This guide is for the people doing the hiring: recruiters, HR leads and founders who need to get through hundreds of applicants for one role. If you are looking for help preparing for your own interview, these tools are not built for that.
We compared seven AI screening and interview platforms on what decides the first round in practice: how candidates get invited, whether anyone has to schedule anything, how resumes get in, whether you need an ATS, what the interview looks like, how candidates get scored, and whether you can see a price before talking to sales. We checked every vendor’s own website on October 2, 2026, and marked anything we could not find there as “not stated”.
VeraHire is our product, so it comes first. Where a competitor does something better, we say so.
The comparison at a glance
| Platform | Invites | Scheduling | Resumes in | Without an ATS | Interview format | Public price | Bias audit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VeraHire | Email; SMS outside the US and China | On demand, no booking | Email address per job, upload, ATS | Yes | Voice; video on request, per job | From $49/mo, free trial | Summary published |
| Ribbon | Email, SMS, link, CSV | On demand | ATS, bulk resume upload, upload in interview | Yes | Voice and video in browser | From $499/mo, 7-day trial | Says it passed (2025); report behind a form |
| HeyMilo | Text, email, callback | On demand; books next round | ATS | Not stated | Phone, video, SMS | Demo only | Monthly public dashboard |
| Paradox | SMS, chat, WhatsApp, QR code | Books next round | Conversational apply by text | Sells its own ATS | Chat and SMS; recorded video | Demo only | Says it runs bias evaluations; no report found |
| HireVue | Email, SMS, WhatsApp | On demand; books next round | Not stated | Not stated | Video (on demand or live), phone, text | Demo only | Older reports linked (2021) |
| Alex | Outbound call, SMS, WhatsApp | On demand; books next round | Screens resumes from your ATS | Not stated | Phone, video, SMS, WhatsApp | Demo only | Monthly public dashboard |
| Tenzo | Phone, text, email, WhatsApp | On demand; books next round | Reads resumes from ATS | Not stated | Phone, video, text, email, WhatsApp | Quote only | No report found |
Yes Partly No or not statedChecked on each vendor’s site, October 2, 2026.
How to choose
How candidates get to the interview
Every platform here lets candidates interview at night or on weekends instead of waiting for a recruiter’s calendar. The difference is the invite. Alex, Tenzo and HeyMilo call candidates by phone within minutes of applying, and several use WhatsApp. VeraHire sends a link by email, or by SMS outside the US and China, and the candidate takes the interview whenever it suits them.
How resumes get in
Most platforms assume resumes arrive through your ATS. VeraHire also gives each job its own email address: forward a resume to it and the candidate shows up in the pipeline, already scored against the job description. If your applications come through job boards, referrals and inboxes as much as an ATS, this matters more than the integration count.
ATS or no ATS
Integration counts look similar across the board (Ribbon, Tenzo and VeraHire all claim 50 or more). The more useful question is whether you can run the first round with no ATS at all. VeraHire, Ribbon and Paradox say you can. The others describe every workflow as connected to one.
Voice, video or chat
Voice interviews are easier on candidates applying from a phone, and most of these tools now offer video as well. VeraHire runs voice by default; video can be switched on for your account on request and then required for specific jobs, with the recording next to the transcript in the report.
How the score is built
Look for scores tied to your job’s criteria, with the transcript and the moments that justify each call. A single fit score with no reasoning is hard to defend to a hiring manager.
Price and trial
This is where the market splits. Ribbon and VeraHire publish prices. Everyone else asks you to book a demo first.
The tools
VeraHire
Our pick to start this weekVeraHire scores every resume against your job description, runs the first-round interview with the candidates you choose, and gives you a ranked shortlist with the evidence behind each score.
- Invites
- Email; SMS outside the US and China
- Scheduling
- On demand, no booking
- Resumes in
- Email address per job, upload, ATS
- Without an ATS
- Yes
- Interview format
- Voice; video on request, per job
- Public price
- From $49/mo, free trial
- Bias audit
- Summary published
- Interviewer answers candidate questions from your knowledge base
- Share a candidate with a client’s hiring manager, read-only
- Video recording next to the transcript, when the job requires it
Free trial: 300 resume screens and 30 AI interviews, no credit card. Then $0.25 per resume screen and $7 per interview, or plans from $49 a month billed annually.
- Interviews in English only
- No outbound phone calls or WhatsApp
- Doesn’t book the next-round interview
Ribbon
ribbon.ai ↗Ribbon runs voice and video interviews in the browser through a link you send by email, SMS or your ATS, and you can bulk-import candidates from a CSV. Scoring comes with default criteria plus unlimited custom ones, with reasoning, timestamped highlights and the recording.
- Invites
- Email, SMS, link, CSV
- Scheduling
- On demand
- Resumes in
- ATS, bulk resume upload, upload in interview
- Without an ATS
- Yes
- Interview format
- Voice and video in browser
- Public price
- From $499/mo, 7-day trial
- Bias audit
- Says it passed (2025); report behind a form
- Interviews in 10+ languages
- Flexible custom scoring criteria
- Runs without an ATS
Published. Growth from $499 a month billed annually (2 seats, 2 roles, 100 interviews), 7-day free trial.
Multi-site hourly hiring and staffing firms.
HeyMilo
heymilo.ai ↗HeyMilo texts candidates when they apply, screens them by phone, video or SMS, and books the next interview on your calendar. It scores CVs and interviews against rubrics you define, with quotes and timestamps.
- Invites
- Text, email, callback
- Scheduling
- On demand; books next round
- Resumes in
- ATS
- Without an ATS
- Not stated
- Interview format
- Phone, video, SMS
- Public price
- Demo only
- Bias audit
- Monthly public dashboard
- Monthly independent bias audit on a public dashboard
- Calendar booking after the screen
- Interviews in 14+ languages
Demo only.
Corporate TA, staffing and BPO teams already on a supported ATS.
Paradox
paradox.ai ↗Paradox, acquired by Workday in 2025, lets candidates apply in a text conversation over SMS, chat and WhatsApp, then schedules qualified candidates automatically. It also sells its own ATS.
- Invites
- SMS, chat, WhatsApp, QR code
- Scheduling
- Books next round
- Resumes in
- Conversational apply by text
- Without an ATS
- Sells its own ATS
- Interview format
- Chat and SMS; recorded video
- Public price
- Demo only
- Bias audit
- Says it runs bias evaluations; no report found
- Text-first apply flow for hourly roles
- Answers in 100+ languages
- Its own ATS
Demo only.
Large retail, restaurant, hospitality and logistics employers.
HireVue
hirevue.com ↗HireVue's AI Interviewer holds a two-way conversation with follow-up questions, next to its on-demand and live video interviewing, phone and text interviews, and its interview scheduling products.
- Invites
- Email, SMS, WhatsApp
- Scheduling
- On demand; books next round
- Resumes in
- Not stated
- Without an ATS
- Not stated
- Interview format
- Video (on demand or live), phone, text
- Public price
- Demo only
- Bias audit
- Older reports linked (2021)
- Breadth for large enterprises
- Third-party audit reports (from 2021) linked
- Scheduling built in
Demo only.
Enterprise hiring across every role type.
Alex (formerly Apriora)
alex.com ↗Alex calls candidates within minutes of applying, interviews by phone, video, SMS or WhatsApp, and books cleared candidates onto your team's calendar.
- Invites
- Outbound call, SMS, WhatsApp
- Scheduling
- On demand; books next round
- Resumes in
- Screens resumes from your ATS
- Without an ATS
- Not stated
- Interview format
- Phone, video, SMS, WhatsApp
- Public price
- Demo only
- Bias audit
- Monthly public dashboard
- Speed to first contact
- Interviews in 26+ languages
- Monthly public bias audit
Demo only.
Enterprise, staffing and RPO, healthcare and manufacturing.
Tenzo
tenzo.ai ↗Tenzo reaches candidates by phone, text, email or WhatsApp, interviews them in 40+ languages on the same channels or by video, and schedules the next round.
- Invites
- Phone, text, email, WhatsApp
- Scheduling
- On demand; books next round
- Resumes in
- Reads resumes from ATS
- Without an ATS
- Not stated
- Interview format
- Phone, video, text, email, WhatsApp
- Public price
- Quote only
- Bias audit
- No report found
- Widest language coverage here
- Outreach on every channel
- Next-round scheduling
Quoted to your hiring volume.
Enterprise high-volume and hourly hiring.
AI phone screening vs. AI video interviews
AI phone screening reaches candidates on the device they applied from: a call or a link they can answer anywhere, with nothing to install. It suits hourly and frontline roles, where many applicants apply from a phone. Video adds a recording your team can watch, which some roles need. Most of the tools above now offer both, so the better question is whether you can choose per job. In VeraHire, voice is the default, and once video is switched on for your account it is a per-job setting.
FAQ
Do candidates know they are talking to an AI?
They should. In a 2026 Greenhouse survey, 70% of candidates who had faced an AI interview were never told upfront. Tell candidates in the invite which step is automated, what it scores, and who reviews the result.
Does AI screening replace recruiters?
No. These tools handle the first pass and hand your team a shortlist. People still decide who moves forward and who gets hired.
Do I need an ATS to use AI interview software?
Not with every tool. VeraHire, Ribbon and Paradox can run without one; most others are built around an ATS integration.
How much does AI recruiting software cost?
Most vendors quote after a demo. Of the seven here, two publish prices: VeraHire (free trial, then pay as you go or plans from $49 a month billed annually) and Ribbon (from $499 a month billed annually).
300 resume screens and 30 AI interviews, no credit card. Start a free trial.
Competitor details come from each vendor’s own website, checked October 2, 2026. Features change; if something here is out of date, tell us at hello@verahire.ai.