Free ATS CV checker

Upload your CV as a PDF or .docx, or paste the plain text directly. RecastCV parses the structure — sections, bullets, skills, education — exactly the way an ATS parser would.

Add the job description URL or paste the text. RecastCV extracts every keyword, required skill, experience threshold, and qualification that will determine whether your CV makes it past the first filter.

Within seconds you see a scored breakdown: overall match percentage, a list of high-weight keywords present in your CV, and the critical keywords that are missing. You know exactly what to fix before you apply.

An ATS does not read your CV the way a human does. It scans for specific terms — job titles, skills, certifications, tool names — that match the job description. When those terms are absent, your CV gets scored lower regardless of how relevant your experience is. RecastCV's ATS checker shows you a ranked list of every high-weight keyword in the job description, colour-coded by whether it appears in your CV, so you know precisely what to add before applying.

Beyond keywords, ATS systems fail silently on formatting mistakes that are invisible to the human eye — two-column layouts that merge lines on extraction, text embedded in tables that gets skipped entirely, headers in a font size the parser treats as decorative, contact details in a page header that is never read. RecastCV flags these structural issues and tells you which ones will hurt your parse score, so you can fix the format before the ATS sees it.

The headline output is a match score: a percentage that reflects how well your current CV vocabulary overlaps with the job description's required and preferred terms. This score mirrors the ranking logic used by common ATS platforms. A score above 80% puts you in the shortlist zone for most systems. Below 60% and you are likely to be filtered out before a recruiter reads your name. Use the score to prioritise which applications need a full tailoring before you submit.

The ATS checker is not a dead end. Once you see your score and the keyword gaps, you can jump directly into the CV tailoring tool with one click — the same JD is preloaded. RecastCV will rewrite your CV bullets to cover the missing keywords, grounded in your real experience. The result is a tailored .docx that scores 20 to 30 percentage points higher on the same check, typically within 30 seconds.

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is software that companies use to receive, parse, and rank job applications before a human recruiter sees them. Most companies with more than 50 employees use an ATS. If your CV does not score well — usually because keywords from the job description are missing — it may never be read by a person. Checking your CV against the JD before you apply significantly improves your chances of passing the automated filter.

The ATS check itself is included when you tailor a CV using RecastCV. You can also run a standalone check without tailoring. New accounts receive three free credits on signup, each of which can be used for a tailoring or a check. Additional credits start at $8 for ten.

RecastCV's scoring algorithm models the keyword extraction and term-weighting logic used by the most common ATS platforms — including Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, and iCIMS. It is not a direct API to those systems, so treat the score as a directional guide rather than a guarantee. A score of 80% or above is generally sufficient to clear the keyword filter in most modern ATS implementations.

The checker flags multi-column layouts, text inside tables or text boxes, information stored in page headers or footers, fonts below 9pt, images containing text, and unusual section heading names that ATS parsers frequently fail to recognise. Each issue is explained with a suggested fix.

Yes. The ATS checker works on any English-language CV or resume regardless of format. The keyword extraction adapts to the job description language, so if the JD uses US terminology the checker will score you on US terms, and vice versa for UK postings.