Compare/Head to head

Criteria vs SmoothHiring

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

Criteria

Sales-quoted 14 day free trial

Pre-employment testing and video interviewing sold as three packages: Assess, Interview, and Hire. Quote-based, with a 14-day free trial.

Where Criteria fits

  • HR teams adding validated pre-hire tests
  • Companies that want cognitive plus personality tests
  • Teams that want tests and video interviews together
  • Buyers who want a free trial before a demo

SmoothHiring

$149/mo 14 day free trial

Applicant tracking for small and mid-size employers built around a patented predictive assessment: candidates are benchmarked against the traits of your top performers and ranked by AI, alongside job posting, scorecards and self-scheduling. Plans run from $149/mo for 5 active jobs to $469/mo for unlimited, so it suits SMBs that want screening science without an enterprise contract.

Where SmoothHiring fits

  • Small and mid-size employers hiring steadily
  • Owners who want predictive screening on a budget
  • Teams that want to assess candidates without posting a job

At a glance

DetailCriteriaSmoothHiring
Starting priceSales-quoted$149/mo
Free tier–No–No
Free trial14 day free trial14 day free trial
MCP server–No–No
Public API✓Yes–No
Listed underAssessmentsATS, Assessments, Job boards
CapterraNot enough reviews4.7 from 12 reviews

Where they pull apart

Criteria

Stands out: Cognitive, personality, emotional intelligence, risk, and skills tests on one platform, with video interviews in the same suite.

Watch out: All three packages are sales-quoted. AI proctoring, the AI interview agent, and AI scoring are paid upgrades, and Develop is a separate add-on.

Not the right fit for

  • Engineering teams that only need a live coding pad
  • Buyers who need a published price

SmoothHiring

Stands out: The Candidate Fit benchmarks, which profile your best current employees and score applicants against them, are the point of difference, and they can be bought on their own without posting a job. Growth adds unlimited users, AI ranking and nurture campaigns for $229/mo, and every plan starts with a 14-day trial and no card.

Watch out: Benchmarks are basic on Growth and advanced only on Scale, and one-way video and texting also wait until the $469/mo Scale plan. It has only 12 Capterra reviews at 4.7, and one reviewer said it was hard to see which boards jobs had been posted to.

Not the right fit for

  • Agencies managing client pipelines
  • Teams needing custom integrations below Enterprise
  • Teams wanting video screening on the entry plan

Pros and cons

Criteria

  • Broad test catalog in one platform
  • Video interviewing in the same suite
  • 14-day free trial
  • No published price
  • AI features cost extra
  • Develop is a separate add-on

SmoothHiring

  • Predictive benchmarks against your top performers
  • Unlimited users from $229/mo
  • 14-day trial with no card or long-term contract
  • Video and texting only on the $469/mo Scale plan
  • Only 12 Capterra reviews
  • Sponsored posting sold separately

What each one costs

Criteria

Sales-quoted

Sales-quoted. No public rate card on the vendor site. Three packages (Assess, Interview, Hire) are priced by headcount, with AI upgrades and the Develop add-on on top, and a 14-day free trial is available. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 19 Sep 2026

SmoothHiring

$149/mo

Starter is $149/mo (5 active jobs, 5 users); Growth is $229/mo (10 active jobs, unlimited users, AI ranking and basic benchmarks); Scale is $469/mo (unlimited jobs, one-way video assessments, texting, advanced benchmarks); Enterprise is quoted. Yearly billing includes two months free ($1,430, $2,198 and $4,502 a year). Sponsored premium job posting and the Candidate Fit assessment are also sold as packages. 14-day free trial with no card. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 26 Sep 2026

Common questions

Can you try Criteria or SmoothHiring for free?
Neither carries a free tier on our listing. Criteria offers a 14 day free trial. SmoothHiring offers a 14 day free trial.

Not the pair you wanted?

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 19 Sep 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?