What’s the best coding interview tool or online technical interview tools? I’ve tested many coding interview tools, and read countless of reviews. This article is based on my experience. I’ve spent hours to write this article for you.
You have just applied for the great job in a promising company. You have CSS3, HTML5&6 skills and good experience coding with jQuery JavaScript framework. But the first step you have to take is a coding interview with a nice online professional developer tool. If you are going to study software development for a few more years, it will also be useful for you on your next job interview.
CoderPad
CoderPad Sample Interview Notes
CoderPad is a pretty famous interview tool, which has already gained popularity among individual tech recruiters and companies. Quora, Yelp, YCombinator, Dropbox, for example, have successfully used this tool to conduct remote technical interviews. Coderpad also integrates with popular recruitment software, like Greenhouse, SmartRecruiters, and others, so you can schedule your interview sessions within your existing software.
Features:
— Support for over 25 languages
— Common testing libraries and other useful utilities for most popular languages
— Opportunity to create question libraries to standardize the interview process
— Recording of interviews and opportunity to play them back keystroke-by-keystroke for team revisions
— High Fidelity REPLs (interactive computer programming environment)
— Detailed editor settings: change tab-width, auto-bracket insertion, etc.
— Built-in video calling
— Custom SQL database: you can upload custom database environments from MySQL and PostgreSQL for candidates to show their SQL skills against your datasets
— Private interview notes which are stored along with the interview
Pricing varies and depends on the size of your business. For example, if you’re an individual technical recruiter, you’ll pay $50 a month for 20 interviews; if you’re a large enterprise, the cost rises up to $1500 per month.
Coderbyte Interviews
The Coderbyte Interviews product allows you to easily create interview sessions, send them to candidates, and manage all of your sessions on your dashboard. On Coderbyte you’re able to invite an unlimited number of candidates on any plan so you never have to worry about hitting a limit per month.
Aside from testing algorithmic and basic programming skills, you’re also able to collaborate with candidates on front-end, back-end, DevOps, and database challenges. You can create your own challenges with test cases or load in a challenge from Coderbyte’s library directly into the session.
You’re also able to integrate the sessions with any application via Zapier which can allow you to streamline your entire interview process. For example, when candidates are done with an interview session you can have the results, rating, and interview notes automatically sent to a channel on Slack.
Pros
- Plans begin at $99/month and all plans include unlimited candidates.
- All plans also include products for code challenge screening and take-home projects so you can manage your entire interview process.
- Ability to test front-end, back-end, database, DevOps, and more.
- Coderbyte’s code editor enables candidates to perform Google searches directly on the page which mimics how actual software engineers write code.
Cons
- Lacks enterprise features like SSO.
- You have to call candidates separately, as Coderbyte does not yet have video or audio support.
Recommended for:
- Tech recruiters and engineering teams that care deeply about the candidate experience and want maximum flexibility to test a wide variety of skills.
CodinGame
CodinGame is an all-in-one recruiting platform that leverages three core pillars – sourcing, screening, and retention – to help tech recruiters and hiring managers attract and retain top tech talent.
CodinGame’s remote coding interview feature is just one part of their flagship product, CodinGame Assessment.
CodinGame Assessment is a pre-employment technical testing solution that hiring managers, recruiters, and HR leaders can use to evaluate developers’ technical skills as part of their screening process (with personalized, online tests).
Companies quickly, efficiently and fairly shortlist developers (based on their coding skills).
Users set tests for specific roles such as front-end, back-end or full-stack programmers, or assess candidates based on their expertise in a specific language.
Users can even create their own coding questions and exercises and include game-based challenges.
The CodinGame online coding interview module means that no other software is needed throughout the hiring process. The live coding tool, with shared coding editor, allows interviewers to ask candidates questions as they code and better understand their thought process.
CodinGame’s main features (online coding interview module)
- Extremely intuitive user interface
- 30+ supported programming languages, quick switch between languages
- Integrated audio, video and chat options
- Simultaneous connections for multiple interviewers
How much does CodinGame cost?
Featuring convenient pricing that fits your needs, CodinGame’s pricing system starts with a 14-day free trial, no questions asked, no credit card required.
HackerRank
It facilitates interviewers to work with candidates for solution-based problem solving and drawing. It allows sharing challenging descriptions easily for writing and coding execution.
Pros:
- Applicants can customize the Editor.
- Supports more than 35 languages.
- Inbuilt audio and video facilities.
- Possible to draw freehand sketches.
Cons:
- Limited number of admins allowed on an account.
- Monthly limit on setting up sessions in plans.
- Some back-end and front-end technologies like Django, React, etc., cannot be tested.
CodeInterview
CodeInterview is a cloud-based pair programming tool for code interviews. We’ve included it here since the platform offers a flexible pricing plan, which might be more desirable for some individuals and small business companies.
Features:
— Supports over 10 languages
— Provides a powerful code editor with a familiar interface
— Opportunity to create question library and code snippets
— Audio and Video interview features
— Interview notes for each conducted interview
— Use in-house tests or create your own
— Insightful reporting with code playback
— Opportunity to send take-home projects
— Cloud-based: all happens in a browser, without installation
Pricing: CodeInterview has “Pay as You Go” option, meaning you’re not paying a monthly fee, but rather for each conducted interview, which costs $5. There are monthly options for small businesses for as low as $49 a month in case you’re paying for the whole year upfront, or $55 if you pay on a monthly basis.
CodeSignal Interview
CodeSignal’s Interview tool is another suitable option for companies looking to streamline their technical interviewing process. Their platform makes it easy to track and create new sessions, and their online editor makes it easy to collaborate and code with candidates.
Similar to HackerRank, their Interview tool also provides the ability to create diagrams and draw freely. Their platform supports over 40 languages and a great part of their tool is that candidates can run test cases that the recruiter setup beforehand.
Pros
- Candidates can run test cases directly in the editor.
- They provide recordings of the interview sessions.
- Freehand diagrams.
Cons
- Pricing plans are more affordable than HackerRank, but you’re still limited in the number of sessions you can run per month.
- Only supports algorithm challenges and simple programming problems — you cannot test front-end and back-end technologies, e.g. React, Python/Django, Ruby on Rails, etc.
Recommended for:
- Recruiters at high-growth tech companies with substantial funding and hiring needs.
Codility
Codility’s coding interview tool is called CodeLive. It can be used to conduct remote interviews via Codility’s virtual whiteboard feature. CodeLive uses a live shared environment with real-life tasks for developers. This means that your teams can easily conduct remote interviews without impacting the quality of a tech-oriented interaction between recruiters and candidates.
To create a natural, human-like interview experience, you can easily set up rooms and run code with your candidates. This way, you can have a clear overview of their abilities, at the same time creating meaningful connections.
Codility’s main features
- Live pair programming in an “online room”
- Automatic scorecards and feedback forms
- Flexible interview setups (based on custom tasks, pre-selected templates or previous submissions)
- Seamless integrations with candidate management systems
How much does Codility cost?
Pricing and licencing depends on the scale of your company’s recruitment needs. Codility does not express any flat fees for using the tool, and you have to request pricing.
Mettl
Mettl offers an online interview platform that focuses specifically on screening and interviewing applicants.
Pros:
- A large number of applicants can be screened.
- Possible to test several advanced skills.
- An extensive storehouse of technical questions
Cons:
- Lack of robust take-home coding projects for later stage skill testing
Conclusion:
Talking about coding interview tools for programmers is a bit of a controversial topic. But if you are seeking a job as a software engineer who writes the actual code, you have to know about these. They can be very handy when it comes to landing a job in an interview with your prospective employer.