§ The result
Bullhorn leads softgarden by 12 points.
Bullhorn sits 12 points above softgarden under rubric v1.0, 54 against 42, with both filed under ATS-integrated. The 7 criteria split 6 to 1 in favour of Bullhorn: Bullhorn is ahead on Bias Audit Transparency and softgarden on Post-Market Monitoring. One criterion, Bias Audit Transparency, is both the widest raw gap (Bullhorn 58, softgarden 22) and the heaviest weighted swing, and at 18% weight it makes up 50% of the weighted advantage Bullhorn holds across the 6 criteria it leads.
Vendor profile
Bullhorn
Bullhorn is a cloud-based applicant tracking system and CRM for staffing and recruiting agencies, with AI features (Bullhorn Copilot/Amplify, automation, and Textkernel-powered search and match) that source, screen, and rank candidates against jobs.
Vendor profile
softgarden
softgarden is a German cloud applicant tracking system (multiposting, career sites, applicant management and onboarding) with optional AI features: AI-Assisted Applicant Matching, which highlights applicants who closely match a job's requirements, and a newer LLM-based Screening Assistant, which scores each applicant against screening criteria.
§ The record
Bullhorn and softgarden are both filed under ATS-integrated AI. They also share 1 secondary category: Screening.
Both are in scope of EU AI Act, NYC LL 144, Colorado AI Act and Illinois HB 3773.
| Record | Bullhorn | softgarden |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | High | Mid |
| Headquarters | US | DE |
| Founded | 1999 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 46% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
Bullhorn 58 · softgarden 22
6.5 weighted points to Bullhorn
20% weight · 75% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
Bullhorn 62 · softgarden 42
4.0 weighted points to Bullhorn
15% weight · 83% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
Bullhorn 38 · softgarden 30
1.2 weighted points to Bullhorn
12% weight · 91% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
Bullhorn 35 · softgarden 44
1.1 weighted points to softgarden
15% weight · 97% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
Bullhorn 60 · softgarden 54
0.9 weighted points to Bullhorn
12% weight · 99% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
Bullhorn 60 · softgarden 58
0.2 weighted points to Bullhorn
8% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
Bullhorn 60 · softgarden 58
0.2 weighted points to Bullhorn
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to +11.9 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 14.1 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +12 beside that +11.9.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is Bullhorn minus softgarden.
| Category | Weight | Bullhorn | softgarden | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 62 | 42 | +20 | +4.0 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 58 | 22 | +36 | +6.5 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 38 | 30 | +8 | +1.2 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 60 | 54 | +6 | +0.9 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 60 | 58 | +2 | +0.2 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 35 | 44 | -9 | -1.1 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 60 | 58 | +2 | +0.2 |
| Total | 100% | 54 (F) | 42 (F) | +12 | +11.9 |
§ Evidence
Cited sources and documented absences, criterion by criterion.
An absence is a finding, not a blank: the reviewer looked for a named artefact and recorded that it is not located. Where a source sits is a fact about hosting only.
| Criterion | Weight | Bullhorn | softgarden | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 6 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 3 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 7 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 15 | 6 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
Bullhorn has 20 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 15 with a source URL, 6 documented absences; softgarden has 36 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 31 with a source URL, 5 documented absences.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 56 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 20 for Bullhorn, across 2 distinct source domains, and 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- Bullhorn last reviewed
- June 7, 2026 · HireAIScore editorial team
- softgarden last reviewed
- September 25, 2026 · HireAIScore editorial team
HireAIScore scores are editorial research, not legal advice, and no vendor pays for placement, scoring or removal — see the methodology, conflicts policy and terms.
§ Where next