Resume builder comparison · October 20, 2026
Sheets Resume Builder vs Zety
Verdict: Choose Sheets Resume Builder, built and run by actual recruiters, if you want one screener-tested format, the option to build by voice, and one-time prices that never auto-renew ($9 for a day up to $99 for life); choose Zety if you want to pick from 18+ template designs, or want the lowest upfront price ($1.95) and will cancel inside 14 days.
By Colin McIntosh, co-founder and former Fortune 100 executive recruiter · Updated
Zety is one of the biggest resume builders on Google, and it is genuinely easy to use: pick a template, answer prompts, click pre-written phrases, done. It is also owned by BOLD, the same parent company behind LiveCareer, MyPerfectResume, Monster and CareerBuilder (we wrote about that here). Sheets Resume Builder is the opposite kind of company: two former recruiters, one resume format, and a pricing page you can read in five seconds.
Below is the honest version: real prices pulled on October 20, 2026, the places Zety beats us, and the places it does not.
Zety pricing vs Sheets Resume Builder pricing
Prices checked October 20, 2026 (USD)
Zety
| Plan | Price | What you get / billing |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | Build free; download in TXT only |
| Pro (14-day trial) | $1.95 | Auto-renews at $25.95 every 4 weeks until cancelled |
| Annual | $71.40/year ($5.95/mo) | Paid up front, auto-renews each year |
Zety bills its Pro plan every 4 weeks, which is 13 charges a year, not 12. If a trial is never cancelled, the first year costs $339.30.
Sheets Resume Builder
| Plan | Price | What you get / billing |
|---|---|---|
| Lifetime | $99 one time | Everything, forever: unlimited resumes, cover letters, mock interviews, AI job search |
| Monthly | $39/month | Same features, billed monthly as a subscription; cancel anytime |
| 1 week | $19 | Same features for 7 days; one-time pass, or an optional weekly subscription |
| 24 hours | $9 | Same features for 24 hours; one-time pass |
| Free | $0 | Build your full resume before paying; unlimited AI cover letters; free Word template |
Students, teachers, military, medical professionals and first responders get 25% off automatically at checkout. Anyone in financial need can email us for a free membership; we give away hundreds every month.
What a typical job search actually costs
Most job searches take about three months, so here is the real total for one search, and for two searches a few years apart. Totals exclude tax and promotions unless noted.
| Sheets Resume Builder | Zety | |
|---|---|---|
| Need one resume this week | $9 (24-hour pass) or $19 (1-week pass), never renews | $1.95 (14-day trial; auto-renews at $25.95 unless cancelled) |
| One 3-month search, cheapest route | $99 (Lifetime) | $71.40 (Annual plan) |
| One 3-month search, trial or monthly route | $117 ($39/month subscription x 3) | $79.80 ($1.95 trial + three $25.95 renewals) |
| Two separate 3-month searches | $99 (Lifetime covers both) | $142.80 (Annual plan twice, cancelled in between) |
Straight talk: for one three-month search, Zety's annual plan ($71.40) is cheaper than our $99 Lifetime. The math flips on your next job search, because our Lifetime does not renew and does not expire. If you only need a resume this week, Zety's $1.95 trial is the lowest upfront price in this category, as long as you cancel inside 14 days. Our $9 24-hour pass costs more upfront but has nothing to cancel.
Feature comparison
| Sheets Resume Builder | Zety | |
|---|---|---|
| Paid price | One-time passes: $9 (24 hrs), $19 (1 week), $99 (lifetime). Monthly: $39/month subscription, cancel anytime. Optional weekly subscription: $19/week | $1.95 for 14 days, then $25.95 every 4 weeks; or $71.40/year |
| Billing model | Your choice: one-time passes that never renew ($9 for a day, $19 for a week, $99 for life), or a $39/month subscription you can cancel anytime (a weekly subscription is also optional). Subscriptions are never required. Payment is only requested after you finish building. | Trial converts to a recurring subscription automatically |
| Free plan | Build your entire resume free; AI cover letters are free and unlimited with a free account; the Sheets Word template (used by 8M+ people) is free forever. | Build free, but downloads are TXT only (no formatted PDF or Word) |
| How you build | Build by voice (just talk; the AI writes and edits your resume live as you speak), chat by typing, or import any resume or LinkedIn URL for a full rewrite in seconds | Guided step-by-step builder; import an existing resume |
| Paid export formats | PDF, Word and Google Docs | PDF, Word and TXT |
| Resume designs | 1 recruiter-tested format, on purpose (one column, no photo, no summary); the AI keeps you to one page | 18+ templates |
| Writing help | Unlimited AI writing, no credits | Pre-written, job-title-specific phrases you click to insert |
| Tailor to a job description | Paste a job description, pick subtle / medium / aggressive, accept or reject each change. Your master resume stays untouched. | Not listed on Zety's pricing page |
| Resume scoring | Human Score: grades your resume the way a recruiter skims it, not an ATS | Resume Check flags 30+ issues |
| Saved versions | Unlimited tailored versions, saved with unlimited storage | Unlimited downloads, prints and edits |
| Cover letters | Free and unlimited with a free account (no card) | Cover letter builder with matching templates |
| Interview practice | Unlimited scored mock interviews (typed), plus 60 min/month of live voice interviews | Not included in Zety's plans |
| Job search | AI job search that pulls roles you pre-qualify for from boards across the web | Instant job matches |
| Phone support | Email; founders read every message | Yes (800-985-7561) |
| Ownership | Independent small business; the ex-recruiter founders answer every support email themselves | BOLD (also owns LiveCareer, MyPerfectResume, Monster, CareerBuilder; a pending lawsuit alleges it also owns Resume Genius and Resume Now) |
Sources: Zety pricing · BOLD about page · Sheets pricing · Sheets FAQ. Features change; if you spot something out of date, email [email protected] and we will fix it.
Where Zety beats Sheets Resume Builder
We would rather you trust this page than click a button on it, so here is where Zety is genuinely the better choice.
- Design choice. 18+ templates if you want a resume that looks a specific way. We offer exactly one format, by design.
- Cheapest one-week resume. $1.95 gets you formatted downloads for 14 days, if you cancel in time. (Our cheapest is a $9 24-hour pass, which never renews.)
- Cheaper for a single search. The $71.40 annual plan beats our $99 Lifetime if you will never job search again.
- Phone support and local versions. A US phone line, plus German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese sites.
Where Sheets Resume Builder beats Zety
- Built and run by actual recruiters. Co-founder Colin McIntosh screened tens of thousands of resumes as a Fortune 100 executive recruiter, and co-founder Nate Schier came up in recruiting too. The format and the AI encode what makes a real screener say yes, which is something no template gallery or growth team can copy.
- Finished in seconds if you have a starting point. Paste in an existing resume (even a long, messy one) or your LinkedIn URL, and the AI rewrites and reformats it into a recruiter-approved, one-page resume in seconds.
- No trial that turns into a subscription. $9 for a day, $19 for a week, or $99 for life, all one-time. Nothing to remember to cancel. Weekly ($19) and monthly ($39) subscriptions exist, but they are optional, never required.
- Build by voice. Never written a resume, or hate typing? Just ramble about your background and goals; the AI gives it structure and writes and edits your resume live as you speak.
- Free cover letters. Unlimited AI cover letters with a free account, no credit card.
- Pay at the end, not the start. Build your whole resume first; we only ask for payment when you are happy with it.
- Google Docs export. PDF, Word and Google Docs, so you are never locked into our editor.
- Interview practice included. Scored mock interviews plus live voice interviews, at no extra cost.
- Independent. Not one of a dozen look-alike brands under one parent company (see the BOLD family).
What happens after someone switches to Sheets Resume
Source: Sheets Resume Builder member success survey (self-reported by members).
A recruiter's take on Zety
Zety's approach is the classic resume-builder playbook: lots of attractive templates, guided prompts, a low-cost trial, then a 4-week subscription. It works for a lot of people, and the builder itself is polished. Our issue is not that Zety is bad software. It is that offering 18 formats implies the format does not matter, and from the screener's chair it matters a lot.
When I was screening resumes, the ones that got a "yes" in under ten seconds were the boring ones: one column, current employer and title first, numbers in the first bullet, black and white. That is the only format we offer, and we would rather be the opinionated friend than the menu. If you have a strong reason to want a specific design (creative fields, international CV norms with a photo), Zety is a reasonable choice. Just put a cancel reminder in your phone on day 12.
Who should choose which
Choose Zety if
- You want to choose among many templates
- You need one download this week and will cancel inside 14 days
- You want phone support
Choose Sheets if
- You want a recruiter-built format instead of a menu
- You have an existing resume or LinkedIn and want a recruiter-approved version in seconds
- You have never written a resume, or would rather talk than type (build by voice)
- You hate subscriptions and auto-renewing trials
- You want Word and Google Docs exports
- You want cover letters and interview practice in the same price
Sheets Resume Builder vs Zety: FAQ
Is Zety free?
You can build a resume on Zety for free, but the free Basic plan only downloads in TXT format. Formatted PDF and Word downloads require the Pro trial ($1.95 for 14 days, then $25.95 every 4 weeks) or the $71.40 annual plan, per Zety's pricing page on October 20, 2026.
How much does Zety cost after the trial?
After the 14-day $1.95 trial, Zety auto-renews at $25.95 billed every 4 weeks until you cancel. That is 13 charges a year. The annual plan is $71.40 paid up front and also auto-renews.
Who owns Zety?
Zety is owned by BOLD, which also owns LiveCareer, MyPerfectResume, Monster, CareerBuilder and FlexJobs. BOLD is also facing an antitrust lawsuit from Rocket Resume; the lawsuit alleges that BOLD also owns Resume Genius and Resume Now and presents commonly owned brands as competitors (the claims are unproven). Sheets Resume Builder is an independent small business. More detail: Many brands, one conglomerate.
Is Sheets Resume Builder cheaper than Zety?
For a single three-month search, Zety's $71.40 annual plan is cheaper than our $99 Lifetime. Sheets becomes cheaper on your second search, because Lifetime is a one-time payment that never renews. For a one-week need, Zety's $1.95 trial is cheaper upfront if you cancel on time; Sheets' $9 24-hour and $19 one-week passes cost more but never renew.
Which is better for getting past an ATS?
Both produce text-based files an ATS can read. In our experience the ATS is rarely the real filter; the human screener is. Sheets is built around what that screener looks for in ten seconds. More on that in our ATS guide.
Can I export my resume to Word or Google Docs?
Sheets exports to PDF, Word and Google Docs. Zety's paid plans export PDF, Word and TXT; its free plan exports TXT only.
Which is better if I have never written a resume?
Sheets. You do not need to know what to write, or even type: build by voice, ramble about your background and goals, and the AI gives it structure and writes your resume live as you speak (most people finish in 20 to 30 minutes). Zety's pre-written phrases help you fill in a template, but you still have to pick, edit and arrange them yourself.
How we compared
We make Sheets Resume Builder, so we are biased, and you should know that. To keep this fair we pulled every price from the vendor's own pricing page on October 20, 2026 (noted above where a page loads prices dynamically and we confirmed with recent independent reviews), we listed where Zety beats us before listing where we beat Zety, and we only compared features each company publishes. Sheets Resume Builder was started in 2018 by former recruiters Colin McIntosh and Nate Schier after our free resume template became the most-shared resume advice on Reddit. Since then 8 million+ people have used the template, 630,000+ resumes have been built in the AI builder, users rate us 4.88 out of 5 on our public reviews page, and in 2026 Tech Times ranked us #1 and Forbes Advisor ranked us #4. About us · Our reviews · Press.
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