6 Candidate Assessment Tools for 2025: Backed by Hiring Trends and Expert Insights

In this guide, I’ll review 6 candidate assessment software for 2025, starting with Willo—our applicant screening solution for high-volume hiring needs—and 5 other options.

Here’s a quick rundown of the tools:

• Willo: For high-volume candidate screening and identity verification 
• HireVue: For enterprise recruitment program
• TestGorilla: For skill-based assessment exercises
• HireFlix: For one-way video interviewing
• HackerRank: Technical skill assessment
• Vervoe: For realistic job simulation

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To build this list, I evaluated each tool based on two key criteria:

1. Core Functionality: How well they deliver essential features for candidate assessment.
2. Market Alignment: How closely they align with the needs and priorities of hiring professionals in 2025.

First, let’s review the trends shaping hiring in 2025—based on our survey with over 100 HR professionals on hiring decisions—and what they mean for your choice of candidate assessment tools. 

What to Look for in Candidate Assessment Software in 2025 (Based on Industry Trends)

1. AI-proof assessment system
2. Automation and customizsation
3. AI-assisted decision making
4. Security and compliance
5. Analytics and reporting
6. ATS Integration

1. AI-proof assessment systems

From AI-generated resumes and cover letters to AI-assisted interview preps; applicants can now submit more job applications in less time.

However, the content of those applications may not accurately reflect the applicant’s skills and experience.

As a result, recruiters now see an increase in the quantity of applications, but a decrease in the average quality of candidates.

To ensure candidates are genuine, HR professionals now demand tools with “AI-resistant” assessment features, like live video interviews or tests requiring real-time input.

With those features, you can reveal a candidate’s communication skills and authenticity, rather than relying on AI-generated text.

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2. Automation and customization

Recruiters prioritize candidate screening tools with features that help them speed up hiring timelines while delivering personalized candidate experiences.

Why? Because 60% of candidates abandon applications due to slow, impersonal, and complicated processes.

That includes: 

• Generic emails that don't offer any specific details about a candidate's application. 
• Lack of flexibility, where candidates cannot complete applications or interviews at their own pace or on their own time. 
• Slow feedback loops between recruiters and hiring managers, leading to a disjointed and frustrating experience for candidates.

Every candidate drop represents a potential loss of top talent. 

As a result, employers appreciate assessment tools that enhance candidate engagement through customization—making it easier for candidates to apply, communicate, and stay engaged— while automating repetitive recruiter tasks to speed up the time to hire.

3. AI-assisted decision-making

Recruiters value software that complements human decision-making with AI rather than replacing it.

Sure, they want AI to handle repetitive tasks and provide objective insight. But ultimately, they want humans central to critical hiring decisions.

Just as recruiters oppose over-reliance on AI from the candidate side, they also recognize that over-dependence on AI in recruitment can lead to bias and missed opportunities.

Perhaps this is why only 17% of talent leaders we surveyed rely on AI to decide whether to hire a candidate, even though 65% of them use the technology in their hiring process.

4. Security and compliance

Many companies are hiring globally— as the remote workforce demands. Equally, there is an increasing regulation surrounding data privacy.

Recruiters need to ensure they comply with different regulations, including those related to right-to-work and identity verification.

That includes ensuring that the assessment software complies with relevant data protection laws and that candidate information is stored and processed in a responsible manner.

The software needs to offer features that support compliance with these requirements, such as identity, DBS, and right-to-work checks globally.

5. Analytics and reporting

In 2025, recruiters would consider candidate assessment software that provides insight into things like:

• Which parts of the application process have the lowest completion rates
• How long candidates take to complete different steps in the process
• Which questions are most challenging for candidates

This data can be used to refine the process, reduce friction, and improve the overall candidate experience.

Additionally, you can justify further investment needs when you have data to support the effectiveness of your strategy. 

Now, let’s review the tools.

Our Top Picks for Candidate Assessment Software in 2025

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Willo

Best for: High-volume candidate interview and screening

Willo is a candidate screening software best for high-volume candidate screening.

It allows recruiters to send custom interview questions to thousands of candidates with one click. Candidates can then complete the interview at their convenience, regardless of location, timezone, or device.

That way, you don’t have to deal with the usual scheduling conflicts, back-and-forth emails, and countless phone screen interviews.

Here’s what you can do with Willo:

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Interview candidates your way, faster, with automation and custom access

Whether you’re evaluating 1,000 candidates or just a handful, Willo empowers you to customize every part of the candidate assessment process to reflect your unique process.

Then, it supports your workflow with automation, so you can move fast without compromising on the candidate’s experience.

It all starts with setting up your brand. Before you set interview questions, you’ll upload your company logo, intro video, and choose color schemes that align with your branding guidelines and culture. 

You’ll also have the option to add a job description and customize the terms and conditions to reflect your hiring policies. This way, every touch point feels authentic and uniquely yours. 

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Next, you’ll set your interview questions either by creating custom questions or using Willo’s intelligent recommendations– depending on the role you’re hiring for. 

And there is no limit to how you test candidates. In 18 languages, you can set up questions that require:

• Multiple choice answers
• Video response
• Audio-only answers
• Written answers
• File and certification uploads (for coding assessments) 

Additionally, Willo allows you to set the number of times a candidate can retake a question and equally adjust the response times.

That way, candidates have the opportunity to refine their answers and present themselves better.

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This level of flexibility and customization reduces the chances of candidate drop-off. The process is personalized, engaging, and more accessible to all candidates; regardless of their location, device type, schedule, or physical limitations. 

...And it gets even better. 

Before sending out invites, you can record or upload a personalized intro video to excite the candidate about the process.

In the video, consider introducing yourself, how you’ll support the candidate throughout the process, and set clear expectations for what’s next.

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After that, you’re ready to invite candidates to interview– and Willo makes it super simple in 4 ways:

• Upload a CSV file to reach up to 20,000 candidates in one click.
• Send interview invites via email and SMS 
• Embed the interview link on your website
• Share the link on LinkedIn

Regardless of how you choose to invite candidates, candidates can complete the interview without having to log in or download an app.

That’s one less reason to abandon the application process. 

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As candidates begin their interviews, Willo’s proprietary anti-cheat settings kick in when it detects candidates reading from a script, getting help from others, or using AI tools.

This ensures the responses you receive are genuine and authentic, giving you confidence in the screening process.

Finally, once candidates complete their interviews, Willo’s custom routing feature takes over.

It allows you to automatically send candidates to a specific destination or URL once they have submitted an interview. You can use it to:

• Collect documents via a form.
• Have a candidate complete an assignment.
• Redirect candidates to a company website
• Schedule a follow-up appointment.

Recruiters often use the routing feature to direct candidates to add their availability for a follow-up appointment.

That simple process prevents scheduling conflicts and back-and-forth emails.

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Confidently identify top talent with AI—while relying on human decision-making

Once a candidate submits their interview, you’ll receive a notification. This is where you and Willo Intelligence work together to identify the most promising candidates.

Here’s how it works:

When you open a candidate’s profile, Willo’s automated summary instantly highlights their key strengths and areas of interest.

Think of it as your personal AI assistant, giving you a quick, clear snapshot of their skill proficiency and knowledge areas.

This makes it easy to review top qualities at a glance and share insights with colleagues for fast, informed feedback.

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But before you do that, it’s best to zoom out and filter responses. Here, you can quickly accept or reject candidates based on predefined criteria. 

For example, you can use custom filters to screen out candidates who reside outside your preferred location.

This ensures you don’t spend time scoring candidates who don’t meet the basic requirements. You also have the option to tailor these filters to your specific requirements.

Now that your list is refined, it’s time to evaluate the qualified candidates using Willo’s Scorecard.

The Scorecard allows recruiters and hiring managers to assess and rate candidate responses based on your predefined scoring system. 

That means Willo’s custom scorecard lets you define your own scoring system, depending on the role.

‍For example, you can customize the scorecard to rate applicants for a sales rep role based on their communication and presentation.

For software engineers, you might look for things like problem-solving and logical reasoning.  

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To rate candidates, each reviewer gets to vote on how well a candidate performs in different criteria. They can choose from the following voting options:

• Strong No - A strong recommendation against hiring the candidate
• No - The candidate does not meet the essential requirements of the job
• Maybe – The candidate has shown promise but there are areas that require further investigation
• Yes – The candidate meets the criteria for the role and has the necessary skills and qualifications
• Strong Yes – The candidate is highly recommended and would likely be a great fit for the position

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This process accelerates feedback loops internally. Now, you can confidently convert interview feedback into unbiased metrics without the typical back and forth.

And with Blind Scoring enabled no one knows how others have voted. The process is 100% objective and fair.

When the final scores are in, Willo provides “Accept” and “Reject” buttons to help you sort and manage candidates.

For instance, you can choose to automatically reject candidates who score below 3 stars– keeping the process simple, fast, and fair.  

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Additionally, Willo aggregates the scorecard result to present you with the top 10 performing candidates—those you can quickly move to the next stage.

But, of course, the final decision is always up to you.

Finally, as candidates move between stages, a record is created in the system, visible to your entire team (based on permissions).

From there, you can send automated communications to candidates via email or SMS when their status is updated.

Rejected candidates also get a personalized rejection email– so they are not left waiting and get productive feedback.

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Discover new ways to improve your hiring process with analytics and reporting

Willo provide analytics and admin features that enable you to look beyond assessment results. You’ll get insights into things like: 

• The top 10% candidates
• Interview completion rates
• Where candidates might be dropping off
• How much time it takes to complete each stage

It’s not just a tool to just fill a position and forget it, it’s how you consistently deliver a positive experience for everyone involved.

Want to find out how much time you save by using Willo to screen candidates? Try our Time Saving Calculator.

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Willo key features

• Asynchronous Virtual Interviews: Process up to 20,000 interviews simultaneously with automated reminders and CSV uploads.
• Willo Intelligence (AI): AI-driven question generation, candidate filtering, and top 10% identification to reduce manual screening.
• Digital Identity Verification: Identity verification, DBS checks, and global right-to-work compliance.
• Security and Compliance: Willo is ISO 27001 certified, fully GDPR compliant, and SLL Secure
• ATS integration: 5,000+ ATS Integrations (OpenAPI + Zapier)

Willo pros

• Flexible pricing with no minimum commitment period
• Customizable interviews for multiple roles
• Supports 18+ languages
• Multiple response formats (video, audio, text)
• Used and trusted by some of the world’s largest organizations
• Supported on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices
• 50% discount for non-profits

Willo cons

• No live interview support: Willo's async video interview focuses on helping you narrow down a pool of candidates through pre-screening questions. It doesn't support live interviews with applicants

Willo pricing

• Growth: $249/month
• Scale: $399/month
• Enterprise: Custom Quote

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HireVue

Best for: Enterprise recruitment programs

HireVue is an enterprise-level digital interview platform that offers a suite of recruitment tools including candidate assessment software. Its candidate assessment software offers game-based interviews, virtual job tryouts, and technical assessments.  

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HireVue key features

• Video interview
• Game-based assessment
• Technical Assessment
• Virtual job tryout
• Conversational AI
• ATS integration

HireVue Pros

• Custom branding and scheduling
• Interview guides
• Custom interview assessment method with psychologists 

HireVue Cons

• No free trial
• No transparent pricing 

HireVue Pricing

• Custom: Contact for pricing.

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TestGorilla

Best for: Skill-based assessment exercises

TestGorilla is a pre-employment testing platform that helps hiring teams assess a candidate’s suitability for a role through a range of scientifically validated, skill-based tests that cover technical, cognitive, personality, and soft skills.

That way, hiring teams can reduce the reliance on resumes and subjective manual screenings that can lead to mis-hires.

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TestGorilla key features

• Pre-made tests
• ATS integration 
• Bulk candidate interview invite
• Candidate performance reporting

TestGorilla Pros

• 400+ pre-made skill tests
• 5 free tests on the free plan

TestGorilla Cons 

• Minimum 12-month commitment
• Additional costs for custom questions and branded assessments

TestGorilla Pricing

• Starts at $990/year (1-15 employees)

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Hireflix

Best for: One-way video interviewing

Hireflix is a recruitment software that focuses on video interviews. It allows candidates to record their responses to pre-set interview questions at their convenience, eliminating the need for scheduling and allowing recruiters to review responses at their own pace.

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Hireflix key features

• Video interview 
• Interview scheduling
• Custom interview questions
• ATS integration

Hireflix Pro

• Supports smartphone and PC devices
• Free trial with no credit card input 
• Set time limits for each interview question
• Monthly and annual pricing
• 20% discount for NGOs and startups

Hireflix Con

• Focuses only on video interviews (no written responses or multi-choice)
• You need additional tools for candidate screening
• It doesn’t offer native candidate performance reporting features
• Lacks AI tools for summary, transcripts, and intelligent insights. 

Hireflix Pricing

• Small: ​​$75 per month (billed yearly)
• Medium: $150 per month (billed yearly)
• Custom: Contact for pricing

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HackerRank 

Best for: Technical skill assessments

HackerRank helps recruiters interview and screen candidates for technical roles like software developers, full-stack web development, QA and testing, and DevOps.

This versatility makes it a great fit for in-house tech recruiters and agencies serving diverse industries.

HackerRank Key features

• Candidate screening software
• Technical interview tools
• Live coding exercise
• Plagiarism detection
• Candidate performance analytics
• ATS integration

HackerRank Pros

• Discover talents in HackerRank’s developer community.
• Email and chat support are available on all plans.
• Role-based assessment with 40+ programming languages.

HackerRank Cons

• ATS integrations are only available on custom plans.
• Lacks assessments for soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.

HackerRank Pricing

• Starter: $199/month (billed monthly)
• Pro: $450/month (billed monthly)
• Custom: Contact for pricing

Vervoe

Best for: Realistic Job Simulations

Vervoe helps employers evaluate candidates based on their performance in tasks that mimic actual job environments.

The candidate assessment software assesses real-life technical skills and attitudes by simulating job-specific scenarios. After that, it uses AI to rank candidates based on their performance.

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Vervoe Key features

• Immersive real-life work simulation
• AI-Powered optimization
• Bulk interview invitation
• Reporting and analytics
• Integrations

Vervoe Pro

• Test multiple scenarios in a role
• Customize simulations with your own content
• Choose from 300+ Pre-built assessment templates

Vervoe Cons

• Custom integrations available only for enterprise users
• Custom question types available only for enterprise users 

Vervoe Pricing

• Free Trial: 7-day trial with unlimited invites
• Pay As You Go: $300 for 10 candidate screenings
• Custom Pricing: Contact sales for tailored solutions

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Your Candidate Assessment Software Should Meet Your Current Hiring Needs

As we step into 2025, staying ahead involves supporting your recruitment strategy with tools that align with the latest market trends—so you can focus on building a stronger, value-driven hiring process, not needlessly tweaking tools to make them fit.

We are confident that Willo, and other candidate assessment tools in this review can help you. 

• Willo helps you interview thousands of candidates your way, screen top talent at scale without bias, and confidently hire the top performers.
• HireVue is the ideal option for an enterprise-level recruitment program— candidate assessment and a host of recruitment tools.  
• TestGorilla is best for skill-based assessments— with 400+ pre-made skill tests.  
• Hireflix is ideal for one-way video interviews. 
• HackerRank is the go-to for deep technical assessments—ideal for hiring developers and tech talent.
• Vervoe is best for setting up immersive task assessment tasks—see how candidates perform before you hire.

Ready to streamline hiring, save time, and cut costs? Explore Willo today and reduce your hiring time by 30%. 

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