Aural

Aural is software for conducting structured interviews by chat, voice, or video. Its AI interviewer adjusts follow-up depth, tone, and direction according to participant responses. Sessions can be live or asynchronous and recorded; they are transcribed and summarized automatically, with results available for export in XLSX or PDF. Templates support open-ended, multiple-choice, rating-scale, coding, and whiteboard questions. Interview languages include English, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, and others.

Aural is open source under the MIT license and can be self-hosted. Self-hosted installations can use pluggable LLMs, including OpenAI, Kimi, MiniMax, or compatible APIs. It also provides a REST API with Bearer-token authentication and an OpenAPI specification, though webhooks and official SDKs are not provided. The free plan includes 3 templates, 100 AI tokens, 30 minutes of session time, and 1 seat. Paid options include usage-based billing at $0.08/minute or Starter at $9/month.

Aural combines adaptive interviewing with transcription, summaries, and structured exports. Its open-source self-hosting option and usage-based pricing add flexibility, while the API lacks webhooks and official SDKs.

Aural suits teams that need structured interviews with live or asynchronous participation, automatic summaries, and downloadable structured results. Its self-hosting option may suit organizations that want to run the open-source software on their own infrastructure.

Overview

Aural is an interview platform for teams that want conversations to adapt as participants respond, then turn those sessions into organized records. It is a strong fit for research and recruiting workflows that value flexible formats and self-hosting; teams needing mature API integrations should look elsewhere.

Its combination of automated session outputs and open-source deployment is compelling, but hosted usage has tight included quotas and scales with both interview time and AI-token use.

Key features

Interviews that adjust to answers

Aural’s AI interviewer changes follow-up depth, tone, and direction according to participant responses. That makes it better suited to exploratory conversations than a rigid question flow alone. Teams can build interviews with open-ended, multiple-choice, rating-scale, coding, and whiteboard questions, and run them live or asynchronously by chat, voice, or video. Recording and templates are supported.

Session outputs and language support

Automatic transcripts and summaries reduce the work of turning conversations into material a team can review. Structured exports in XLSX or PDF are useful when results need to move into existing analysis or reporting workflows. Interview languages include English, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, and others.

API, security, and deployment

The REST API uses Bearer-token authentication and has an OpenAPI specification, giving developers a documented starting point. The limitation matters for teams automating workflows: Aural has no webhooks or official SDKs, and its internal tRPC and voice WebSockets are not stable Developer API contracts.

Aural is MIT-licensed open-source software that can be self-hosted, with pluggable LLM support including OpenAI, Kimi, MiniMax, or compatible APIs. That flexibility can suit organizations wanting control over deployment and model choice, but self-hosting is a technical commitment rather than a substitute for a turnkey hosted service. Aural states that data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.3, and that it complies with GDPR and other global privacy regulations. General and technical support are handled by email.

Pricing

The Free plan costs $0/month and includes 3 templates, 100 AI tokens, 30 minutes of session time, and 1 seat. It is a practical way for a single user to try small-scale interviews, but the short time allowance and token cap leave little room for sustained use.

Pay As You Go charges $0.08/minute for session time and $0.02/token for AI tokens; additional seats cost $10/seat/mo. This avoids a fixed monthly plan price, but costs depend on both interview duration and token consumption, so it is a less predictable fit for frequent use.

Starter is $9/month for 10 templates, 200 AI tokens, 3 hours of session time, 1 seat, and email support. It suits a solo user with modest, recurring needs. Basic is $24/month and raises the allowance to 500 AI tokens and 10 hours of session time, while keeping 10 templates, 1 seat, and email support; it is the more suitable hosted tier for a solo user running interviews more regularly. Both paid plans remain single-seat, so teams needing collaborators should account for seat costs where applicable.

Platforms

Aural supports Android, iOS, web, API, and self-hosted deployment. The combination spans mobile and browser access with a route for custom integrations or infrastructure control.

Who it's for

Aural is best for solo researchers, recruiters, and teams exploring adaptive interviews who want transcripts, summaries, structured exports, or the option to host the software themselves. Its question variety and live or asynchronous formats support different interview styles. It is a weaker choice for teams that need generous included usage, multiple seats in a base subscription, or event-driven integrations through webhooks and maintained SDKs.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Adaptive follow-ups make structured interviews less constrained by a fixed script.
• Pros: Automatic transcripts, summaries, and XLSX or PDF exports make session results easier to review and reuse.
• Pros: MIT licensing, self-hosting, and pluggable LLMs offer meaningful deployment and model flexibility.
• Cons: Free usage is capped at 30 minutes, 100 AI tokens, and one seat.
• Cons: Starter and Basic also include only one seat, while pay-as-you-go usage and added seats can increase costs.
• Cons: No webhooks or official SDKs limit convenience for teams building integrations.

Alternatives

For a conventional video-interviewing category overview, start with Video Interviewing Software. Choose interviewstream if you want a paid interview product spanning Android, iOS, MacOS, web, and API platforms. Interviewer.AI is a paid, no-free-plan option with a free trial; its Essential Edition is $199 a month, with 50 interview credits per month, 3 job posts, 20-minute interviews, and 15 total user licenses, making it a more seat-rich option than Aural’s single-seat plans.

Jobma is another paid alternative, spanning Android, iOS, MacOS, web, and Windows. Willo may suit teams that prefer per-live-role pricing: Willo Lite is £49 per month per live role, with up to 5 live roles and 150 assessed candidates per role. Autogram is a paid alternative for web, iOS, and Android.

Talview is worth considering for buyers seeking tailored, unit-based pricing and the option to select individual features or bundles; its minimum commitment is typically approximately 150 to 200 candidates. EasyHire.me is a freemium alternative; its Entry plan is $49 a month per job for 10 monthly interviews, 3 team members, and 1 month of interview storage. Hyring also has a free plan and trial; its free tier includes 50 credits per month, 1 seat, 1 active job post, English only, and 1 AI voice.

Verdict

Choose Aural if you want adaptive interviewing paired with transcripts, summaries, structured exports, and the freedom to self-host or select a compatible LLM. Its value is clearest for solo users with moderate usage or technically capable teams prioritizing deployment control. Look elsewhere if your workflow depends on richer developer integrations, multiple included seats, or predictable high-volume allowances.