The methods used for automatic evaluation of interference patterns are presented and compared. These are the fringe tracking, the heterodyne, the phase step or phase shift, and the Fourier transform methods, especially the Fourier transform method without additional carrier frequency. The special advantages of the individual methods are described. Experimental results of holographic interferometric deformation measurement at a thick-walled pressure vessel by phase stepping, Fourier transform evaluation of an object not covering the whole frame, and Fourier transform evaluation of a speckle interferogram are presented.