The Best Personality Test – 11 Free Assessments

Most people’s opinions are not black and white. So why are we drawn to tests that ask us to tick a box to describe our complex psyches?

The truth is that many online personality tests are bogus, cost money, or both. And yet still people take them!

1b

Why?

Because, even though it’s not a foolproof system, the best personality tests offer insights into our personality. Sometimes those insights come from the answers the tests give us. But sometimes we find those insights while we are in the act of taking the test – answering its questions and trying to be honest with ourselves.

As someone who takes personality tests often, I regularly click through tens of uninspired questions, only to come to a paywall or vague, unreliable results.

I know that finding valid, free online personality tests can be difficult. So I’ve done my best to make it easier on all of us!

What are the best personality tests? – The Solution

Cards on the table, I dabbled in child psychology while getting my teaching degree, but I’m no psychologist.

So, why would you listen to me?

Because even though I don’t have a serious background in psychology, I do have a black belt in self-reflection.

I access this side of myself in many ways. Meditation. Listening to Alan Watts’ lectures. Talking to myself like one of those people at the back of the bus surrounded by empty seats…

But some of my favorite self-growth tools are personality tests. And over the years I’ve gained a pretty solid understanding of my personality — or at least, that part of it these tests help me explore.

And one of the most important things I’ve learned is that ANY online test should be taken with a pinch of salt. They are never a substitute for professional mental health.

They should be used as tools to help us gain a better understanding of human personality, ourselves and how to approach the world in a way that best suits us. And that’s what I’m doing with these reviews — finding the best tools.

I’ve taken most of the best online personality tests. I’ve compared my results both to other tests and to my real-world behavior — I want to make sure my answers reflect who I am, rather than who I want to be.

That’s why it’s a good idea to come back to these tests every 6 months or so and see how well we’ve implemented changes in our behaviour. That is growth after all.

I’ve used my experiences to create a list of personality tests that are good quality, research-backed, reliable, detailed and that you can take online for free (or at least get a decent report for free).

Now, onto the personality assessments!

The Ultimate Personality Test

Personalitymax.com is the culmination of years of research, and 3 million participant surveys. Their personality test is one of the most comprehensive online for free. Because of this, Pmax has some of the most reliable statistics pages on the net.

What is the test?

Personality Max has provided an impressive amalgamation of personality tests. It includes a test based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types and the 16 Personalitities Type Indicator, a learning style test, a multiple-intelligence test, and a brain-hemisphere test. You can perform the full 221-question test, or break the areas down to those you want to explore.

How long does it take?: approx 25 minutes

How is it done?: Up to 221 questions in this test, so get comfortable. You will be presented with around 100, two option questions in the “are you more this or that” format, and 100 more ‘never’ to ‘always’ scale questions.

The 50/50 questions can be difficult to answer concretely and require a fair amount of thought to decide which you are most like. For me, I found myself wanting to answer “both.” The second half is more inspired, with some intriguing, thought provoking questions. It would be nice to have a bit more variety with such a huge question set, however.

What did I learn?: Well, at the end of the test I was given a completely free 20-page report. There are tons of insights here, and I’ll be going through them for a long time — as I’m sure you will as well.

There are charts for a quick glance, but you’ll really want to go deep into this one. What really sold it for me was the development section. I found this to be eerily personal; the advice given is actually really helpful and is a great addition to the in-depth analysis of your psyche.

In terms of sheer scale, this really is the ultimate personality test, it offers you everything the 16 personalities test does, and then some . But, as you’ll see from the other assessments on this list, there are plenty of other interesting and useful ways to take that introspective look at yourself.

Love and Personality Color Test

TestColor.com uses color tests to determine your mood and emotions. With that, they give you insights into your personality, your current mood and your love life. They have a huge amount of data, helping them to give surprisingly accurate results.

What is the test?

This color personality test works with the mantra of “Colors speak of your emotions. Your emotions say who you are.” Colors evoke emotion and testcolor.com invites you to share with them your color preferences. With your selection, they analyze all the emotions that these colors could represent and, along with many other complex methods, translate your choices into a summarization of your personality.

How long does it take?: 5 – 10 minutes

How is it done?: When visiting the site, you are presented with a choice of four tests: love, personality, future and premium. For this article, I performed the personality and future tests (I didn’t do the relationship personality test, as it requires you and your ‘perfect match’ to do the test and mine was at work. And I didn’t do premium because, to be frank, I didn’t want to pay!).

I chose the personality quiz first and found myself looking at a 4X9 grid of random colors. I then had to choose my favorites in order of preference, and then again for my least favorite.

I took the colors one by one and chose carefully which color looked more appealing to me, rather than all the purples and then all the oranges, etc.

For the ‘future’ quiz, I chose 6 colors from a smaller selection. I tried to choose the colors and shades that were appealing to me in the moment rather than my pre-determined ‘favorite color.’ It turned out they were the same.

What did I learn?: For such a short personality test, I got a fair amount of feedback. Including a percentage of my introvertedness and extrovertedness along with my top four traits.

The future test came back with some spot-on enlightenment about my current mindset and thought processes. No advice on how to deal with them, but it was interesting nonetheless.

You can get a pretty accurate report on your personality profile from simply choosing a few colors. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not the most detailed and explanations fall on the vague side. But for the time it takes, you get a nice insight into how your color preference is influenced by who you are (or vice versa).

Free Personality Test

16personalities.com is the godfather of personality tests. A well-deserved title. They have created one of the most accurate, insightful, and enjoyable tests. And it’s all wrapped in quirky and charming branding. If you haven’t already visited these guys, you’ve been missing out.

What is the test?

Based on the Big five personality traits using the acronym format introduced by the 16 personalities test — with an extra letter to accommodate five rather than four scales. You answer questions to find out which of the five categories you fall into: Extraverted vs Introverted; Intuitive vs Observant; Thinking vs Feeling; Judging vs Prospecting; Assertive vs Turbulent. The mixtures of these traits categorize you into 16 personalities.

How long does it take?: 20 minutes, approx

How is it done?: 16personalities have made one of the best free personality type tests. Huge amounts of research, design and testing has come together to give us a highly accurate personality test.

I answered around 100 questions on the ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’ scale. The prompts here invoke some deeper thinking. This leads to honest answers and an overall enjoyable personality test.

What did I learn?: A lot. This is an incredibly detailed free report that delves into your natural strengths and weaknesses, love life, career, friendships, parenthood and workplace habits. They give you your personality type, your goals, and how you deal with life.

Their guide is packed with actionable insights to improve your life. And everything is polished and wrapped up in your own stylist profile. The career choice section alone would make this an accurate and reliable career personality test.

This personality analysis is deserving of your attention and action. One of the best free personality tests around.

The VisualDNA WhoAmI? Quiz

VisualDNA.com has tried to take away the biases of worded questions by replacing them with pictures. They use visual cues to elicit honest, emotion-based responses in order to gain a clear and refreshing look into your psyche.

What is the test?

This visual personality quiz uses pictures to measure your responses from statements and questions. It’s a version of the big five personality test with a visual twist.

How long does it take?: 15 minutes, approx

How is it done?: Each prompt presents you with 5 or 6 pictures to choose from. They start a bit rocky, with many of the early questions giving you options that feel very restrictive. At one point it asks what your workspace would look like and gives you one picture that looks like a stationery store got robbed and another that is obsessively organized.

Later in the test though you are presented with the question “when would you tidy?” and you are given a picture of a desk that progressively gets more untidy over 6 pictures. This was a much better set of options and improves on the ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’ scale by giving you a visual example to relate to.

What did I learn?: This is a good personality test with a descriptive report.

I feel like the results were a little off because of the restricting prompts in the beginning. However, it gives a nice overview report that hits the mark in most places even if it doesn’t introduce anything new.

Highly Accurate Personality Test

Seemypersonality.com argues against the 16 Personalities Type Indicator and instead uses the Big 5 personality traits as a basis for their 120 and 60 question tests.

What is the test?

This personality type test is based on the Revised NEO Personality Inventory which scores you against the Five Factor Model of personality. They argue this is more accurate than the popular 16 personalities test. By comparing you to 3 million previous respondents, it uses the accurate IPIP testing method to give an extensive look at 30 personality traits.

How long does it take?: 25 minutes, approx

How is it done?: See my Personality gives you 120ish questions with the basic ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’ scale. This huge selection of questions range from generic to genuinely deep. And for how many there were, I was pleasantly surprised I didn’t come across that many restricting or ambiguous prompts.

What did I learn?: This report is full of details for each of the Big Five personality traits. The scores I was already aware of were pretty accurate and there was a load more to be learned from this report.

There were instances where the report dropped the ball. When I was presented with “I like a good fight” and I strongly disagreed, it’s not exactly a revelation to be told in my report that “I don’t like confrontation.” Despite this, I still found this to be one of the most reliable personality tests.

The report also gives you some nice infographics of your strengths and weaknesses, your most prominent traits, and how many people in the world are very similar to you (apparently there are 6 alternate versions of me in the word).

What is my Spirit Animal?

SpiritAnimal.info wants to help you find your spirit animal. With the help of their quizzes and in-depth guide you can find the animal you’re most connected to and learn what this means in your day to day life.

What is the test?

This cool personality test is an accompaniment to their spirit animal guide, this test asks you questions about your personality to determine which animal you embody. Modern psychological techniques and traditional perspectives combine to give you a deeper look into your spirit animal traits.

How long does it take?: 10 minutes, approx

How is it done?: This charming little quiz asks you some basic questions that don’t stick you into boxes too much. It starts by asking your favorite element and what follows are some easy to answer and quick to get through questions.

What did I learn?: That I’m a hummingbird. I didn’t know I was a hummingbird but its description fits very nicely. An optimistic outlook, being present, ability to adapt, and enjoying simple pleasures. Sounds like me ;).

It gives a lengthy guide of the animal and what it means to share a connection with it. The guide is filled with positive traits you share and leaves you feeling a genuine bond with your animal. This makes this a great personality test for kids who would appreciate being classed as a wolf more than an INFP.

This didn’t give me a detailed look into my psyche or my relationships, but it’s nice to know I share these spiritual traits with the very cool hummingbird.

The Enneagram Personality Test

Tuity.com covers the whole spectrum of personality tests. 16 personalities, DISC, career profile, Big 5 and the focus of this review — the Enneagram test are all expertly provided for you.

What is the test?

Truity provides you with a test to show your Enneagram Type. The Enneagram test has long historical roots that date back to the Babylonians — it’s worth paying attention to, so check out our article on Enneagram types to learn more.

How long does it take?: 15 minutes, approx

How is it done?: This truity test gives us the common ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’ scale for a range of prompts. There are a few to get you thinking (“I seek out relationships that offer me some type of protection”) and a few are on the ambiguous side (“I feel a deep sense of grief for what I have lost”), but overall, a decent set.

What did I learn?: This was an interesting personality test, so I was disappointed to find much of this report behind a paywall. Especially considering it clearly claims its ‘free’ status at the start.

It is one of the more scientific personality tests and for free it tells you what Enneagram type(s) you are and a brief description of what that means. Not a lot for a ‘free’ online personality test. Luckily our Enneagram Type article can give you a full rundown of the type that this test gives you.

DISC Assessment

Tony Robbins is a world-famous life coach and author — with more than a few lines of text devoted to “Controversies” on his wiki page…

Nevertheless, he deserves mention here because he provides a DISC assessment for free on his site — although it does require a sign-up.

DISC assessments are personality tests that are mostly found behind paywalls. So, if giving your details to a self-help guru doesn’t sit right with you, you can try out Truity.com’s free DISC assessment (I think this one is better anyway).

What is the test?

DISC is a personality model devised by William Marston, the same guy who created Wonder Woman and helped build the first lie detector. Marston wrote in his book Emotions of Normal People that people illustrate their emotions through 4 behavior types: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Consciousness.

DISC personality tests require the participant to choose between 4 words or phrases that are most and least like them. The results of the DISC personality test show patterns of behavior. Its goal isn’t to show you every dimension of your personality, but it’s a great professional personality test.

How long does it take?: approx 20 minutes

How is it done?: The test from Tony Robbins gives you 24 words and 6 phrases to go through, and then 10 questions where you have to rank topics by interest — this second part I haven’t seen in any other DISC test I took.

I like the DISC answer format because it asks you for comparisons rather than black and white answers. You may agree with all four traits and choosing which you agree with most and least can be challenging. It makes for an honest look at yourself.

What did I learn?: This is one of the best free DISC assessments online. There aren’t many you can find for free (even this one has a paid report) but this detailed and positive report is an insightful personality analysis.

It does a good job of giving your strengths and weaknesses, rather than just listing off different ways you are great.

It put me in IS style, which goes by different names depending on the assessment, in this case, Coach. It is a pretty accurate description of my professional persona, but there aren’t a huge amount of actionable insights.

The Sorting Hat

Countless Harry Potter fans have wondered which house the Sorting Hat would have placed them in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And thanks to wizardingworld.com, they can now have the answer!

What is the test?

Nobody knows the magic that determines which house Wizarding World’s Sorting Hat puts you into. And we don’t want to know. All we want to know is which of the four famous houses we belong to. You can also discover your Patronus and wand.

How long does it take?: 15 minutes, approx

How is it done?: Through a set of mysterious questions that take you through some magical scenery, you will discover your house, your Patronus and your wand.

It’s a really nice experience for each of the tests with a great aesthetic, even for someone who isn’t a huge fan of the Harry Potter series.

What did I learn?: That I’m a Ravenclaw, I have a maple wood wand with unicorn hair and a trusty stoat as a sidekick.

Ravenclaw sounds like a perfectly good house to be in; I guess I’m smarter than I thought. There’s no detailed psyche report here but a note written to Ravenclaws from J.K Rowling that gives you the history of your house and the people in it — that’s a nice touch.

I don’t really know what the wand and the stoat symbolize, but I like that I have them :).

Overall, a lot of fun but not exactly a psychological evaluation test.

The HEXACO Personality Inventory

HEXACO have been developing their complex inventory since 2000, and over the course of 20+ years they have built an in-depth rival to some of the most relied upon personality type indexes.

What is the test?

The HEXACO-PI is a derivation of the Big Five personality traits. Built by Kibeom Lee & Michael C. Ashton, they wanted to provide more details into the facets of the traits. Extensive research and a few revisions have been made over the years to improve on the test.

How long does it take?: 20 minutes, approx

How is it done?: 100 or so ‘Strongly Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’ scale — mostly clear and unambiguous — prompts that you’d expect to find on quality personality tests. It also gives you ‘are-you-paying-attention’ prompts and even the option to say you didn’t answer honestly. They really want accurate results.

What did I learn?: The report from the HEXACO-PI online personality assessment gives you a score for each personality trait and each facet of that trait. This gives 24 scores measured against a selected group’s results for you to compare to a percentile.

I found the results to be pretty accurate, although it portrayed me as quite cutthroat — probably because I answered questions like ‘I’d be nice to someone to get what I want’ with “Strongly Agree.” Because I’d probably be nice to them either way, and being nice brings niceness into your life. That’s karma. But the question was clearly going more of a ‘would you lie to get ahead’ sort of vibe.

You could put that down to an ambiguous question, but I’ll take the blame on that one and put it down to user input error.

Not the most detailed personality test, but it gives a solid picture of your personality which you can then research more elsewhere.

Interpersonal Skills Test

Skillsyouneed.com is committed to providing you with practical and actionable insights into your day-to-day life. They want to help you develop your skills by taking a series of tests covering leadership, literacy, learning, parenting, and more.

What is the test?

Not quite a personality test, instead this test rates your interpersonal skills. It aims to show what areas of communication you exceed in, and where you’re lacking. SkillsYouNeed has a bunch of resources to help you grow in areas you’re not so skilled in, making this an excellent employment personality test.

How long does it take?: 10 minutes, approx

How is it done?: Around 50 ‘how often do you…’ style questions that are clearly worded, unrestrictive, unambiguous and thought-provoking. They cover 4 areas: listening, emotional intelligence, verbal communication and group communication.

You start by answering how good you think your skills are in the area, then give your responses to some varied and imaginative prompts.

What did I learn?: The report gives you a percentage of your overall interpersonal skills and then each subsection is broken down with its own percentage.

I’d highly recommend this personality test for students about to join the workforce. There are other free personality tests that will hold a mirror up to your personality. This test will give you practical insights on how to portray your best traits, and develop your weak ones.

Conclusion

Free online Personality tests are only as reliable as the input you enter. The real benefit of these tests is the introspective analysis you perform on yourself while doing them.

The best personality tests will translate your honest answers into a psychological category; the better the test, the more specific it will be. Objective personality tests will use their background research to give you actionable insights into your psyche. Others will just give you good descriptions of yourself.

We can’t help but be biased in our answers as if we’re trying to impress someone, but that serves no purpose. It’s OK to want to be more social, more assertive, less aggressive or to have a wolf as our spirit animal. However, if we want to better ourselves we need to answer with brutal honesty, even if it makes us feel a bit bad about ourselves.

Because personality tests are a tool, not a brand left on you for life. Be honest in your answers, own your flaws and improve on them, then come back to the test in six months and see if it’s changed.

None of these will give you the answer, but the good ones will help guide you in the right direction.

FAQ

Q: What is the most accurate personality test?

A: People love categorizing themselves and others, and have probably been doing it since Eve climbed out of her apple tree with Cain and Abel (I think that’s how the story goes, anyway). That we love doing it so much explains why there are so many ways to do it! But all these different tests and categorizations, it can be overwhelming.

Many tests claim to be the most accurate, and while there are some that are unreliable, most are backed by solid psychological models. However, the accuracy of these models are often debated.

The fact is, different personality tests will give a more reliable reading for different aspects. For example, the DISC assessment is a great work personality test.

And then you have to consider how accurate the input is. Can anyone really give 100% true answers to all of these questions? I certainly can’t.

Most good personality test providers state that the results are meant as a guide, to help you analyze and develop parts of your personality and are not to be taken as gospel.

I am inclined to agree.

Q: What is the most widely used personality test?

A: Aside from online personality tests, the most common psychological personality tests are the Rorschach InkBlots test and the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory).

Q: Why are personality tests bad?

A: Personality tests can be a wonderful tool to promote self improvement. But putting too much weight on their results can be dangerous. There is a bias when you answer these questions unsupervised, and vague reports can be misleading.

Personality tests should only be used to help you learn more about yourself alongside research and self awareness, and they should never be a substitute for professional psychological testing and assessment.