Are you looking for a good alternative to Zety.com? You might want to give Kickresume a shot. Kickresume's resume builder can do everything that Zety can do (and more) while either being cheaper or giving you more bang for your money.

And yes. You’re reading this on kickresume.com so you probably already know that this comparison is going to be somewhat biased. Well, that's true, we are biased. We trust Kickresume and work hard to make it the best resume builder out there.

On the other hand, that also means that we understand resume builders. Which is why this comparison is still going to be super informative.

(Also, if it's not just Zety that you want to know about, here's our review of what we think were the top 10 resume builders of 2024.) 

Kickresume vs Zety: How much do they cost?

Most resume builders out there are quite similar in terms of pricing. They usually offer a number of different subscription plans at similar prices. But while the prices are similar, what they offer for that price can be vastly different.

How much is Kickresume?

  • Free (limited customization options)
  • Monthly: $19 per month
  • Yearly: $5 per month ($60 every 12 months) + 1 month of Premium for 5 friends (worth $95)

Free download? Yes. Unlike Zety, you can create and download a fully professional resume as many times as you want for free. That is, as long as you stick to free customization options.

Free for students and teachers. Students and teachers get 6 months of Premium for free. During that time, they get full access to all Kickresume’s features and customization options.

Compare Kickresume’s premium plans here.

What is Zety’s pricing?

  • First 14 days: $2.70
  • After 14 days: $24.70 every 4 weeks
  • 12 months: $5.95 per month ($71.40 billed every 12 months)

Just a heads up: you only find out about these prices after you’ve created your entire resume and decide to download it.

Also, there is no way to download your resume for free. If you don’t want to lose your work, you have to pay.

To be fair, they do offer a full refund during the first 14 days.

Kickresume as an alternative to Zety: What do you get for your money?

Okay, now you know how much these resume builders cost (or do not cost). Now let’s talk what you’re going to get for your money.

Kickresume resume creation gif

What do you get with free Kickresume?

Kickresume is a great alternative to Zety if you want to create and download your resumes for free. Even if you don’t upgrade to a premium plan, you’re still going to get:

  • 4 minimalistic resume templates
  • 4 matching cover letter templates
  • 1 template for your personal website
  • 1,500+ resume samples and cover letter samples
  • 20,000 pre-written phrases for your resume
  • 2 different fonts for basic customization
  • Unlimited number of downloads
  • Unlimited number of resumes or cover letters

What do you get if you upgrade to Kickresume Premium?

Naturally, you get everything that free users get. But on top of that, there are extra goodies, such as:

Now, that’s monthly subscribers. If you opt for a yearly plan, you also get 1 month of Kickresume Premium for 5 friends (worth $95)

What do you get if you subscribe to Zety?

Yet again, if you create a resume with Zety, you won’t be able to download it for free. On the other hand, if you decide to upgrade to their Full Access, you’ll get:

  • Download and save your resumes in Word, PDF, or TXT
  • 18 resume templates
  • 18 cover letter templates
  • Cover letter builder
  • Resume checker
  • 8 color schemes
  • 16 different fonts
  • Spellcheck

Everybody can also benefit from Zety’s excellent resume and cover letter guides. They’re well-written and specific to a profession.

Aaand, as far as we can tell, that’s it. Not bad.

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Final verdict: Is Kickresume a good alternative to Zety? 

"Unexpectedly", yes, we do think that Kickresume is a good alternative to Zety. In fact, it gives you more stuff for the same amount of money. We set our pricing up in a way that provides unbeatable value. Anyway, here are the key takeaways: 

Kickresume lets you download a resume for free. Kickresume shines where Zety falls short: it has multiple free templates and lets you create a full-fledged resume free of charge. You only have to pay if you choose to make use of their premium features and customization options.

More customization options. You get more templates and more different color schemes.

Personal website. In addition to being a resume builder and cover letter builder, Kickresume lets you create your own personal website. That’s more added value that Zety doesn’t provide.

Has a huge library of resume examples. Many of these samples are real resumes that helped real people land their job. You can copy any of these samples to your Kickresume account and edit them in any way. Zety has a resume library of their own but nothing like a collection of resumes collected from real people.

Almost all Kickresume’s subscription plans are a bit cheaper. Finally, Kickresume is also a bit cheaper than Zety — that is, unless you want to subscribe for a whole year or not more than two weeks. On the other hand, if you choose Kickresume’s yearly subscription plan, you can gift a month of free premium subscription to 5 of your friends. Also, you can have your resume proofread for free (albeit only once).

Proofreading service. Kickresume also offers a paid proofreading service. For $29 you can have your resume proofread by professional human proofreaders. That is, as long as it is written in English or Spanish. They will polish your grammar and make your resume or cover letter sound more professional.

Free Kickresume premium for students. Kickresume is free for students and teachers. All you have to do is provide a valid student card or prove your student status in any other way.

What is our take on Zety’s resume builder?

It's pretty good! I mean, we do think that Kickresume offers you a better deal and more bang for your money. On the other hand, you won't be wrong to choose Zety either. Here's why:

It’s easy to use. We appreciated Zety’s solid (albeit relatively compact) selection of well-designed and customizable templates. Thanks to its simplicity, we found it really easy to use without having to learn the ropes. Zety sticks to what it does best and doesn’t try to go beyond that.

Great minimalistic templates. Zety’s resume templates are clean, well-constructed, and no-nonsense. Recruiters love that. Thumbs up!

Somewhat limited customization options. Having said that, we felt underwhelmed by the small number of customization options and the complete absence of free templates.

You have to pay to download. No, Zety doesn’t let you create and download your resume for free.

Great auto-suggestion feature. Zety allows you to assemble your resume from many different phrases. That comes handy when you don’t know where to begin writing your resume. Kickresume has a similar feature but we felt that Zety’s resume phrases have a slight edge over that.

Their yearly subscription is decent value. On the other hand, if you don’t mind paying and want to subscribe for a whole year, know that Zety’s yearly subscription plan is a bit cheaper than Kickresume’s. However, you don’t get free proofreading and free premium for friends.

Excellent resume guides. Zety’s resume and cover letter guides are great! You can read them for free on their website. They’ve got a massive library of content that Kickresume has yet to match.