§ The result
HackerRank leads softgarden on all 7 criteria.
HackerRank sits 13 points above softgarden under rubric v1.0 — 55 against 42 — with HackerRank filed under Assessment and softgarden under ATS-integrated. Of the 7 criteria softgarden wins none, and the narrowest lead HackerRank holds is on Data Governance Disclosure, HackerRank 55 to softgarden 54. One criterion, Bias Audit Transparency, is both the widest raw gap (HackerRank 68, softgarden 22) and the heaviest weighted swing, and at 18% weight it makes up 62% of the weighted advantage HackerRank holds across the 7 criteria it leads.
Vendor profile
HackerRank
HackerRank is a technical skills assessment platform for developer hiring that uses coding tests, interviews, and AI-based features (question generation, ML plagiarism/AI-code detection, and image-analysis proctoring) to evaluate candidates.
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
HackerRank is filed under Assessment AI, softgarden under ATS-integrated AI. They also share 1 secondary category: Screening.
Both are in scope of NYC LL 144, Illinois HB 3773, EU AI Act and Colorado AI Act. Only HackerRank is in scope of Mobley v. Workday.
| Record | HackerRank | softgarden |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Enterprise | Mid |
| Headquarters | US | DE |
| Founded | 2009 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 62% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
HackerRank 68 · softgarden 22
8.3 weighted points to HackerRank
20% weight · 88% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
HackerRank 60 · softgarden 42
3.6 weighted points to HackerRank
15% weight · 94% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
HackerRank 35 · softgarden 30
0.8 weighted points to HackerRank
8% weight · 96% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
HackerRank 62 · softgarden 58
0.3 weighted points to HackerRank
12% weight · 98% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
HackerRank 60 · softgarden 58
0.2 weighted points to HackerRank
15% weight · 99% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
HackerRank 55 · softgarden 54
0.1 weighted points to HackerRank
12% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
HackerRank 45 · softgarden 44
0.1 weighted points to HackerRank
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to +13.5 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 13.5 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +13 beside that +13.5.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is HackerRank minus softgarden.
| Category | Weight | HackerRank | softgarden | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 60 | 42 | +18 | +3.6 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 68 | 22 | +46 | +8.3 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 35 | 30 | +5 | +0.8 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 55 | 54 | +1 | +0.1 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 60 | 58 | +2 | +0.2 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 45 | 44 | +1 | +0.1 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 62 | 58 | +4 | +0.3 |
| Total | 100% | 55 (F) | 42 (F) | +13 | +13.5 |
§ 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 | HackerRank | 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 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 7 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 2 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 14 | 4 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
HackerRank has 18 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 14 with a source URL, 4 documented absences; softgarden has 36 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 31 with a source URL, 5 documented absences; some documentation or audit rows for HackerRank sit on a domain separate from the vendor's own site.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 54 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 18 for HackerRank, across 3 distinct source domains, and 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- HackerRank 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