Free CV and resume builder — no account needed
Forge your career.
Build a clean CV or resume, export it as PDF, and check how a parser reads it. Editing, parsing, and ATS-style scoring happen in the browser. No sign-up required.
No account · Browser-based editing and parsing · MIT licensed
What the ATS Parser actually measures
The score is a local heuristic — not a real ATS simulation. It checks four things: whether key fields were parsed, whether the layout is clean, whether the text is readable, and (optionally) whether your content matches a job description. A score above 75 is fine. Lower scores mean specific detectable issues were flagged — read the suggestions, decide what matters.
Format Score
A heuristic check of parsing reliability, layout structure, and readability — all run locally in your browser.
How the score is calculated
The three categories total 70 points, rescaled to 100. This tool checks whether your CV is well-structured for text parsing — it does not evaluate content, relevance, or job fit.
Score
95
- Parsing
- 60/ 60
- Structure
- 22/ 25
- Readability
- 13/ 15
Point attribution
Each block shows the category total first, then the specific signals that kept or cost points.
Parsing
Profile fields, links, education, and work history.
60 / 60
No issues flagged in this category
- This category kept 60 of 60 available points.
Structure
Layout shape, headings, bullets, and document length.
22 / 25
No issues flagged in this category
- This category kept 22 of 25 available points.
Readability
Metrics, visible URLs, and extraction-friendly text spacing.
13 / 15
No issues flagged in this category
- This category kept 13 of 15 available points.
This score is a heuristic formatting aid, not a guarantee of any outcome. It tells you how cleanly a text parser can read your CV — nothing more. Use your own judgement on the suggestions.
What CVForge actually does
Build a CV, export a clean PDF, and verify how a parser actually reads it. No accounts, no paywall, no black-box scoring.
Parser-friendly layout
- Keeps the document single-column, readable, and easy to extract as text.
- Reduces friction with ATS parsing by avoiding fragile multi-column formatting.
- Produces a resume PDF that is easier for recruiters and applicant tracking systems to scan.
Builder and parser in one workflow
- Write the CV in the builder, export the PDF, then run it through the parser workbench.
- See what was actually extracted, flagged, and scored instead of guessing how the document reads.
- Use the parser feedback loop to improve the same CV you just built.
Local by default
- The builder, parser, and ATS scoring run in the browser.
- Your CV is not uploaded to a backend just to generate feedback.
- No account, no hidden storage, and no unnecessary data transfer.
EU A4 and US Letter
- Switch between A4 and Letter without rebuilding the document.
- Page size, margins, and format expectations follow the selected region.
- Useful for EU CVs, US resumes, and anyone applying across multiple markets.
PDF and JSON import/export
- Export a clean PDF for job applications and save a JSON backup of the full CV state.
- Import JSON later to continue editing without rebuilding the document from scratch.
- Start from an existing PDF when you want to inspect or improve an older resume.
ATS-style scoring with receipts
- The parser does not just hand you a number.
- It shows extracted fields, structural warnings, and the specific issues that pulled the score down.
- That makes the ATS score useful as a diagnostic tool instead of empty reassurance.
Links and profile details that matter
- Add GitHub, LinkedIn, project links, languages, and other useful profile details.
- Keep the document professional without turning it into gimmicky resume-builder clutter.
- Useful for software engineers, technical profiles, and candidates with project-based work.
Typography controls that help it fit
- Adjust body size, name size, line height, and section spacing.
- Fit the final PDF cleanly without hacking the content itself.
- Fine-tune the layout when one version needs to fit on a single page.
FAQ
Q1. What is CVForge?▾
A browser-based CV and resume builder. You fill in your details, pick a format (EU A4 or US Letter), preview the PDF in the builder, and export when you're done. There's also a separate ATS Parser that parses any PDF and shows you what a text-based ATS system would extract from it. No account required, and CV content is not sent to a CV-processing backend.
Q2. How does the format score work?▾
The score runs three checks, all locally in your browser:
Parsing (60 pts) — did the parser successfully extract your name, email, phone, location, links, education, and work experience? Missing or garbled fields lose points here.
Structure (25 pts) — is the layout single-column, are section headings recognisable, are bullets used consistently, and is the length appropriate for the format?
Readability (15 pts) — are there quantifiable results (numbers, percentages), visible URLs, and no run-together words from PDF extraction artefacts?
The three categories add up directly to 100. A score above 75 generally means the parser read your CV cleanly and the layout is solid. Lower scores point to specific issues in the suggestions list — read those, and decide what actually matters for your situation.
This is a heuristic formatting check, not a real ATS and not a judgement of your CV's content. It tells you how cleanly a text parser can read your document — nothing about whether you will get an interview.
Q3. Is my data private?▾
Mostly, yes. The builder, parser, ATS scorer, and PDF renderer run in the browser, so your CV content is not sent to a server for parsing or scoring. The site does include general analytics, but not CV-content processing. You can verify the network requests in your browser dev tools.
Q4. How is CVForge different from other CV builders?▾
Most free CV builders store your data on their servers, show ads, or push you toward a paid plan. CVForge does none of that. The tradeoff is that it's simpler — one clean template, two format options, no fancy themes.
The main thing CVForge adds that most builders don't have is the local ATS Parser: upload any PDF and see exactly what fields a text parser can extract, what it missed, and why. That feedback loop is useful when you're not sure if your current CV format is going to survive ATS parsing intact.
Q5. Where did this come from?▾
CVForge is a fork of OpenResume, originally built by Xitang Zhao and Zhigang Wen. The original project is a clean, local-first resume builder — CVForge builds on that foundation with parser diagnostics, ATS-style scoring, EU A4 support, and updated dependencies.
Maintained by Alexandre Teixeira. Issues and PRs welcome on GitHub .