§ The result
1 point separates HiringBranch and Textkernel.
HiringBranch (Assessment) edges Textkernel (Sourcing) by 1 point under rubric v1.0, 52 to 51. HiringBranch leads 4 of the 7 criteria, including Article 11 Technical Documentation, while Textkernel leads 1, including Human Oversight Design, and 2 are level. HiringBranch takes the heaviest weighted swing, Article 11 Technical Documentation at 20% (HiringBranch 60, Textkernel 55), which is 40% of the weighted advantage HiringBranch holds; the widest raw gap is a different criterion, Human Oversight Design, HiringBranch 52 to Textkernel 60.
Vendor profile
HiringBranch
HiringBranch is an AI skills-assessment platform that measures 50+ communication and soft skills from candidates' open-ended, conversational job-simulation responses (text and voice) to screen and rank applicants for customer-facing roles.
Vendor profile
Textkernel
Textkernel provides AI-powered CV/resume and job parsing, semantic search, and candidate-job matching technology (including the acquired Sovren engine) embedded inside ATS, job board, and HR systems.
§ The record
HiringBranch is filed under Assessment AI, Textkernel under Candidate sourcing 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 HiringBranch is in scope of Mobley v. Workday.
| Record | HiringBranch | Textkernel |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Headquarters | CA | NL |
| Founded | 2014 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
20% weight · 29% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
HiringBranch 60 · Textkernel 55
1.0 weighted points to HiringBranch
12% weight · 56% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
HiringBranch 52 · Textkernel 60
1.0 weighted points to Textkernel
18% weight · 82% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
HiringBranch 60 · Textkernel 55
0.9 weighted points to HiringBranch
15% weight · 95% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
HiringBranch 35 · Textkernel 32
0.4 weighted points to HiringBranch
8% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
HiringBranch 64 · Textkernel 62
0.2 weighted points to HiringBranch
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 5 figures above sum to +1.5 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 3.5 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +1 beside that +1.5.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is HiringBranch minus Textkernel.
| Category | Weight | HiringBranch | Textkernel | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 60 | 55 | +5 | +1.0 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 60 | 55 | +5 | +0.9 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 35 | 32 | +3 | +0.4 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 55 | 55 | - | - |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 52 | 60 | -8 | -1.0 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 40 | 40 | - | - |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 64 | 62 | +2 | +0.2 |
| Total | 100% | 52 (F) | 51 (F) | +1 | +1.5 |
§ 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 | HiringBranch | Textkernel | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 2 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 1 | 1 | — |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 13 | 6 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 13 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
HiringBranch has 19 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 13 with a source URL, 6 documented absences; Textkernel has 18 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 13 with a source URL, 5 documented absences.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 37 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 19 for HiringBranch, across 1 distinct source domain, and 18 for Textkernel, across 1 distinct source domain.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- HiringBranch last reviewed
- July 17, 2026 · HireAIScore editorial team
- Textkernel last reviewed
- June 7, 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