Interview Query Alternatives for ML and AI Engineer Interviews (2026)

Independent comparison by Valenx Press, publisher of the free question bank and the Playbook listed here. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the other products named. Prices and features were read from each seller’s public page on Nov 2, 2026 unless marked otherwise; sellers change prices, so check before you buy.

Quick answer

Interview Query is strongest for data science, SQL and ML case practice; its own pricing page lists IQ Coder at $10 per month and IQ Premium at $17 per month, both billed yearly. If your loop is closer to ML or AI engineering, choose by the round you need to fix: StrataScratch or DataLemur for SQL and analytics coding, LeetML for ML and AI problems, Hello Interview for system design, and the free AI engineer question bank here plus a one-time $19.99 playbook for RAG, agents and LLM evaluation.

What Interview Query offers today

The >Interview Query pricing page, checked on Nov 2, 2026, shows monthly, yearly and lifetime options. The yearly view lists:

• IQ Coder, $10 per month billed yearly: 300+ Python and SQL questions with solutions, unlimited code submissions, 3 AI interviews per month, limited company guides and peer mock interviews.
• IQ Premium, $17 per month billed yearly: full company guides, 500+ case, system design and behavioral questions, 10 AI interviews per month and 10+ courses.

The same page also shows a "Get Premium" button at $199 per year or $79 per month and offers paid coaching sessions. Interview Query is built around data roles, so it is a good fit when your loop includes SQL, product analytics, statistics and classic ML. AI engineer candidates usually look elsewhere when the loop shifts toward LLM application design: retrieval, tool calling, evaluation, guardrails and inference cost.

Side by side: Interview Query and the main alternatives

Prices are from each seller's own page on Nov 2, 2026. Valenx Press is not affiliated with these sellers. Plans change, so confirm on the live page.

Option	Price on its own page	Focus	Best for
>Interview Query	IQ Coder $10/mo, IQ Premium $17/mo, billed yearly	SQL, Python, ML and product case questions, company guides, AI interviews	Data scientist and ML loops with SQL and case rounds
>StrataScratch	Free tier; $24/mo monthly; $139/yr; $289 lifetime	Data science and AI interview questions, solutions, projects and grading; 5-day money-back guarantee	SQL and Python coding practice at volume
>DataLemur	$15 monthly or $60 yearly	100+ SQL questions and 70+ data science questions from Ace the Data Science Interview	Budget SQL practice
>LeetML	Free tier with 500 problems; Pro $19/mo or $149/yr	ML and AI problems with solutions, grading and study plans	ML and AI engineer problem drills
>Hello Interview	$47 for 1 month, $89 for 1 year, $299 lifetime	System design articles, videos, guided practice and AI mocks	System design and ML system design
This site, free	$0	100 AI engineer questions, 50 deep dives, self-check, mock round, study plan, cost calculator	LLM, RAG, agents and evaluation fundamentals
>The 0 to 1 AI Engineer Interview Playbook	$19.99 one time on Gumroad	One PDF, 370+ pages, 20 chapters, 5 answer frameworks, an 8-week plan	A one-time method for AI engineer loops

ML engineer vs AI engineer: why the right alternative differs

The two titles overlap, but interviews often weight different topics. As general guidance, ML engineer loops lean on modeling, feature work, training pipelines and classic ML system design such as ranking or recommendation. AI engineer loops lean on building products on top of foundation models: prompt and context design, retrieval, tool use, evaluation, safety and cost. The AI engineer vs ML engineer interview guide breaks the difference down by round.

That is why one platform rarely covers everything. A SQL heavy bank helps a data scientist a lot and an AI engineer only a little. A system design course helps both, but only if it covers LLM specific designs.

Match each round to one resource

• SQL or analytics screen: StrataScratch, DataLemur or Interview Query. Pick by price and question style. If you only need two weeks, a monthly plan or a free tier may be enough.
• Python coding: any coding bank works; ML flavored problems on LeetML are closer to day-to-day model work.
• ML fundamentals: review core ideas out loud. Good starting points are the transformer architecture deep dive and RAG vs fine-tuning.
• LLM application design: practice a RAG assistant end to end with the RAG system design scoring rubric, then price it with the LLM API cost calculator.
• Evaluation: expect questions like "how do you know the new prompt is better". Use the LLM evaluation interview questions guide and the LLM as a judge deep dive.
• Spoken delivery: record a two-minute answer and score it with the free answer self-check, then run a timed mock interview round.

What Interview Query still does better

Interview Query has a large set of data science questions in one place, company guides, AI practice interviews and courses. For product analytics and experimentation rounds it is a natural fit, and the yearly price is modest compared with many platforms. If your target role is data scientist or ML engineer at a product company, keep it on your shortlist.

A two-week stack for an AI engineer loop on a budget

This is general guidance. Shorten or stretch it to your interview date.

1. Days 1 to 3: skim the free question bank and the >free Top 30 AI engineer questions PDF. Mark every question you cannot answer in two minutes.
2. Days 4 to 7: one SQL or coding session a day on the platform you picked, plus two deep dives on your weakest LLM topics.
3. Days 8 to 11: one design question a day, scored against the rubric, with a cost estimate.
4. Days 12 to 14: timed mock rounds and a project walkthrough you can explain in five minutes. The study plan tool turns this into dated tasks.

Compare more options, including books and courses, on the AI engineer interview prep alternatives page. If you are weighing broader subscriptions, see Exponent (now Aced) alternatives and Hello Interview alternatives.

FAQ

• How much does Interview Query cost? On Nov 2, 2026 its pricing page listed IQ Coder at $10 per month and IQ Premium at $17 per month, both billed yearly, and a Premium option at $199 per year or $79 per month. Prices change, so check the live page.
• Is StrataScratch better than Interview Query? They overlap. StrataScratch focuses on coding practice with grading and has a lifetime plan; Interview Query adds company guides, case questions and AI interviews. Choose by which round you need most.
• What is the cheapest Interview Query alternative? Free tiers first: StrataScratch, LeetML and the free question bank and tools on this site. Among paid options, DataLemur's yearly plan and a one-time $19.99 playbook are low cost.
• Is Interview Query good for AI engineer interviews? It helps with SQL, Python and ML fundamentals. For LLM application topics such as RAG, agents and evaluation, add a source written for those topics.
• Do I need SQL for an AI engineer interview? It depends on the role. Some AI engineer loops include a data screen and many do not. Ask the recruiter which rounds apply before you buy a SQL plan.
• Do these sites have the real questions companies ask? No source can promise that. Treat reported questions as practice and focus on frameworks that transfer.

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