§ The result
SmartRecruiters leads softgarden on all 7 criteria.
Under rubric v1.0, SmartRecruiters opens a 20-point lead on softgarden, 62 (D) to 42 (F), with both scored in the ATS-integrated cohort. Of the 7 criteria softgarden wins none, and the narrowest lead SmartRecruiters holds is on Human Oversight Design, SmartRecruiters 62 to softgarden 58. Bias Audit Transparency is both the widest raw gap and the heaviest weighted swing — SmartRecruiters 78, softgarden 22 — and at an 18% weight it carries 49% of the weighted advantage SmartRecruiters holds across the 7 criteria on that side of the table.
Vendor profile
SmartRecruiters
SmartRecruiters is an enterprise applicant tracking system and talent acquisition suite whose AI layer (the Winston assistant plus SmartAssistant/Winston Match) screens, ranks, and matches candidates to requisitions to support recruiter decisions.
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
SmartRecruiters 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 | SmartRecruiters | softgarden |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Enterprise | Mid |
| Headquarters | US | DE |
| Founded | 2010 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 49% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
SmartRecruiters 78 · softgarden 22
10.1 weighted points to SmartRecruiters
20% weight · 77% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
SmartRecruiters 70 · softgarden 42
5.6 weighted points to SmartRecruiters
15% weight · 88% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
SmartRecruiters 45 · softgarden 30
2.3 weighted points to SmartRecruiters
15% weight · 93% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
SmartRecruiters 62 · softgarden 54
1.2 weighted points to SmartRecruiters
12% weight · 96% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
SmartRecruiters 62 · softgarden 58
0.5 weighted points to SmartRecruiters
12% weight · 98% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
SmartRecruiters 48 · softgarden 44
0.5 weighted points to SmartRecruiters
8% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
SmartRecruiters 63 · softgarden 58
0.4 weighted points to SmartRecruiters
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to +20.5 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 20.5 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +20 beside that +20.5.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is SmartRecruiters minus softgarden.
| Category | Weight | SmartRecruiters | softgarden | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 70 | 42 | +28 | +5.6 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 78 | 22 | +56 | +10.1 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 45 | 30 | +15 | +2.3 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 62 | 54 | +8 | +1.2 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 62 | 58 | +4 | +0.5 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 48 | 44 | +4 | +0.5 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 63 | 58 | +5 | +0.4 |
| Total | 100% | 62 (D) | 42 (F) | +20 | +20.5 |
§ 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 | SmartRecruiters | softgarden | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 2 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own 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% | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 2 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 7 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 2 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 1 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 2 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 11 | 2 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
SmartRecruiters has 13 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 11 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 SmartRecruiters sit on a domain separate from the vendor's own site.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 49 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 13 for SmartRecruiters, across 2 distinct source domains, and 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- SmartRecruiters last reviewed
- June 7, 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