The free ATS resume checker that shows its work
Before a recruiter reads your resume, an applicant tracking system does. Run the same check here — your match score, the exact rubric behind it, and what's costing you points. In about a second.
- Drop in your resume
- Paste the job description
- Read your score — and the rubric behind it
Free · nothing stored
What an ATS check actually looks at
The same deterministic checks an ATS runs, with every point accounted for.
Most companies run every application through an applicant tracking system before a recruiter reads it. The ATS parses your resume into plain text, splits it into fields like name, title, skills, and dates, matches it against the job description's keywords, and ranks the applicant pool. Weak matches sink to the bottom of the list, and a resume the software cannot read cleanly is effectively invisible.
An ATS check runs those same steps on your resume before you apply. It reads the file the way the software will, compares it against the specific posting you paste in, and reports what the system would see: your match score, the sections it found, and the formatting it tripped on. You fix the problems while they are still fixable.
How your score is computed
The score is out of 100 and every point is accounted for. Nothing in the formula is hidden.
| Component | Points | How it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword coverage | 80 of 100 | Scored against the job description you paste in. A keyword counts wherever it appears, in your skills list or in a bullet, and only costs you points when it appears nowhere in the resume. |
| Length and standard sections | 20 of 100 | A resume of normal length with the standard sections present and labeled the way parsers expect. |
| Formatting problems | up to −30 | Issues an ATS trips on, such as missing section headers, image-only text, or inconsistent dates, subtract from the total. |
That is the whole formula. The check is free, unlimited, and needs no account; your resume is scored in memory and never stored.
What your score means
The result lands in one of three bands, the same ones the tool shows above.
70 or higher: Strong
This resume should pass most ATS filters. Keyword coverage is high and nothing major is broken. The report still lists the small gains left on the table.
40 to 69: Mixed
A few fixes would move the needle. Usually that means a handful of missing keywords, or one structural problem. The report orders them by impact.
Below 40: At risk
This resume likely gets filtered out. Most often the file is not parsing cleanly, or the resume was written for a different role than the posting. Fix parsing first, then keywords.
The formatting problems that cost the most points
Missing section headers
Parsers navigate by headings like Experience, Education, and Skills. Rename them to something creative and the software cannot tell where one section ends and the next begins, so whole blocks of content go missing.
Image-only text
A skill bar, a logo, or a scanned page is just a picture to an ATS. Anything written inside an image does not exist in the extracted text, and the keywords in it count for nothing.
Inconsistent dates
If one role says 2023-01 and the next says March 2024, some parsers misread your work history, break the timeline, or drop a role entirely. Pick one date format and use it everywhere.
Multi-column layouts
Text extraction runs top to bottom, one column at a time. A two-column template often comes out interleaved, and your bullets get attached to the wrong roles.
Content in headers and footers
Many parsers skip the header and footer regions of the document entirely. If your email and phone number live there, the system may have no way to contact you.
Tables
Tables are read cell by cell, in an order you do not control. Skills grids and date columns frequently scramble, which is why plain text with bullets always parses better.
Checker, scanner, parser: what's the difference
The three names get used interchangeably, but they describe different things. A checker is what this page is: you give it your resume and a job description, and it scores the match and lists what to fix. A scanner is the same tool by another name; someone searching for an ATS resume scanner wants a checker. A parser is the component inside the ATS that does the reading: it converts your file to text and splits it into fields before any scoring happens.
Every checker includes a parser, and the parsing step is where formatting problems are born, which is why half the fixes on this page are about layout rather than wording. To see what that step does with your file, read how ATS parsing works for a field-by-field breakdown of what gets extracted and what gets lost.
Questions people ask
Is the ATS check really free?
Yes. The check is free, unlimited, and needs no account. Your resume is scored in memory and never stored. A free Dopplio account adds the AI layer on top: recruiter-style strength and weakness analysis, semantic keyword matching, one-click resume tailoring, and cover letters.
What is a good ATS score?
On this checker, 70 or higher means the resume should pass most ATS filters. Between 40 and 69, a few fixes would move the needle. Below 40, the resume likely gets filtered out, usually because of parsing problems or missing keywords.
Do I need a different resume for every job?
You need a different keyword set for every job, because the 80 keyword points are scored against the specific posting. The fastest route is one strong base resume you adjust per application: swap the summary, reorder the bullets, and close the keyword gaps the check reports.
Does the ATS reject my resume automatically?
In most systems, no. The ATS ranks applicants by match, and recruiters work from the top of that ranking. A low-scoring resume is rarely rejected by a machine; it is simply never seen.
What file type should I upload?
A text-based PDF exported from your word processor, up to 10 MB. Scanned documents and photos of a resume do not extract, so they score as if they were blank.
Why is my score different from other checkers?
Every checker weighs things differently, and most do not publish their formula. This one does: 80 points for keyword coverage against the posting, 20 for length and sections, and up to 30 subtracted for formatting problems. Compare reports by what they tell you to fix, not by the number.
After the check
A score is only useful if it changes the resume. Two places to go from here.
Build an ATS-friendly resume
The free builder starts you in a single-column format parsers read cleanly, with no account until you download.
Tailor your resume to the posting
The step-by-step guide to closing the keyword gaps the check reports, one posting at a time.