Teal vs. Resume Genius

Every job you apply to gets its own version of your resume, so judge a resume builder by what it lets you do with version twelve. On Teal's free plan, version twelve downloads as a PDF, same as version one. On Resume Genius's free plan, the builder gives you a text file, and PDF and Word are what you pay for.

Teal vs Resume Genius features

Plans and features for both products reviewed November 3, 2026.

Free PDF download: Teal resume builder and Resume Genius

On Teal, you sign up with no credit card, build a resume or import one, and download each version as a PDF, with no cap on resumes or downloads.

Resume Genius lets you build before you sign up. To see where that ends, we built a sample resume as a guest on November 3, 2026, and pressed Download. The dialog offers PDF (recommended), Word and Text, with no price in sight.

• Text saved a file with no sign-up. It opens with a block of template code above your name, and it carries none of the template's formatting.
• PDF and Word opened a sign-up form with no way to skip it. Resume Genius says these downloads need a paid plan, starting at $2.95.
• Print and Email opened the same form.

Resume Genius also describes a free route of its own: download the text, then paste it into one of its free template designs. That does get you a formatted file. It also means pasting and formatting all over again for each new version.

Teal resume builder pricing and Resume Genius: what gets charged and when

Teal's free plan costs nothing. Teal+ costs $13 every 7 days, $29 every 30 days or $79 every 90 days, with a $179 annual plan offered at checkout, and it renews until you cancel. Refunds are not automatic: email membersupport@tealhq.com within 2 days of a weekly charge, 7 days of a monthly charge, or 14 days of a quarterly or annual charge, and each request is reviewed.

Resume Genius's pricing page lists a 14-day trial at $2.95 that auto-renews at $23.95, billed every four weeks, and an annual plan at $95.40 that also renews. Here is how those charges fall over a search of about 12 weeks.

Pay on either side and those 84 days cost about the same, $79 against $74.80. The line that matters is the top one: on Teal, $0 still gets you PDFs, resume versions and the tracker, for as long as your search runs.

The Resume Genius trial gives you 14 days of downloads and edits, and cancelling before day 14 avoids the $23.95. Its pricing page also promises a 14-day money-back guarantee, while its terms say it "may provide" a full refund within that 14-day term.

Cancelling changes what you keep. From the same terms: "Once your subscription is cancelled, you will only be able to view your documents and you will not be able to download, print or edit them." So the last PDF you download before the plan ends is the last one you get there. A search that needs a new version for each job keeps the plan running.

One more check before you enter a card: Resume Genius's pages show two renewal prices. Its pricing page says $23.95 every four weeks, and one of its FAQ pages says the trial renews at $7.95 a month, billed annually at $95.40. Read the renewal line at checkout.

Resume match against a job description: Teal and Resume Genius

In Teal, the job comes first. Save it with the Chrome extension or add it by hand, attach a version of your resume, and open the Job Matcher. Each keyword shows green if your resume has it and red if it doesn't. The free plan shows the top five keywords for each job, and Teal+ shows the full list and adds custom keywords. Add the missing ones that are true of your experience: an honest lower match beats a higher one padded with words you can't back up in an interview.

Resume Genius's resume builder, at least the screens you can see without an account, has no field for a posting. They ask for an optional desired job title and remind you to use keywords from the listing, and its AI resume generator page describes tailoring as an edit you make: "Tailor your bullet points and skills to match the job description." Its cover letter builder does take a pasted job description, and the letter it wrote for the sample posting picked up that posting's terms.

Teal resume checker score and Resume Genius's checker

Teal's Resume Checker sits in the Analyzer tab of the Resume Builder. It scores your resume from 0 to 100% using 15+ checks, with 80% or higher counted as good, and you fix each issue in the same place you found it. The free plan shows basic issues, and Teal+ adds the advanced ones.

Resume Genius's checker is a separate upload page, free with no account. It grades format, content and ATS-friendliness, and it says, "We score your resume against others in our database." So its number tells you how you stack up against other resumes. Teal's gives you a list to work down, one fix at a time.

Teal's free AI resume builder and Resume Genius's Sage

Teal's AI writes from what you give it. Ask for a bullet and you get three options to pick from, and with a job connected you can point it at a responsibility or requirement from the posting. The summary tool reads your resume data and any job you matched. The free plan covers 5 bullets, 2 summaries and 2 cover letters, once, and Teal+ makes them unlimited.

Then make it yours. Replace any placeholder metrics with your real numbers, and keep only what's true. A first draft might say, "Responsible for handling customer inquiries." Your edit turns it into, "Resolved about 40 customer tickets a day in Zendesk, mostly billing questions." The number and the tool came from you, and no AI had them.

Resume Genius walks you through step by step, asking one thing at a time, and its pre-written text and Sage's suggested rewrites all worked in our guest session. So it gives you the writing help before you pay and holds back the formatted file. Teal gives you the formatted file free, and that's the part you send.

Teal resume builder review: pros, cons and free plan limitations

• The big pro: one place for the search. Your resume, the check against each posting and the tracker sit together, so each saved job keeps the version you sent, its notes and its contacts.
• Free plan limitations. Resumes, PDF downloads and job tracking have no cap on the free plan. The main caps sit on AI credits, each job's keyword list, the advanced resume checks and the template library, with 10 templates free. Teal+ lifts all four.
• Templates. Teal's templates use simple layouts and standard section headings, which applicant tracking systems read well. Each one customizes by font, color and more, for 100+ options, and some are Teal+ only.
• File format. Teal exports PDF only, so you change a resume in Teal and export a new PDF.
• Setup. Build a master resume once, with 15 to 20 bullets per position, then toggle on the ones that fit each job. You type more on day one and less on every application after it.

How to use Teal's resume builder with your Resume Genius resume

You don't have to start over, and you don't need a paid Resume Genius plan to leave with your work.

1. Download your Resume Genius resume. The free Text file works. If you paid, a .docx or PDF file works too.
2. In Teal, open the Resume Builder and choose an import option: Paste Text for the text file, or Resume File for a .docx or .pdf.
3. If you are pasting, start at your name and leave out the block of template code above it.
4. Read each section after the import. Teal tries to sort your details into a template, so fix anything that landed in the wrong place.
5. Pick a template and export your PDF. Then save the next job you want, attach a version and check its keywords.

Related Teal resources

• Read Teal's full Resume Genius review.
• See how other builders compare in the best resume builders.
• Start from an existing resume in the Teal Resume Builder.
• Compare a resume with a posting using Resume Job Description Match.
• See how the Teal Job Tracker keeps saved jobs, contacts and follow-ups together.
• See what Teal+ adds on the pricing page.