Disclosure: NTRVSTA wrote this guide, and NTRVSTA is one of the seven technical interview platforms in it. We placed ourselves fourth because the top three are purpose-built coding environments, and we used only each vendor's own published facts, linked at the end.
TL;DR
A technical interview platform is where a candidate solves problems live while someone, or something, watches and asks questions. For a coding interview platform your own engineers drive, HackerRank, CoderPad and CodeSignal lead. If you want AI to run the first technical round, or human experts to run interviews for you, the picks change.
- Best for a coding interview platform plus an AI interviewer inside a work canvas: HackerRank
- Best live coding pad for interviews your engineers run: CoderPad
- Best for low-cost AI technical interviews next to coding tests: CodeSignal
- Best for adaptive AI first rounds that mix coding knowledge, system design and soft skills: NTRVSTA (us)
- Best for outsourcing technical interviews to trained humans: Karat
The picks at a glance
What actually matters when choosing a technical interview platform
Decide who conducts the interview. With a coding pad, your engineers run every session, which gives the best signal but costs senior hours. With an AI interviewer, the first round runs without them, any time of day. With a service like Karat, outside experts run it. Most teams mix these: AI or a service for round one, their own engineers for the final loop.
Decide how candidates may use AI. Engineers write code with AI assistants every day, and platforms now handle that in different ways. HackerRank's Chakra watches how candidates work with an AI assistant, CoderPad's Frontier plans put Claude Code and Codex in the pad, Codility lets you set rules for its Copilot, and Karat's NextGen adds an AI assistant with a human observing. Pick a policy first, then a platform that supports it.
Look at depth beyond code. Senior roles need system design, trade-off reasoning and communication, not just a passing test. Check whether the platform has a whiteboard or design mode and whether its scoring covers more than correctness. For question ideas, see our system design interview questions and software engineer interview questions.
1. HackerRank
HackerRank covers the full technical funnel: Screen for coding tests, Interview for live sessions with your engineers, and Chakra, an AI interviewer that went generally available on October 5, 2026. HackerRank says Chakra sets up a canvas with a real-world problem, observes how the candidate works with an AI assistant, asks adaptive voice follow-ups about their choices, and scores each competency with evidence. HackerRank reported 500K+ interviews during the beta.
Starter is $199/mo (60 attempts a year) and Pro is $449/mo; Chakra's own price isn't published. The question library covers 55+ programming languages, and HackerRank lists 40+ integrations and a REST API. Read NTRVSTA vs HackerRank for the head-to-head.
Best for: engineering teams that want tests, live interviews and an AI interviewer from one of the best-known names in the category.
2. CoderPad
CoderPad is a live coding pad built for interviews. CoderPad says its Interview product gives you live, collaborative coding with playback, in 99+ languages and frameworks, plus multi-file Screen tests and take-homes. On Frontier plans, Claude Code and Codex run in the pad, so interviewers can see each prompt and edit.
Plans are public: Starter $80/mo billed annually (60 interviews a year), Team $400/mo, and Frontier Lite $1,000/mo, with $30 per extra interview. CoderPad lists SOC 2 Type 2. Its Qualify product adds an AI-reviewed video pre-screen, but the interviews themselves are run by people.
Best for: teams whose engineers run live coding interviews and want a realistic environment.
3. CodeSignal
CodeSignal combines coding assessments, live technical interviews, interviewer training and an AI Interviewer. CodeSignal says candidates talk to the AI Interviewer by phone or browser, it asks follow-ups when answers are thin, and it returns a score, skills evaluation and transcript. Its AI assistant, Cosmo, can sit in the coding IDE as a configurable co-pilot for candidates.
The Build plan, which covers product, design and engineering interviewers, starts at $79/mo billed annually. Extra credits cost $20 each. See NTRVSTA vs CodeSignal.
Best for: teams that want inexpensive AI interviews and coding tests from one vendor.
4. NTRVSTA (us)
NTRVSTA is an AI interviewer, not a coding pad. It runs the first technical round for you: a live conversation, as a video avatar or audio, that gets harder when a candidate answers well and eases off when they struggle. The exam library covers Java, Python, C++, JavaScript and more, frameworks like React, Angular and Node.js, and AI/ML and DevOps tools. System-design rounds use an interactive whiteboard, and a hint system shows how a candidate uses a nudge, which is often what a real teammate would give.
Because the same interviewer handles STAR behavioral questions and communication, you can test a senior engineer's technical depth and how they explain trade-offs in one session. Reports score technical skills, English proficiency and communication separately, with video snippets. Plans are public, from $299/mo. Our NYC Local Law 144 bias audit (Asenion, finalized October 20, 2026) is on our compliance page.
Where NTRVSTA isn't the right fit: if you need a full collaborative IDE where engineers pair with candidates, or auto-graded coding tests run against test cases, HackerRank, CoderPad or Codility are built for that. If you'd rather have human interviewers, choose Karat. We're also not an ATS, and our public API is still coming soon.
Best for: teams that want AI to run adaptive first-round technical interviews, including system design and soft skills, before engineers get involved.
Try a technical sample interview
5. Karat
Karat is the human option. Karat says its trained Interview Engineers run technical interviews for employers, using structured content and scoring rubrics. Its NextGen format, launched December 10, 2025, has candidates work on multi-file projects with an AI assistant while a live Karat engineer observes and probes their reasoning. Karat says AI never makes final hiring decisions.
Karat provides its SOC 2 Type II report on request. Pricing isn't published.
Best for: engineering orgs that want consistent, human-run first rounds without using their own engineers' time.
6. Codility
Codility offers async coding tasks (Screen) and structured live interviews (Interview) in a VS Code environment. Codility says you decide how candidates may use its Agentic AI Copilot, and it tests skills like prompt writing, judging AI output and debugging AI-written code. Proctoring, ID checks and impersonation detection come built in.
Starter costs $1,200 a year for one user and 120 invites; Scale is shown at $6,000. Codility lists SOC 2 and ISO 27001 and integrates with Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby and Workday.
Best for: enterprises that want rigorous, proctored technical interviews with controlled AI use.
7. Glider AI
Glider AI bundles technical assessments, coding simulations, live coding interviews, one-way and AI video interviews, and integrity tools like ID verification and proctoring. It's aimed at staffing and contingent-workforce hiring, and integrates with Bullhorn, Beeline and Magnit alongside the usual ATS names. Findem announced a definitive agreement to acquire Glider AI on March 19, 2026. Pricing isn't published.
Best for: staffing firms that need to validate contractors' technical skills and identity in one place.
Our pick
- You want everything from tests to an AI interviewer in one engineering platform: HackerRank.
- Your engineers run live interviews and want the best pad: CoderPad.
- You want AI interviews for engineers and go-to-market roles on a small budget: CodeSignal.
- You want an AI to run adaptive first rounds that include system design and communication: NTRVSTA.
- You want humans, just not your humans: Karat.
- You hire contractors through a staffing model: Glider AI.
Questions
What is a technical interview platform?
It's software for running live technical interviews, where a candidate writes code, designs a system or talks through a problem while an interviewer watches and asks questions. The interviewer can be your engineer, an AI agent, or an outside expert, depending on the platform.
Should candidates be allowed to use AI in a coding interview?
Many teams now say yes, because engineers use AI at work. What matters is a clear policy and a platform that shows how the candidate used it. HackerRank, CoderPad, Codility and Karat all describe ways to include an AI assistant in the session.
Can an AI interviewer replace engineers in technical interviews?
For the first round, it can take most of the load: asking questions, following up and scoring. Final rounds still benefit from your own engineers, who judge team fit and dig into areas the AI flagged. Use AI to protect engineer time, not to remove engineers from hiring.
What's the difference between a coding assessment and a technical interview?
A coding assessment is usually a timed, auto-graded test the candidate takes alone. A technical interview is a live conversation about how they solve a problem. Many teams use an assessment to screen, then an interview to understand reasoning.
Want to watch an AI run a live technical round? Book a 20-minute demo with us, or sit a sample technical interview. For async tests instead, see the best coding assessment tools.
We checked pricing and features for every product here in October 2026. They change often, so confirm with each vendor before you buy.
Sources
- HackerRank AI Interviewer (Chakra)
- HackerRank FAQ and plans
- TechCrunch on HackerRank's AI interviewer
- CoderPad homepage
- CoderPad pricing
- CodeSignal AI Interviewer
- CodeSignal pricing
- CodeSignal AI-assisted coding
- NTRVSTA pricing
- NTRVSTA bias audit
- Karat NextGen launch
- Karat customer FAQ
- Codility pricing
- Codility AI Copilot
- Glider AI homepage
- Findem to acquire Glider AI
