This study compares the predictive accuracy of eight commonly used risk assessment instruments (the VRAG, the SORAG, the RRASOR, the Static-99, the Static-2002, the Risk Matrix 2000, the MnSOST–R and the SVR-20) and the PCL–R. Four types of recidivism were used (nuisance, sexual, nonsexual victim-involved and nonsexual victimless) and offenders were divided into three subgroups (rapists, child molesters and mixed offenders). Results indicate that instruments showed marginal to modest predictive accuracy for sexual recidivism. However, when we take account of the subgroups, the predictive accuracy for sexual recidivism was higher with child molesters and for non-sexual recidivism with rapists. Most instruments showed predictions no better than chance for mixed offenders and for predicting non-contact sexual reoffending.