# Candidate assessment: what AI models recommend, October 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "pre-employment assessment platform" and as "skills testing tool for hiring", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/talent/candidate-assessment/

**Standing:** TestGorilla leads with 52% of first choices; verdict clear leader. 48 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TestGorilla | 52% | 11% | 53 |
| 2 | Criteria Corp | 19% | 14% | 35 |
| 3 | HackerRank | 2% | 9% | 23 |
| 4 | Testlify | 2% | 8% | 12 |
| 5 | CodeSignal | 2% | 8% | 13 |
| 6 | Vervoe | 0% | 4% | 25 |
| 7 | Codility | 0% | 13% | 15 |
| 8 | Bryq | 0% | 0% | 10 |
| 9 | Harver | 0% | 0% | 10 |
| 10 | SHL | 0% | 15% | 13 |
| 11 | The Predictive Index | 0% | 20% | 15 |
| 12 | HireVue | 0% | 32% | 19 |

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

- Claude Haiku 4.5: no first choice
- GPT-5.4 mini: TestGorilla; alternatives Codility, HackerRank, Mercer | Mettl
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: TestGorilla; alternatives Criteria Corp, The Predictive Index, Vervoe
- Perplexity Sonar: Criteria Corp; alternatives HireVue, TestGorilla, The Predictive Index
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Criteria Corp; alternatives HireVue, TestGorilla, The Predictive Index
- Mistral Small: Criteria Corp, Evalart; alternatives Adaface
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Criteria Corp; alternatives TestGorilla, eSkill
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: TestGorilla; alternatives CodeSignal, HireVue, Humantic AI
- Kimi K2: Criteria Corp; alternatives TestGorilla, The Predictive Index, Vervoe, Wonderlic
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: TestGorilla; alternatives Testlify, Vervoe
- MiniMax M2.5: Evalart, Toggl Hire
- GPT-6 Luna: Criteria Corp; alternatives TestGorilla
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Criteria Corp; alternatives Evalart

## Sources the answers cite

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

- testgorilla.com: 36 answers, 56 citations
- firsthr.app: 32 answers, 35 citations
- sigmundtest.com: 22 answers, 26 citations
- g2.com: 21 answers, 40 citations
- bryq.com: 18 answers, 23 citations
- hiretruffle.com: 18 answers, 20 citations
- aihr.com: 18 answers, 18 citations
- peoplemanagingpeople.com: 18 answers, 18 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://firsthr.app/compare/hiring/pre-employment-assessment (30 answers)
- https://aihr.com/blog/top-pre-employment-assessment-tools (18 answers)
- https://sigmundtest.com/en/ressources/blog-about-tests/sigmund/comprehensive-comparison-of-15-pre-employment-asse-05060100 (18 answers)
- https://testgorilla.com/blog/pre-employment-assessment-tools (18 answers)
- https://peoplemanagingpeople.com/tools/best-pre-employment-testing-software (17 answers)
- https://pin.com/blog/pre-employment-assessment-tools (16 answers)
- https://cangrade.com/blog/hr-strategy/talent-assessment-solutions-a-comprehensive-comparison (15 answers)
- https://greenhouse.com/blog/best-recruiting-assessment-tools (15 answers)
- https://bryq.com/blog/best-talent-assessment-platforms-2026 (12 answers)
- https://fitsmallbusiness.com/best-pre-employment-assessment-tools (12 answers)

## Warned against

- TestGorilla: 6 of 53 labels negative. "Why Avoid: If you have a limited budget or require responsive technical support, this platform may lead to frustration." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt)
- HireVue: 6 of 19 labels negative. "Facial analysis in video interviews flagged for bias FTC investigation... ACLU Colorado filed a complaint with the EEOC... against Intuit, Inc. and its AI vendor HireVue.†},{" (Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt)
- ProctorU: 4 of 4 labels negative. "Frequent reports of technical glitches, connection failures during exams... with an F rating on BBB" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt)
- Criteria Corp: 5 of 35 labels negative. "Avoid: Criteria Corp, Wonderlic, and HireVue if budget is a concern" (Kimi K2, budget prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: TestGorilla at 50%.

- TestGorilla: 68% to 50%, −18. Cleared the floor by 5 points · rank 1 of 115, unchanged.
- Criteria Corp: 10% to 17%, +7. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 2 of 115, unchanged.
- Vervoe: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 3 → 13 of 115.
- SHL: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 11 → 17 of 115.
- iMocha: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 5 → 18 of 115.
- The Predictive Index: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 6 → 20 of 115.
- HackerRank: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 12 → 7 of 115.
- CodeSignal: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 11 points · rank 18 → 9 of 115.
- Testlify: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 4 → 8 of 115.
- Codility: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 13 → 14 of 115.
- Harver: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 15 → 16 of 115.
- HireVue: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 28 → 27 of 115.

## 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.