August 2026 · 5 min read
Is Zety Free? What the Free Plan Actually Gets You
You know the scene. You spent 45 minutes on Zety picking a template, wrestling your job history into bullet points, and dutifully accepting its phrasing suggestions. The resume looks great. You click Download— and meet the checkout page. So, is Zety free? We checked their pricing page (as of August 2026) so you don’t have to learn the answer the hard way. Short version: building is free, downloading a PDF is not.
What “free” means at Zety
Zety’s free Basic package lets you use the builder and its templates without paying. The catch is at the exit: on the free plan, downloads are TXT format only. A plain-text file. No layout, no template, no fonts — the thing you spent 45 minutes designing stays on their side of the counter. Downloading as PDF or Word requires a paid plan.
And here are the paid plans, straight from zety.com/pricing:
- Pro package. A 14-day trial for $1.95. After 14 days it auto-renews at $25.95, billed every 4 weeks, until you cancel.
- Annual package. $5.95 per month, charged as $71.40 up front, auto-renewing each year.
To be fair, Zety does print the auto-renewal terms on its pricing page — $1.95 now, $25.95 every 4 weeks after. The problem is that the pricing page is not the page you’re on when you pay. You’re on the download screen, resume in hand, reading the $1.95. The $25.95-every-four-weeks part is easy to miss, and “every 4 weeks” means 13 charges a year, not 12 — up to about $337 if it runs for twelve months.
This is widely reported, not our invention: Reddit threads and review sites like Sitejabber are full of people who paid the small trial fee and were surprised by recurring charges weeks later — sometimes only spotting them on a bank statement months in. Some users cancel without trouble; the complaints cluster specifically around the trial-to-subscription mechanic.
In Zety’s defense
The product itself is genuinely good. The editor is polished, the templates look professional, and the pre-written content suggestions are legitimately useful when you’re staring at an empty “Professional Summary” box. People pay for it and like it — Sitejabber’s overall rating is positive. If a $25.95 subscription fits your budget and you go in with eyes open, that’s a reasonable purchase. Our objection isn’t to Zety existing; it’s to the word “free” doing so much heavy lifting on a download button.
What free means here
Another CV Maker exists because of exactly that download screen. Here, free is not a funnel:
- Every template is free.No “premium” tier hiding the good ones.
- Real PDF export, free.A proper PDF with selectable text, via your browser’s print dialog. No TXT-file consolation prize.
- No account, no card. There is nothing to auto-renew because there is nothing to charge.
- No watermark. Your CV says your name on it, not ours.
- Your data stays in your browser. Everything is stored in localStorage on your device; we never see it, so we can never lose it, leak it, or bill it.
The trade-off, honestly: you won’t get Zety’s pre-written phrasing suggestions or its resume-review tool. You get a clean, fast builder and your document, immediately, in the format recruiters actually open.
FAQ
Is Zety’s free trial really free?
No. The 14-day trial costs $1.95, and unless you cancel it converts into a $25.95 charge every 4 weeks. That’s disclosed on the pricing page — it’s just not what most people mean by “free trial.”
Can I download a PDF from Zety for free?
No. As of August 2026, the free plan downloads TXT format only. PDF and Word downloads require a paid plan.
What is Zety’s pricing?
As of August 2026: a $1.95 14-day trial auto-renewing at $25.95 every 4 weeks, or an annual plan at $5.95/month billed as $71.40 up front. Check their pricing page for current numbers — subscription prices change.
What resume builder is actually free?
This one. Every template, real PDF export, no account, no card, no watermark. We built it specifically for people coming from the download screen you just left.