A live coding interview is a hiring test where the candidate writes and runs code in a shared editor while you watch. The best free way to run one online is a collaborative code editor that bundles a compiler, a shared whiteboard, and an AI assistant, so you can test real coding, design thinking, and follow-up discussion in the same session. You usually pay for this with tools like CoderPad, but you do not have to. This guide walks through how to run a live coding interview for free using a browser-based session in ShareCodeLive, from the warmup question to the signals you score.
What does ShareCodeLive include for interviews?
ShareCodeLive is a browser-based collaborative code editor, so the candidate and the interviewer type into the same file at the same time. It ships with an online compiler that runs JavaScript, Python, and C++ right in the browser, a shared whiteboard for diagrams and brute-force sketches, a team chat for hints and follow-ups, and an AI code assistant that can explain or refactor snippets. None of this needs a signup for an ad-hoc session. You send a link or a workspace ID, the candidate opens it, and you are both in the editor in seconds.
That matters because the tool itself should not be the obstacle. If your interview tool lags on the candidate's laptop or makes them install something, you are measuring the wrong thing. A free live coding interview tool that loads instantly keeps the signal about the candidate and not the setup.
Why use a free live coding interview tool?
Paid interview platforms are convenient, but they come at a cost that has nothing to do with money. They add a login wall, a scheduling layer, and a custom interface the candidate has to learn in the first five minutes. When the interview is actually about whether the candidate can think in code, those layers are friction.
A free live coding interview setup strips that friction out. The candidate opens a link and starts typing. You watch their cursor move, watch them delete and retype, and see the moment they realize the edge case exists. That is the signal. The compiler tells you both whether the code runs without you having to mentally simulate it, and the whiteboard lets them talk through approach before they commit to code.
The economics only get better as you scale. A single CoderPad seat costs more per year than most small teams spend on snacks. A free tool that does the same job means you can run more interviews, practise interviews, and internal calibration rounds without thinking about seats.
How do you set up the interview session?
Setting up a live coding interview in ShareCodeLive takes about a minute.
- Open the editor in your browser. You can start from the ShareCodeLive homepage without creating an account.
- Grab the workspace ID or the share link from the top of the editor.
- Send the link to the candidate. They open it in their browser. No install, no account.
- Pick a language. The online compiler supports JavaScript, Python, and C++. Pick the one the role needs and the candidate is comfortable in.
- Add a second tab if you want a written follow-up or a system-design sketch. The shared whiteboard sits alongside the code.
If you want to keep a record, you can download the code at the end or save the workspace by signing in. For an ad-hoc interview you do not need to sign in at all.
Which interview questions work best in a shared editor?
The questions that work best in a live coding interview are the ones where the process is more interesting than the answer. A good prompt has more than one reasonable approach, lets the candidate make a trade-off, and breaks in a way the candidate can find and fix.
Some that translate well to this format:
- Two-sum and string reversal for a warmup. They let you watch the candidate get comfortable with the editor and the compiler before the real question.
- A small data-structure problem, like an LRU cache, for the main round. It has enough moving parts to surface how the candidate thinks about state.
- A "design a function" prompt that starts vague, then you add constraints as they go. The chat pane is where you add those constraints verbally or in text.
- A debugging prompt, where you paste in working code with a subtle bug and ask them to find it. The AI assistant is useful here for explaining unfamiliar patterns to the candidate, and you can watch whether they ask good questions first.
For design questions, push the candidate to the whiteboard first. Ask them to sketch the data flow before they write code. The whiteboard plus the editor is where you see whether they think in shapes or in code, and how they move between the two.
How do you evaluate the candidate during the live session?
The candidate's code running is the floor, not the ceiling. The interesting signals are around it.
Watch how they start. Do they jump into code, or do they ask clarifying questions first? Both can be fine, but a candidate who restates the problem in their own words before typing is usually easier to work with.
Watch how they use the compiler. A candidate who runs the code after every change is debugging with the tool. A candidate who writes thirty lines and then runs it once is debugging in their head. The first is faster and more honest about uncertainty.
Watch the chat. When they get stuck, do they ask a targeted question, or do they go silent? You learn a lot from how a candidate asks for a hint. A good prompt phrase is: "I am not sure whether the input can be empty, can I assume it is not?" That is specific and unblockable. A weaker signal is "I am stuck" with nothing attached.
Use the AI assistant as a probe, not a crutch. If the candidate asks the assistant for the whole solution, that tells you something. If they ask it to explain a library function they forgot, that is reasonable, and you should let it happen because it mirrors how people actually work now.
What should you avoid in a live coding interview?
The common failure mode is treating the session as a speed test. A candidate who writes the answer in four minutes might have seen the question before, or might be fast at typing and slow at thinking. Neither tells you whether they will be good in the role.
Do not fixate on syntax errors. The compiler will flag them. Your job is to see whether the candidate knows what they are trying to do, and to watch how they recover when the compiler tells them they are wrong.
Avoid questions that depend on a trick the candidate either knows or does not. They sort people into two buckets unfairly and tell you nothing about day-to-day work.
Finally, do not make the candidate share their screen. Screen sharing puts the editor at the mercy of their connection and their IDE configuration, and it forces you into a passive viewer role. A shared editor where you both type is a better interaction. You can drop a hint in the code as a comment, fix a typo for them, or pair on the tricky part if you want to see how they collaborate.
A free setup that scales
The reason this matters is not just the cost. A free live coding interview tool that runs in the browser, with no account needed, lets you interview more candidates more often without procurement friction. You can run a calibration interview between two of your own engineers in five minutes. You can let a candidate do a take-home in the same environment you interviewed them in. You can onboard a new interviewer by having them shadow a session.
If you want to try the setup described here, start a free collaborative code editor session and open a workspace. Pair it with the technical interviews landing page for a walkthrough of the features, or read the comparison of pair programming tools if you are also evaluating tools for daily pairing. The FAQ covers the account, security, and language questions interviewers usually ask first.