Free ATS resume checker
Find out how applicant tracking software reads your resume. Upload it or paste the text, and in about 30 seconds you get a score, your top fixes and the keywords you're missing. It's free, there's nothing to sign up for, and your resume never leaves your browser.
Works for any job. Add a job posting for a closer keyword match.
What the checker looks at
- Keywords
- Recruiters search their applicant tracking system (ATS) for skills and job titles. Add a job posting and we compare your resume with the words it uses, then show which ones are missing. Only add a keyword if it's true for you.
- Impact
- Bullets that start with an action verb and include a real number read as results, not duties. We count how many of yours do, and show you the weak ones.
- ATS format
- The basics a parser needs: email and phone in the body of the page, standard sections like Experience, Education and Skills, enough readable text, and no tables or images that scramble the reading order.
- Wording
- If you come from a field with its own jargon, such as teaching, we flag terms that recruiters elsewhere may not know and suggest plainer ones. This only appears when your resume needs it.
How to use it
- Add your resume as a PDF or Word file up to 5 MB, or paste the text.
- Optional: add the job title, or paste the job posting, to check keywords for that job.
- Read your score and your top fixes. Make the changes, then check again.
What an ATS does with your resume
An applicant tracking system, or ATS, is the software companies use to collect job applications. It reads your resume file and turns it into fields: your name, contact details, job titles, dates and skills. Recruiters then search and filter on those fields.
Two things can go wrong. The software can fail to read your file properly, or the words a recruiter searches for aren't on your page.
You'll often hear that an ATS rejects most resumes automatically based on a score. How much a company automates varies, and nobody outside the company can see exactly what its system does. So we don't promise a pass or a fail. We check the part you control: whether your resume is easy for software to read, and whether it uses the language of the job.
Common reasons a resume gets misread
- Two columns or tables, which can make the text read out of order
- Contact details inside the page header or a text box
- Icons, photos, charts or skill bars used instead of words
- A scanned PDF, which is a picture of text rather than text
- Creative section titles, such as “My journey” instead of “Experience”
- Very little readable text in the file
How to raise your score honestly
- Start every bullet with a verb, such as Led, Built or Trained.
- Add a number wherever you honestly have one: how many people, how much, how often.
- Use the job posting's wording for the skills you really have.
- Keep to one column, standard headings and a plain font.
- Add a short summary at the top that names the role you want.
Don't add skills you don't have. Interviewers ask about them.
What this checker is, and isn't
- It runs in your browser. The free check doesn't upload your resume.
- It uses clear rules, not AI, so the same resume gets the same score every time and you can see why.
- It isn't any particular company's ATS. Companies use different systems, so treat the score as a guide for fixing obvious problems, not a prediction.
Questions
Is the ATS resume checker really free?
Yes. The check, your score, your top fixes and a preview of two rewritten bullets are free, with no sign-up. Downloading a finished resume and the other tools need a pass, which is $12 for 30 days.
Is my resume uploaded or stored?
Not by the free check. It runs in your browser, so your resume stays on your device.
Do I have to add a job posting?
No. Without one you still get your score and fixes, plus a list of the skills we found. Add a job title or paste a posting to see which keywords you're missing.
Does it work for any job?
Yes. It has keyword lists for common roles, such as software engineer, data analyst, product manager and marketing manager, and it reads keywords straight from any job posting you paste in.
What score should I aim for?
On our 0 to 100 scale, 75 or more means only small fixes are left, and below 50 usually means big gaps. A high score doesn't guarantee an interview. It means fewer obvious problems.
Can it guarantee I'll get interviews?
No, and no honest tool can. It finds problems you can fix. Whether you get an interview also depends on your experience, the job and the employer.
Last updated October 15, 2026