AI Recruiting Pricing: AI Sourcing and AI Interviews
The Cognitive prices 2 products separately. AI Sourcing plans start at $49/month and run on credits: 1 credit per candidate a search returns, 5 to reveal an email, 10 to reveal a phone number. AI Interview plans start at $99/month and are billed on monthly interview volume. Annual billing takes 17% off interview plans. Every account starts free on the whole platform: 100 sourcing credits and 2 live AI interviews. Full plan detail below.
AI Sourcing plans
Credit-based, and the whole rule is 3 numbers: 1 credit per candidate a search returns, 5 to reveal an email, 10 to reveal a phone number. Reveals are only charged when they succeed.
| Plan | Price | Credits | Roughly covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $49/month | 500 credits | about 100 verified emails or 50 phone numbers |
| Growth | $99/month | 1,500 credits | about 300 verified emails or 150 phone numbers |
| Scale | $199/month | 3,500 credits | about 700 verified emails or 350 phone numbers |
| Pro | $299/month | 5,500 credits | about 1100 verified emails or 550 phone numbers |
AI Interview plans
Priced by monthly interview volume. Every interview plan also carries an included interview credit allowance at 100 credits per interview; those credits come bundled with the interview plan and are not the standalone Sourcing plans below, which are a separate product bought and billed separately. Annual billing saves 17% on interview plans. Above the top tier, pricing is custom.
| Plan | Price | Interviews | Included credits | Overage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99/month | 15 live AI interviews | 1,500 interview credits included | $8 per additional interview |
| Growth | $299/month | 45 live AI interviews | 4,500 interview credits included | $7 per additional interview |
| Scale | $499/month | 100 live AI interviews | 10,000 interview credits included | $6 per additional interview |
| Pro | $999/month | 225 live AI interviews | 22,500 interview credits included | $5 per additional interview |
Pricing questions
How does pricing work?
The Cognitive has 2 products, priced separately: AI Interviews by monthly interview volume from $99/month, and AI Sourcing on credits from $49/month. Each is bought and billed on its own, and annual billing saves 17% on interview plans.
- AI Interviews: $99/month for 15, $299 for 45, $499 for 100, $999 for 225, custom above that.
- Each interview plan carries its own interview credits at 100 per interview - Starter 1,500, Growth 4,500, Scale 10,000, Pro 22,500. Same thing counted in credits, not extra.
- AI Sourcing: $49/month for 500 credits up to $299/month for 5,500. A separate product with its own balance.
- Sourcing credits: 1 per candidate a search returns, 5 to reveal an email, 10 to reveal a phone number.
- Annual billing saves 17% on interview plans and includes ATS integration on every tier.
Do you offer a free trial?
Yes. Every new account starts with 2 free AI interviews and 100 sourcing credits - enough to run the full source-to-shortlist pipeline on a real role before spending anything.
- 2 AI interviews, the same 20-minute interview the paid plans run.
- 100 sourcing credits: 20 verified emails, or 10 phone numbers, or 20 searches.
What happens if I use all my interviews?
Interviews are never blocked mid-conversation. Past your plan's included volume, overage is billed per interview at your tier's rate: $8 on Starter, $7 on Growth, $6 on Scale, and $5 on Pro. If you regularly hit overage, upgrading is always cheaper - and you can upgrade at any time with the change applying immediately.
How do sourcing credits work?
Three charges, nothing else: 1 credit per candidate a search returns, 5 credits to reveal an email, 10 credits to reveal a phone number. Reveals are only charged when they succeed. Your plan is a monthly credit balance - 500 on Starter ($49), 1,500 on Growth ($99), 3,500 on Scale ($199), 5,500 on Pro ($299) - so the $99 plan is about 300 emails, or 150 phone numbers, or 1,500 candidates returned.
Do interview credits and sourcing credits mix?
No. They are separate balances on separate products. Interview plans carry interview credits at 100 per interview: Starter 1,500, Growth 4,500, Scale 10,000, Pro 22,500. Sourcing plans carry sourcing credits. Neither can pay for the other, and you can buy either product on its own.
Do unused credits roll over?
No. Both balances refresh at the start of each billing cycle and unused credits expire rather than accumulating. If you are regularly finishing a cycle with a large unused balance, the smaller plan is the cheaper plan.
Can I switch plans or cancel anytime?
Yes. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel either product at any time from your dashboard. There are no lock-in contracts, no cancellation fees, and no minimum commitment periods. Changes take effect on your next billing cycle.
Does it integrate with ATS systems?
Yes. The Cognitive connects to 60+ applicant tracking systems, including Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workday, SmartRecruiters, iCIMS and Bullhorn - see /integrations. ATS integration is included on Scale and Pro interview plans with monthly billing, and on all plans with annual billing.
Do you source candidates?
Yes. AI Sourcing is a full product: describe the role and the AI finds matching candidates, reveals verified emails and phone numbers on a credit basis, engages them with automated outreach sequences across email and SMS that stop the moment a candidate replies, and pushes them straight into AI interviews - source, engage, interview, and shortlist in one pipeline. You can also bring your own applicants and use interviews alone.
What is Outreach?
Outreach (Pro) lets you reach the candidates you've sourced without leaving the platform - automated email + SMS sequences that run per role, with AI reply triage that reads every response and flags who's interested, who's not, and who opted out. Reveal in Sourcing, launch outreach in one click, and track every conversation in one place. Included with Sourcing Pro and any Pro or Enterprise plan - no extra charge.
What is the Done For You service?
Done For You is a managed hiring service where The Cognitive does the whole pipeline: we source the candidates, call and engage them, configure roles and rubrics, run the AI interviews, review the evaluations, and deliver a shortlist of qualified candidates. Your team only participates in final hiring decisions.
Free trial
Every account starts with 2 free AI interviews (200 interview credits) and 100 sourcing credits, enough for 20 verified personal emails, or 10 direct phone numbers, or 20 searches. So scorecard quality can be judged on a real role before paying.
What is Included in Every Interview Plan
Live, two-way AI video interviews of 10 or 20 minutes in 9 languages, with a custom rubric per role and questions that adapt live. Every report carries a 1 to 5 score per criterion, overall written feedback, a weighted score out of 100, the transcript and the recording, plus up to 5 resume claims marked verified, refuted or unclear. Integrity flags are logged for review, not scored. Candidates book their own slot, and you can bulk invite. ATS integration is included on Scale and Pro with monthly billing, and on every plan with annual billing.
What is Included in Every Sourcing Plan
AI candidate search from a plain-English brief across ~900M public profiles, and verified emails and phone numbers charged only when a value comes back. Sourced candidates move into an AI interview without an export, or go in a bulk invite. Custom credit volumes above 5,500/month are available on request.
Outreach (Pro)
Outreach comes with the Sourcing Pro plan: email and SMS sequences that run per role and go out from platform mailboxes. SMS goes to the US and Canada by default, and a reply or opt-out on either channel stops both channels.
Pricing FAQ
How much does The Cognitive cost?
$49/month for 500 sourcing credits on the cheapest sourcing plan, and $99/month on the cheapest interview plan. The 2 products are priced separately; annual billing saves 17% on interview plans.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Every new account starts with 2 free AI interviews plus 100 sourcing credits. Sign up at app.thecognitive.io.
What happens when I use all my interviews?
Interviews are never blocked mid-conversation. If you go past your plan allowance you keep interviewing and the extra is billed by tier, but sustained overage always costs more than moving up a plan, so the answer is usually to upgrade.
Do unused credits roll over?
No. Credits refresh with each billing cycle; unused credits expire.
Comparing platforms? Sourcing + AI interviewing platforms compared (2026) · All head-to-head comparisons · Research: the cost of a manual interview · ROI calculator