# HackerRank vs Codility: which do AI models recommend for technical hiring assessm, September 2026

HR AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, Technical hiring assessments. Six of twelve models named HackerRank first on the direct prompt; one named Codility. Page: https://hr-ai-index.com/talent/technical-hiring-assessments/hackerrank-vs-codility/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HackerRank | 28% | #1 of 6 | 21% | 57 | 12 of 12 |
| Codility | 5% | #6 of 6 | 32% | 44 | 12 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- GPT-5.4 mini: hackerrank first (first choices: HackerRank) (alternatives: CodeSignal, CoderPad, Codility)
- Perplexity Sonar: hackerrank first (first choices: HackerRank) (alternatives: CodeSignal, CoderPad, Coderbyte, Goodfit)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: hackerrank first (first choices: HackerRank) (alternatives: CodeSignal, Coderbyte)
- Mistral Small: hackerrank first (first choices: HackerRank) (alternatives: Augment Code, Coderbyte)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: hackerrank first (first choices: HackerRank) (alternatives: CodeSignal, TestDome, Vervoe)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: hackerrank first (first choices: HackerRank) (alternatives: CodeSignal)
- Kimi K2: codility first (first choices: Codility) (alternatives: CodeSignal, Coderbyte, HackerRank, TestGorilla)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: CodeSignal) (alternatives: Codility, HackerRank, TestGorilla)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither first, one named (alternatives: CodeSignal, CoderPad, Coderbyte, Goodfit, HackerRank)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: CodeSignal) (alternatives: Augment Code, HackerRank, TestGorilla)
- Claude Haiku 4.5: neither named
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither named (first choices: CoderPad) (alternatives: CodeSignal, HackerEarth, TestGorilla)

## What the models said about HackerRank

- "Users frequently complain about "overage fees." ... Googleable Questions: ... default assessments are often easily searchable online." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "buggy UI/UX ... High drop-off rates and "horrible experience" sentiments" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Why we recommend avoiding HackerRank or Codility (for now)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, paraphrase prompt, hard negative)
- "Qualified (free) and HackerRank Starter ($99/mo) offer the best balance of cost, reliability, and candidate familiarity" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Best for: End-to-end enterprise technical hiring. ... broadest platform and largest general hiring workflow" (GPT-5.4 mini, comparative prompt, first choice)
- "the best *default* choice is usually HackerRank if your priority is technical hiring at scale" (Perplexity Sonar, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Codility

- "it is often described as "quite pricey" ... Codility has had issues with "test integrity," where questions and answers are not sufficiently hidden from recruiters" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Opaque scoring: Candidates and reviewers criticize edge-case scoring and lack of transparency" (MiniMax M2.5, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Why we recommend avoiding HackerRank or Codility (for now)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, paraphrase prompt, hard negative)
- "Codility offers the best balance of capability, reputation, and price" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Often ranked as the best overall, especially for enterprise use." (Mistral Small, comparative prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.