# Technical hiring assessments: what AI models recommend, October 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "coding assessment platform" and as "technical interview 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/technical-hiring-assessments/

**Standing:** HackerRank leads with 17% of first choices; verdict contested. 58 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HackerRank | 17% | 22% | 64 |
| 2 | CodeSignal | 16% | 17% | 58 |
| 3 | CoderPad | 10% | 6% | 52 |
| 4 | Coderbyte | 10% | 9% | 22 |
| 5 | TestGorilla | 10% | 32% | 28 |
| 6 | Codility | 9% | 25% | 53 |
| 7 | HackerEarth | 7% | 13% | 15 |
| 8 | DevSkiller | 2% | 0% | 10 |
| 9 | Karat | 0% | 20% | 10 |

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

- Claude Haiku 4.5: HackerEarth, TestGorilla; alternatives CodeSignal
- GPT-5.4 mini: HackerRank; alternatives CodeSignal, Codility
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: CoderPad, Woven; alternatives CodeSignal
- Perplexity Sonar: CodeSignal; alternatives Coderbyte, DevSkiller
- Grok 4.1 Fast: HackerRank; alternatives CodeSignal, CoderPad, Coderbyte, Codility
- Mistral Small: Goodfit; alternatives HackerRank
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Codility; alternatives CodeSignal, HackerRank
- Llama 4 Maverick: Goodfit; alternatives CodeSignal, Coderbyte, HackerRank
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: CodeSignal; alternatives CoderPad, Codility, TestGorilla, Voomer
- Kimi K2: Coderbyte; alternatives HackerRank, TestGorilla
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Codility, TestGorilla; alternatives CodeSignal, Coderbyte, HackerRank
- MiniMax M2.5: Codility; alternatives AssessHub, CoderPad, HackerRank
- GPT-6 Luna: CodeSignal Hire Grow; alternatives CoderPad, HackerRank
- Muse Glimmer 30B: CodeSignal, DevSkiller, HackerRank; alternatives Codility

## Sources the answers cite

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

- hackerrank.com: 48 answers, 112 citations
- codility.com: 35 answers, 50 citations
- selectsoftwarereviews.com: 32 answers, 36 citations
- g2.com: 26 answers, 42 citations
- codesignal.com: 25 answers, 37 citations
- testgorilla.com: 23 answers, 37 citations
- adaface.com: 23 answers, 27 citations
- coderpad.io: 22 answers, 26 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://hackerrank.com/writing/best-coding-assessment-tools (32 answers)
- https://codility.com/how-to-choose-technical-assessment-platform (27 answers)
- https://selectsoftwarereviews.com/buyer-guide/online-coding-interview-tools (27 answers)
- https://adaface.com/coding-assessment-tools (18 answers)
- https://hackerrank.com/writing/best-developer-assessment-platforms-for-startups-hiring-remotely-october-2025 (17 answers)
- https://goodfit.so/guides/best-coding-assessment-platforms (16 answers)
- https://augmentcode.com/tools/best-coding-assessment-tools-enterprise (15 answers)
- https://index.dev/blog/best-developer-assessment-tools (13 answers)
- https://guideflow.com/blog/technical-skills-screening-software (12 answers)
- https://testgorilla.com/blog/coding-assessment-tools (12 answers)

## Warned against

- HackerRank: 14 of 64 labels negative. "LeetCode-style algorithm challenge platforms (e.g., HackerRank, Codility, CodeSignal): While widely used, these are often criticized for not reflecting real-world job tasks" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Codility: 13 of 53 labels negative. "Avoid if budget is the main constraint... Codility tends to start higher and is more enterprise-oriented" (GPT-5.4 mini, budget prompt)
- CodeSignal: 10 of 58 labels negative. "Avoid enterprise-only platforms like CodeSignal, which require contacting sales and have no transparent pricing" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt)
- TestGorilla: 9 of 28 labels negative. "TestGorilla-style general testing platforms when your need is deep technical screening, because they are broader assessment suites rather than specialized developer tools." (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 13 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: HackerRank at 16%.

- HackerRank: 28% to 16%, −12. Inside the floor by 1 point · rank 1 of 67, unchanged.
- CoderPad: 21% to 10%, −10. Inside the floor by 3 points · rank 2 → 3 of 67.
- HackerEarth: 0% to 8%, +8. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 15 → 7 of 67.
- CodeSignal: 10% to 16%, +6. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 4 → 2 of 67.
- Codility: 5% to 10%, +5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 7 → 4 of 67.
- TestGorilla: 5% to 10%, +5. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 6 of 67, unchanged.
- Coderbyte: 13% to 10%, −3. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 3 → 5 of 67.
- Karat: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 13 points · rank 13 → 15 of 67.

## 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.