before a CQC inspection and nobody the month after. A school hires in the summer term, then barely at all until spring. An agency's volume follows its clients' budgets. On a subscription you pay the same fee through every one of those quiet spells. On RefAssure a quiet month costs £0 — your credits just sit in your account waiting, and because they never expire, they're worth exactly the same when hiring picks back up.
No per-seat fees changes the maths too
Many subscription platforms also charge per user, so growing your HR or recruitment team makes the software more expensive even when your hiring volume hasn't changed. RefAssure includes unlimited team members on every account — the only thing you ever pay for is the references you actually send. That's a real difference for recruitment agencies with several consultants, and for care providers where multiple managers handle onboarding.
When a subscription genuinely is better
To be straight about it: if you consistently send hundreds of references every month, all year round, a negotiated volume deal on a subscription platform may work out cheaper per reference — it's worth doing the maths for your own numbers. But check what's actually included before you sign: SMS chasing, PDF reports and additional user seats are often chargeable extras on subscription platforms, while every RefAssure credit includes all of them. If your volume sits anywhere below that level — or simply moves up and down through the year — pay-per-reference wins, and there's no contract to regret.
Not sure which camp you're in? Start small: the £9.99 pack covers your next 10 references with everything included, and you can create an account in a couple of minutes. You can also see the process end to end on the how it works page, or try a reference template first.
Pricing questions answered.
RefAssure uses pay-as-you-go credits with no monthly fees. The smallest pack is £9.99 for 10 references (99p each). Larger packs reduce the cost — the 250-credit pack works out at 80p per reference. There are no contracts, no setup fees, and credits never expire.
No — the prices you see are the final prices. VAT is not added at checkout, so £9.99 for 10 credits means you pay exactly £9.99. Your invoice shows the final amount paid, with no VAT line to account for.
No — your credits never expire. Use them whenever you need them, whether that's next week or next year. Unlike subscription services, you won't lose unused allowances at month end or when your contract renews.
Everything. Each credit includes the initial branded email request to the referee, up to 5 automated email chasers, 2 SMS reminders, a secure referee portal link, a professional PDF report on completion, and a full timestamped audit trail. No hidden extras.
For most UK recruiters, significantly so. Those platforms typically require monthly subscriptions starting at £100+ plus per-reference fees of £3–£8. RefAssure has no monthly minimum — just buy credits when you need them from 99p each. If you send fewer than 50 references a month, the saving is substantial.
Yes — add as many team members as you like at no extra cost. There are no per-seat or per-user fees. Credits are shared across the whole account so your entire recruitment team can use RefAssure without any additional charges.
RefAssure chases them automatically. The sequence includes up to 5 email chasers and 2 SMS reminders sent over 12 days. If they still don't respond after the full sequence, you'll be notified and can add an alternative referee. The credit is used when you send the initial request.
None whatsoever. Create your account for free, buy credits when you're ready, and use them at your own pace. There's nothing to cancel — your unused credits just stay in your account indefinitely.
Credit purchases aren't normally refundable — but because credits never expire, unused credits never lose their value. They simply wait in your account until your next hire, whether that's next month or next year. If something has gone wrong with a purchase — a duplicate payment, for example — email contact@refassure.co.uk and we'll put it right.
Yes — every credit purchase comes with an invoice for your records, available from your account. Because no VAT is added, the invoice simply shows the final price you paid for the pack, with nothing extra to reconcile.
Our 250-credit pack at £200 (80p per reference) is our best value standard pack. If you need significantly higher volumes or want to discuss custom arrangements, contact us at contact@refassure.co.uk and we'll be happy to talk.
Ready to automate your reference checking?
Join UK recruiters and HR teams using RefAssure. Pay only for what you use — from 99p per reference.
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