§ The result
Textkernel leads softgarden by 9 points.
Textkernel scores 51 and softgarden 42 under rubric v1.0, a 9-point gap across the Sourcing and ATS-integrated cohorts. The 7 criteria split 6 to 1 in favour of Textkernel: Textkernel is ahead on Bias Audit Transparency and softgarden on Post-Market Monitoring. One criterion, Bias Audit Transparency, is both the widest raw gap (softgarden 22, Textkernel 55) and the heaviest weighted swing, and at 18% weight it makes up 62% of the weighted advantage Textkernel holds across the 6 criteria it leads.
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.
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
softgarden is filed under ATS-integrated AI, Textkernel under Candidate sourcing 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 | softgarden | Textkernel |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Mid | Enterprise |
| Headquarters | DE | NL |
| Founded | 2001 | 2001 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
18% weight · 59% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
softgarden 22 · Textkernel 55
5.9 weighted points to Textkernel
20% weight · 85% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
softgarden 42 · Textkernel 55
2.6 weighted points to Textkernel
12% weight · 90% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
softgarden 44 · Textkernel 40
0.5 weighted points to softgarden
8% weight · 93% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
softgarden 58 · Textkernel 62
0.3 weighted points to Textkernel
15% weight · 96% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
softgarden 30 · Textkernel 32
0.3 weighted points to Textkernel
12% weight · 99% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
softgarden 58 · Textkernel 60
0.2 weighted points to Textkernel
15% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
softgarden 54 · Textkernel 55
0.1 weighted points to Textkernel
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to -9.1 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 10.0 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads -9 beside that -9.1.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is softgarden minus Textkernel.
| Category | Weight | softgarden | Textkernel | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 42 | 55 | -13 | -2.6 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 22 | 55 | -33 | -5.9 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 30 | 32 | -2 | -0.3 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 54 | 55 | -1 | -0.1 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 58 | 60 | -2 | -0.2 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 44 | 40 | +4 | +0.5 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 58 | 62 | -4 | -0.3 |
| Total | 100% | 42 (F) | 51 (F) | -9 | -9.1 |
§ 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 | softgarden | Textkernel | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 6 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 2 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 1 | 1 | — |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 7 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 1 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 13 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain |
softgarden has 36 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 31 with a source URL, 5 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 54 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains, and 18 for Textkernel, across 1 distinct source domain.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- softgarden last reviewed
- September 25, 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