Curious Thing alternative: AI phone screening with your own role-plays
Curious Thing was one of the first to show that an AI phone interview could screen candidates. Applicants dial in, answer eligibility, behavioural and situational questions, and you get scores for communication, motivation and English.
In 2025 it was acquired by MaxContact, a contact-centre software company. It is now part of a bigger product line, and pricing is not public. If you want to try AI phone screening on one role this week, that is a harder starting point than it used to be.
The short version
- Ownership: Curious Thing is part of MaxContact since 2025. Greet is a standalone tool you can sign up for today.
- Interview: Curious Thing uses a fixed set of questions, usually one attempt. Greet lets you write up to 10 questions or role-play scenarios.
- Price: Curious Thing pricing is not public. Greet is $99/month for 100 sessions.
What Curious Thing is
Curious Thing, founded in Sydney, runs automated AI phone interviews for Australian and international employers. Candidates call in and answer eligibility, behavioural and situational questions. Employers receive scores for communication, motivation and English.
It does that well. It is phone-based, so no camera is needed, it scores English competency, and it has a long track record with AI phone interviews.
Where it falls short
From public reviews and company data:
- The question set is fixed. Candidates typically get one attempt and a standard set of questions.
- It now sits inside a contact-centre company. Recruiting may not be the main focus under MaxContact.
- Pricing is not public.
What Greet does instead
You write the scenario
Both tools talk to candidates by voice. The difference is what they talk about. In Greet, the AI can play a role from your job: a patient calling about a surprise balance, a customer whose internet has been down for two days, a payer rep denying a claim. It asks follow-ups and stays in character. You find out if the candidate can do the call, not just describe it.
You set the scoring
Communication and English are a start. Add the blocks your role needs: product knowledge, de-escalation, problem-solving. Greet scores from the dialogue, answers and audio. Every session returns a match rate, a summary, the transcript and the recording (Pro and above).
Phone or browser, their choice
Greet can call applicants by phone, or they can open a link on desktop or phone and start whenever they like. The camera is off unless you turn on Camera Required. Push to Talk helps in noisy rooms.
Start without a sales call
Describe the role in a sentence and AI fills in the instructions, questions and settings. Press Play to take it yourself. Pro is $99 a month for 100 sessions; Enterprise is $200 a month for 500.
Use it again after the hire
The same scenarios become training. New hires practise the hard call with the AI before they take a real one, and their progress shows in the same dashboard.
Side by side
| Curious Thing | Greet | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | AI phone interview, candidate dials in | Two-way AI voice, browser or Greet calls the candidate |
| Questions | Fixed set; usually one attempt | Up to 10 questions or role-play scenarios you write |
| Scoring | Communication, motivation, English | Assessment blocks you define |
| You get | Scores per candidate | Score, summary, transcript and recording |
| Price | Not public | $99/month for 100 sessions, $200/month for 500 |
| Ownership | Part of MaxContact since 2025 | Standalone, self-serve |
| After the hire | Not a core use | Role-play training on the same scenarios |
Which one to pick
Pick Curious Thing if you already run MaxContact in your contact centre, or a standard phone interview with English scoring is all you need.
Pick Greet if you want the phone screen to test the real call your team takes, score it on your own criteria, and have it running before the end of the week.
Try it on one role
- Pick a phone role with more applicants than you can call.
- Write the call your new hires find hardest.
- Take it yourself with Play.
- Send the link, or have Greet call your shortlist.
Create your Greet account and run it on one role.
Competitor details come from the public pages below, checked November 2026. Prices change; check the vendor’s site. Greet details are from greetai.co.