Zety lets you build a resume for free, then charges $25.95 to download it in a format anyone would accept. ApplyArc never paywalls your own work · and it tracks the whole search.
Be clear-eyed: Zety is a solid resume builder with 100+ ATS templates. But the free download is plain .txt, the PDF/Word export sits behind a $1.95 trial that auto-renews to $25.95 every 4 weeks, and there's no job tracker. ApplyArc is not a resume builder · it's a kanban tracker, an ATS checker, and 18 AI tools around the CV you already have, for a flat £19/mo.
Most tools ship the model's first draft. ApplyArc verifies the numbers, strips the AI tells, and pulls from one resume memory across every tool.
Every AI output runs through metricVerifier. If a percentage or revenue figure isn't on your real CV, it gets caught and rewritten before you see it.
235+ patterns blocked · ‘spearheaded’, ‘leveraged’, em-dash tricolons. Recruiters spot AI in seconds. We rewrite the giveaways before they ship.
18 AI tools share one context. Cover letter, interview prep, salary script · every output draws from the same canonical achievements. Same voice, every time.
Zety is a capable resume builder · 100+ ATS templates, an AI writer, a cover-letter builder. But its model is build-free, pay-to-download: the free export is plain .txt, and a real PDF or Word file means a $1.95 trial that quietly auto-renews to $25.95 every 4 weeks. There's no tracker, no interview prep, no follow-up, no salary script.
ApplyArc is the platform that does the rest, without the paywall · your optimised CV is yours to export, free. Then it tracks the application across a kanban, fact-checks every AI number, drills you for the interview, and writes the salary script when the offer lands · for a flat £19/mo.
An honest June 2026 look. Green = ApplyArc wins. Amber = Zety wins. We don't claim to out-build a builder.
| Feature | ApplyArc | Zety |
|---|---|---|
| Kanban application tracker | ||
| No download paywall (your CV is yours) | ||
| Flat pricing, no auto-renew trap | ||
| Free PDF / Word export | No watermark | .txt only |
| Output-side fact-checks AI numbers | ||
| From-scratch builder + designer templates | Optimizer only | Best-in-class |
| ATS resume scoring | ||
| AI Cover Letter Generator | ||
| AI-tell scanner (235+ patterns) | ||
| Unified resume memory across tools | ||
| AI Interview Prep + mock interviews | ||
| AI Salary Negotiation | ||
| Follow-up Email Generator | ||
| Chrome extension (LinkedIn, Indeed) | Launching soon | |
| 100+ designer resume templates | ||
| Total AI tools | 18 | ~3 |
| Monthly price | £19 flat | $25.95 / 4 wks |
| GBP pricing (no FX fees) |
No paywall, plus a kanban tracker + 18 AI tools, for £19/mo.
18 AI tools · £19/mo · cancel in 2 clicks
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Zety is a resume builder · you build an ATS-friendly CV from templates, then pay to download it as a PDF or Word file. ApplyArc is a job-search platform that lives around the resume: a kanban application tracker, 18 AI tools, interview prep, salary scripts, and an output-side fact-checker. Zety has no application tracker; ApplyArc is not a from-scratch resume builder. They solve different halves of the job hunt.
Not really. You can build a resume in Zety for free, but the free download is plain .txt only · no formatting, colours or layout. To download a usable PDF or Word file you start a $1.95 14-day trial that auto-renews at $25.95 every 4 weeks (about $324/year) unless you cancel in time. ApplyArc's free tier is genuinely free: 5 fact-checked AI generations a month and up to 100 tracked jobs, no card, no watermark, nothing to cancel.
It's Zety's business model: building is free, but the formatted PDF/Word export is behind the paywall, so most people only discover the charge after they've finished. It's the single most common complaint in Zety reviews. ApplyArc never paywalls your own file · your optimised CV is yours to export, no trial, no surprise renewal.
No. Zety builds resumes and cover letters but has no application tracker · no kanban, no stages, no pipeline. ApplyArc is built around a drag-and-drop kanban tracker across 6 stages so you never lose an application, plus a Chrome extension for quick dashboard access while browsing LinkedIn, Indeed and Glassdoor launching soon.
No, and we won't pretend otherwise. Zety builds resumes from templates · that's its core strength. ApplyArc optimises the resume you already have (rewrites bullets, scores ATS match, fact-checks numbers) and then handles everything after it: tracking, cover letters, follow-ups, interview prep. If you want a from-scratch template builder, Zety does that. If you want to run the whole job search without a download paywall, use ApplyArc.
On the surface Zety looks cheaper at $1.95, but that's a 14-day trial that auto-renews to $25.95 every 4 weeks (~$324/year), more than ApplyArc. Zety's annual plan is $71.40 upfront. ApplyArc is a flat £19/month or £15/month billed annually (£180/year), priced in GBP with no FX fees and no trial-to-renewal trap · you always know what you'll pay.
No. Zety's AI writer suggests bullets and phrasing but ships whatever the model generates, including invented metrics. ApplyArc's metricVerifier extracts every numeric token from AI output and silently retries if a number isn't in your real resume · so the AI can't fabricate a '40% increase' you never achieved.
Three reasons people leave Zety for ApplyArc: (1) no download paywall · your CV is yours to export, free, no .txt-only trap; (2) a real kanban tracker plus 18 AI tools Zety doesn't have (interview prep, mock interviews, salary scripts, follow-ups); and (3) flat £19/mo GBP pricing with no $1.95-to-$25.95 auto-renewal surprise. If you only need a template builder, Zety is fine. If you want to run and track the whole search, ApplyArc is home base.
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