Free resume builder
Fill in your details, pick a template, and download a clean PDF. No account, no watermark, no paywall at the end, and nothing leaves your browser.
How to make your resume
- Start from the example or a blank page. The example shows what a strong resume looks like; edit anything and it becomes yours. Start blank clears it.
- Fill in your details. Name, headline, contact details, then your experience with a few bullet points each. Open a section to edit it; drag a section by its handle (or focus the handle and press the arrow keys) to reorder it.
- Pick a design. Choose a template, a font, an accent colour, the spacing and the paper size in the dark panel. The preview shows the real page, with page breaks, exactly as the PDF will look.
- Download the PDF. Press Download PDF (or Ctrl S, ⌘S on a Mac). The file is named after you, for example Maya-Alvarez-Resume.pdf.
Your resume saves itself in this browser as you type. Come back on the same device and browser and it is still here. Open My resumes to keep several versions (one per job type is a good habit), duplicate one, rename it, or export a backup.
Actually free: what that means here
Most “free” resume builders let you spend an hour on your resume and then ask for money to download it, or stamp a watermark on the free version. This one does not. The PDF download is free, every time, with no watermark, no account and no trial.
It can be free because it costs us very little to run: the page is static, and the resume and its PDF are made by your own browser. There is no server holding your data, so there is nothing to charge you for keeping it.
What to put on a resume
- Header: your name, a headline (usually the job you want), email, phone, city, and one or two links such as LinkedIn or a portfolio. A full street address is no longer needed.
- Summary: two to four sentences: what you do, for whom, and your strongest result. Skip clichés like “hard-working team player”.
- Experience: most recent first. For each job: title, company, place, dates, and three to five bullet points about results, not duties.
- Education: degree, school and year. Add honours, a strong GPA or a relevant thesis if you are early in your career.
- Skills: specific tools and methods, in the words the job ad uses (where they are true for you).
- Extras that earn their place: projects, certifications, languages, awards, volunteering, or a custom section.
Length: one page for most people with under ten years of experience; two pages is fine after that. The preview shows the page count and where each page breaks.
Writing bullet points that get interviews
Recruiters skim. A good bullet point says what you did and what changed because of it, ideally with a number. The builder gives a gentle hint when a bullet starts weakly or when none of a job’s bullets has a number.
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Responsible for the company blog | Grew blog traffic from 8,000 to 45,000 monthly visits in a year by publishing two data-led posts a week |
| Helped with customer support | Cut average first-response time from 9 hours to 2 by setting up templates and a triage rota |
| Worked on the mobile app | Rebuilt the checkout screens in SwiftUI, lifting mobile conversion by 12% |
Start with a strong verb (led, built, cut, grew, launched, negotiated), show the result, and keep each bullet to one or two lines.
Applicant tracking systems (ATS), honestly
Many employers run applications through an applicant tracking system, which reads the text out of your file so recruiters can search and filter it. There is a lot of fear-selling about “beating the ATS”. In practice, what matters is simple: real text (not a picture of text), a sensible reading order, standard section titles, and the keywords from the job ad where they truthfully apply.
Every template here produces a PDF with real, selectable text in embedded fonts, standard headings (Experience, Education, Skills), and a reading order that runs from your name down through your experience. Even the two-column template writes the main column first, so the text reads in order. No tool can promise that a particular ATS will rank you highly; a clear, relevant resume is what helps.
Your resume never leaves your device
Everything you type, and your photo if you add one, is stored in this browser (IndexedDB, or local storage where that is not available) and the PDF is made on your device. Nothing is uploaded to us or anyone else. That also means we cannot recover your resume if you clear your browser data, so use Export backup in My resumes now and then, and keep the JSON file somewhere safe. Import brings it back on any device.
Questions and answers
Is this resume builder really free?
Yes. Building, editing and downloading the PDF are all free, with no watermark, no account and no limit on how many resumes you make or download.
Do I need to sign up?
No. There are no accounts. Your resumes save themselves in your browser on this device as you type.
How do I edit my resume later?
Come back to this site in the same browser on the same device: your last resume opens automatically, and My resumes lists all of them. To edit on another device, export a backup (a small JSON file) and import it there. Keep that file safe, because clearing your browser data also clears your resumes.
Are the templates ATS-friendly?
Yes. The PDFs contain real, selectable text in embedded fonts, use standard section titles and keep a logical reading order, including the two-column template. You can check by opening the PDF and selecting the text, or by copying it into a plain text editor.
Should my resume be one page or two?
One page suits most people with under about ten years of experience. Two pages is normal for longer careers. Try Compact spacing if you spill just over a page; the preview shows exactly where pages break.
Should I add a photo?
In the US, UK, Canada and Australia, most recruiters prefer no photo, to avoid bias. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and parts of Europe and Asia, a professional photo is still common. The photo is optional here; you can crop it to a circle or a square.
Can I make several versions of my resume?
Yes. Open My resumes to create a new one, duplicate an existing one (handy for tailoring to each job) and rename them.
Which file should I send to employers?
Send the PDF unless the job ad asks for something else. It looks the same on every device, and its text can be read by applicant tracking systems.
What about a cover letter or a CV?
Use the cover letter generator, which can copy your details and design from any of your resumes, or the CV maker for A4 CVs with UK, European and academic conventions.