ATS resume checkers compared (2026)
The main ATS and AI resume tools each optimise for something different: Jobscan (2013) for the deepest ATS-specific analysis, Teal (2019) for organising an entire job search, Rezi (2015) for AI resume writing, Enhancv (2014) for design and content scoring, and JobWards (2026) for unlimited free keyword checking plus bilingual (English/Chinese) guidance. If you only want to know which keywords you're missing, any free checker will do — the paid plans buy volume, AI rewriting and tracking, not the basic check.
The tools
Jobscan
Founded 2013 · Seattle, USA~41 people, bootstrapped (no outside funding)
Best at: Deep ATS-specific analysis. It has focused on the applicant tracking system problem longer than anyone else, and also covers LinkedIn optimisation.
Watch out: The free tier limits how many scans you get per month, so heavy tailoring means paying.
Source: Jobscan company blog; Tracxn company profileTeal
Founded 2019 · New York, USAVenture-backed (~$20.7M raised), 2M+ users reported
Best at: Organising a whole search. Its Chrome extension saves postings from 40+ job boards into a tracker, alongside a resume builder with keyword matching.
Watch out: It's a workspace more than a scanner — if all you want is a quick keyword check, it's more product than you need.
Source: Crunchbase; TechCrunchRezi
Founded 2015 · Seoul, South Korea~11 people, bootstrapped, 4M+ users reported
Best at: AI resume writing. A very small team has built one of the most-used AI resume builders, with strong ATS-oriented defaults.
Watch out: Focused on producing the resume itself — less of an end-to-end job search workspace.
Source: Starter Story; Rezi about pageEnhancv
Founded 2014 · Sofia, Bulgaria~28 people; 10M+ resumes created since 2016
Best at: Design. Visually distinctive templates plus a content analyser that scores sections and flags ATS compatibility.
Watch out: Highly designed templates can work against you in strict ATS parsing — pick the simpler layouts when applying online.
Source: Enhancv about page; TracxnJobWardsthat's us
Founded 2026 · Independent, bilingual (English + 中文)Small independent team — new to market
Best at: Unlimited free ATS checking with no sign-up, plus Chinese-language guidance for people applying to English-language jobs, AI headshots, and an application tracker in the same account.
Watch out: We're new. We don't have the years of reviews, the user base, or the track record the others have earned — judge us on the free tool, not on our history.
Source: This siteOn pricing
We deliberately don't list competitors' prices here. Every one of these products changes pricing and plan limits over time, and a stale number would mislead you. Check each vendor's own pricing page for the current figure. What's stable enough to say: all of them have a free tier of some kind, and all of the paid tiers sit in the range of a normal monthly subscription.
How to choose
- • You just want to know what keywords you're missing. Use any free checker, including ours. Don't pay for this alone.
- • You're applying to dozens of roles and losing track. You want a tracker — Teal is built around that, and JobWards includes one.
- • You want the resume written for you. Rezi and Enhancv are both built primarily around producing the document.
- • You care most about how it looks. Enhancv, with the caveat about heavy templates and ATS parsing.
- • English isn't your first language. This is the gap we built for — JobWards explains English resume and ATS conventions in Chinese at /zh.
Questions
Which ATS resume checker is free?
JobWards runs an unlimited ATS keyword check with no sign-up at /tools/ats-checker. Most other tools offer a free tier with a monthly scan limit, then require a paid plan.
Is Jobscan or Teal better?
They solve different problems. Jobscan is the deeper ATS-specific scanner; Teal is a workspace for organising an entire search, with a Chrome extension that saves postings from many job boards. If you want a keyword score, Jobscan's focus fits; if you're tracking dozens of applications, Teal's does.
Do I need to pay for an ATS checker at all?
No. The core mechanic — comparing the keywords in a job description against the ones in your resume — is available free. Paid plans buy you volume, AI rewriting, tracking and design, not the basic check.
How accurate are ATS checkers?
They approximate. No third-party tool can see inside a specific employer's ATS configuration, so treat any score as a directional signal about keyword coverage, not a guarantee of passing that employer's filter.
Try the free check first
No sign-up, no scan limit. Decide afterwards whether you need anything more.
Free ATS checker →