---
title: "Reactive Resume vs Kickresume"
description: "Compare Reactive Resume and Kickresume by free downloads, AI writing, content examples, templates, provider choice, and self-hosting."
---

Kickresume is a better fit when you want AI writing, imports, examples, and related career documents in one guided product. Reactive Resume is a better fit when you want a free, open-source resume editor with optional, provider-configured AI and self-hosting.

## Quick comparison

| Consideration | Reactive Resume | Kickresume |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI | Optional; connect and configure your own provider | Integrated AI writing and rewriting tools |
| Content help | Direct editing and AI assistance after provider setup | Examples, guides, and AI-generated drafts |
| Imports | Supported resume imports | LinkedIn and PDF/DOCX import paths |
| Documents | Resume-focused exports and versions | Resumes, cover letters, websites, and related tools |
| Free plan | Core hosted workflow has no premium tier | Unlimited documents and downloads when using free customization options |
| Deployment | Hosted use or self-hosting | Hosted service |

Kickresume's help center documents AI writing, LinkedIn import, PDF import, examples, guides, and cover-letter and website workflows. Its free-plan FAQ says documents and downloads are unlimited when you use free customization options; premium-marked options are outside that boundary.

Reactive Resume can export PDF, DOCX, Markdown, and JSON. Its AI features remain optional: you connect a provider, model, endpoint when needed, and API key. Provider use may incur separate provider costs.

## Where Kickresume is a better fit

Choose Kickresume when you want prewritten examples, guided prompts, integrated AI writing, or related career documents in one interface. Its import options can also be helpful when starting from a LinkedIn profile or an existing PDF or DOCX resume.

## Where Reactive Resume is a better fit

Choose Reactive Resume when you want to keep AI optional and select the provider that handles your resume content. It is open source, can be self-hosted, and offers API and MCP workflows for authenticated automation.

## Which should you choose?

Choose Kickresume for a bundled writing, examples, and career-document workflow. Choose Reactive Resume for structured resume data, several export formats, deployment control, or configurable AI and automation.

## Reactive Resume limitations in this comparison

Reactive Resume has a smaller built-in content-example library and requires provider setup before AI features can be used. It does not bundle Kickresume's wider guided career-document workflow.

## Sources

- [Kickresume general help and plan FAQ](https://www.kickresume.com/en/help-center/general/)
- [Kickresume resume editor help](https://www.kickresume.com/en/help-center/resume/)
- [Reactive Resume: AI resume builder](/use-cases/ai-resume-builder)
- [Reactive Resume: using AI](/guides/using-ai)
- [Reactive Resume: API and MCP automation](/use-cases/api-mcp-resume-automation)

Last checked: July 28, 2026

<Card title="Choose your own AI provider" icon="arrow-right" href="https://rxresu.me">
  Try Reactive Resume when you want AI to remain optional and configurable rather than bundled into the builder.
</Card>
