§ The result
HiredScore leads softgarden by 10 points.
HiredScore sits 10 points above softgarden under rubric v1.0 — 52 against 42 — with HiredScore filed under Sourcing and softgarden under ATS-integrated. HiredScore leads 5 of the 7 criteria, including Bias Audit Transparency, while softgarden leads 1, including Post-Market Monitoring, and 1 is level. One criterion, Bias Audit Transparency, is both the widest raw gap (HiredScore 55, softgarden 22) and the heaviest weighted swing, and at 18% weight it makes up 54% of the weighted advantage HiredScore holds across the 5 criteria it leads.
Vendor profile
HiredScore
AI-driven talent orchestration layer that ranks and routes candidates within an existing ATS. Acquired by Workday in 2024.
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
HiredScore is filed under Candidate sourcing AI, softgarden under ATS-integrated AI. They record no secondary category in common.
Both are in scope of EU AI Act, Colorado AI Act and NYC LL 144. Only softgarden is in scope of Illinois HB 3773.
| Record | HiredScore | softgarden |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Enterprise | Mid |
| Headquarters | US | DE |
| Founded | 2012 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 49% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
HiredScore 55 · softgarden 22
5.9 weighted points to HiredScore
20% weight · 87% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
HiredScore 65 · softgarden 42
4.6 weighted points to HiredScore
12% weight · 95% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
HiredScore 35 · softgarden 44
1.1 weighted points to softgarden
12% weight · 97% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
HiredScore 60 · softgarden 58
0.2 weighted points to HiredScore
8% weight · 99% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
HiredScore 60 · softgarden 58
0.2 weighted points to HiredScore
15% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
HiredScore 55 · softgarden 54
0.1 weighted points to HiredScore
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 6 figures above sum to +10.0 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 12.2 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +10 beside that +10.0.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is HiredScore minus softgarden.
| Category | Weight | HiredScore | softgarden | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 65 | 42 | +23 | +4.6 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 55 | 22 | +33 | +5.9 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 30 | 30 | - | - |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 55 | 54 | +1 | +0.1 |
| 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% | 52 (F) | 42 (F) | +10 | +10.0 |
§ 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 | HiredScore | softgarden | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 3 | 0 | Sources on a separate domain | 6 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 1 | 0 | Audit reportSources on a separate domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 0 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 1 | 0 | Sources on a separate domain | 7 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 1 | 0 | Sources on a separate domain | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 0 | 1 | — | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 1 | 0 | Sources on a separate domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 7 | 2 | Audit reportSources on a separate domain | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
HiredScore has 9 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 7 with a source URL, 2 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 HiredScore sit on a domain separate from the vendor's own site.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 45 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 9 for HiredScore, across 1 distinct source domain, and 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- HiredScore last reviewed
- May 21, 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