§ The result
Indeed leads softgarden by 8 points.
Under rubric v1.0, Indeed, filed under Sourcing, finishes on 50 and softgarden, filed under ATS-integrated, on 42, 8 points apart. The 7 criteria split 6 to 1 in favour of Indeed: Indeed is ahead on Article 11 Technical Documentation and softgarden on Post-Market Monitoring. Article 11 Technical Documentation is the widest raw gap and the heaviest weighted swing at once (Indeed 58, softgarden 42, 20% weight), but it accounts for only 36% of the weighted advantage Indeed holds across the 6 criteria on that side of the table.
Vendor profile
Indeed
Job marketplace whose employer-side AI (the Talent Scout agent, Sourcing Assistant, Smart Screening and candidate matching) sources, ranks and scores candidates from Indeed's profile pool and applicant flow and drafts outreach to them.
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
Indeed is filed under Candidate sourcing AI, softgarden under ATS-integrated AI. They also share 1 secondary category: Screening.
Both are in scope of EU AI Act, Colorado AI Act, NYC LL 144 and Illinois HB 3773.
| Record | Indeed | softgarden |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Mid | Mid |
| Headquarters | US | DE |
| Founded | 2004 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
20% weight · 34% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
Indeed 58 · softgarden 42
3.2 weighted points to Indeed
18% weight · 64% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
Indeed 38 · softgarden 22
2.9 weighted points to Indeed
15% weight · 77% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
Indeed 38 · softgarden 30
1.2 weighted points to Indeed
15% weight · 83% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
Indeed 58 · softgarden 54
0.6 weighted points to Indeed
12% weight · 90% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
Indeed 63 · softgarden 58
0.6 weighted points to Indeed
12% weight · 95% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
Indeed 40 · softgarden 44
0.5 weighted points to softgarden
8% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
Indeed 64 · softgarden 58
0.5 weighted points to Indeed
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to +8.5 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 9.4 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +8 beside that +8.5.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is Indeed minus softgarden.
| Category | Weight | Indeed | softgarden | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 58 | 42 | +16 | +3.2 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 38 | 22 | +16 | +2.9 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 38 | 30 | +8 | +1.2 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 58 | 54 | +4 | +0.6 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 63 | 58 | +5 | +0.6 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 40 | 44 | -4 | -0.5 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 64 | 58 | +6 | +0.5 |
| Total | 100% | 50 (F) | 42 (F) | +8 | +8.5 |
§ 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 | Indeed | softgarden | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 5 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 6 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 4 | 2 | Sources on a separate domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 6 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 7 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 7 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 4 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 7 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 36 | 5 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
Indeed has 40 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 36 with a source URL, 5 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 Indeed sit on a domain separate from the vendor's own site.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 76 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 40 for Indeed, across 5 distinct source domains, and 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- Indeed last reviewed
- September 25, 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