Pricing

Your take-home. Two ways to run it.

Free in your candidate’s environment. $7 per candidate session in the Aptlab environment, plus AI usage.

Bring your case study and set it up free. No credit card required to get started.

Two ways to run it

Your candidate’s environment, or Aptlab’s.

Feature	Candidate’s environmentFree	Aptlab environmentBest signal$7/session + AI usage
Best for	Candidates who live in their own tooling, free to you	The clearest hiring signal, with consistent conditions for every candidate
Both include	Annotated submission, your case data stays remote, time on case, and every deliverable in one place *ATS integrations forthcoming
Where the candidate works	Their own AI tool, such as Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT, or Claude Desktop	Claude Code / Codex, right in the browser
Candidate setup	Connect their AI tool via MCP	Just open a link
Who pays for the AI	The candidate	You cover usage — billed at cost
Same AI for every candidate	Candidate’s preferred model	Same model. Same permissions. You choose both.
What you see	Partial prompt trace	Complete prompt trace

Cover your candidates’ AI

Make your take-home cost-free.

Give candidates the AI they need without asking them to pay for access or use their personal allowance. Choose a model, set an AI allowance, and cover only what they use.

Estimated AI cost per hour
Tool	Model	Estimated cost / active AI hour
Claude Code	Sonnet 5	$0.50–$1.50
Claude Code	Opus 5	$1.40–$3.80
Codex	GPT-5.6-Terra	$0.30–$0.80
Codex	GPT-5.6-Sol	$0.50–$1.50

How payment works

Set it up free. Fund only ahead of inviting to the Aptlab environment.

Prepare your case and choose how candidates will work before adding a card. For interviews in the Aptlab environment, add funds before sending your first invitation.

FAQ

Common questions.

When do I need a credit card?: Only when you’re ready to fund an interview in the Aptlab environment and invite candidates. Creating an account and setting up your case are free. The candidate’s environment option does not require a card.
What does the $7 cover?: The Aptlab environment for one session. The comparison above shows what is included. AI usage is charged separately at cost.
Do candidates pay anything in the Aptlab environment?: No. You cover their environment and AI usage.
What happens to unused funds?: Keep them for future interviews or request a refund of the unused balance. Hosting and AI usage already consumed are deducted from that balance.
Can I control AI spending?: Yes. Set an AI allowance per candidate before inviting them. Estimated usage helps you choose an allowance; the allowance determines the maximum authorized AI spend.
Is using the candidate’s environment free?: Yes. Candidates connect their own tools through MCP and use their own AI access. No credit card is required from you.

Start with the take-home you already use.

Bring your case study, choose an environment, and preview the candidate experience.

Run your take-home on AptlabNo credit card required to get started.

Or take a sample case yourself — no installation, no account.