§ The result
2 points separate softgarden and ZipRecruiter.
softgarden (ATS-integrated) edges ZipRecruiter (Sourcing) by 2 points under rubric v1.0, 42 to 40. ZipRecruiter takes 1 of the 7 criteria, Bias Audit Transparency among them, against 6 for softgarden, whose share includes Post-Market Monitoring. The advantage softgarden holds is spread out: Post-Market Monitoring is both the widest raw gap and the heaviest weighted swing (softgarden 44, ZipRecruiter 40, 12% weight), yet it supplies only 21% of the weighted points softgarden gains 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
ZipRecruiter
ZipRecruiter is an online employment marketplace whose AI matching engine sends employers' job postings out, alerts matched job seekers and invites them to apply, and labels and ranks applicants (for example as 'Great Match') in the employer's candidate dashboard.
§ The record
softgarden is filed under ATS-integrated AI, ZipRecruiter 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 | ZipRecruiter |
|---|---|---|
| Price tier | Mid | Mid |
| Headquarters | DE | US |
| Founded | 2001 | 2010 |
§ What decides it
The criteria that move the gap, heaviest swing first.
12% weight · 18% of the movement so far
Post-Market Monitoring
softgarden 44 · ZipRecruiter 40
0.5 weighted points to softgarden
15% weight · 35% of the movement so far
FRIA Support
softgarden 30 · ZipRecruiter 27
0.4 weighted points to softgarden
20% weight · 50% of the movement so far
Article 11 Technical Documentation
softgarden 42 · ZipRecruiter 40
0.4 weighted points to softgarden
18% weight · 63% of the movement so far
Bias Audit Transparency
softgarden 22 · ZipRecruiter 24
0.4 weighted points to ZipRecruiter
12% weight · 77% of the movement so far
Human Oversight Design
softgarden 58 · ZipRecruiter 55
0.4 weighted points to softgarden
8% weight · 89% of the movement so far
Customer Documentation
softgarden 58 · ZipRecruiter 54
0.3 weighted points to softgarden
15% weight · 100% of the movement so far
Data Governance Disclosure
softgarden 54 · ZipRecruiter 52
0.3 weighted points to softgarden
Weighted delta is the raw difference times the criterion weight, so the 7 figures above sum to +1.9 — the difference between the two totals before either is rounded. Shares are of 2.7 points of movement counted without direction. The table below rounds each side to a whole number first, so its Δ raw total reads +2 beside that +1.9.
§ Category-by-category
Raw score per criterion, with weighted delta.
Δ is softgarden minus ZipRecruiter.
| Category | Weight | softgarden | ZipRecruiter | Δ raw | Δ weighted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 42 | 40 | +2 | +0.4 |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 22 | 24 | -2 | -0.4 |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 30 | 27 | +3 | +0.4 |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 54 | 52 | +2 | +0.3 |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 58 | 55 | +3 | +0.4 |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 44 | 40 | +4 | +0.5 |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 58 | 54 | +4 | +0.3 |
| Total | 100% | 42 (F) | 40 (F) | +2 | +1.9 |
§ 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 | softgarden | ZipRecruiter | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | Cited | Absences | Audit / hosting | ||
| Article 11 Technical Documentation | 20% | 6 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 5 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
| Bias Audit Transparency | 18% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
| FRIA Support | 15% | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
| Data Governance Disclosure | 15% | 7 | 0 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 4 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
| Human Oversight Design | 12% | 5 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 6 | 0 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Post-Market Monitoring | 12% | 5 | 1 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 3 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| Customer Documentation | 8% | 2 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain | 4 | 1 | Sources on the vendor's own domain |
| All criteria | 100% | 31 | 5 | Audit reportSources on the vendor's own domain | 28 | 5 | Sources on the vendor's own domainSources on a separate domain |
softgarden has 36 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 31 with a source URL, 5 documented absences; ZipRecruiter has 33 evidence rows across 7 of 7 criteria — 28 with a source URL, 5 documented absences; some documentation or audit rows for ZipRecruiter sit on a domain separate from the vendor's own site.
Provenance
The scores above are documented by 69 evidence rows on file for these two vendors: 36 for softgarden, across 3 distinct source domains, and 33 for ZipRecruiter, across 6 distinct source domains.
- Rubric
- v1.0
- softgarden last reviewed
- September 25, 2026 · HireAIScore editorial team
- ZipRecruiter 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