The Karat Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Karat in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Karat
The Insider’s Guide
Expert-run technical interviews for hiring and contractor vetting
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among hiring and applicant tracking tools, read from Karat’s own pages.
Made by Karat · checked Nov 13, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Karat’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Karat’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Nov 13, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
1.6
GPA, above 6 of the 101 other hiring and applicant tracking tools we grade
Karat provides technical interviews conducted by its own trained Interview Engineers, so a company's candidates are measured against one bar instead of by whichever employee is free. It also covers contractor and IT vendor vetting, and evaluating AI skills in engineers.
To get you started, here are 7 things to know about Karat, taken from its own pages and our grades.
It's a service, not software you log into and run yourself, no price is published, and the pricing page returns an error.
- 1
Best for technical interviews run by outside engineers
Karat sends its own trained Interview Engineers to interview your candidates, so they're all held to one bar.
- 2
It runs on Web
Web.
- 3
Interview Engineers
Trained interviewers assess every candidate the same way, so hiring data is comparable across teams and locations.
- 4
Direct Hiring
Technical interviews for a company's own engineering hires, applying a consistent technical bar everywhere.
- 5
Partner Talent
The same evaluation applied to contractors and IT service providers before they join projects.
- 6
A 1.6 GPA, above 6 of 101
That is against the other hiring and applicant tracking tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 7
Keep it
The plain part of Karat you could make: reports. What surrounds it you could not. The 2 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
Karat at a glance
- Pricing
- Paid
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Karat
- Category
- Hiring & Applicant Tracking
- Our grade
- 1.6 GPA, weak
The report card
Best for technical interviews run by outside engineers
Karat sends its own trained Interview Engineers to interview your candidates, so they're all held to one bar. It's a service, not software you log into and run yourself, no price is published, and the pricing page returns an error.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | No price is published, so we can't set it against the $74 to $149 a month this category charges. That leaves it at C. |
| Free plan and trial | F | No free plan and no trial is listed; the site routes you to a demo. A demo request isn't a trial. |
| Features | C | Interviews by Karat's engineers, plus contractor vetting and AI-skill evaluation. It's a service rather than a test library, so it covers a smaller job than a full platform. |
| Ease of use | C | No store rating on record, and the listing shows a service you arrange through a consult. That puts it at C. |
| Platforms and integrations | C | Web only, with no separate app on record. One kind of device, so C. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Karat is for
- Fits if you hire many engineers and don't want your own staff doing every first interview
- Works for firms that vet contractors or IT vendors as well
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want a self-serve test library, because this is a delivered service
- Not for you if you want a price: the site asks you to request a consult
- Watch out: the pricing path on the site returns an error
- Tight if you want a trial, as no free plan or trial is mentioned
Good to know
Good for
- Large engineering orgs that want interviews run by a third party
- Companies vetting contractors or IT service vendors
- Teams short on engineer time for interviewing
Worth knowing
- No prices are published: the site directs buyers to request a consult, and its pricing path returns an error.
- It is a service delivered by Karat's interviewers, not a self-serve test library.
- Product pages are built for enterprise buyers; no free plan or trial is mentioned.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
Karat's current pricing could not be confirmed from its own site.
No free plan and no trial is listed; the site routes you to a demo.
We could not confirm Karat’s current prices from its own site, so this guide lists no plans. karat.com has them.
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Expert-run technical interviews for hiring and contractor vetting. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: AI features, reports, skills tests.
Interviews by Karat's engineers, plus contractor vetting and AI-skill evaluation.
- Interview Engineers
- Trained interviewers assess every candidate the same way, so hiring data is comparable across teams and locations.
- Direct Hiring
- Technical interviews for a company's own engineering hires, applying a consistent technical bar everywhere.
- Partner Talent
- The same evaluation applied to contractors and IT service providers before they join projects.
- AI Readiness
- Live AI-native scenarios used to assess whether incoming or current engineers work well with AI tools.
- Hiring Insights
- Benchmarks drawn from the vendor's pool of more than 600,000 technical interviews it says it has run.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
Its own pages name no integrations.
Karat is made by Karat.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
6/101
Other hiring and applicant tracking tools it is graded above
Karat's GPA of 1.6 is higher than 6 of the 101 other hiring and applicant tracking tools we grade, and level with 23.
It stands best on value for money (C, above 12 of 101) and worst on free plan and trial (F, above 0).
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 102 hiring and applicant tracking tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Karat’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 12 of 101
- FFree plan and trialAbove 0 of 101
- CFeaturesAbove 3 of 101
- CEase of useAbove 1 of 101
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 101
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
The plain part of Karat you could make: reports. What surrounds it you could not. The 2 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 72 of the 101 other hiring and applicant tracking tools grade higher.
What you could make
- Reports: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- A library of tested questions with scores to compare candidates by.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. Karat’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
HackerRank, CoderPad, CodeSignal, Codility and interviewing.io
The 5 tools Karat is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.0GPA
HackerRank
Free trial · from $79/mo
Coding assessments, pair-programming interviews and an AI interviewer.
- HackerRank also covers AI agents.
- 2.0GPA
CoderPad
Free trial · from $80/mo
Coding assessments and live technical interviews with AI in the editor.
- CoderPad also covers video calls.
- 1.6GPA
CodeSignal
From $79/mo
Coding and skills assessments with AI interviewers.
- CodeSignal also covers applicant tracking.
- 1.6GPA
Codility
Free trial · from $800/mo
Technical screening and live coding interviews.
- Karat also covers reports.
- Codility also covers applicant tracking.
- 1.8GPA
interviewing.io
Paid
Hire engineers who passed anonymous mock technical interviews.
- Karat also covers reports.
- interviewing.io also covers video calls and job board posting.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
9
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Karat free?
No. Karat is a paid product.
What platforms does Karat work on?
Karat is available on Web.
Does Karat have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Karat is listed for Web.
Does Karat have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Karat is listed for Web.
Is Karat open source?
Karat is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Who makes Karat?
Karat is made by a company of the same name.
What are the alternatives to Karat?
The closest alternatives to Karat in our directory are HackerRank, CoderPad, CodeSignal, Codility and interviewing.io.
How does Karat compare with other hiring and applicant tracking tools?
Karat's GPA of 1.6 is higher than 6 of the 101 other hiring and applicant tracking tools we grade, and level with 23.
Could I make my own version of Karat?
The plain part of Karat you could make: reports. What surrounds it you could not.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Karat’s own pages on Nov 13, 2026, and the grades were given on Nov 13, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Karat's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Karat. Prices change, so check karat.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
7,721
Tools graded, in 95 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
7,721
tools graded
95
categories
739
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Karat, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/karat
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Karat: The Insider's Guide", checked Nov 13, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/karat
Know someone choosing between hiring and applicant tracking tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/karat/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded hiring and applicant tracking tools after Karat, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Hiring & Applicant Tracking Insider's GuideEvery one of the 102 hiring and applicant tracking tools we grade, compared
- Manatal Insider's GuideLow-cost per-user ATS and recruitment CRM with AI candidate matching2.8 GPA
- Breezy HR Insider's GuideFlat-priced applicant tracking with a free one-job plan2.6 GPA
- JOIN Insider's GuideMultiposting and applicant management priced per open job2.6 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Karat’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Karat is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Karat. Prices and plans change: check karat.com before you buy.