Is Resume Now free? Only in part. You can build and edit a resume free, and the terms let you download it as a plain .txt file at no cost. A formatted PDF or Word resume needs a paid subscription, and the usual route in is a 14-day trial that cost us $1.45, $1.85 or $2.45 depending on which version of the pricing page loaded on 18 October 2026, then renews at about $24 every four weeks until you cancel. This post shows the prices we saw and why yours may differ, what the trial turns into over a year, the exact cancel steps from Resume Now's own terms, and what the refund clause really promises.
A disclosure: ApplyEze makes a desktop app that writes a tailored resume for each job posting, plus a cover letter when the form asks, and fills in the application, so we compete for some of the same job seekers' money. Resume Now's trial costs a fraction of a month on an ApplyEze plan, and for a one-time resume it is a reasonable deal if you cancel on time. We say so where it applies.
The short answer
| Question | Answer, as of 18 October 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Can you build a resume free? | Yes, with a free account | Terms 10.1 |
| Can you download it free? | Only as a .txt file | Terms 10.1 |
| PDF or Word download? | Needs an active subscription | Terms 8.14 |
| Lowest-priced paid route | 14-day trial, $1.45 to $2.45 on the loads we saw | Pricing |
| After the trial | $23.85 or $23.95 every 4 weeks, auto renews | Pricing |
| Annual plan | $70.20 a year, auto renews | Pricing |
| Refund | "May" be issued if you cancel before the trial ends | Terms 10.6 |
| Who bills you in the US | Bold LLC | Terms 10.1 |
If you need one resume this week, the trial is cheap and fine. Put a calendar reminder on day 12, cancel, and keep the confirmation email. If you forget, it becomes a subscription that costs more than $300 a year.
What is free, and what is not
Resume Now's terms of use, with an effective date of 7 October 2026, draw the line in two places.
Section 10.1 lists what is free: "building your resume and downloading a .txt version," along with free templates and career content.
Section 8.14 says what is not. A registered user "will always be able to view and edit these documents, but will not be able to print, download or share unless you have an active Subscription." The documents stay stored after you cancel, so you can come back later, but you cannot export them again without paying again.
A .txt file has no layout, fonts or columns. It is fine for pasting into an application form's plain text box. It is not what most people mean when they want a resume to attach or print.
The paywall is the most common complaint. A Trustpilot review posted on 18 October 2026 says the site "says free but it makes you pay in order to download resume", and an older r/assholedesign thread complains that the paywall appeared only after the resume was built.
Two other clauses are worth knowing before you build anything:
- Public profile. Section 8.10 says that if you publish a Profile, "your Profile will be searchable by anyone unless you actively opt-out," and that cancelling "will not result in the unpublishing of your Profile from the public resume database." You turn it off under My Settings, or by deleting the account.
- Resume tracking. Section 8.5 says that when you download, Resume Now will "include a meta data identifier and document id into your resume and share it with third-parties, such as parsing companies and applicant tracking systems." You opt out by contacting customer service.
The trial price, and why you may see a different one
We loaded the pricing page more than once on 18 October 2026 and did not see the same offer each time.
| Load | Plan shown | Price today | Then |
|---|---|---|---|
| First load | 14-Day Limited Access | $1.45 | $23.85 every 4 weeks after 14 days |
| First load | 14-Day Full Access | $1.85 | $23.85 every 4 weeks after 14 days |
| First load | Annual Access | $5.85 a month | $70.20 billed yearly |
| Second load | 14-Day Full Access | $2.45 | $23.95 every 4 weeks after 14 days |
| Second load | Annual Access | $5.85 a month | $70.20 billed yearly |
This is allowed by the terms. Section 3.1.6 says: "ResumeNow may show multiple Site experiences and A/B test multiple factors such as Site performance, user preferences, new tools, and services, among others. These A/B tests may not be the same for every customer and may not be available every time."
So any price you read in a review, including this one, is a sample. The price that binds you is the one on your own checkout page. In a September 2026 BBB complaint response, the company quotes its checkout text: "By clicking 'Get Your Resume' below you agree to be charged CAD 2.85 now... You will be billed [the renewal price] after 14 days, and every 4 weeks after that until your subscription ends." Read that line before you click.
Two smaller things to check on the offer you get:
- Limited versus Full Access. We saw both names on one load. The terms warn that "certain offers will only allow one download, print, or email as part of the subscription service," with extra downloads bought separately. If you expect to edit and re-download, read what your plan includes.
- "Money-Back Guarantee: 14-day free trial." The pricing page uses this line next to a trial that costs money. The trial is not free. What the line describes is a chance of a refund, covered below.
The renewal and the annual plan
The trial renews every four weeks, not every month. That sounds like a detail but it adds a payment: a year has 13 four-week periods, not 12.
| If you never cancel | Math | First-year cost |
|---|---|---|
| $1.45 trial, then $23.85 | $1.45 + (13 × $23.85) | $311.50 |
| $1.85 trial, then $23.85 | $1.85 + (13 × $23.85) | $311.90 |
| $2.45 trial, then $23.95 | $2.45 + (13 × $23.95) | $313.80 |
| Annual Access | one payment | $70.20 |
The 13 renewals start on day 14 and land every 28 days after, which fits 13 charges inside the first year.
Four-week billing also explains something people read as a trick. The BBB complainant above listed charges on 30 March, 27 April, 25 May, 22 June, 20 July, 17 August and 14 September 2026 and wrote that the company "progressively moved the billing dates earlier each month to sneakily avoid detection." Each date is exactly 28 days after the last. A four-week cycle always drifts earlier against the calendar month, so the charge never lands on the same day twice.
When is annual better? The annual plan's $70.20 is a little less than three renewals ($71.85 at $23.95). The trial track passes $70.20 at the third renewal, on day 70, so if you are sure you will need the builder for more than about ten weeks in total, annual costs less. If you need one resume, the trial plus a timely cancel costs a couple of dollars. The annual plan also auto renews each year, so it needs its own reminder.
How to cancel, step by step
Section 10.6 of the terms gives two routes: "You may cancel your subscription anytime by contacting our customer service department or by going to the online cancel page under My Account and My Settings."
- Download first. Once the subscription ends you can view and edit your documents but not download them (terms 8.14). Export the PDF and Word files you need before you cancel.
- Cancel online. Log in, open My Account, then My Settings, and use the cancel page there. Do it at least a day before day 14 so a time zone or a slow page does not cost you a renewal.
- Or contact support. The site lists 844-351-7484 and customerservice@resume-now.com. The footer gives phone hours of 8 AM to 8 PM Central on weekdays, 8 AM to 5 PM on Saturday and 10 AM to 6 PM on Sunday.
- Get the cancellation number. The terms say Resume Now "will send an email with a cancellation number to confirm any cancellation request. If you do not receive this confirmation and still wish to cancel, please contact our customer service department directly." No email means you have not finished.
- Turn off the public profile. Cancelling does not unpublish it (terms 8.10). Set it to private under My Settings, or delete the account if you are done with the site.
- Watch the next statement. If a charge appears after you have a cancellation number, contact support with that number first.
The FTC's consumer guide to free trials and auto renewals gives the same advice in general form: know the terms, set a reminder, and "keep a copy of your cancellation request, along with notes about any conversations you had about canceling."
Refunds
Here is the whole refund promise in the terms: "Resume-Now may issue a refund if notice of cancellation of your subscription is provided before the end of the trial period, if a trial period is offered. Resume-Now does not guarantee refunds after trials are expired."
Note the word "may." Even inside the trial, a refund is a possibility, not a right. After the trial, there is no promise at all.
The September 2026 BBB complaint shows how this plays out. The customer used the service once in March, then paid seven renewals of CAD 34.85, totalling CAD 243.95. Customer support "only offered a partial refund of $17.43." After the complaint was filed, the company's response said "our charges are not refundable as stated in our Terms and Conditions" but that it had made an exception and refunded the charges. The complaint is marked Resolved, and on 3 October 2026 the customer told the BBB the resolution was satisfactory.
Practical reading: ask early, ask in writing, and if support refuses, a BBB complaint has worked for at least one customer. The FTC guide says that if a company will not refund a charge you did not agree to, you can "dispute the charge (also called a 'chargeback') with your credit or debit card company right away." The terms also send disputes to binding individual arbitration with a class action waiver (section 13), which you can opt out of by written notice within 30 days of first agreeing to the terms.
What users say
On Trustpilot, Resume Now scores 4.5 from 19,582 reviews as of 18 October 2026, with 78% five-star and 8% one-star. The company claimed the profile in February 2016 and replies to every negative review.
Bold LLC, which processes US payments for Resume Now, is BBB accredited with an A+ rating. Its complaints page shows 250 complaints in the last three years and 73 in the last 12 months, across all the brands it bills for, which include MyPerfectResume, Zety, LiveCareer and FlexJobs, per Bold's about page.
The themes repeat across sources:
| Theme | Example |
|---|---|
| Easy to use | Recent five-star reviews praise a simple, fast builder (Trustpilot) |
| Cheap for a one-time need | One reviewer said it would be nicer if it were free but paid $2.45 and found cancelling easy (Trustpilot) |
| "Free" ends at download | One-star reviews and an r/assholedesign thread describe the paywall appearing after building (Reddit) |
| Trial rolls into a subscription unnoticed | A 2022 Reddit thread describes recurring charges after a trial (Reddit) |
| Partial refunds | The BBB complaint above |
Resume Now is a real product with a large, mostly happy review base. The bad experiences almost all come from one gap: people who did not notice, or forgot, that the trial becomes a four-weekly subscription.
Free ways to get a formatted resume
If you want to pay nothing, the free .txt export plus any word processor gets you most of the way. Paste the text into a document, format it simply, and export to PDF. A plain, single-column layout is what parsers read most reliably, as our ATS-friendly resume format guide explains. Resume Now's sister brand works the same way, as covered in is MyPerfectResume free, and Resume Genius has a similar trial. For a side by side of paid builders, see the best AI resume builder comparison.
ApplyEze is not a resume builder. New accounts get 50 free credits, once per email address, no card, and nothing is charged when they run out, so no renewal follows them. A credit is used only when an application is confirmed as submitted. Plans list at $19 a month for 700 applications and $99 a month for 3,000.