§ The result
softgarden takes the total, Recruitly takes more of the criteria.
Within the ATS-integrated cohort, softgarden edges Recruitly by 1 point under rubric v1.0, 42 to 41. Recruitly leads more of the criteria, 4 against 2 for softgarden, yet softgarden takes Data Governance Disclosure, which carries 15% of the rubric, and the weighted sum with it. Data Governance Disclosure is both the widest raw gap and the heaviest weighted swing — Recruitly 45, softgarden 54 — and at a 15% weight it carries 52% of the weighted advantage softgarden holds across the 2 criteria on that side of the table.
Vendor profile
Recruitly
Recruitly is an all-in-one ATS and CRM for recruitment agencies. It includes AI candidate matching, which ranks candidates against live jobs and shows its reasons, and AI application review, which scores and explains each applicant against the job spec. It also offers external profile sourcing, CV parsing, an AI phone system and an AI meeting assistant.
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
Recruitly 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 | Recruitly | softgarden |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Low | Mid |
| Headquarters | AE | DE |
| Founded | 2015 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
15% weight · 31% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
Recruitly 45 · softgarden 54
1.3 weighted points to softgarden
18% weight · 60% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
Recruitly 15 · softgarden 22
1.3 weighted points to softgarden
15% weight · 78% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
Recruitly 35 · softgarden 30
0.8 weighted points to Recruitly
20% weight · 92% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
Recruitly 45 · softgarden 42
0.6 weighted points to Recruitly
12% weight · 97% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
Recruitly 60 · softgarden 58
0.2 weighted points to Recruitly
12% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
Recruitly 45 · softgarden 44
0.1 weighted points to Recruitly
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 6 figures above sum to -0.9 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 4.3 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 -0.9.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is Recruitly minus softgarden.
| Category | Weight | Recruitly | softgarden | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 45 | 42 | +3 | +0.6 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 15 | 22 | -7 | -1.3 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 35 | 30 | +5 | +0.8 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 45 | 54 | -9 | -1.3 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 60 | 58 | +2 | +0.2 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 45 | 44 | +1 | +0.1 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 58 | 58 | - | - |
| Total | 100% | 41 (F) | 42 (F) | -1 | -0.9 |
§ 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 | Recruitly | 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% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own 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% | 4 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own 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% | 6 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 4 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 32 | 5 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
Recruitly has 37 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 32 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.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 73 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 37 for Recruitly, across 3 distinct source domains, and 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- Recruitly 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