The Best Places to Find Resume Templates Online

You could slog through formatting your resume on a word processor, tediously adjusting columns, margins, and headings to fit your content. Or, you could use a beautiful, professionally designed template—even one with step-by-step guidance.

If the second option sounds better to you, you’re not alone. We’ve rounded up five of the best places to find resume templates online. Dive into the details to determine which option is best for you.

Google Docs: Easy, Free, and at Your Fingertips

Though the exact numbers are undisclosed, a 2018 survey by Statista indicates that at least a billion people use Google Docs each day. If you’re one of them, Docs may be your go-to for creating your resume.

The good news is that you won’t have to tediously build your own resume as described above. Click into the template gallery to find five simple yet practical resume templates. You can edit the colors or fonts and replace the filler text with your details.

Canva: Endless Options for Creatives

If you’re looking for more creative control, Canva may be the tool for you, especially if you’re already using it for creating other media. By some estimates, Canva has thousands of resume templates. Many are free to use, while others require a paid Canva Pro account. Often, the templates are part of a marketing set, so you may find something to match the branding you’re already using on social media and elsewhere.

Upgrading to Pro also unlocks unlimited use of Canva’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools. For example, if you work in an industry where you need to include a headshot, you can use Magic Eraser to remove distracting background elements from your photo. Use Magic Expand to make your background fit your page. Magic Write can make suggestions on content phrasing.

Etsy: Lovely Templates for Every Program and Style

Etsy also offers thousands of resume templates you can purchase, download, and customize. Often, these are part of a matching “packet” that includes things like cover letter and business card templates.

Like Canva, Etsy has classic resume styles as well as more creative offerings. Want a floral sorority resume with Barbie-pink scrollwork text? You’ve got it. Resumes tailored to athletes, transitioning military, veterinary techs, or students? They’ve got that, too.

When searching for a resume template on Etsy, be sure to specify the program you want to edit it in and double-check the item details before you click “Add to cart.” Some downloads contain multiple file types. Others are specific to Canva, Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Illustrator, for example.

Kickresume

Kickresume strikes the perfect balance between powerful AI assistance and modern, visually appealing design. It’s more than a template tool; it’s a full career toolkit that uses GPT-4 to offer genuinely helpful, context-specific writing suggestions. This allows you to quickly generate a strong, ATS-compliant resume that also looks polished and professional enough to capture a recruiter’s attention.

Best for : Job seekers at any level who want a powerful AI writer and great design without sacrificing ATS compatibility.

Key Pro : The AI can generate an entire first draft from just a job title, saving you hours of work.

Key Con : The most powerful features and best templates require a premium subscription.

Zety

Zety is the ultimate guided experience, making it perfect for anyone who feels intimidated by the resume-writing process. The platform walks you through each section with simple, clear prompts and offers a vast library of pre-written, customizable bullet points for hundreds of job roles. Zety prioritizes function and safety, ensuring every template is conservative in design and guaranteed to be parsed correctly by any ATS.

Best for : Students, entry-level professionals, or career changers who need significant guidance and content suggestions.

Key Pro : The step-by-step process makes it nearly impossible to create a poorly structured resume.

Key Con : You can build your resume for free, but you hit a paywall when you try to download the final document.

Enhancv

Enhancv is for professionals who need to do more than list job duties—they need to tell a story. With visually striking templates and the ability to include unique sections like “A Day In My Life” or “My Strengths,” it’s built for roles where personality and creativity are key differentiators. While it offers more design freedom, it does so with an awareness of technical constraints, including an “ATS check” to guide you toward safer, parsable layouts.

Best for : Marketers, designers, and professionals in creative fields where a visually distinct resume is an asset.

Key Pro : Unmatched design customization allows you to create a resume that truly reflects your personal brand.

Key Con : Not all templates are fully ATS-friendly; you must be careful. The free version includes a prominent watermark.

Novoresume

Novoresume excels at producing clean, elegant, and highly professional resumes with a minimalist, European-inspired aesthetic. It’s the perfect choice for professionals who are confident in their experience and need a sophisticated, uncluttered design to present it. Every template is built from the ground up for readability and ATS compliance, making it a safe bet for conservative industries.

Best for : Mid-level to senior professionals, academics, and those in traditional corporate fields like finance or law.

Key Pro : The templates project a sense of authority and professionalism that is ideal for experienced candidates.

Key Con : The free version is very limited, and it offers less AI writing assistance than its competitors.

Jobscan

Jobscan is not a resume builder, but an essential optimization tool that should be every job seeker’s final step. You upload your finished resume and the job description you’re targeting, and Jobscan gives you a data-driven analysis of how well you match. It provides a match score, highlights missing keywords, and flags formatting issues, giving you a concrete checklist to improve your odds against the ATS.

Best for : Every serious job seeker who wants to tailor their resume for each application.

Key Pro : Provides direct, actionable feedback to increase your resume’s ATS match rate before you apply.

Key Con : It doesn’t help you write your resume, only optimize it. The free version is limited to a few scans per month.

Resume.com

Owned by the job board Indeed, Resume.com is one of the few truly free resume builders available. It’s a no-frills, straightforward tool for creating a functional, professional resume without hidden fees or surprise paywalls. While the design options are basic, it handles the fundamentals of ATS-friendly formatting correctly and integrates seamlessly with your Indeed profile.

Best for : Job seekers on a tight budget, students, or anyone needing a simple, traditional resume at no cost.

Key Pro : It’s 100% free to create, edit, and download your resume in multiple formats.

Key Con : The template selection is very small and generic, offering almost no customization.

Key Takeaways

There are endless options to choose from when creating your resume. You can keep it simple with programs you know or try something new. If you’re looking for a quick, guided experience, we recommend using an online resume builder like Google Docs because it takes the guesswork out of it. If you prefer more creative control, you can choose your template from Canva, Etsy, or Adobe.

Once your resume is ready, you can use Smart Applier to automatically submit it to multiple job listings, helping you save time and increase your chances of landing interviews.

Whichever resume-building path you choose to take, you are certain to find a template that tells your story in a compelling, personalized, and professional way.