Same six-judge panel, same rubric — and the benches split by criterion. softgarden takes sovereignty 7.3 to 3.2 and applicant data governance 5.5 to 2.0, with six judges leaning softgarden on each, plus AI screening control 3.0 to 1.7 with five leans and one tie. d.vinci takes integrations and handover 2.8 to 1.7 with six leaning d.vinci, and job distribution 5.0 to 4.2 with five leaning d.vinci. Pricing transparency favors d.vinci at 5.2 to 4.5, with three leans d.vinci and three ties; candidate pipeline splits too: 3.7 to 3.3 for d.vinci, but two judges lean d.vinci, one softgarden, three tie. Weighted totals favor softgarden with five of six judges; employer branding sits level at 4.4 to 4.4. Both are DE-jurisdiction with EU-only data residency; d.vinci's ownership is founder-held and its subprocessor exposure US Cloud Act, softgarden's ownership unknown and subprocessor exposure EU-only.
Choose d.vinci if
You need integrations and handover — six judges lean d.vinci there, 2.8 to 1.7, the strongest lean of d.vinci's bench
Your team posts broadly and needs distribution reach — five judges lean d.vinci on job distribution, 5.0 to 4.2, with multiposting to over 500 job boards, Google for Jobs optimization and a career page the vendor calls "100% barrierefrei"
You want module prices you can read before a sales call — three judges lean d.vinci on pricing transparency, 5.2 to 4.5, with applicant management "ab 785 € pro Monat", career pages "ab 399 € pro Monat" and onboarding "ab 1020 € pro Monat"
Founder-held ownership is a requirement — d.vinci's sovereignty attributes list founder-held ownership, while softgarden's list ownership as unknown
Choose softgarden if
You need documented applicant-data governance — six judges lean softgarden, 5.5 to 2.0, on German data-centre hosting at named providers WIIT AG (formerly myLoc) and Equinix Germany GmbH in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, a downloadable processing agreement and ISO 27001/27017/27018 certification
Sovereignty leads your shortlist — six judges lean softgarden, 7.3 to 3.2; its subprocessor exposure is listed as EU-only while d.vinci's is listed as US Cloud Act
AI screening control is a gate in your evaluation — five judges lean softgarden, 3.0 to 1.7 with one tie; the d.vinci verdict found no public information on what its career-page AI agent does, which provider runs it or whether it can be switched off
Your data protection officer or works council signs off on the purchase — their weighted totals are 4.6 to 2.8 and 4.1 to 2.5 for softgarden
Read this comparison as one judge. Each weighs the same scores by what they care about.
The Data Protection Officer
Answers for thousands of CVs from people who never chose the vendor. Wants deletion that runs on the stated date after rejection, talent-pool consent that expires, a subprocessor list that names the CV parser and the AI provider, and an access log over every applicant file.
d.vinci
softgarden
This judge's pick
Criterion by criterion
Applicant management & hiring workflow
d.vinci
Configurable workflows with roles and rights, management of multiple companies and branches, and Microsoft Teams video interviews are published, which goes beyond a fixed stage list. I found no public information on structured scorecards, interview scheduling with calendar integration, approval steps for offers, or a history on each candidate of who changed a stage and why — the attributed record a fair-process dispute would need.
softgarden
Applicant management is evidenced as an application overview with built-in team communication, a dashboard with time-to-hire and time-to-interview KPIs, a basic process configuration, and a system history logging access attempts and every changing operation on records. We found no public information on structured scorecards, interview scheduling with calendar integration, hiring-manager access limited to their own vacancies, or whether each stage change records who made it and why.
Multiposting, career page & candidate experience
d.vinci
Multiposting to over 500 job boards, Google for Jobs optimisation, and a career page marketed as "100% barrierefrei" with one-click translations and application via XING, LinkedIn or upload are published. No German boards are named, and I found no public information on per-board booking and budget tracking, source attribution per applicant, or candidates viewing their own status and withdrawing themselves.
softgarden
The pages state multiposting to more than 1,200 job boards plus social media and Google Ads, a career page in both packages, SEO-optimised job ads, and per-advertisement analysis of conversion rates and incoming channels, with media booking offered through the vendor's own media business. We found no public information naming the German boards covered, Google for Jobs markup, an application flow on mobile without an account, or cost and applicants per channel.
Retention, deletion & talent-pool consent
d.vinci
The privacy policy states personal data is stored only as long as the stated purposes or statutory retention periods require — a principle, not a mechanism with a date that fires after rejection. I found no public information on automatic deletion deadlines, talent-pool consent with expiry, a documented access or erasure process for applicant files, or a log of who viewed or exported a candidate's record; the only consent mechanism evidenced is double opt-in for the vendor's newsletter.
softgarden
Automated deletion of applicant data that the controller configures to its own operational requirements, a recommended six-month retention default, a four-week deadline for answering data-subject requests, and a system history logging access attempts and record changes give the employer real hooks for its liability. We found no public information on talent-pool consent or its expiry, candidate self-service access to their own file, logging of exports, or how deletion propagates to backups and to the boards and tools the system syncs with.
AI screening transparency & control
d.vinci
The only AI feature evidenced is an "integrierter AI-Agent" on the career pages, presented as a benefit with no statement of its inputs, provider, processing location or per-account switch. I found no public information on any ranking, matching or CV-parsing function, no assurance that humans decide, and no published EU AI Act position — thin for a high-risk use.
softgarden
AI use is stated for job-ad text, communication, candidate matching and process structuring, sold as modules including a KI Screening Assistant and KI Interview Assistant, with the assurance it is 'Transparent und ohne Blackbox'. We found no public information on the inputs any of these evaluate, a per-feature off switch, informing candidates, exclusion of protected attributes, or the model provider; Textkernel appears in the published subcontractor list, but the captured pages do not tie it to the AI features.
HR handover, integrations & API
d.vinci
"Schnittstellen für die Anbindung diverser Partner" and a Microsoft Teams integration for video interviews are stated, but no partner, HR system or payroll connection is named. I found no public information on a documented API, SSO, e-signature for offers and contracts, webhooks, or handover that carries documents and consent status into the HR record without retyping; the onboarding module keeps documents inside the vendor's own portals.
softgarden
The evidence for life after the hire is an onboarding module carrying the new employee forward inside the vendor's own product, plus Cronofy among the named subcontractors. We found no public information on a documented API, a handover carrying the hire's documents and consent status into any named HR or payroll system, e-signature for contracts, or single sign-on.
European sovereignty
d.vinci
The contracting entity is German — d.vinci HR-Systems GmbH, Amtsgericht Hamburg HRB 93221, VAT DE 243027247 — but I found no public information on where applicant data is hosted or on the subprocessors of the recruiting product itself: neither a CV parser nor the AI provider behind the career-page agent is named. The processors the privacy policy does name cover the vendor's website, webinars and support, and include US and Australian providers such as Figma, Zendesk and Dovetail.
softgarden
Hosting in named German datacentres (WIIT, formerly myLoc, and Equinix Germany in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf), a Berlin contracting entity with court and register number, a published subcontractor list naming myLoc, the CV parser Textkernel and Cronofy, a downloadable data-processing agreement with TOMs, and the statement that no third-country transfer of applicant data occurs — that is most of a European chain in the vendor's own words. What holds it below the top band is the support-channel provider Intercom, whose parent is flagged for US Cloud Act exposure while the vendor states it acts as its own controller, and we found no public information tying the AI features to a named EU provider.
Pricing transparency
d.vinci
Starting prices are public — "d.vinci Bewerbermanagement ab 785 € pro Monat", career pages "ab 399 € pro Monat", onboarding "ab 1020 € pro Monat" — with the basis stated as employee count, unlimited users, postings and applications, and support included. Implementation workshop costs are acknowledged but unpriced, and I found no public information on the price bands per employee count, the minimum term, VAT treatment or job-board posting costs, so the annual invoice is not computable.
softgarden
The Core package is published at from 199 € / Monat with its basis and limits — a maximum of five advertised jobs and unlimited users — and all prices are stated as excluding VAT, with a brochure offering all packages, functions and prices. The All-in-One package is stated as individual pricing matched to hiring volume, and we found no public information on the price of add-on modules, job-board postings, or a minimum term.
Sovereignty, side by side
Dimension
d.vinci
softgarden
Legal entity
Incorporated in DE
Incorporated in DE
Ownership
Founder-held
Not determined
Data residency
Not determined
EU only
Subprocessors
US CLOUD Act reach
Not determined
Facts, side by side
Only facts both products carry under the same definition — anything else would not be a fair row.