Best Free AI Resume Builder with Cover Letter: Jobly vs Zety

I’ve tested a handful of free resume tools over the years, and most of them fall into two camps: either the AI output is so generic it sounds like a robot wrote it, or the “free” version is so limited you can’t actually finish a document without upgrading. So when I started looking for an ai resume builder with cover letter free that wouldn’t hit a paywall halfway through, I had low expectations. I ended up spending a weekend with a tool called jobly, and I compared it side-by-side against two other popular free options: Zety’s free tier and a plain Google Docs approach with a ChatGPT assist.

What I tested and how

I created three resumes for the same fictional candidate—a marketing coordinator with about four years of experience. For each tool, I timed how long it took to get a decent first draft, and I noted how much manual editing was needed afterward. The goal wasn’t to find the flashiest builder, but to see which one actually saved time without forcing me to pay.

Observation 1: the cover letter actually got done

Most free builders make you write the cover letter separately, or they offer it as a premium add-on. With jobly, the cover letter generation was included from the start. I typed in the job title and a few bullet points about the role, and it produced a letter that needed maybe two sentence tweaks. That was faster than my ChatGPT method, where I had to copy-paste between windows and reformat the output. It was also more complete than Zety’s free plan, which let me preview a cover letter but wouldn’t let me export it without paying.

Observation 2: the resume templates are clean but limited

Jobly offers maybe six or seven templates, and they’re all modern and ATS-friendly—no crazy columns or graphics that confuse automated scanners. That’s a plus for most job seekers. But if you want something visually distinctive, you’ll feel boxed in. One of the templates I tried had a sidebar layout that looked great on desktop but got a little cramped when I previewed the PDF. I had to adjust the font size manually. It wasn’t a dealbreaker, but it reminded me that free tools usually trade customization for speed.

Observation 3: the AI suggestions were useful, but not perfect

The AI suggested bullet points based on my job title and industry. For a marketing coordinator, it offered lines like “Managed social media calendar across three platforms, increasing engagement by 15% over six months.” That’s specific enough to be useful, and it saved me from staring at a blank field. But for a more niche role—say, a lab technician—the suggestions felt a bit generic. I had to rephrase a few of them to match the actual work. That’s a realistic tradeoff with any AI resume tool: it works best for common job titles, and less well for specialized ones.

Where I hit friction

One thing that bothered me: the free version of jobly only lets you download the resume as a PDF. You can’t export a Word doc or edit the file offline. That’s fine if you’re applying directly through job portals, but if you need to tweak the formatting later or send a version that isn’t locked, you’re stuck. I also noticed that the AI occasionally repeated a phrase across the resume and cover letter. For example, “results-driven professional” showed up in both documents. I caught it, but someone in a hurry might miss it.

How it compares to the alternatives

• Zety free tier: Good resume builder, but the cover letter is locked behind a paywall. You can preview it, but you can’t download it. If you need both documents for free, jobly is the better choice.
• Google Docs + ChatGPT: This gives you total control and costs nothing. But it takes longer—you have to prompt the AI, copy the output, format everything manually, and keep the tone consistent across both documents. Jobly saved me about 20 minutes per application.
• Canva templates: Great for design, but most free templates aren’t ATS-friendly, and there’s no AI writing help. You’re essentially designing from scratch.

Who should use this (and who should skip it)

If you’re applying for internships, entry-level roles, or standard corporate positions, an ai resume builder with cover letter free like jobly is a solid time-saver. It’s especially useful if you’re applying to multiple jobs quickly and don’t want to rewrite a cover letter from scratch each time. But if you’re in a very specialized field, or if you need full control over formatting and file types, you’ll probably want to use a more flexible tool—or just stick with Google Docs and a good prompt.

I’m still not sure I’d trust any free AI resume builder to handle a career pivot or a highly creative role without heavy editing. But for the standard job search, jobly gets the job done faster than most alternatives, and the cover letter inclusion is what sets it apart from the rest of the free options I tested.