# AI recruiting assistants: what AI models recommend, October 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "AI recruiter" and as "AI-powered candidate screening tool", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/talent/ai-recruiting-assistants/

**Standing:** Manatal leads with 31% of first choices; verdict contested. 49 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manatal | 31% | 0% | 24 |
| 2 | Workable | 22% | 4% | 26 |
| 3 | Greenhouse | 10% | 23% | 26 |
| 4 | Zoho Recruit | 8% | 0% | 13 |
| 5 | Gem | 6% | 0% | 13 |
| 6 | Humanly | 4% | 10% | 10 |
| 7 | Ashby | 4% | 17% | 12 |
| 8 | Juicebox | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 9 | HireVue | 2% | 35% | 23 |
| 10 | Eightfold AI | 2% | 38% | 26 |
| 11 | SeekOut | 0% | 0% | 18 |
| 12 | hireEZ | 0% | 6% | 18 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: GoPerfect; alternatives Ashby, Greenhouse, Manatal, Pin
- GPT-5.4 mini: Gem; alternatives 100Hires, Greenhouse
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Gem; alternatives Juicebox, Metaview, Moonhub, hireEZ
- Perplexity Sonar: Workable; alternatives LinkedIn Hiring Assistant, Paradox, SeekOut
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Workable; alternatives Greenhouse, Lever, Manatal, Pin
- Mistral Small: Workable; alternatives Greenhouse, SeekOut, hireEZ
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Gem; alternatives Workable, hireEZ
- Llama 4 Maverick: Greenhouse; alternatives SeekOut, Workable, hireEZ
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Workable; alternatives Greenhouse, SeekOut, hireEZ
- Kimi K2: Greenhouse, Workable; alternatives Lever, Paradox
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Greenhouse; alternatives Alex, Ashby, BrightHire, Gem
- MiniMax M2.5: Workable; alternatives Greenhouse, Humanly, Lever, SeekOut
- GPT-6 Luna: Ashby; alternatives Gem, hireEZ
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Greenhouse, Workable; alternatives Ashby, Gem, GoPerfect, hireEZ

## Sources the answers cite

77 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- pin.com: 34 answers, 48 citations
- lever.co: 24 answers, 26 citations
- hiretruffle.com: 23 answers, 25 citations
- greenhouse.com: 23 answers, 24 citations
- herohunt.ai: 20 answers, 31 citations
- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 18 answers, 25 citations
- recruiterflow.com: 17 answers, 19 citations
- guideflow.com: 16 answers, 16 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://lever.co/insights/best-ai-recruiting-tools (23 answers)
- https://hiretruffle.com/blog/ai-recruiting-software (19 answers)
- https://greenhouse.com/blog/best-ai-recruiting-software (16 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/ai-recruiting-software (16 answers)
- https://zapier.com/blog/ai-recruiting-tools (16 answers)
- https://resources.rework.com/tools/ai-tools/best-ai-recruiting-tools-2026 (12 answers)
- https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-ai-recruiting-software (11 answers)
- https://pin.com/blog/best-ai-recruiting-tools-2026 (11 answers)
- https://leonar.app/blog/ai-recruiting-tools (10 answers)
- https://qureos.com/hiring-guide/best-ai-recruiting-platforms (10 answers)

## Warned against

- Workday Recruiting: 9 of 12 labels negative. "Mobley v. Workday, Inc., has drawn national attention, where the plaintiff alleged that Workday's AI-powered applicant screening tools discriminated against applicants based on race, age, and disability." (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)
- HireVue: 8 of 23 labels negative. "HireVue is one of the vendors named in ongoing FCRA investigations and in a 2025 disability / race complaint." (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- Eightfold AI: 10 of 26 labels negative. "Eightfold AI and Workday's AI screening modules currently carry the most significant legal and reputational risk based on active litigation." (DeepSeek V4 Flash, negative prompt)
- Paradox: 6 of 27 labels negative. "Critics argue that interpreting text messages for personality traits lacks scientific rigor" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: GoPerfect (19%) to Manatal (33%). Margin 31 points, beyond the floor.

- Manatal: 12% to 33%, +21. Cleared the floor by 8 points · rank 3 → 1 of 84.
- GoPerfect: 19% to 2%, −17. Cleared the floor by 4 points · rank 1 → 10 of 84.
- Workable: 17% to 24%, +7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 2 of 84, unchanged.
- Zoho Recruit: 2% to 10%, +7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 9 → 3 of 84.
- Ashby: 7% to 0%, −7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 5 → 20 of 84.
- Greenhouse: 5% to 10%, +5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 6 → 4 of 84.
- Gem: 2% to 7%, +5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 10 → 5 of 84.
- Juicebox: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 20 → 6 of 84.
- HireVue: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 71 → 11 of 84.
- Eightfold AI: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 83 → 12 of 84.
- SeekOut: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 8 → 13 of 84.
- hireEZ: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 19 → 14 of 84.

## Record

- Method: https://hr-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://hr-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, hr-ai-index.com.