interviewing.io is a paid mock interview platform where you practice anonymously with senior, staff and principal engineers from companies such as Meta, Google, OpenAI and Amazon, then get detailed feedback from them. As of October 2026, human mock interviews start at $179 each, the price varies with the subject and whether you want an interviewer from a specific company, and its FAQ promises a full refund if you're unhappy. Its AI Interviewer for coding and system design is free. Our verdict: it's the closest thing to a real big-tech technical round you can buy and worth a few sessions before an onsite, but it's expensive for volume practice and has no video.
We make CoPilot Interview, a different kind of interview tool, so read this with that in mind. Every fact below comes from interviewing.io's own homepage, FAQ and gift page, checked in October 2026. Where it doesn't publish something, such as a full price list, we say so.
What interviewing.io is
interviewing.io sells anonymous mock interviews for software engineers, run by people who conduct real interviews at large tech companies. It covers technical rounds (coding, system design, machine learning) and behavioral practice, and it doubles as a hiring channel: its FAQ says that when you do well in practice you get access to its jobs portal, where you can get warm introductions to hiring decision-makers.
The company behind it is Interviewing.io Inc. in San Francisco, co-founded by Aline Lerner. Its homepage says it helped write Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview, the sequel to Cracking the Coding Interview, and offers nine chapters free.
How an interviewing.io session works
- Book a session at a time that suits you, choosing the subject. You can ask for an interviewer from a specific company, for example a Googler before a Google loop.
- Meet anonymously. You join your interviewer in a collaborative code editor with audio and chat, but no video. The interviewer has none of your details, and the FAQ says you won't be paired with a coworker.
- Solve the problem out loud. Questions are similar in subject and difficulty to real interviews at top companies for backend or full-stack roles, according to its FAQ.
- Get feedback. Each session ends with an in-depth rundown of what you did well and what to improve, including how to avoid being down-leveled.
- Unmask if you want. Afterwards you can reveal who you are and connect with your interviewer, or stay anonymous.
interviewing.io features (as of October 2026)
Human mock interviews and mentorship
- Subjects: algorithms and data structures, coding, system design, machine learning (algorithms and system design), front-end engineering, engineering management, behavioral, and staff-level-plus and manager interviews.
- Dedicated coaching for Amazon, Google and Meta: a mentor from that company designs a lesson plan for you across 3, 5 or 10 one-on-one sessions.
- Interviewer vetting: its FAQ says every interviewer has worked at a FAANG or similar company, has at least 4 years of experience, has run at least 20 interviews for that company and passed 2 trial interviews, and is tracked on two performance metrics afterwards.
Free resources
- AI Interviewer: runs coding and system design interviews in the style of a FAANG mock and gives detailed feedback at the end. You can work through more than 200 problems from Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview for free. You need an account to use it.
- Interview replays: a library of recorded mock interviews you can filter by company, focus area, level and programming language.
- Company process guides for Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe and others, plus a bank of common coding questions.
interviewing.io pricing as of October 2026
interviewing.io doesn't publish a full price list. Its FAQ gives the starting price and refund policy, and its gift page shows the per-interview price for gifts.
| Option | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AI Interviewer | Free | Coding and system design; 200+ problems from Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview |
| Human mock interview | From $179 per session | Price varies by subject and whether you want an interviewer from a specific company |
| Gifted interviews | $179 each; 10% off for 4 or more | Buy sessions for someone else |
| Dedicated coaching (Amazon, Google, Meta) | Not published on the site | 3, 5 or 10 sessions with a custom lesson plan |
Refunds: the FAQ says that if you're unhappy with your interview, it will issue a full refund. Billing model: you pay per session; we found no subscription plan on its site.
Who interviewing.io fits, and who it doesn't
Good fit
- Experienced software engineers with a big-tech onsite coming up who want to hear how a real interviewer at that company judges them.
- System design, staff-level and engineering manager candidates, where peer feedback is weakest and experienced judgment matters most. Our system design mock interview guide covers how to run your own reps between sessions.
- Machine learning engineers, since it offers both ML algorithms and ML system design mocks.
- Anyone who freezes in front of strangers. Anonymity lowers the stakes while keeping the pressure of a real interviewer.
Look elsewhere if
- You need volume on a budget. At $179 or more per session, it's a finishing tool, not a daily one.
- You want feedback on how you come across on camera. Sessions have no video, so body language and eye contact aren't assessed.
- You're not a software engineer. The platform is built for engineering roles; product, design and non-tech candidates will get more from other tools.
- You're just starting. Begin with its free AI Interviewer or another free option and book a human once you can finish a medium problem while talking.
interviewing.io alternatives, including CoPilot Interview
Disclosure: we make CoPilot Interview. Prices are from each vendor's own site, checked in October 2026.
| Tool | What it is | Free option | Paid from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CoPilot Interview | Desktop app for Windows 10+ and macOS 12+ with a scored Mock Interview mode, plus a free browser mock interview | 15 minutes every day, all four modes, no card or signup | $14.99/mo Standard (sale; regular $19.99); hour packs from $5.99 | Best choice for daily spoken reps from your résumé and the job description, scored out of 10 |
| interviewing.io | Anonymous mocks with senior engineers | AI Interviewer for coding and system design | Human mocks from $179 each | A realistic technical round before a big-tech onsite |
| Aced (formerly Exponent) | Courses, peer mocks, AI practice and coaching | Basic: 5 peer mocks a month | Pro $79/mo or $149/yr; 1:1 coaching $249 a session | Structured courses and human practice partners at low cost |
| Huru | AI video mock interview app | Everything for job seekers | Enterprise only | Free spoken and behavioral practice on video |
| Yoodli | AI roleplay and speech coaching | Starter: up to 5 roleplays in total | Pro $8/mo billed annually | Delivery feedback such as pacing and filler words |
The most cost-effective plan for most engineers is a stack: daily AI reps, free peer mocks for pressure with a person, then one or two paid sessions with an expert in the final weeks. CoPilot Interview fits the first layer. Its Mock Interview builds the session from your résumé and the job description, lets you choose the level, 3, 5 or 8 questions and the mix of behavioral, technical, system design and coding questions, reads each question aloud, and scores your spoken answer out of 10 with what to fix and a model answer. Coding questions use your chosen language and never auto-submit, so you can think in silence. CoPilot Interview also has a live Candidate Mode for real calls. Follow the rules of the employer or assessment you're in — many people use it only to practice, which works on the free plan.
Pramp, the classic free peer-practice site, now runs as Aced Practice; see CoPilot Interview vs Pramp. For more free options, see our list of the best free mock interview websites, and for weighing human coaching against AI, our AI interview assistant vs human coach comparison.
How to get the most from a paid interviewing.io session
- Do free reps first. Work several problems with the AI Interviewer or an AI mock interview until you can talk through a medium problem without stalling.
- Book one to two weeks before your onsite. That leaves time to act on the feedback and book a second session if needed.
- Match the interviewer to your target. Ask for an interviewer from the company you're interviewing with, since the price difference buys company-specific judgment.
- Narrate everything. With no video, your voice is the whole signal. State assumptions, trade-offs and test cases out loud.
- Turn feedback into drills. Write down the two biggest gaps and practice exactly those before your next session. Our coding interview cheat sheet helps you review patterns quickly.
Get your daily reps in for free
Before you pay for a human mock, rehearse out loud with an AI mock interview that scores every spoken answer out of 10 with what to fix. Free for 15 minutes a day, no credit card.
Try a free AI mock interviewFAQ
Is interviewing.io free?
Partly. Its AI Interviewer, which runs coding and system design interviews in the style of a big-tech mock and gives feedback at the end, is free, and so are more than 200 problems from Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview. Mock interviews with human engineers are paid and start at $179 each as of October 2026.
How much does interviewing.io cost?
As of October 2026, its FAQ says human mock interviews start at $179, with the price depending on the subject and on whether you want an interviewer from a specific company. Gifted interviews are $179 each, with 10% off when you buy four or more. You pay per session; we found no subscription plan on its site, and it does not publish prices for its multi-session dedicated coaching.
Is interviewing.io legit?
Yes. It is run by Interviewing.io Inc., a San Francisco company co-founded by Aline Lerner, and it helped write Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview, the sequel to Cracking the Coding Interview. Its FAQ publishes how it vets interviewers, its starting price and its refund policy: a full refund if you are unhappy with your interview.
Is interviewing.io really anonymous?
Its FAQ says sessions use voice and chat but no video, and your interviewer has no access to your information, so you decide how much to reveal. After the session you can choose to unmask and connect with your interviewer. It also says it will not pair you with your coworkers.
interviewing.io vs CoPilot Interview: which should I use?
Use both for different jobs. interviewing.io gives you a real senior engineer and detailed human feedback at $179 or more a session, which is worth it before a big onsite. CoPilot Interview is built for daily reps: its Mock Interview builds questions from your résumé and the job description and scores each spoken answer out of 10, with 15 free minutes a day. Do your reps first, then book the human mock. We make CoPilot Interview, so weigh our view accordingly.
interviewing.io vs Exponent (Aced): which is better?
interviewing.io is better for a realistic technical round with a senior engineer from a top company. Exponent, now called Aced, is better for structured courses, product management prep and cheap volume through peer mock interviews, with Pro at $79 a month or $149 a year as of October 2026. Its own coaching sessions cost $249 for one hour.