HeyMilo vs. Braintrust: AI Screening Tool Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

In a Tight Market, Screening Is Where It Starts

Budgets are tighter, teams are leaner, and expectations are higher.
We speak with a lot of staffing teams exploring AI tools for recruiting for the first time, switching platforms, or considering building something in-house. Each conversation shows us more about the changing expectations in evaluating candidates upfront and how teams are gearing up. 

This comparison of HeyMilo and Braintrust helps you understand what each platform actually does—so you can make the best call for your hiring model, not someone else’s.

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What It Feels Like to Use Each AI Screening Tool

HeyMilo feels like working with your most consistent, perceptive recruiter on their best day. Candidates can join by phone, web audio, or video—whatever’s best depending on the role–and the AI listens closely, asks smarter follow-up questions when responses need clarity, and keeps the interview moving in a way that feels natural, not mechanical. No one’s creating new accounts, rushing to click 'next' or rerecording awkward video snippets. It’s a two-way conversation that respects the candidate’s time and your team’s need for quality input.

Braintrust AIR runs conversational video interviews using AI-generated questions. The experience is responsive and clear—candidates get a structured, guided path, and recruiters get instant scorecards after each interview. The platform originally started inside Braintrust’s freelancer network, but today it’s also used by teams looking for a lighter-weight AI screening layer they can run at scale. Compared to HeyMilo–it’s web-based, and candidates must sign up through Braintrust to complete their interviews. Regarding data ownership, while the interviews are hosted on the Braintrust platform, it appears that the interview data is controlled by Braintrust, especially when candidates are drawn from their network.

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What Recruiters Actually Get Out of It

HeyMilo is built for recruiting teams. Every question is scored based on a rubric you set, with summaries, transcripts, and interview highlights sent right into your ATS (or viewable in-platform if you’re not using one). You can set things up by role, region, or client. It’s flexible enough for any type of role you’re hiring for—and if you have a similar job to one you’ve already configured, there’s an option to clone that agent and quickly adjust the questions or evaluation.

Braintrust AIR delivers AI-generated scorecards and recorded interviews directly in the dashboard. It's designed for speed and simplicity, with interviews adapting based on the job description. While it doesn’t offer the same level of recruiter-led customization, it’s easy to use and helps teams move quickly through screening when they need to prioritize volume.

How They Handle Different Hiring Needs

HeyMilo supports a range of use cases—hourly hiring, healthcare roles, high-volume agency work, specialized roles, internal tech teams and more. Global teams are multiplying their submissions when hiring for high volume roles. Everything can be customized (including evaluations) per job, so you’re not locked into templates. Some teams use HeyMilo to screen 600+ candidates a week, others run specialty interviews for hard-to-fill high volume roles. It’s the same platform, just used differently depending on what you need. 

Braintrust AIR is often used by companies hiring for freelance, contract, or high-volume roles. It helps reduce screening workload by auto-generating job-specific interviews and scorecards. Whether or not you’re hiring from their marketplace, the AIR tool offers a fast way to qualify talent, even if you’re short on time or internal recruiting capacity.

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Platform Capabilities: Side-by-Side

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Understanding the Broader Model

Braintrust’s marketplace gives talent a place to find roles and build profiles—and AIR acts as a screening tool within that flow. You can use AIR without the marketplace, but the two are closely connected. This integration means that recruiters are working within an ecosystem where candidate data is owned and controlled by Braintrust, especially when they are sourced from their platform. Recruiters should be aware that using AIR in this environment might involve sharing data within their marketplace, which could impact how candidate data is managed/shared.

In contrast, HeyMilo focuses entirely on helping recruiters and staffing teams screen, evaluate, and submit candidates confidently. There is no marketplace involved, and a company’s candidate data remains entirely under their control. With full ownership and flexibility, there aren’t added complexities of external networks or platforms.  

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Making the Call

Whether you’re switching platforms, testing for the first time, or still debating whether to build in-house, your team’s needs come first.

If you’re managing hundreds of interviews a week and want your recruiters focused on the people most likely to get hired, HeyMilo is built for you. It gives you structure, clarity, and the kind of flexibility that makes a real difference across your funnel.

If you want a lighter-touch screen — especially if you're already inside the Braintrust ecosystem—AIR can help you move quickly.

Either way, AI for interviews should meet you where you are.

Explore HeyMilo’s AI recruiter to understand how it fits into your hiring process—from outreach to evaluation—all in one place that works with your team, not against it.