We are constantly working to make Rubduck the most realistic and effective spoken-first technical interview simulator on the market. Today, we're thrilled to announce a major update that brings an entirely new interview format to the platform, significant improvements to our core conversational AI, and a brand new pricing model.
Whether you're preparing for the latest industry interview trends or fine-tuning your communication skills before a big onsite, these new features are designed to help you succeed.
1. Introducing AI-Enabled Coding Interviews
The tech industry is changing how it interviews candidates. Recently, companies like Meta, Shopify, Canva, and LinkedIn have introduced a new format: the AI-Enabled Coding Interview.
In this format, you aren't just expected to hand-write a clean solution from scratch. Instead, you are given an editor with an AI chat assistant (like Copilot or Cursor), and you are evaluated on your technical judgment, how you steer the AI, and how you catch its mistakes. The interview tests whether you can act like a technical lead—breaking down problems, prompting the AI with precise constraints, and ensuring the final code is correct.
To help you prepare for this exact scenario, we are launching the AI-Assisted Coding Interview type on Rubduck.
When you start an AI-assisted session on Rubduck, you will be practicing the exact skills needed for these modern interviews:
- Prompting & Steering: Practice giving the AI the right constraints and requirements instead of vague requests.
- Reviewing & Correcting: The AI might hallucinate or suggest a suboptimal path. Your job is to catch it and guide the solution back on track.
- Technical Judgment: Focus on the algorithm, edge cases, and performance tradeoffs, rather than just getting bogged down in syntax.
This mode prepares you for the reality of modern software engineering and the new wave of technical interviews where AI is a tool, but you are still the engineer.
2. A Massive Upgrade to Voice AI Interactions
The magic of Rubduck is the ability to speak naturally to your computer and have it respond like a real human engineer. With this update, we've overhauled our voice engine to make conversations feel smoother and more natural than ever before.
Ultra-Low Latency
We've significantly reduced the audio round-trip time. The AI now responds noticeably faster, eliminating awkward pauses and making the interaction feel genuinely conversational.
Smarter Turn Detection
One of the hardest parts of simulating a human conversation is knowing when it's your turn to speak. Our improved turn detection means the AI is much better at understanding when you've finished a thought versus when you're just taking a breath. It won't interrupt you while you're thinking, but it's ready to jump in the moment you ask a question.
Yielding the Floor
Real interviews are highly interactive. Sometimes you want to write code in silence for a minute; other times, you want to hand control back to the interviewer to get their feedback. You can now explicitly yield the floor to the interviewer. If you finish a thought or a block of code, you can signal the AI to take over, ensuring the conversation flows exactly how you want it to.
3. Simple, Accessible Pricing
To support these new advanced AI features and keep the platform sustainable, we are rolling out a straightforward pricing model.
We believe that everyone should be able to try the Rubduck experience before committing, which is why every new user receives 5 completely free sessions.
Once you've completed your free sessions, you can purchase a top-up of 10 additional sessions for just $19. There are no recurring subscriptions or hidden fees. Just pay for what you need, when you need it, and focus entirely on acing your upcoming interviews.
Ready to try the new AI-Assisted mode or test out the faster voice interactions? Log in to Rubduck and claim your 5 free sessions today!