16personalities alternative

Beyond your free type: a profile written for you.

16personalities is one of the most widely taken free personality tests, and its type descriptions are widely read. But they are descriptions of a type, shared by everyone who receives that result. Polaris is the next step: a profile generated from your answers, about you alone.

Try Polaris for £9.99
One-off payment. No subscription. Around 15 minutes.

Why look for an alternative to 16personalities?

People searching for a 16personalities alternative have usually taken the free test and want something deeper than a type description shared with millions. Polaris Profile is the natural next step: a report of around 3,000 words generated from your own answers, focused on working life, for a one-off £9.99 with no subscription.

16personalities and Polaris, side by side

The two are built for different purposes. The differences below are the ones that matter in practice.

16personalities
The free type test

One description per type

The free report describes your type, and that description is the same for everyone who shares it. Only your trait percentages are individual.

Free, then premium suites

The test costs nothing. Deeper content sits behind paid premium suites.

Life focus

Strong on relationships, identity and general life themes. The free result is lighter on the workplace: meetings, decisions, feedback, pressure.

Scale

Over a billion tests taken, free, in 49 languages.

Polaris Profile
The individually written profile

One profile per person

Around 3,000 words generated from your questionnaire answers, including the contradictions a shared type description cannot capture.

One price

£9.99, one-off, at launch. No subscription.

Work focus

How you come across in meetings, how you decide, how you handle feedback and pressure, and how colleagues can work well with you.

The natural next step

If a free type description rang true, a profile written from your own answers is the next level of depth.

The design difference is simple: 16personalities describes your type to millions of people at once. Polaris describes you, once. One is an introduction. The other is a document you can give to a manager to show how you work.

The details

16personalities Polaris Profile
Price Free test; premium suites cost extra £9.99 launch price, reduced from £35.00
Time Around 10 minutes Around 15 minutes, 25 sets of four statements
Result One of 16 types with a shared description A percentage colour mix and an exact map position
Report Type description, with paid extras Around 3,000 words plus your colour mix, facet detail and Polaris Map position
Written for you? No. One description per type Yes. Every profile is individually generated from your specific answers
Focus Life, identity and relationships, with a short workplace section Working life: decisions, communication, pressure, teams

An honest guide to choosing

Choose 16personalities if you

  • Only want a free type description rather than a profile of your own
  • Are content with a description shared by everyone of your type
  • Do not need it to cover how you work with colleagues

Choose Polaris if you

  • Want a profile written from your answers rather than your type
  • Need something you can share at work
  • Would rather pay £9.99 once for the complete report

Questions

I already did 16personalities. Is Polaris worth it?
If the free description felt accurate, that is a good sign the underlying model resonates with you. Polaris measures your position precisely rather than assigning a type, then writes a report from your specific answers, covering working life in more depth than a shared type description can.
Why is Polaris paid when 16personalities is free?
Because every Polaris report is individually generated, there is a real cost to producing each one. The free model works by offering one description per type and charging for premium content. We charge £9.99 once and generate the whole profile for you.

More comparisons

Polaris vs DISC Polaris vs MBTI Polaris vs CliftonStrengths Polaris vs Hogan Polaris vs the Enneagram Polaris vs Big Five Polaris vs Eysenck All comparisons

So, what's your colour?

One questionnaire. Fifteen minutes. Around 3,000 words written from your answers.

Start the questionnaire