Comparison, updated September 2026

Best Zety alternatives in 2026

Zety helps you build a resume and cover letter fast, with a lot of templates and ready-made phrasing. The catch shows up at the end: the builder is free, but a formatted PDF or Word download needs a paid plan, and the cheap trial renews on its own every few weeks. If you already have a CV and want to know why one specific job keeps rejecting it, a builder is the wrong tool.

TL;DR

Stay on Zety if you are writing a resume from scratch and want a clean, ATS-friendly template with guided phrasing and a matching cover letter, in English or one of several other languages. Just plan for the paid download and cancel the trial before it renews. Switch to RejectCheck if you already have a CV and want a full diagnosis against one specific job: an ATS simulation, a technical skill-gap radar, a GitHub and LinkedIn cross-check, a short voice mock interview, and a free verdict you never have to pay to read.

Why look for an alternative

Four reasons people look past Zety

  1. 01

    It builds, it does not diagnose

    Zety starts from a blank page and helps you write. It does not take the CV you already have, read one job description, and tell you why that job keeps saying no. Its resume check gives a general score, not a simulation against the exact posting you are chasing. RejectCheck is built for that one job: paste the description, upload your CV, and see the ATS read, the missing keywords, the weak seniority signals, and the red flags.

  2. 02

    The free tier only exports plain text

    You can build a resume on Zety without paying, but the only free download is a .txt file. A formatted PDF or Word document needs a paid plan, and the low trial price renews to a monthly charge on its own. That surprises a lot of people at the download button. RejectCheck's free run is a full verdict you can read start to finish, with no export paywall: one analysis as a guest, three a month once you register.

  3. 03

    The resume check is generic

    Zety's checker reviews formatting, spelling, sections, and common keyword gaps, and it claims to flag 30+ issues. What it does not do is score your CV against a specific job posting the way a real applicant tracking system would. So the score tells you the document is tidy, not whether it matches the role you want. RejectCheck scores against the one job you paste, then re-scans after you edit so you can watch the number move.

  4. 04

    Nothing beyond the page

    For engineers and anyone whose public work matters, Zety looks only at the document. It does not read your GitHub history, it does not compare your LinkedIn with your CV, and it has no interview practice or negotiation prep. RejectCheck audits your GitHub commits and repos against the target role, cross-checks your LinkedIn for contradictions, and runs a short voice mock interview with a scored debrief.

At a glance

Zety next to the alternatives

ToolFree tierPaid entryATSAI interviewGitHub auditLanguages
RejectCheck
1 full analysis as a guest (no signup) or 3 per month registered, a real verdict rather than a teaser.€19.99 / month, or a one-time 29 EUR Sprint Pass for 45 days.YesYesYesEnglish, French
Zety
Build a resume and cover letter free. Free download is plain text only (TXT); PDF and Word need a paid plan.Cheap 14-day trial (about 1.95 to 2.70 USD) that auto-renews to roughly 23.70 to 25.95 USD every 4 weeks, or about 71.40 USD/year. Verify current pricing on zety.com.LimitedNoNoEnglish, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese
Jobscan
Limited free scans (exact count varies; verify current policy).Monthly tier (verify current pricing on jobscan.co).YesNoNoEnglish
Rezi
1 resume, 3 PDF downloads, 1 AI interview.$29 / month, or $149 lifetime (one-time). Verify current terms.YesYesNoEnglish
Resume Worded
Free account, an instant resume review and sample bullets.Pro tier, pricing not published publicly; verify on site.YesNoNoEnglish
Kickresume
Free plan: 4 resume templates, 4 cover letter templates, 20,000+ pre-written phrases, and unlimited PDF downloads. The AI writer and the ATS checker are not included.Premium from EUR 8/month on the annual plan (EUR 96/year), EUR 18/month quarterly, or EUR 24/month monthly, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Verify current pricing on kickresume.com.Paid onlyNoNoEnglish, Several other template and interface languages

Pricing verified September 2026. Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site before you buy.

Detailed breakdown

Every tool, in depth

01

RejectCheck

Honest AI CV diagnosis against one job, with a skill-gap radar and a GitHub/LinkedIn audit. It coaches, it does not write for you.

Free tier

1 full analysis as a guest (no signup) or 3 per month registered, a real verdict rather than a teaser.

Paid entry point

€19.99 / month, or a one-time 29 EUR Sprint Pass for 45 days.

Key features
  • ATS simulation against the exact job description
  • Technical skill gap radar chart
  • GitHub commit history and repo quality audit
  • LinkedIn profile cross-reference with your CV
  • Voice-based AI mock interview (about 10 minutes)
  • Guided line-by-line CV rework in your own words, with PDF export
Best for

Candidates who want an honest, deep read on one specific application, plus GitHub and LinkedIn auditing and interview practice, instead of another builder or bulk scanner.

Honest weakness

Younger than the incumbents, and some features (like the cover letter) are still rolling out. It diagnoses and coaches one application at a time, so it is not a bulk job tracker.

02

Zety

Guided resume and cover-letter builder with lots of templates. Fast to start, but you pay to download a formatted file.

Free tier

Build a resume and cover letter free. Free download is plain text only (TXT); PDF and Word need a paid plan.

Paid entry point

Cheap 14-day trial (about 1.95 to 2.70 USD) that auto-renews to roughly 23.70 to 25.95 USD every 4 weeks, or about 71.40 USD/year. Verify current pricing on zety.com.

Key features
  • 18+ ATS-friendly resume templates
  • Guided builder with ready-made phrasing and content suggestions
  • Cover letter builder that matches the resume
  • Resume Check: proprietary score flagging 30+ common issues (not per-job ATS matching)
  • AI content suggestions for skills and achievements
  • Localized sites in several languages (EN, FR, ES, DE, IT, PL, PT)
Best for

People writing a resume from scratch who want a formatted, ATS-friendly document and a matching cover letter fast, and who are fine paying for the download.

Honest weakness

The builder is free but a formatted PDF or Word download is not, and the cheap trial auto-renews to a monthly charge. The resume check gives a generic proprietary score, not a simulation against a specific job. No GitHub or portfolio audit, no LinkedIn cross-check, no interview practice.

Users claimed: 4.2/5 on Trustpilot from 11,600+ reviews (early 2026)zety.com
03

Jobscan

ATS resume optimization with One-Click Optimize, LinkedIn tools, and a job tracker.

Free tier

Limited free scans (exact count varies; verify current policy).

Paid entry point

Monthly tier (verify current pricing on jobscan.co).

Key features
  • ATS resume scan with a match-rate score
  • One-Click Optimize (AI tailoring to the job description)
  • Resume builder with ATS-friendly templates
  • LinkedIn profile optimization
  • Job tracker for managing applications
Best for

Job seekers who want the most mature, widely used ATS scanner with a large keyword database and a full suite (builder, LinkedIn, and tracker).

Honest weakness

English only. No GitHub or code-portfolio signals. No voice AI interview. Pricing sits on the higher end of the category.

04

Rezi

AI resume builder with the Rezi Score, lifetime pricing, and AI interview practice.

Free tier

1 resume, 3 PDF downloads, 1 AI interview.

Paid entry point

$29 / month, or $149 lifetime (one-time). Verify current terms.

Key features
  • AI resume builder with keyword targeting
  • Rezi Score for ATS compatibility
  • Unlimited AI interview practice (paid)
  • Resume Agent (AI assistant for rewrites)
  • PDF, DOCX, and Google Drive export
Best for

Candidates who want a builder-first experience with a one-time lifetime option instead of a recurring subscription.

Honest weakness

No GitHub or code-portfolio signals. The free tier caps downloads at 3 PDFs. English only.

05

Resume Worded

Free instant resume review plus dedicated LinkedIn profile optimization.

Free tier

Free account, an instant resume review and sample bullets.

Paid entry point

Pro tier, pricing not published publicly; verify on site.

Key features
  • Score My Resume, instant free feedback
  • LinkedIn profile optimization (a dedicated feature)
  • Resume targeting against job descriptions
  • 250+ bullet-point samples across industries
  • ATS-compatible resume templates
Best for

Candidates whose LinkedIn presence matters as much as their resume, such as marketing, sales, and client-facing roles.

Honest weakness

Pricing is opaque (the Pro cost is not public). No AI interview. No code-portfolio signals.

Users claimed: Over 1,000,000 professionalsresumeworded.com
06

Kickresume

Template-rich resume and cover letter builder with an AI writer.

Free tier

Free plan: 4 resume templates, 4 cover letter templates, 20,000+ pre-written phrases, and unlimited PDF downloads. The AI writer and the ATS checker are not included.

Paid entry point

Premium from EUR 8/month on the annual plan (EUR 96/year), EUR 18/month quarterly, or EUR 24/month monthly, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. Verify current pricing on kickresume.com.

Key features
  • 40+ resume and cover letter templates designed by typographers and recruiters
  • AI resume writer plus Autopilot phrasing from 20,000+ pre-written lines for 3,200+ roles
  • ATS resume checker (Premium only)
  • LinkedIn and PDF import, career map, and a personal website builder
  • iOS and Android apps
  • Multilingual templates and interface
Best for

Job seekers who want a large template library and quick help writing resume and cover letter text, across many roles and languages.

Honest weakness

The ATS checker and the AI writer are both locked behind Premium, so the free plan is really a template trial. It scores your CV in isolation, with no GitHub, LinkedIn, or portfolio audit against a specific job, and no interview practice.

Decision guide

Pick in 30 seconds

If…
You are writing a resume from a blank page and want it formatted fast
Zety (stay)
Lots of ATS-friendly templates, guided phrasing, and a matching cover letter in one place, in several languages. Budget for the paid download and cancel the trial on time.
If…
You are a software engineer and want a GitHub audit plus a voice mock interview
RejectCheck
It audits commit history, repo quality, and language distribution against the target job, then runs a short voice mock interview. No builder in this list does that.
If…
You want a one-time lifetime payment instead of a subscription
Rezi
A $149 lifetime license, the only true one-time option here. Verify current terms.
If…
Your LinkedIn profile matters as much as your CV
Resume Worded
A standalone LinkedIn optimization product, not an add-on.
If…
You are applying in a French-speaking market
RejectCheck
Fully bilingual EN and FR, both the interface and the analysis output.
If…
You want a genuinely free full analysis, not a teaser
RejectCheck
The free tier is a complete verdict (1 for guests, 3 for registered users) with ATS simulation, red-flag detection, and a score.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Zety actually free?

You can build a resume and cover letter for free, and you can download the result as plain text at no cost. The formatted versions are the catch: a PDF or Word file needs a paid plan. Most people want the formatted file, so in practice you pay to get a usable document. If you want a full read on your CV without any export paywall, RejectCheck gives a complete verdict on the free tier.

How much does Zety cost after the trial?

Zety runs a cheap trial, often a dollar or a few dollars for 14 days, that renews to a monthly charge on its own. Reviews in 2026 report the renewal at roughly 23 to 26 USD every four weeks, or about 71 USD for a year paid up front. Zety changes these numbers over time and by region, so check the current price on zety.com before you start, and set a reminder to cancel if you only need it once.

Does Zety have an ATS checker?

Yes, Zety has a resume check that reviews keywords, formatting, spelling, and sections, and it reports a proprietary score. It does not match your CV against a specific job description the way an employer's system would. If you want a per-job ATS simulation, plus a re-scan that shows the score change after you edit, RejectCheck is built around that loop.

What is the best Zety alternative for software engineers?

RejectCheck is the one tool here that reads your code portfolio. It audits your GitHub commit history and repo quality against the role you are targeting, and it cross-checks your LinkedIn with your CV for contradictions. For a technical candidate, that signal matters as much as the resume layout, and no pure builder, Zety included, offers it.

Can I use Zety in French?

Yes. Zety runs regional sites in several languages, including French, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, and Portuguese, so the builder and templates are localized. RejectCheck is bilingual English and French across the whole product, including the analysis output itself, not just the interface. If your value is a French-language builder with templates, Zety covers it; if you want the diagnosis written in French, RejectCheck does that end to end.

Does Zety write my resume for me?

That is Zety's core idea: it suggests ready-made phrases and generates content you drop into the template. It is quick, and it can also read generic, since many people start from the same suggestions. RejectCheck takes the opposite approach: it never writes your CV for you. It asks questions and you supply your real facts, so the wording stays yours and the claims stay true.

Try RejectCheck, free, no signup

Upload your CV, paste a job description, and get a full diagnosis in under 60 seconds: an ATS score, a technical skill gap radar, a GitHub and LinkedIn signal audit, and red-flag detection.

Analyze my CV free

Or see full pricing → /en/pricing