AI interview software in 2026: how to choose, and the main options

The five kinds of AI interview software

"AI interview software" covers products that do very different things. The first question is who runs the interview: a person, with AI taking notes, or an AI agent talking with the candidate.

The line matters to candidates. In a Greenhouse survey from May 2026, 63% of US job seekers had been interviewed by an AI, 38% had walked away from a process because it included one, and 70% were never clearly told upfront that AI would evaluate them. Those findings are about AI interviewers. A notetaker in a conversation with a person is a different experience for the candidate, though it still needs consent.

Ten questions to ask any vendor

1. Are candidates told, and can they ask for a person? In the same Greenhouse survey, 46% wanted the option of a human interview instead. Gartner advises recruiting leaders to "allow candidates to opt out of AI interviews". Ask to see the notice and the opt-out flow.
2. Who decides? Ask which actions the software can take without a person: advancing, shortlisting, rejecting. Pew Research found 71% of Americans oppose AI making the final hiring decision.
3. Do you control the rubric? You should be able to write the competencies and the anchored scale, and see that every candidate for a role is scored against the same one.
4. Does every score cite evidence? A rating should link to the transcript moment behind it. If a reviewer cannot trace a claim, it is a vibe with a number on it.
5. How long is data kept, and how is it deleted? Get the default retention, whether you can change it, and how a candidate's deletion request is handled and confirmed.
6. Has the tool had a bias audit, and can you read it? New York City's Local Law 144 bars employers from using a covered tool unless it has had a bias audit within the past year, and requires a public summary of results and notice to candidates.
7. Which laws does it design for? The EU AI Act lists recruitment and selection systems as high-risk. Ask which jurisdictions the vendor supports and what it leaves to you. Our AI interview laws guide summarizes the main ones.
8. What will it cost for your panel? Per seat, per workspace and per interview pricing give very different bills. Price your real number of interviewers and interviews, in writing.
9. Which ATS does it write back to? Check that scores, notes and stage changes land in your ATS, not only in the vendor's app.
10. Which languages, tested on your accents? A language on a list is a claim. Run real interviews in the languages and accents you hire in, and read the transcripts.

The main options, by category

The table lists products we could check on their own pages on 10 Oct 2026, grouped by category and alphabetical within each group. "Not published" means we found no price on the vendor's public pages; it does not mean the product is expensive.

Assessment, proctoring and interview-as-a-service platforms

These six combine AI interviews with skills tests, proctoring or human interviewers for hire. Of these six, InCruiter is the one we found publishing prices in rupees.

Where Itya fits, honestly

Itya is a structured interview platform. It records interviews people run in Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom or its own browser room, scores them against one rubric per job, and drafts debriefs that cite the transcript. It prices per workspace with unlimited teammates, and bills in rupees with GST in India. By default its AI recommends and a named person confirms, and it never rejects anyone automatically.

It is not the right pick if you need an AI interviewer today (Itya's is not live yet), skills tests, sourcing, fraud detection, or a SOC 2 report. Our comparisons with Metaview, BrightHire and HireVue say where each of them is the better choice.

How to run a fair two-week trial

1. Write the rubric before you see a demo. Use the same competencies and anchored scale in every tool. Our interview kits are a free starting point.
2. Use one live role. Run five to ten real interviews in each tool, with candidate consent.
3. Audit three claims per candidate. Find the transcript moment behind each. Count the ones you cannot trace.
4. Ask candidates one question. "Was anything about this interview unclear or unfair?"
5. Get the price for your real panel in writing, and test one deletion request before you sign.