HireVue vs SeekOut, one evaluates applicants and one goes looking
Most teams weighing HireVue vs SeekOut are choosing which end of the funnel to fix first. Pick HireVue if you already get plenty of applicants and need validated assessments, AI interviews and video interviewing to rank them. Pick SeekOut if the problem is too few of the right applicants and you need to search 1B+ profiles and run outreach.
HireVue vs SeekOut, side by side
Each cell is what the vendor says about its own product, read on its own site on 5 October 2026.
| What you are comparing | HireVue | SeekOut |
|---|---|---|
| Where in the funnel it starts | After someone applies: a chat agent routes them, then screening, assessment and interview | Before anyone applies: search across 1B+ profiles and your ATS, then outreach |
| Core products | Match and Apply, AI Interviewer, Assessments with Assessment Builder, Video Interviewing | SeekOut Sourcing, Inbound Evaluation and AI Screening, SeekOut MCP, SeekOut Agents in early access |
| How it screens inbound applicants | A voice based AI interview with probing follow ups, scored on a custom 1 to 5 rubric | AI reads every applicant against role requirements, then asks screening questions that adapt to each person |
| Skills testing | Games, coding, language and Virtual Job Tryout tasks measuring over 250 skills | None described; evaluation works from resumes, profiles and screening answers |
| Scale it reports | 70M interviews and 200M assessments completed; 40% of the Fortune 100 | 1B+ candidate profiles and 750+ customers |
| ATS links named | Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Oracle and Taleo, iCIMS, Greenhouse, SmartRecruiters and more | Workday, Greenhouse, iCIMS, Lever and more |
| Pricing model | Quoted after a conversation; no figures on the pricing page | Self serve Sourcing Core at a published price with a 14 day trial; other tiers quoted per seat |
HireVue's integration page does not list SeekOut, and SeekOut's pages do not list HireVue. Check packaging with each before you sign.
They start at opposite ends of the funnel
HireVue assumes the candidates already exist. Someone lands on your careers site, a chat agent points them at the right role, and from there HireVue runs the evaluation: an AI voice interview, a skills assessment, then a live or on demand video interview. Every step produces evidence a recruiter can compare across hundreds or thousands of people.
SeekOut assumes they don't, or not enough of them. Its home turf is a recruiter describing a role and searching more than a billion profiles, plus the past applicants already sitting in the ATS. It then drafts multi step outreach. Add its inbound screening product and one contract covers both directions.
Choose HireVue if
These are the situations HireVue's own pages are written around.
- You receive thousands of applications a month for hourly, campus or customer facing roles
- You want skills proven through games, coding tasks or job simulations before anyone interviews
- Legal or compliance teams want audit records, adverse impact testing and an AI opt out path
- You need FedRAMP certification, which HireVue says no other interviewing or assessment vendor holds
- Candidates should be able to interview after hours on a phone with no app download
What a SeekOut recruiter does in a working week
Pieced together from SeekOut's sourcing, agent and screening pages. Each step is a feature SeekOut describes.
- Turn the job description into a search Paste a job description or describe the person in plain words. SeekOut converts it into criteria you can see and edit, across 300+ power filters.
- Search outside and inside at once Run one search over external profiles and your ATS, which surfaces silver medalists and earlier applicants alongside new names. ATS rediscovery sits in the higher tiers.
- Send a multi step campaign SeekOut drafts personalised messages and sends them on your behalf from a connected email account, using the monthly contact credits in your plan.
- Screen whoever applies With Inbound Evaluation added, every applicant is scored against the role with a plain language reason, and top people get adaptive screening questions with transcripts.
Where they overlap: screening the people who applied
Both now sell AI screening of inbound applicants. The mechanics differ more than the labels suggest.
| Screening detail | HireVue AI Interviewer | SeekOut Inbound Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| Format | A two way voice conversation with follow up probes | Adaptive screening questions; the pages read do not name voice, video or chat |
| What it scores | Qualification questions as Meets or Does Not Meet, skills on a custom 1 to 5 rubric | Skills match, experience relevance and career trajectory against role requirements |
| What the recruiter sees | Scores inside the ATS, plus transcription and recording | A ranked queue with a plain language reason per score, plus transcripts |
| Languages | English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and more | Not stated on the pages read |
| Guardrails it lists | Annual independent audits, candidate opt out, script locks and version history | No protected class signals, audit trails, no automatic rejection |
| How you buy it | Part of a quoted HireVue package | An add on to Sourcing tiers, included in Full Recruiting Funnel |
HireVue vs SeekOut pricing models
HireVue's pricing page shows no plans and no figures. It says the platform runs from mid market to enterprise and invites you to talk through the right plan. It also says the product is free for candidates. Expect a quote shaped by volume and by which of the four products you take.
SeekOut is the only one of the two you can buy without a call. Sourcing Core is self serve with monthly or annual billing, 500 contact credits a month and a 14 day trial with no card. Every larger tier is billed annually and priced per seat, and AI screening is an add on until the top tier.
Which one for which hiring problem
Start from the bottleneck you actually have. Each card names the feature behind the recommendation.
A retailer gets 8,000 applications for seasonal store roles and recruiters cannot phone screen even a tenth of them.
HireVue. Its AI Interviewer gives every applicant a voice screen, and assessments add evidence before a human looks.
Confirm which ATS connector you need. HireVue names Workday, Oracle, SAP and others by partner tier.
A defence contractor needs cleared systems engineers and the careers page brings in almost nobody qualified.
SeekOut. Its external search lists 3.7M+ cleared candidates and an inferred clearance filter from the Sourcing tier up.
Inferred clearance is not in Sourcing Core, the self serve plan.
A bank runs one campus intake a year with thousands of applicants and wants a defensible ranking method.
HireVue. Early career and campus hiring is one of its listed use cases, served by game based assessments and on demand video.
Check whether Assessment Builder suits lower volume roles, which HireVue says it was made for.
A startup's only recruiter needs senior engineers next month and has no budget approval cycle to sit through.
SeekOut. Sourcing Core is self serve with a 14 day trial, unlimited search and AI written campaigns.
ATS integration starts at the Sourcing plus Integration tier. Below it, you export profiles to your ATS instead.
HireVue vs SeekOut at a glance
- HireVue evaluates people who applied; SeekOut finds people who did not
- Only HireVue sells skills assessments; only SeekOut searches outside profiles
- Both screen inbound applicants with AI, HireVue by voice interview, SeekOut by scored queue and adaptive questions
- Only SeekOut publishes a price, for its self serve plan
If you want search and a live interview in one place
A live AI video interview, with the rubric fixed and the questions adapting to each answer.
The Cognitive covers both ends at a smaller scale: it searches ~900M public profiles with verified emails and phones, then runs a live 10 or 20 minute AI video interview. Reports score each criterion 1 to 5 with overall written feedback, a transcript and the recording.
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Frequently asked questions
Is SeekOut better than HireVue?
They solve different problems, so neither is better across the board. SeekOut is stronger when you lack applicants, because it searches over a billion profiles and runs outreach. HireVue is stronger when you have too many applicants, because it ranks them with validated assessments, AI interviews and video interviews. Decide which end of your funnel is stuck.
Can I use HireVue with SeekOut?
Yes, as two separate tools. As of 5 October 2026 neither site lists a direct connection to the other, but both list Workday, Greenhouse and iCIMS. A common pattern is SeekOut finding and engaging people who then apply through the ATS, where HireVue picks them up for screening and assessment.
HireVue vs SeekOut pricing: which is cheaper?
Only SeekOut publishes a figure, and only for Sourcing Core, its self serve plan, with monthly or annual billing and a 14 day trial. Its larger tiers are quoted per seat. HireVue publishes no figures and quotes after a conversation. Compare quotes for the same hiring volume, not list prices.
Does SeekOut do AI interviews like HireVue?
SeekOut sells Inbound Evaluation and AI Screening, formerly called Sam. It scores every applicant against the role and asks top candidates adaptive screening questions, with transcripts and explanations. Its pages do not say whether that runs by voice, video or chat. HireVue's AI Interviewer is described as a voice based, two way conversation.
Does HireVue have candidate sourcing?
Not in the outbound sense. HireVue's Match and Apply is a website chat agent that steers people already on your careers site toward the right role. HireVue's pages describe no search of outside profiles and no outreach campaigns, which is SeekOut's core product.
Which is better for high volume hiring?
HireVue, for most high volume work. Its pages lead with hourly, campus and frontline hiring, and it reports 70 million interviews completed. SeekOut's Inbound Evaluation also handles thousands of applicants and scores them the day they apply, so it fits teams that want screening inside their sourcing tool.
Is HireVue or SeekOut better for compliance reviews?
Both describe audit trails. HireVue goes further on the pages read: annual independent audits, adverse impact testing before deployment, candidate opt out and FedRAMP certification. SeekOut lists SOC 2 Type II, encryption, no protected class signals and decision logs ready for EEOC and OFCCP reviews.
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