Hello Interview is a popular tech interview prep platform for candidates who want to land a job at FAANG and other top tech companies. If you don't mind paying a premium, it’s a decent choice for booking a mock interview, career coaching with an expert, and other exclusive learning resources.
The platform combines AI and expert FAANG staff engineers and managers to help you prepare for interviews. Although you can’t choose your coach, overall, it’s reasonably priced and a strong choice for those seeking long-term mentoring and career guidance.
Below, we give an overview of what you should know about Hello Interview, how much its mock interviews and mentoring sessions cost, and whether people seem to think they're worth it.
- Hello Interview services
- Hello Interview review (pros and cons)
- Hello Interview pricing
- Hello Interview alternatives (Top 3)
- More Hello Interview alternatives (by category)
- Hello Interview FAQs
1. Hello Interview services↑
Before we go through the pros and cons of signing up for Hello Interview, let’s first take a look at its primary services:
1.1 Mock interview session
Hello Interview offers one-on-one mock interview sessions with vetted FAANG+ interviewers from top tech companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon. Sessions are pay-per-interview, with no subscription required.
When signing up, you’ll select your seniority level, target company, and interview type, and Hello Interview will match you with a coach based on these preferences. You can choose between:
- General Mock Interview, where you get paired with a coach from any FAANG+ company.
- Target Company Mock Interview, where you get matched with a coach who has direct experience at your chosen company.
Sessions are priced according to seniority. For Junior, Mid-Level, and Senior levels, a General Mock Interview costs $170, while a Target Company Mock Interview costs $289. For Staff+ or Manager levels, prices increase to $269 for General and $419 for Target.
Each 60-minute session starts with a discussion. about your background and goals, followed by a debrief with feedback and next steps. The session is recorded (private to you and your coach), and you’ll receive a detailed feedback report within 24 hours.
After your first session, you can rebook with the same coach (if available) or try another. However, you can’t directly choose your coach. Hello Interview makes the match for you. Despite this, many users report receiving valuable feedback from their assigned mentors.
1.2 Expert mentorship session
Aside from mock interviews, you can also book individual mentorship sessions with experienced coaches. It’s a one to six-hour long session with a coach where you get to choose specific topics, such as creating study plans, reviewing resumes, and other concept prep and feedback.
Sessions can be booked individually or as a package of 3 or 6 with the same coach, which includes private chat support for ongoing communication.
1.3 AI-guided system design practice
Hello Interview's practice tool provides guided, step-by-step practice for system design questions. It simulates a real interview environment, allowing you to illustrate solutions on a virtual whiteboard while explaining your thought process through audio or text. Upon completion, you receive immediate AI feedback on your response quality.
The AI-guided system design practice is included with a Hello Interview Premium account.
1.4 Access to all premium learning resources
Hello Interview offers both free and premium interview preparation resources. Free resources include limited access to training courses on system design, data structures, and behavioral interviews, as well as a blog and YouTube channel hosted by experts.
A premium subscription unlocks full access to all training courses, guided practice questions, a curated question bank, and interview insights from verified users who’ve gone through the process. Premium users can also filter content by company, level, and question type to find relevant prep material.
2. Hello Interview review↑
The first thing to say is that Hello Interview is completely legitimate and credible, and based on our research in forums like Reddit, most customer experiences are positive. That said, some users on Blind have shared mixed feedback, so it may not be the best option or best value for everyone.
Let's run through a few pros and cons of the service.
2.1 Hello interview pros
Vetted Coaches: According to the website, all Hello Interview coaches are current or former FAANG+ interviewers who go through a “rigorous vetting process”, including an interview with the co-founder. The platform prioritizes professionals at the staff level or above, as software engineers or managers in top FAANG-level companies, with a strong interview track record and a passion for mentoring.
Real interview experience: Many users describe the feedback they got from coaches as “thorough and actionable” and say the sessions closely mirror real interviews.
Long-term mentorship: The option to book the same coach for multiple sessions ensures continuity and enables you to track your development over time. With package plans, you can also get answers to your questions through private chat support between sessions.
100% money-back guarantee: If you’re unsatisfied with your session, Hello Interview offers a full refund for their mock interview and mentorship sessions.
ROI: Doing mock interviews with an expert from your target company helps you improve your interview performance in a way that just knocking out problems on Leetcode can not. And if you're going for a job at the likes of Google, Meta, or Amazon, spending a few hundred dollars on mock interviews is small change when put against the salary gains you stand to make.
2.2 Hello interview cons
No option to choose a coach: The website automatically matches users with a coach based on their experience, target company, and interview type. While this removes the ability to directly choose a coach, the platform does provide anonymous coach profiles to help set user expectations.
In contrast, IGotAnOffer is fully transparent about its coaches, their backgrounds, experience, and pricing.
Not ideal for beginners: The platform is best suited for candidates with some interview experience. If you’re new to technical interviews, you may need to familiarize yourself with the format beforehand to get the most value out of your sessions. For example, the Guided System Design practice assumes a basic understanding of system architecture, which could be challenging if you're just starting out.
Pricing may be high compared to alternatives: While Hello Interview’s mock interviews start at $170, which is competitive compared to most platforms, it’s still more expensive than IGotAnOffer for similar coaching quality. For example, a Google PM mock interview on Hello Interview costs $256-$270, while at IGotAnOffer, a session with an ex-Google PM usually costs around $140.
Some users share this sentiment, with one Reddit user saying, “Yes, Hello Interview is really good, but there are cheaper tools nowadays, so the price seems a bit unjustified.
Limited roles for coaching: Hello Interview currently offers mock interviews only for software engineers, engineering managers, and ML engineers. In contrast, IGotAnOffer provides coaching for a wider range of roles, including product management, data science, and more.
3. Hello Interview Pricing↑
As we’ve covered above, Hello Interview offers two types of mock interviews: General Mock Interview and Target Company Mock Interview. Rates are per interview and vary based on seniority.
For Junior, Mid-Level, and Senior levels, a General Mock Interview costs $170, while a Target Company Mock Interview costs $289. For Staff+ or Manager levels, prices increase to $269 for General and $419 for Target.
For coaching services, $170 to $419 per interview is on the expensive side, especially when you consider that on a site like IGotAnOffer, you can book coaches with 10+ years of experience at Meta or Google for considerably less.
Hello Interview does offer ways to get a discounted session. One option is $20 off your first mock interview if you also subscribe to Hello Interview Premium, which, as mentioned earlier, gives you full access to their learning resources.
For $35 per month or $47 per year, you get access to premium learning resources, chat support with your coach, and more.
If you purchase multiple sessions, you can also get a 3-5% discount (depending on the number of sessions you get). Also, keep an eye out for special discounts on specific roles like this one for their senior director Amazon mock interviews:
4. Hello Interview alternatives (top 3)↑
With these Hello Interview limitations in mind, we’ve drawn up a shortlist of what we think are the three best tech interviewing coaching services available right now for candidates who want to improve their interviewing skills.
#IGotAnOffer
Okay, we may be biased here, but a 4.95 average star rating from over 10k reviews is hard to ignore.
IGotAnOffer is a coaching platform where you can book mock interview sessions. It also offers career mentoring, leadership coaching, resume review, and salary negotiation coaching sessions.
There are over 300 coaches on the platform and they’ve all worked at the very top companies in tech (e.g. Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.). Most of the coaches specialize in product management or engineering interviews, so they will be well-equipped with real-world insights to guide you through the interview process in your chosen role and target company.
Click on a coach’s profile and you can instantly see their hourly availability, something that you can’t do on Hello Interview. Prices are clearly displayed before you book and if you’re not satisfied with your session, you get a full refund.
#TryExponent
TryExponent is one of the leading platforms for tech candidates looking to land their dream job. The site is packed full of resources and while it’s mainly known for its courses, it also does interview coaching. You’ll find a good range of software engineers or PM coaches with experience at top FAANG companies.
However, the price is a bit high, almost comparable to Hello Interview sessions. In fact, if you go to IGotAnOffer instead you can often book a session with the exact same coach for $60 less!
If you’re committed to improving your interviewing skills and have the budget for it, you can get the Ace the Interview Program which includes a readiness assessment, 5 mock sessions, 1-year access to courses, and 20% off for other coaching services at $1499. You can also join its scheduled mocks with other candidates in their Peer Mocks section for free practice.
Check out our article on Exponent to learn more about its services and alternatives.
#Tech Mock Interview
Tech Mock Interview offers mock interviews for tech candidates, among other job application services. Browsing their mock interviews page, you’ll find that interview coaches offer different rates based on their years of experience, expertise, and session duration, so there’s a price range for every budget.
The Tech Mock Interview coach page itself is very straightforward. You can immediately filter your coach options based on the coaching service you need. You can also filter based on the subject matter expertise that you need coaching for: coding, system design, software development manager, technical program manager, behavioral, machine learning, and data science. However, its selection of coaches is small. You will find a wider selection of experts who can coach you on the same subjects on IGotAnOffer.
5. More Hello Interview alternatives (categorized)↑
5.1 If you’re looking for budget-friendly option
#Pramp
Pramp is a website where you can schedule mock interviews with peers. It's been recently acquired by Exponent, so you need to link your former Pramp account to Exponent to use the service. If you have a free account, you get 5 credits per month. If you want more, you'll need to subscribe to Exponent.
Its interface and customer service get good reviews from users, though the actual mocks vary from great to not-so-great. It’s a good place to start your interview prep before investing in a mock with an expert on a platform like IGotAnOffer.
Just like Hello Interview, you can’t choose who you’ll be having your peer mock session with. Based on the information you give at sign-up, Pramp will match you with the best peer. You can, however, use the “invite session” feature if you want to use its platform to practice with a friend.
Check out our full review on Pramp to learn more about their pricing and services.
#TechInterviewCoaching
TechInterviewCoach is a relatively small company and judging from the reviews it seems that there is a good chance that Andrea, the founder, will be your coach.
We’ve included it as one of our alternatives to Exponent because Andrea has a strong coaching profile and the pricing is hard to beat. But be prepared to sacrifice some of the immediacy and easy booking features you get on other platforms, as well as choice of coaches. It does offer a 100% money-back guarantee, so if you’re not satisfied, you can get a refund, no questions asked.
4.2 If you’re looking for a wider range of coaches
#IGotAnOffer
If you want to have the option of choosing your mock interview coach, IGotAnOffer is an excellent option. It has hundreds of coaches from top companies including Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google, and many more. They represent many roles, from software engineers to data scientists to product managers.
These experts can give you inside insights into how to get and then ace your interviews at these companies. They’ll help you familiarize yourself with the format of interviews so there won’t be surprises on your actual interview.
The pricing is considerably lower compared to Hello Interview, but the choice is much wider. Plus, you get to choose your coach instead of having the match made for you. When you purchase multiple sessions, you can choose to spend them all with one coach or divide them between coaches to get different perspectives.
#TryExponent
TryExponent is one of the leading platforms for tech candidates looking to land their dream job. The site is packed full of resources and while it’s mainly known for its courses, it also does interview coaching. You’ll find a good range of software engineers or PM coaches with experience at top FAANG companies.
However, the price is a bit high, almost comparable to Hello Interview sessions. In fact, you can go to IGotAnOffer and book a session with the exact same coach for $60 less!
4.3. Best Hello Interview alternatives if you’re looking for next-day mock sessions
#IGotAnOffer
If you need a mock interview session ASAP, IGotAnOffer is an excellent option for you. Booking a session with one of its coaches from FAANG and other top tech companies is so easy and quick.
As soon as you sign up, you can instantly browse the coach options and then filter them based on the role or company you want to apply to. You can see the coaches' hourly availability and book your online session in a couple of clicks, something you often can’t do on Hello Interview. And if you’re not satisfied, you get a full refund.
#Tech Mock Interview
Another mock interview website that offers quick booking for coaches is Tech Mock Interview.
To book a coach, you need to sign up for an account with Tech Mock Interview. It has an option to sign in with your Google account. Once you’ve set up an account, simply go to their mock interviews page and find interview coaches that match your needs and budget.
Each coach offers different rates based on their years of experience, expertise, and session duration, so there’s a price range for every budget. Click on a coach’s profile and you’ll instantly see a calendar for their available schedules.
4.4. Best Hello Interview alternatives for engineers
#InterviewKickstart
Interview Kickstart is an online platform that offers comprehensive tech interview prep courses. They offer 18 different courses for key roles in tech, including various domains in engineering, tech management, data, and systems.
Each course program will include a live or self-paced course, mock interview sessions, placement assistance and visa guide, unlimited coaching, and other services. The fastest program is less than 2 months. Before enrolling, you’ll have to join a webinar to learn more about their offerings and the cost.
Interview Kickstart does not offer single mock interview sessions, so they’re a good option only if you have the time and money.
#IGotAnOffer
IGotAnOffer has hundreds of engineering coaches from FAANG and other top tech companies. They represent many engineering roles, from software engineers, data engineers, site reliability engineers, and more. If you’re an engineer transitioning into a managerial role, you’ll find expert coaches who’ve been on that track as well.
These experts can give you inside insights into how to get and then ace your interviews at your target role and companies. They’ll help you familiarize yourself with the format of interviews so there won’t be surprises on your actual interview.
The pricing is considerably lower compared to Hello Interview, but the choice is much wider. Unlike with Interview Kickstart, you don’t need to pay for a whole interview prep course.
4.5 Best Hello Interview alternatives for product managers
#RocketBlocks
RocketBlocks is an online interview prep platform for candidates in product management, consulting, product marketing, and strategy & business operations. It is a subscription-based platform. You can opt for a monthly subscription or an annual pass and get access to their drills, 1-on-1 coaching, and concept reviews. To book a 1-on-1 coaching session, you’ll have to pay $200/per hour on top of your subscription fee.
You won’t find too many ratings and reviews of their services, though there are several verified testimonials on their website and they have been recommended on some online forums.
#IGotAnOffer
IGotAnOffer has many expert PM coaches from FAANG and other top tech companies. These coaches are best equipped to give you inside information on how to get and ace your PM interview at your target company. When you book a coach, you can tell them what kind of PM interview questions you want to focus on: product design, product strategy, leadership, etc.
Apart from helping you practice your interview skills, they’ll familiarize you with the format of interviews so there won’t be surprises on your actual interview.
The pricing is considerably lower compared to Hello interview, but the choice is much wider. Unlike with RocketBlocks, you don’t need to sign up for a monthly subscription.
4.6 Best Hello Interview alternatives for fresh graduates
#MeetAPro
MeetAPro is a relatively new mock interview website. Based on its profile, it intends to be a platform for different professional virtual services. But for now, it mainly hosts mock interviews in information technology, finance, and medical industries.
What makes it unique is you can browse the mock interview sessions based on subject matter and level. So if you’re a fresh graduate or intern-level, you can easily find specific sessions tailored to your requirements. Usually, sessions aimed at fresh graduates will be at a lower price point.
#Pramp
Pramp is a website recently acquired by Exponent where you can schedule mock interviews with peers. Unlike Hello Interview, which is recommended for engineers with some interview experience, Pramp is a great place to start because it’s free for five sessions per month. If you need more, you'll need to subscribe to Exponent.
It has a well-reviewed interface and customer service. Even though the actual mocks vary from great to not-so-great, it’s still a great platform to use when you want to boost your interviewing confidence.
Just like Hello Interview, you can’t choose who you’ll be having your peer mock session with. Based on the information you give at sign-up, Pramp will match you with the best peer. If you want to use its platform to practice with a friend, you can use the “invite session” feature.
5. Hello Interview FAQs↑
6.1 Who is the founder of Hello Interview?
Hello Interview was co-founded by Evan King and Stefan Mai. King is a former Meta Staff Engineer and ML engineering leader, while Mai is a former senior engineering manager at Meta and a software development manager at Amazon. Both have years of experience conducting tech interview prep sessions at various big tech companies and startups.
6.3 What is the difference between mentorship and mock interviews?
Mock interviews focus solely on practice, with 35-40 minutes of simulation and 20 minutes of detailed feedback. Mentorship, on the other hand, offers flexible 1-on-1 sessions that can be used for mock interviews, concept reviews, resume optimization, study plans, or other interview prep needs.
6.4 Is Hello Interview anonymous?
Yes, Hello Interview gives you the option to stay anonymous during mock interviews by hiding your name, profile picture, and camera from the interviewer. But if you're comfortable, choosing to go non-anonymous can help you build confidence for real interviews and receive more detailed feedback on your communication skills and body language.
7. Conclusion↑
Hello Interview is a reputable tech interview prep platform, offering coaching services, personalized expert mentorship, intensive tech interview training courses, and AI-guided system design practice.
But is it the best option for you? Only you can decide that, although hopefully in this article we’ve helped you make a more informed decision.
If you want to know more about mock interviews in general, read our deep dive, "What is a Mock Interview?" where you'll find tips, sample questions, and videos to help you maximize your session.
If you want to learn more about other tech job prep services (interview, mentoring, resume review), check out some of our reviews:
- Interviewing.io alternatives
- Pathrise alternatives
- MentorCruise alternatives
- Prepfully alternatives
- TopResume review
- Pramp alternatives
Whichever mock interview platform you choose, we hope you’ll consider IGotAnOffer.
You’ll find over 300 mock interview coaches on our platform, and you can search by industry, role, or company to get the right match for you. You can see the coaches' hourly availability and book your online session in a couple of clicks.
