Google Interview Warmup is gone. Here is what replaces it
Interview Warmup was many people's first taste of practicing interviews out loud with an AI. Google shut it down quietly in early 2026: the app is offline and Google's own page for it redirects to a general tips article. We build PrepOutLoud, one of the alternatives below, so read with that in mind; the comparison stays honest anyway.
What happened
Google wound Interview Warmup down without an announcement. Users first reported it missing in March 2026, and most coverage dates the shutdown to April 2026. The app address (interviewwarmup.withgoogle.com) returns an error, and the Grow with Google page that hosted it now redirects to a general interview-tips article (still true as of July 2026). Bookmarks and old tutorial links dead-end the same way. Google has offered no successor tool.
What Warmup did well
Free, instant, no signup, no score. For someone nervous about interviewing at all, that mattered.
It asked field-specific questions and had you speak your answer, which is the single habit that separates prepared candidates from people who reread notes.
It highlighted job-related terms and talking points in your transcript. Thin, but a start.
What it never did was push back: no follow-up questions, no honest read on whether the answer would land. It warmed you up; it did not test you.
Free replacements, by what you used it for
PrepOutLoud (ours) runs a full mock interview by voice: follow-up questions built from your specific answer, a debrief that quotes your own words, and the level you demonstrated. Free while in beta, 10 interviews a week, first one with no signup. Where Warmup highlighted your terms, this tells you what an interviewer would have asked next.
Pramp (now Exponent Practice) is free peer practice: you and another candidate interview each other. Scheduling takes effort, and feedback quality depends on your partner, but the social pressure is real.
ChatGPT's voice mode is the closest to Warmup's low-stakes feel: unstructured, friendly, and metered by a daily voice allowance on free accounts. How to make it work harder: ChatGPT for interview prep.
Weighing paid tools too? The full landscape is in the honest comparison.
Common questions
Is Google Interview Warmup still available?
No. Google shut it down quietly in early 2026: users first reported it missing in March, and most coverage dates the shutdown to April 2026. As of July 2026 the app address returns an error and Google's own Interview Warmup page redirects to a general interview-tips article. There is no official replacement from Google beyond that article.
Why did Google retire Interview Warmup?
Google has not published a reason we can point to. The tool launched in 2022 through Grow with Google as a free, low-pressure way to practice answering interview questions out loud, and the quiet redirect to a general tips page is the only official signal of its retirement.
What is the closest free replacement for Interview Warmup?
It depends on which part you used. For answering out loud and getting feedback on what you said, PrepOutLoud is free while in beta, 10 interviews a week, and adds what Warmup never had: follow-up questions on your specific answer and a read on the level you demonstrated. For practicing with a person, Pramp is free peer practice. For a casual warm-up conversation, ChatGPT's voice mode works within its daily allowance.
Was Interview Warmup actually good practice?
As a warm-up, yes: real questions by field, answered out loud, with insights that highlighted the terms you used. What it never did was push back. No follow-up questions, no honest scoring, no sense of whether your answer would satisfy a real interviewer. Whatever you replace it with, that is the gap worth closing.
Warmed up? Get tested
Answer out loud, get the follow-ups a real interviewer would ask, and see the level you demonstrated. First interview needs no signup.
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