AI interview pricing in 2026: what tools cost per interview

Published prices, worked cost-per-interview math, and what to ask vendors who only quote on a call.

The short answer

AI interview pricing ranges from about $4 to over $30 per interview among vendors that publish their prices, and many of the best-known vendors don't publish prices at all. Most tools sell monthly or annual plans that include a set number of interviews or credits, so the number that matters is your cost per completed interview at your real volume. HireVue, Ribbon, Talview, Alex, Eightfold and several others quote only after a demo. Budget for the plan tier you'll actually need (ATS integrations and SSO often sit on higher tiers), plus overages and any annual commitment.

A note on who wrote this: we make one of the tools below and list our own public prices alongside everyone else's. Every competitor price comes from the vendor's own pricing page, linked at the end.

How AI interview tools charge

Plan with an interview or credit allowance. A monthly or annual fee covers a fixed number of interviews, attempts or credits. This is the most common model among vendors with public pricing.
Credits by type or length. Some vendors charge different credit amounts for different interview types or durations, for example more credits for an avatar interview than an audio one.
Per role. Some one-way video tools charge per live job opening per month.
Per seat. ATS and sourcing tools often price per recruiter, with AI interviewing as an add-on.
Custom contracts. Enterprise vendors quote based on headcount, hiring volume or units, often with minimum commitments and 12-month terms.

Published AI interview pricing, compared

These are the vendors in our research with public prices for AI interviews or closely related screening, as listed on their own sites in October 2026.

Vendor	Published plans	What's included
NTRVSTA (us)	Free Demo $0; Starter $299/mo; Growth $699/mo; Scale $1,999/mo; Enterprise custom	1,500 / 4,000 / 12,500 credits a month (about 30 / 80 / 250 interviews); audio uses 1 credit a minute, avatar 3 credits a minute
CodeSignal	Build $79/mo billed annually ($99 monthly); Grow $479/mo annually ($599 monthly); Pro custom	Build: 60 credits a year (5 a month on monthly); Grow: 420 a year (35 a month). Extra credits $20 each. A credit is used per assessment, AI interview or live interview
HackerRank	Starter $199/mo or $1,990/yr; Pro $449/mo or $4,490/yr; Enterprise custom	60 or 360 attempts a year. Pricing for its Chakra AI interviewer is not published
Interviewer.AI	Essential $199/mo; Professional $399/mo; Enterprise custom	50 or 120 credits a month. Essential is AI-scored one-way video; Professional adds conversational avatar interviews at 2 credits each
Classet	From $249/mo billed annually ($349 month-to-month); ATS Sync from $1,995/mo	50 completed AI phone interviews included
CoderPad	Starter $80/mo annual; Team $400/mo annual; Frontier Lite $1,000/mo; Enterprise custom	60 or 360 interviews or tests a year; $30 per extra. Its Qualify AI screen is asynchronous video
TestGorilla	Free; Core from $215/mo; Plus from $520/mo (annual)	AI interviews on Plus cost 2 credits per candidate
Metaview	First 25 AI screens free	Paid screening rate not published

For comparison, one-way video tools without a live AI interviewer publish lower entry prices: Hireflix from $75/mo billed yearly, Willo at £49 per live role per month, and Spark Hire from $249/mo billed annually.

AI interview cost per interview: the math

Dividing each published plan by its included volume gives a rough cost per interview, before any discounts:

Plan	Math	About per interview
Interviewer.AI Essential (one-way)	$199 / 50 credits	$3.98
Classet Hiring Hub (annual)	$249 / 50 interviews	$4.98
Interviewer.AI Professional (avatar, 2 credits)	$399 / 120 credits x 2	$6.65
Our Scale plan	$1,999 / about 250 interviews	$8.00
Our Growth plan	$699 / about 80 interviews	$8.74
Our Starter plan	$299 / about 30 interviews	$9.97
HackerRank Pro (annual)	$4,490 / 360 attempts	$12.47
CodeSignal Grow (annual)	$5,748 / 420 credits	$13.69
CodeSignal Build (annual)	$948 / 60 credits	$15.80
HackerRank Starter (annual)	$1,990 / 60 attempts	$33.17

Read this table with care. The products aren't equivalent: a one-way video credit, an audio interview, an avatar interview and a coding assessment attempt measure different things. Credit-based plans also depend on interview length. On our own plans, the site's worked example is a 25-minute audio interview at 25 credits, or 75 credits as an avatar, which on Growth comes to about $8.74 per interview, or $0.35 per minute. A longer interview, or one with an avatar, uses more of the allowance. Ask every vendor for the cost of the exact interview you plan to run.

HireVue pricing and other vendors that don't publish prices

HireVue does not publish pricing. Its pricing page asks you to request a demo. HireVue's platform also includes video interviewing, assessments and other modules alongside its AI Interviewer, so ask exactly which modules a quote covers. If you came here searching for HireVue pricing, the honest answer is that only HireVue can give you a number. Our HireVue comparison and list of HireVue alternatives cover what you get for it.

Other vendors in our research that don't publish prices, with what they do say:

Talview: custom, unit-based pricing, with a minimum commitment of roughly 150 to 200 candidates according to its pricing page.
Ribbon: offers a 7-day free trial; prices aren't published. Dayforce announced an agreement to acquire Ribbon on October 23, 2026, which had not closed when we checked.
Tenzo: says pricing is scoped to hiring volume and roles.
Alex, Eightfold, HeyMilo, Fountain, Paradox and Karat: demo or contact sales only.

When a price isn't public, ask for three things in writing: the price per completed interview at your volume, the minimum annual commitment, and what happens to unused interviews.

Hidden costs to budget for

Integrations on higher tiers. HackerRank lists ATS integrations on Pro, not Starter. Interviewer.AI and CoderPad list ATS integrations on their Enterprise plans.
Overages. CoderPad lists $30 per extra test or interview, CodeSignal $20 per extra credit, and Interviewer.AI top-ups from $150 per 50 credits.
Annual vs monthly. Several vendors show a lower monthly price for annual billing. CodeSignal Build is $79/mo billed annually versus $99/mo month to month.
Concurrency. Some plans limit how many interviews can run at once, which matters for hiring events or big campaigns.
Your team's time. A cheaper tool that leaves recruiters watching hours of video can cost more in salary than it saves. See one-way vs live AI interviews for the review-time trade-off.

How to estimate your AI interview budget

Count interviews, not applicants. Example: 25 hires a year, 40 first-round interviews per hire, so 1,000 interviews a year, or about 85 a month.
Adjust for completion. If you invite 120 people a month and 85 complete, check whether the vendor charges for invites, starts or completions. CodeSignal, for example, says a credit is used when a candidate starts.
Pick the format and length. A 20-minute audio screen and a 45-minute avatar interview with system design cost very different amounts on credit-based plans.
Price the tier you need. Add the cost of ATS integration, SSO or proctoring if they're on a higher plan.
Compare against today. At 85 interviews a month and 30 recruiter minutes each, you're spending over 40 recruiter hours a month on first rounds.

Our full plan details are on the pricing section of our homepage. To compare products beyond price, see the best AI interview software and, for engineering-only hiring, the best coding assessment tools.

Questions

How much does an AI interview cost?

Among vendors with public prices, roughly $4 to $33 per interview, depending on the format and plan. One-way AI video credits sit at the low end, coding assessment attempts on small plans at the high end, and live audio or avatar interviews in between.

How much does HireVue cost?

HireVue doesn't publish pricing. Its pricing page directs you to request a demo, and its platform includes several modules, so confirm what a quote covers. Ask for the price per completed interview and any minimum commitment in writing.

Is there a free AI interview tool?

Some vendors have free tiers or trials. TestGorilla has a free plan with limited AI interviews, Metaview gives the first 25 AI screens free, Ribbon offers a 7-day trial, and our Free Demo plan includes 50 credits. Free tiers are best for testing, not ongoing hiring.

Are AI interviews cheaper than recruiter phone screens?

Usually, for first rounds. A 30-minute recruiter screen costs that recruiter's time plus scheduling, while published AI interview prices mostly fall between about $4 and $16 per interview. The real saving depends on how long your team spends reviewing results.

Want a cost estimate at your real volume? Book a 20-minute demo and we'll do the math with you, or try a sample interview first.

Every price on this page was read from the vendor's own site in October 2026. Plans and credit rules get revised without much notice, so get a current quote in writing before you budget.

Sources

NTRVSTA