What happened to Google Interview Warmup?
Google Interview Warmup was a free practice tool from Grow with Google: you answered interview questions out loud, it transcribed your answers and showed insights such as the job-related terms you used. On 24 October 2026 its old address, grow.google/certificates/interview-warmup/, redirects to a general interview tips article that does not mention Interview Warmup and suggests practicing with Gemini Live instead.
Several interview-tool blogs report that Google retired Interview Warmup in 2026. We could not find an announcement from Google, so we can only say what the redirect shows. Below: what the tool did, what Google now points to, and free and paid alternatives that do the same job.
Key takeaways
- Interview Warmup was Google's free tool: speak answers, get a transcript and insights such as job terms used.
- On 24 October 2026 its old address redirects to a tips article that points to Gemini Live.
- Google said it never saved audio or transcripts.
- Free alternatives: the ClapAssist AI mock interview (no account), Gemini Live, ChatGPT voice.
- The practice loop still works: answer aloud, read the transcript, answer again.
What Google Interview Warmup did
The Interview Warmup page, as the Internet Archive saved it on 9 December 2025, described three steps: "Speak your responses, and Interview Warmup will transcribe them in real-time", then it "analyzes your answers and gives you valuable insights, like which job-related terms and talking points you covered", and then you answer again using what you learned.
- Who it was for: built for Google Career Certificate learners, but "available for anyone to use".
- The questions: written by people, not AI. Google said "AI isn't used to generate interview questions, all of which have been created by industry experts".
- The insights: "the job-related terms you use, your most-used words, and the talking points you cover". They did not grade answers.
- Privacy: "We don't save your audio or the transcripts of your answers." You could copy an answer or download the full transcript yourself.
- Price: free, with no account needed to start.
That mix of free, private and spoken practice is why so many people still search for it.
What Google points to now: Gemini Live
The page the old address now opens is a Grow with Google article of interview tips. It says the Gemini mobile app "offers Gemini Live, which you can use to simulate a real-time, conversational interview, providing instant, structured feedback on your responses."
Gemini Live is a general voice assistant, not an interview tool. It does not come with a fixed set of expert questions or the job-term insights Interview Warmup had, so you have to set up the practice yourself with a good prompt. If you go that way, MIT's career office has sensible advice for AI practice: give it the job description, ask for questions one at a time with brief feedback, be careful what personal data you upload, and "pair any AI-assisted interview prep with a real-life mock interview".
Google Interview Warmup alternatives
1. ClapAssist AI mock interview (free, no account)
The closest like-for-like replacement we know of, and it is ours, so judge it yourself. The AI mock interview reads questions for 190 jobs aloud (or from a job post you paste), you answer out loud, and the AI asks follow-up questions. Afterwards you get a full transcript with every filler word kept, your pace, pauses, hedges, STAR structure, a content score, a stronger answer and an action plan. It is free with no account, and the recordings are not stored. The questions are read in English. For a longer session, the interview simulator runs eight questions with a clock and one report.
2. Gemini Live (in the Gemini app)
Google's own suggestion. Flexible and conversational, but you write the questions and the feedback rules yourself.
3. ChatGPT voice mode
Works the same way as Gemini Live: ask it to interview you for a specific job, one question at a time. Our guide how to do a ChatGPT mock interview has prompts that work.
4. Yoodli
An AI speaking coach with interview roleplays. Its free plan was limited to 5 roleplays in total when we checked on 27 September 2026; details on our Yoodli alternative page.
5. Big Interview
A paid interview training course with practice questions. Its site points universities to a separate higher-education offer. On its pricing page on 24 October 2026, plans started at a $39 monthly "Interview BootCamp". See our Big Interview review. Some universities give their students access, so ask your careers service first.
Interview Warmup and the alternatives side by side
| Tool | Cost | Speak your answers | Fixed question sets | Feedback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Interview Warmup (no longer at its address) | Was free | Yes, transcribed | Yes, written by experts | Job terms, most-used words, talking points |
| ClapAssist AI mock interview | Free, no account | Yes, transcribed | Yes, 190 jobs, or from a job post | Pace, fillers, pauses, STAR, content score, better answer |
| Gemini Live | In the Gemini app | Yes | No, you prompt it | Whatever you ask for |
| ChatGPT voice | In the ChatGPT app | Yes | No, you prompt it | Whatever you ask for |
| Yoodli | Free plan limited, paid plans | Yes | Roleplay scenarios | Delivery and speech coaching |
| Big Interview | Paid, or through some universities | Practice questions | Yes, a course plus practice questions | See our review |
Swipe sideways to see every column →
How to practice the way Interview Warmup taught
Whatever tool you use, the Interview Warmup loop still works: answer out loud, read the transcript, answer again.
- Pick questions from the job advert, not a random list. Five behavioral, two about you, one about the company.
- Answer out loud with a timer. One to two minutes each.
- Read your transcript and check three things Warmup used to flag: did you use the job's key terms, which words did you repeat, which talking points did you cover.
- Answer again with one fix at a time.
- Finish with a person. A friend or careers adviser catches delivery issues no tool can.
For the answering method itself, see how to answer interview questions. When the real video interview comes, ClapAssist can show suggested answers from your resume on Zoom, Teams and Meet, if the employer allows AI help.
Sources
Outside pages that back the advice above, opened and checked on the date shown.
- Interview Warmup: how it works, insights, AI use and privacy FAQ, Grow with Google, archived by the Internet Archive (9 Dec 2025). Checked 24 Oct 2026.
- Interview tips article that the old Interview Warmup address now redirects to (Gemini Live), Grow with Google. Checked 24 Oct 2026.
- Pricing page, Big Interview. Checked 24 Oct 2026.
- Using AI for interview prep, MIT Career Advising & Professional Development. Checked 24 Oct 2026.
Md Emteshal has 2 years of experience in SEO and writes guides for ClapAssist, but is not a recruiter or a career coach. The interview advice in these guides comes from the sources listed on each page, which are opened and checked before publishing.