§ The result
Ribbon takes the total, softgarden takes more of the criteria.
Ribbon holds a 1-point edge over softgarden under rubric v1.0, 43 to 42, across the Screening and ATS-integrated cohorts. softgarden leads more of the criteria, 3 against 2 for Ribbon, yet Ribbon takes Bias Audit Transparency, which carries 18% of the rubric, and the weighted sum with it. Bias Audit Transparency is both the widest raw gap and the heaviest weighted swing — Ribbon 38, softgarden 22 — and at an 18% weight it carries 86% of the weighted advantage Ribbon holds across the 2 criteria on that side of the table.
Vendor profile
Ribbon
Ribbon is an AI recruiter that runs voice and video screening interviews with applicants around the clock, scores each interview against default and custom rubrics, ranks candidates for recruiter review, and syncs the results to 60+ applicant tracking systems.
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
Ribbon is filed under Screening AI, softgarden under ATS-integrated AI. They record no secondary category in common.
Both are in scope of EU AI Act, NYC LL 144, Illinois HB 3773 and Colorado AI Act. Only Ribbon is in scope of Mobley v. Workday.
| Record | Ribbon | softgarden |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Low | Mid |
| Headquarters | CA | DE |
| Founded | 2020 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 56% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
Ribbon 38 · softgarden 22
2.9 weighted points to Ribbon
12% weight · 73% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
Ribbon 37 · softgarden 44
0.8 weighted points to softgarden
15% weight · 84% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
Ribbon 50 · softgarden 54
0.6 weighted points to softgarden
15% weight · 93% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
Ribbon 33 · softgarden 30
0.4 weighted points to Ribbon
12% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
Ribbon 55 · softgarden 58
0.4 weighted points to softgarden
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 5.1 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 Ribbon minus softgarden.
| Category | Weight | Ribbon | softgarden | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 42 | 42 | - | - |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 38 | 22 | +16 | +2.9 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 33 | 30 | +3 | +0.4 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 50 | 54 | -4 | -0.6 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 55 | 58 | -3 | -0.4 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 37 | 44 | -7 | -0.8 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 58 | 58 | - | - |
| Total | 100% | 43 (F) | 42 (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 | Ribbon | softgarden | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 6 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 4 | 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% | 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% | 6 | 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 domain | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 31 | 4 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
Ribbon has 35 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 31 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 Ribbon sit on a domain separate from the vendor's own site.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 71 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 35 for Ribbon, across 2 distinct source domains, and 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- Ribbon 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