Free Resume Builder — ATS-friendly, no sign-up
Pick a complete example resume close to your situation, change the words, and download a real PDF that screeners can read. Live checks flag missing dates, weak bullets and missing keywords. Nothing is uploaded.
Resume Builder
Fit meter
Settings appear once you add a resume.
Bytes of your files sent anywhere: 0 B · nothing leaves this tab
Every request this page makes is listed as it happens. You’ll see our own code loading, and for some formats a codec engine, but never your file going out.
- Waiting for network activity…
Check it yourself: open your browser’s developer tools on the Network tab, or turn off Wi-Fi once the page has loaded. The tools keep working.
- 100% private Your resume never leaves this device. Everything runs in your browser.
- No limits No file-size cap, no watermark, no sign-up and no daily quota. Free.
- Works offline Once this page has loaded, the tool keeps working without a connection.
How to build an ATS-friendly resume for free
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Add your resume: Pick the starting resume closest to yours — experienced engineer, new graduate, product manager, designer, academic CV or career changer — or start from empty.
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Check the settings: Change the words section by section. The preview on the right is the real PDF, laid out at paper size, and every bullet gets a hint if it has no number or starts with a duty instead of a result.
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Save the result: Open Review to fix what a screener would trip over, paste the job ad to see which of its keywords you’re missing, then export a PDF, Word file, plain text or LaTeX.
Why it doesn’t upload
A resume is your name, phone number, address and work history in one file — exactly what shouldn’t sit on a resume site’s server, waiting to be resold or breached. This builder lays out and writes the PDF in your browser and keeps your draft only on this device.
Check it in your browser’s Network tabWorth knowing
- The draft lives in this browser. Clearing site data or using a private window loses it — export a backup (.json) if you’ll switch devices.
- The Sidebar template puts text in two columns. It looks designed, but some applicant tracking systems read across both columns and jumble the order; use Classic, Modern or Compact for online applications.
- There are no photos or icons on purpose: many screeners can’t read them, and in the US and UK a photo is usually unwelcome. Add one in a design tool if a country expects it.
- The keyword match compares words, not meaning. Add a missing term only where it’s true of you, in your own sentence.
- Fonts cover Latin, Greek and Cyrillic scripts. Names and text in other scripts won’t show yet.
Under the hood
What happens to your file
Your resume is one object kept in this browser’s storage. Each change lays it out again with pdf-lib — measuring every line in embedded, subset Noto fonts, so the page count is exact — and pdf.js draws that PDF in the preview. The download is those same bytes, with links as real link annotations and your name, headline and skills in the PDF’s metadata. Word, text and LaTeX exports are written from the same object.
Reference: pdf-lib documentation
Why build your resume here instead of a resume site?
Most free resume builders let you type for an hour and then charge at the download, add a watermark, or keep your details on their servers. This one is free to the last click: every template and every export, with no account. Your name, phone number and work history never leave this browser.
It is also built for the reader most resumes meet first — the applicant tracking system. The PDF has real, selectable text in one column, standard headings and dates on every role, and the live checks catch what screeners trip over before you send it. The preview is the actual PDF, laid out at paper size, so the page count is measured rather than guessed.
Who uses a free ATS resume builder
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Graduates writing a first resume
Start from the new-graduate example: education and projects lead, internships as evidence, one page.
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Experienced professionals
Outcomes first, one or two pages, numbers on every line — the engineer and product manager examples show how.
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Career changers
The changing-career example puts skills and recent work above the old job title, so the new direction reads first.
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Academics applying for posts
The Academic CV template has room for appointments, publications and awards, with no squeezing onto one page.
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Anyone applying through a portal
Paste the job ad into Review to see which of its keywords your resume doesn’t use yet, then export the PDF or the Word file the portal asks for.
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Applications that want pasted text
Copy the whole resume as plain text for forms that won’t take a file.
Tips for a resume that gets past the screener
- Use the headings screeners look for — Experience, Education, Skills. A clever heading can make a section invisible to the software.
- Give every role a start and end date, written the same way throughout (“2022” or “Jan 2022”).
- Start each bullet with what you did and end it with what changed: a number of users, an amount, a time saved, a percentage.
- List skills by their exact names — “PostgreSQL”, not “databases” — because screeners match words, not meanings.
- Keep to one column for online applications; save the Sidebar template for printing or emailing a person.
- Name the file after yourself: the PDF downloads as Firstname-Lastname-Resume.pdf, which is what recruiters search their inbox for.
- Export a backup (.json) before switching devices; the draft is kept only in this browser.
Questions
Is this resume builder really free?
Yes. Every template, every export (PDF, Word, plain text, LaTeX) and the review are free, with no sign-up, no watermark and no paywall at download — the step most “free” builders charge for.
What makes a resume ATS-friendly?
Real, selectable text in one column; standard section headings such as Experience, Education and Skills; dates on every role; no tables, text boxes or icons in place of words; and the keywords the job ad uses. The PDF made here does all of that, and Review checks the rest.
Should I send my resume as a PDF or a Word document?
PDF, unless the application asks for Word. A PDF looks the same everywhere and modern screeners read the text in it. If a portal only accepts .docx, export Word from the same resume.
How long should a resume be?
One page for under about ten years of experience, two at most beyond that. The page count shown is measured on the real PDF, so you’ll know before you send it. Academic CVs are the exception: they run as long as the publications do.
Can I import an existing resume?
You can import a backup (.json) made here, so a draft moves between devices. Importing a PDF or Word resume isn’t supported yet; start from the closest example and paste your text in section by section.
Is my resume uploaded anywhere?
No. It is written, checked and turned into a PDF inside this browser tab, and the draft is kept only in this browser’s storage. The job description you paste for matching stays here too.