10 Best Resume Builders of : Top Free and Paid Sites

Best Resume Builders Main Takeaways

We found that Resume Genius was best for jobseekers with little experience, Canva was best for customization and Resume.io had the best additional features.

• Resume builders can help you create an ATS-friendly (applicant tracking system) resume that stands out from the pack
• The right resume builder can highly increase your chances of getting hired
• Most resume builders offer a free trial with limited functionality
• Monthly subscription can be anywhere between $4 and $30 depending on the plan and service you choose

Writing a good resume can be a challenging task. You need to include and arrange all the relevant information about your professional background and ensure that your document fits current HR requirements. Finding the best resume builder is not only a great option to ease your work but it’s also one of the best ways to write a resume that stands out.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best websites to build a resume. Read on to find out what you should opt for if you’re looking for simplicity, customization or ready-to-go resumes.

Our Top Picks for the Best Resume Builders

• Zety – Best for Resume Review
• Indeed – Best for Simplicity
• Resume Genius – Best for No Experience
• Novoresume – Best for Intelligent Editing
• Canva – Best for Customization
• VisualCV – Best for Ready-to-go Resumes
• Resume.io – Best for Additional Features
• Enhancv – Best for Job Suggestions
• CakeResume – Best for Networking
• Adobe Express – Best for Free

Best Resume Builder Reviews

Why we chose it: Besides the smooth resume-creating process, Zety provides you with a personalized resume score to help you improve your weak points.

Zety is an online resume builder tool that comes with several premade templates including templates designed by the company’s “Certified Career Experts.” The resume-creating process is quite simple and straightforward as Zety guides you through all the important sections you need to include. If you’re not sure how to write a good resume, you can use top resume examples and expert tips based on your job history and profession.

Immediately after creating your resume, you get a personalized resume score that highlights the weak points and offers some quick fixes. You can also tailor your resume to job search sites and choose from cover letter templates that fit your resume style to increase your chances of getting hired.

While Zety is among the best resume sites for its powerful and intuitive features, it has some downsides as well. The service advertises itself as 100% free to use, however, you have to buy a subscription to download your resume. Also, it may not be the best option for those who prefer to completely personalize their CVs.

Why we chose it: Indeed is one of the best resume builders if you're looking for a simple resume-creating process.

Thanks to its easy-to-use interface, Indeed’s service is one of the best resume creators for beginners. It doesn’t require a signup, and it’s completely free, so you can start working on one of the eight premade templates right away. The drag-and-drop menu is very intuitive and includes all the important sections you can add to your resume.

Indeed is great for those who want to create a simple resume quickly. However, if you’d prefer to personalize it or make use of advanced settings and features, Indeed’s resume builder is definitely not for you. Another drawback is that the software only lets you save your resume as a PDF.

Why we chose it: Thanks to its intuitiveness and wide range of templates, Resume Genius is an excellent option for people who have no experience in resume creation.

Resume Genius offers an intuitive way to create a professional resume. The website guides you through a series of questions regarding your work experience and education in order to provide you with tips. It comes with hundreds of templates, resume examples and additional career resources to help you write a resume, cover letter, resignation letter or recommendation letter.

While Resume Genius advertises itself as free to use, the free version only allows you to create your resume and download it as a text file. If you want to download your resume as a PDF or a Word file, you need to sign up for an account and pay for a subscription. Another drawback is the lack of personalization options. You can download hundreds of premade templates to use as a Word file, but there’s only a small number of templates available in the resume builder software itself.

Why we chose it: Novoresume comes with a series of intelligent tools and modern-looking templates to help you create a strong professional resume.

Novoresume is one of the best websites to build a resume as it’s very intuitive, has many options to personalize your resume and comes with fresh-looking templates. After answering some basic questions regarding your professional background, you are presented with expert tips and professional templates which are highly personalizable. The real-time editing and feedback allow for a faster step-by-step resume-creating process.

Novoresume has a Free and a Premium plan. If you opt for the free resume maker, you can only use certain templates and create one-page resumes. The Premium plan provides access to more templates, custom layouts, color themes, cover letters and more advanced features. Both plans require a signup.

Why we chose it: Canva is best for those who love to get creative as it comes with endless options to personalize your resume.

Canva is an easy-to-use, professional online graphic design tool. After signing up, you can immediately start creating your resume from scratch or by choosing from hundreds of premade templates. Canva is best for those who love graphic design as it provides numerous options to personalize your resume. You can browse through different styles, elements, colors and fonts, and just drag and drop them into your document.

Both the free and the premium versions come with enough different templates to ensure that anyone can find the right one for them. However, it doesn’t provide you with expert tips, guides or resume scoring.

Why we chose it: With plenty of pre-written resume examples and an easy-to-use interface, VisualCV is an excellent option if you need some assistance in both writing and building your resume.

VisualCV is a fast and easy-to-use CV maker. It requires a signup after which you can start creating your CV by choosing from 30+ templates. You can opt to use pre-written examples to kickstart your resume, which is a great addition for those who need some help writing it. You can customize your resume with the convenient real-time editing tool.

While VisualCV has a free version, it only allows you to create one resume with big watermarks on it. The Pro version lets you build unlimited resumes and cover letters. It also comes with some interesting features like a personal professional website and resume performance analytics.

Why we chose it: In addition to the simple editing process, Resume.io provides useful features like AI pre-written phrases and real-time scoring.

Resume.io is a resume builder with some interesting features. You can choose from 25+ professionally designed resumes to use. The editing process is quite simple. While adding new sections to your resume, Resume.io spellchecks your writing and keeps you updated with real-time resume scoring. It also gives you tips on how you can improve your score and provides pre-written phrases for each relevant section.

To download the resume you created in PDF, you must have an active subscription. Another downside of Resume.io is that it lacks the option to fully customize your resume. It’s best for those looking for an intelligent resume builder with features that make resume writing easier and more effective.

Why we chose it: Enhancv is a great option for you if you'd like to see tailored job suggestions immediately after creating your resume.

Enhancv is a highly intuitive resume builder tool that comes with a variety of templates and resume examples. After signing up you can start creating your ATS-friendly resume (ATS meaning applicant tracking system) with the help of a smart content-analyzing tool. Besides the spellchecker tool, you get tailored suggestions and recommendations in real time. The editing process is quite straightforward and includes many options for customization.

A great feature Enhancv has is the tailored job suggestions you get after creating your resume. You can browse through positions and submit job applications that fit your profile. All plans include this feature so you don’t have to pay for a subscription to get access to it. However, you can only download the free templates with Enhancv's branding, so you might want to consider buying a plan.

Why we chose it: With a variety of community features, CakeResume makes resume creating a more fun and interactive experience.

CakeResume is an easy-to-use resume builder that is great for beginners. After signing up, you have to answer some basic questions about your professional background and find a template you like, and you get a nice and simple resume you can customize using a real-time editor.

With an active profile, you can make use of CakeResume’s powerful community features. You can build your professional network by importing contacts, browse through resume examples and portfolios created by other members, collect reputation credits and complete assessments. You also have the opportunity to create and share your portfolio and search for jobs with CakeResume’s AI-powered job search engine.

To enjoy CakeResume’s tools, you’ll most likely want to pay for a subscription as the Free Plan only allows you to build one branded resume. Unfortunately, cover letters aren’t included in CakeResume’s plans.

Why we chose it: The free version of Adobe Express provides you with the right combination of professional resume templates and customization options that are only offered in paid versions of other services.

Adobe Express is pretty similar to Canva in terms of functionality and features. The highly intuitive drag-and-drop editor offers a variety of modern-looking templates, shapes, design assets and backgrounds. The free version provides you with most tools offered by competitors, which probably covers everything you need, but you can also opt to pay for a subscription for full access to additional elements such as premium templates, more fonts and more stock images.

As Adobe Express focuses on the design and layout side of resume creation, it doesn’t include expert tips or resume scoring. It’s best for those who are comfortable with a fair amount of resume design and just need some professional templates to start out with.

Other resume builders we considered

Resume.com

Why Resume.com didn’t make the cut: Resume.com offers an easy, completely free way to build ATS-friendly resumes. It comes with some useful expert tips and samples. It’s great for people with limited experience in resume building looking to create a basic resume or cover letter quickly. However, as it doesn’t really provide you with any customization features other than templates, you have some better options to choose from if you’re looking for the best resume builder.

LinkedIn

Why LinkedIn didn’t make the cut: The popular business and employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn has its own resume builder. You need to have an active LinkedIn profile in order to use this tool. It uses data from your profile to create a resume automatically, which you can edit in real-time immediately. While it provides some useful tips and suggested keywords, it’s the resume builder tool with the fewest customization options on our list.

Resume Builder Guide

The right resume builder can highly increase your chances of getting hired. However, if you’re not sure what you should look for, finding the best resume builder for your needs can be tricky. In this guide, you’ll learn how you can choose the best resume builder, what the average resume builder fee is, how resume builders work and why they are important in your job hunt.

Main things to know before choosing a resume builder

There are a few important things to know before choosing a resume builder. First of all, it’s essential to understand the difference between a resume builder and a resume writing service. While the best resume writing services will create or revise your resume tailored to your needs, opting for a resume builder means you’re the one working on your own resume using templates and tools.

If you want to find the best resume builder, you need to have at least a basic idea of the resume you plan to create. You need to decide whether you’re aiming for a simple document with your essential information or a stylish one that stands out. You need to know whether you require a complete resume review and additional features, or you just want to get creative on your own. Last but not least, you need to consider factors such as your budget and the time you have to create your resume.

What is the average cost of resume builders?

Most resume builders offer a free trial with limited functionality after which the monthly subscription can be anywhere between $4 and $30 depending on the plan and service you choose. Others like Indeed, Canva or Adobe Express are either completely free or have a free plan which includes everything an average job seeker needs to build a great resume.

How do resume builders work?

Most resume builders require a signup before you can start creating your resume. After signing up, you need to enter a few details about your professional background and choose a template that you like. Then you can start editing your file.

The intuitiveness and customization options depend on the resume builder you chose. Some resume builders offer highly intuitive, modern editing platforms with many options for personalization, while others are all about giving you an easy and fast editing process. The best resume builders provide you with additional features like real-time resume reviews, spellchecker tools, content analysis, expert tips and job suggestions tailored to you from the best job search sites.

Why are resume builders important?

It’s not easy to build a resume that’s ATS-friendly (applicant tracking system) and stands out from the pack. Resume builders can help you organize your information, find a modern template and guide you through the whole resume-creating process with expert tips. They can also provide you with nice design assets, elements, shapes and fonts to incorporate into your file.

How We Found the Best Resume Builders

We looked into a few crucial features to narrow down the top ten resume builders, including:

• Average price: We looked for companies that are either completely free or have a free trial so you can ensure you’ll get the resume you want before paying.

• Templates included: We tried to list companies that offer a huge variety of modern-looking templates so you'll have no trouble in finding the one that fits your needs and personality.

• Cover letter included: Most employers prefer candidates with a cover letter. Most of the companies we listed offer a cover letter builder as well.

• Intuitiveness: Our list consists of resume builders that have user-friendly and intuitive editing software.

• Customization options: Besides the best tools for those looking for a simple and basic resume, we included resume builders that offer many customization options.

• Additional features: We tried to find resume builders that offer great additional features for those who need a little guidance throughout their resume-creating process. Our list includes resume builders with resume reviews, content analysis, spellchecker tools, job suggestions, resume examples and suggested keywords.

Summary of the Best Resume Builders of 2023

• Zety – Best for Resume Review
• Indeed – Best for Simplicity
• Resume Genius – Best for No Experience
• Novoresume – Best for Intelligent Editing
• Canva – Best for Customization
• VisualCV – Best for Ready-to-go Resumes
• Resume.io – Best for Additional Features
• Enhancv – Best for Job Suggestions
• CakeResume – Best for Networking
• Adobe Express – Best for Free