An AI interview assistant online, with no download, can run practice questions with instant AI grading and show you the answer flow; the full AI mock interview built from your resume runs in the free desktop app, and what no browser can do is give live help during a real Zoom, Microsoft Teams or Google Meet call, because a browser tab cannot hear the meeting. That limit applies to every web-based tool and every browser extension, ours included.
Here is the technical reason, what works in a browser today, and when a desktop app is the only option.
The limit: a browser tab cannot hear the meeting
Browsers sandbox web pages on purpose. A page can use your microphone if you allow it, and it can capture a screen or a tab if you allow that, but it has no access to the audio another application is playing. The Zoom or Teams desktop app is another application. A browser extension gets one more ability, capturing the audio of a browser tab, so it can hear a meeting only if that meeting runs inside the same browser.
A browser tab can hear your microphone and, at most, another tab; it cannot hear the Zoom or Teams desktop app. A desktop assistant reads the computer's audio output, which carries whatever any app plays. We compare the two in Chrome extension vs desktop.
What works with an AI interview assistant online
- Practice questions at /try. The in-browser demo runs practice questions with no signup and no download. Pick a question, read the structured answer, say it in your own words.
- AI mock interviews (free desktop app, not the browser). Paste the job description and your resume, choose the level and the mix of behavioral, technical, system design and coding. An AI interviewer asks questions built from your resume, reads them aloud, and scores each spoken answer out of 10 with what worked, what to improve and a model answer.
- Answer rehearsal. Working through likely questions until the structure is in your head, so a live answer needs a prompt rather than a script.
For most people, that is the majority of the preparation.
What needs the desktop app
| Task | Browser, no download | Desktop app |
|---|---|---|
| Practice questions with instant AI grading | Yes | Yes |
| AI mock interview built from your resume and the job description | No | Yes, on the free plan |
| Live captions of the interviewer in a real call | No | Yes, from the computer's audio output |
| Structured answer in about 2 seconds after each spoken question | No | Yes, automatically |
| Coding mode reading a problem from the screen | No | Yes |
| Keeping the assistant window out of screen sharing and recordings | No | Yes, Ghost Mode |
| Works with Zoom, Teams, Meet, Webex, Amazon Chime | No | Yes, it never joins the meeting |
Web-based competitors share the same limit
Several competitors run as a web app or a Chrome extension. They are not breaking the rule above; they work around it in one of two ways. Either they ask you to hold the interview inside a browser tab so the extension can capture it, or they use the microphone to hear the interviewer through your speakers. The second path brings echo, mixes your voice with the interviewer's and lowers accuracy. Some pair the web app with a desktop download for the live part, which concedes the point. Desktop vs web goes through the trade-offs.
A sensible order
Start online. Try a question at /try. For a full mock interview with scores, install the free desktop app. If you decide you want live help, and only for interviews where it is allowed, download the desktop app. The free plan is $0 forever with no credit card: 15 minutes of live help every day in sessions of up to 15 minutes, with mock interviews included. Follow your employer's rules on live help; practice carries no such question.
Where CoPilot Interview fits
CoPilot Interview is a desktop AI interview assistant for Windows 10 and 11 and macOS 12 and later, with an in-browser demo for practice. It is not a browser extension and there is no Linux build. The desktop app listens to the computer's audio output and your microphone, captions each question and returns a structured answer in about 2 seconds.
Disclosure: CoPilot Interview is our product, so weigh what we say about it accordingly.
Frequently asked questions
Can an AI interview assistant work entirely online?
For practice, partly: practice questions with instant grading and answer rehearsal run in a browser at /try; the full AI mock interview built from your resume runs in the free desktop app. For live help in a real call, no, because a browser tab cannot hear the audio the Zoom, Teams or Meet desktop app is playing. That part needs a desktop app.
Does a Chrome extension hear my Zoom call?
Only if the call runs inside a Chrome tab. An extension can capture a tab's audio, not the audio of the Zoom desktop app. If you join from the desktop app, the extension hears nothing unless it falls back to the microphone.
Is /try really free with no signup?
Yes. The in-browser demo runs practice questions with no account, no email and no download. It exists so you can see the answer flow before installing anything, and it works on any system with a modern browser.
Why not let a web app hear the interviewer through my speakers?
It works badly. Your microphone hears the interviewer as a room echo mixed with your own voice, so captions duplicate and accuracy drops. The desktop app reads the computer's audio output directly, which is clean.
Is there a Linux or pure web version for live help?
No. There is no Linux build, and live help needs the desktop app on Windows or macOS. The browser demo works on any system with a modern browser; the full mock interview and live help need the Windows or macOS app.