The 5 Best Cover Letter Generators to Land Your Next Job

Job seekers HATE writing cover letters. 

58% consider it unnecessary and dreadful. Whereas, 45% refuse to submit it along with their job application. 

Some believe hiring managers barely glance at them. Whereas, some find it incredibly hard to tailor each cover letter to specific job positions and companies. 

Another widely common reason is that a lot of job seekers are too lazy to write one.

However, recruiters have a very different opinion. 

45% of recruiters believe that not attaching a cover letter along with your job application could instantly get you rejected. In fact, 26% read cover letters thoroughly and think they play an important role in the hiring decision.

According to recruiters/hiring managers, cover letters help them understand a candidate’s motivation, get a sense of their communication skills, and know their personality - these are things that a resume can’t convey effectively. 

A cover letter is an extension of a candidate’s resume. Even though not all recruiters read cover letters, the ones that do take them seriously. 

This means, if you don’t submit a cover letter along with your application, you’re likely to miss out on opportunities where it’s deemed crucial.

But Writing Cover Letters is So Time-Consuming, Right?

Yes, writing cover-letters is time-consuming. 

You need to modify your cover letter such that it aligns with each specific job role and the company's values and culture. To show hiring managers that you took the much-required effort to study the company and position. And list qualities or experiences that weren't explicitly mentioned in your resume.

Due to the excessive time required, many candidates prefer not to attach a cover letter along with their resume. 

Some even attach the same cover letter to every job application they submit. But my two cents - hiring managers can recognize a generic cover letter from a mile away. So don’t make this mistake.

Lastly, to increase the chances of landing a job, make sure your cover letter is well-formatted, free of grammatical or spelling errors, and concise.

Here’s an example of a cover letter a recruiter shared with us filled with so many grammatical errors (we highlighted a few of them). 

For the sake of confidentiality, we replaced the company name with “XYZ” and other related information as well.

So, we added this draft to Wordtune, our AI-powered cover letter generator and editor. 

Wordtune improved this cover letter by:

• Fixing all the grammatical errors
• Improving its structure by offering rewrite suggestions in different tones.

But Wordtune isn’t the only cover letter generator in the market. There are several others like Zety, ResumeLab, Resume.io and CVShaper.

In this guide, we’ll share results from a test we conducted recently. We tested five cover-letter generators to determine which one stands out in terms of quality, user-friendliness, and customization capabilities.

Sharing our experience with the top five cover letter generators 

Last month, we stress-tested the following cover-letter generators:

1. Zety (Paid)
2. Wordtune (Free & Paid)
3. ResumeLab (Paid)
4. Resume.io (Paid)
5. CVShaper (Free)

Let’s dive into each one-by-one:

1. Zety (Paid)

Zety is a popular choice among job seekers for creating cover letters due to several reasons. Some of them are:

• Zety offers a user-friendly interface to make the entire process smooth and straightforward.
• The cover letter generator provides a wide range of templates to choose from. 
• They also have a vast library of resources, including examples and actionable tips, on their website to provide inspiration to job seekers.
• Zety’s Cover Letter Builder asks a variety of questions to help job seekers build relevant and impactful cover letters. 

Let’s give you a step-by-step breakdown of creating a cover letter using Zety:

First, launch Zety’s Cover Letter Builder.

Click “Create My Cover Letter.”

Enter your First and Last Name. And choose a template from the list.

Next, you’ll be given two options: 

1. Create a New Cover Letter - start from scratch.
2. Upload From Resume - Zety will take information from your resume. 

In this case, we’ll go with the first option “Create a New Cover Letter.” 

Feel free to go with the other option for yourself.

Once selected, click “Continue.”

 Zety’s Cover Letter Builder questionnaire is categorized into four groups:

• Target Jobs - in this category, I was asked if I had any specific job in mind and what the desired position was. Also, I was asked what my top three strengths are. 

Question I:

Question II:

Question III:

• Background - in this section, I was asked how many years of experience I have, my most recent/past company job title, and if I have a gap in my work history. 

Question I:

Question II:

Question III:

• Workstyle  - in this group, I was asked about my working style to match that style in my cover letter. This was my final input.

• Finalize: taking all inputs into consideration, Zety’s Cover Letter Generator took some time to generate a personalized cover letter for me. I was asked to sign up to Zety to download my Cover Letter. 

Here’s my Cover Letter generated by one of the most popular Cover Letter Generators on the internet today:

Observations:

Here are my observations of generating a cover letter with Zety:

• Zety asked some relevant questions; however I personally felt that these questions were very basic. The cover letter generator could have asked better questions to personalize the cover letter even further.
• The Cover letter generated by Zety felt very generic. It didn’t show that the candidate had performed any research about the role or the company to create this letter.
• I wouldn’t use this cover letter just as-is. To increase my chances of landing the role, I would heavily edit it.
• Building my first cover letter with Zety took me five minutes. As I become more familiar with the interface and features, this time would decrease. However, even if it takes me three minutes, on average, to generate cover letters, I would still need to spend time editing it, as I personally didn’t like the text provided by Zety. 
• After signing up, you can customize your cover letter even further. However, when you choose the option to download it, you’ll be asked to subscribe to either their 14-Day Paid Trial or Monthly Access.

Overall, Zety is a decent cover letter generator that streamlines the cover letter generation process. It asks some relevant questions, is easy to use, has a great interface and offers a wide range of templates and customization options. 

From the design-front, I found Zety’s platform visually-appealing. 

The only reason why I’d not use the platform is because the letter wasn’t good enough to stand out in a competitive job market. 

Only if Zety gave me the option to list down some of my achievements (in the form of numbers) and share my research about the job title or company, then it would have truly personalized the letter for me.

2. Wordtune (Free & Paid)

Wordtune is an AI-powered cover letter generator that lets you build highly personalized cover letters for free. You can also use it to fine-tune and edit your existing drafts by suggesting improvements in tone, style, and grammar.

A few reasons why Wordtune is popular among job seekers are:

• It offers a user-friendly interface, making it super-easy to create and/or edit cover letters.
• Although Wordtune offers its own online text editor, you can still access its features within Google Docs, email, and other third-party platforms through its Chrome extension.
• Wordtune is free to use. This includes ten rewrites and spices, three summaries, and three AI prompts a day, and unlimited text corrections. To increase these numbers, you can consider upgrading to one of their premium plans.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of using Wordtune to create a cover letter:

First, log in to Wordtune. If you don’t have an account, sign up to get started. 

Click “New Document” inside Wordtune’s Editor. We’ll name it “Zapier Content Marketing Manager Cover Letter.”

Click “Generate with AI” as shown in the screenshot below.

You can either write a detailed prompt with the specifics about the role and company or you can select the “Cover Letter” template from Personal -> Cover Letter.

However, my personal preference is using prompts. So, I fed the following prompt to Wordtune:

And here’s the output:

Not to seem biased, but in my opinion, this is a very good cover letter text. I personally love how I was able to mention results I achieved for my past company and my experience leading a content team. 

You can use the “Refresh” button to generate another draft, in case you don’t like what you see in front of you.

Click “Done” if you’re satisfied with the draft. This will paste it inside Wordtune’s Editor. 

Now, you can fine-tune inside the Editor. Or if it’s ready to go, use a graphic design tool like Canva to design and customize the layout of your cover letter. 

One of the downsides of using Wordtune to generate cover letters is that the platform gives you the ability to design and customize your cover letter. 

Here’s the end-result (Wordtune + Canva):

Considering that Wordtune's primary focus is on the content, this isn't a surprise. Our tool’s strength lies in generating tailor-made content using AI, ensuring that the narrative of your cover letter is persuasive, relevant, and aligned with the job requirements.

Observations:

Here are my observations of generating a cover letter with Wordtune:

• I loved Wordtune’s user-friendly and intuitive interface. I was able to generate cover letter text in a matter of minutes. This is a big benefit for job seekers applying to multiple roles. 
• The cover letter generated by Wordtune felt highly personalized to me. By adding more specifics to my prompts, I could have generated an even better cover letter than this one. This cover letter highlighted my past achievements (a big plus point) and was tailored well to the role at Zapier.
• The ability to generate multiple drafts was a deal-breaker for me as I can use it to explore different variations and choose what suits me the best. 
• Even though Wordtune’s Editor is user-friendly, I love using Google Docs more. Wordtune lets you access its feature inside Google Docs using its Chrome Extension - which is another big plus point for me. Also, it eliminates the need to constantly switch between tabs or copy-paste content.
• One downside of using Wordtune to create a cover letter is that it doesn’t offer design tools or templates for visual customization. Users need to rely on tools like Canva for this aspect. 
• Alongside creation, Wordtune also lets you fine-tune and edit the AI-generated cover letter using its wide range of editing features - which is another plus point.

3. ResumeLab (Paid)

ResumeLab has dominated the market for years due to several reasons:

• The platform has an extremely user-friendly interface. In a few clicks, you can build yourself a powerful cover letter.
• ResumeLab offers a wide range of templates to choose from - whether it’s for CV, resume or cover letter.
• The platform offers multiple customization options available.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of generating a cover letter using ResumeLab:

First step: launch ResumeLab’s Cover Letter builder. Click “Make a Cover Letter Now.”

Next, you’ll see the three steps you need to follow to generate a cover letter.

Click “Get Started.”

The next step is to choose the template and color of your Cover Letter.

Here are the available color options:

You’ll also find three templates listed below. 

Click “Show all templates” to see all available template options.

Hover over the template you like and click “Choose a template.”

Now, ResumeLab will ask you to fill in your personal details like First Name, Last Name, Job Title, Email and Phone Number. As you fill these details, you’ll see them automatically being filled in the Preview on the right-hand side.

Click “Next” when done.

Now, add your City, date of birth and how you want to address your recipient. ResumeLab will provide you with the format for the same.

We filled in some dummy information for your reference.

Click “Next” when done.

Now, this is the step where you need to write your cover letter. This tool doesn’t have an AI feature that writes the cover letter for you. Nor does it ask you a series of questions to generate a personalized cover letter.

However, they have three cover letter text templates readily available:

• Entry-level: for entry level roles.
• Middle-level: for mid-tier roles.
• Senior-level: for senior-level roles.

You can choose from one of these templates based on your current career stage and the role you’re applying for. In our case, let’s select “Middle-level.”

Click “Auto-fill” under “Middle-level.”

As soon as you do, you’ll see the template below - in the “Letter content” section.

Even though these templates are good enough, they require heavy editing, so it’s a good idea to generate the cover letter text using Wordtune and use this text to generate your cover letter using ResumeLab.

You can also change the Application and Document languages by clicking “Change Language” on the right-hand side, just above preview. ResumeLab also lets you make several structural and visual customizations. Just click “Customize design.” 

Click “Finalize” once you’re done. This will take you to the final stage, i.e., Download the cover letter.

Click “Download cover letter.” If you’re not signed in, you need to log in/create a new account, as you can’t download the cover letter without signing in.

Even after signing up, you’ll have to opt for a paid subscription (14-Day Full Access or Annual Access) to download the cover letter.

Here’s my Cover Letter generated by ResumeLab:

Observations:

Here are my observations of generating a cover letter using ResumeLab:

1. ResumeLab offers a wide range of templates and customization options. And considering the extremely low price point, I think it’s a steal-deal.
2. The platform is so easy to use and I just fell in love with its user-friendly interface.
3. The only downside is that you can’t really generate ready-to-go cover letter text using ResumeLab. Even though the platform offers a few templates, they don’t cut to the chase. If I were to use ResumeLab, I’d generate text using Wordtune and use ResumeLab for the design part.

4. Resume.io (Paid)

Resume.io is another popular choice among job seekers for cover letter generation because:

• The platform offers a wide range of customizable cover letter templates, including ones approved by HRs at top-tier companies.
• Resume.io is extremely easy to use and has a user-friendly interface. 
• It fetches basic details directly from your social media profiles - which is a bonus point.
• Resume.io also offers its Resume Builder and several other tools you can use to level up your career.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of generating a cover letter using Resume.io:

Head over to Resume.io’s Cover Letter Builder. Click “Create Cover Letter” to get started.

Choose a template for your cover letter. Here, both free and Paid templates are available to choose from. The paid ones are marked with a Premium icon. But here, in our case, we’ll select a free one.

Once picked, select “Use This Template.”  

Next, Resume.io will ask you to connect your social media profile (Facebook, Google or LinkedIn.)  

Once connected, Resume.io will automatically fetch basic details like Name, Email and more from your social media profile. You can skip this step needed, in that case, Resume.io will manually ask you basic details like Name, email, etc.

You need to fill in other details like Job Title, Address, Phone Number, Employer Details. You’ll also be asked to write the cover letter all by yourself. 

Unlike Zety, Wordtune and other cover letter generators in this list, Resume.io just helps you format and structure your cover letter, rather than writing cover letters. 

Once you have filled out all the necessary fields, you can preview your cover letter to make sure everything looks perfect. Make any required adjustments if needed. 

To download it, just click “Download PDF” as visible in the screenshot below.

Doing so will take you to their payments page where you’ll be asked to choose from one of the paid plans. Just subscribe to one of the plans and you can download your cover letter and also create more in no time.

Here’s my cover letter generated using Resume.io (I used cover letter text from Wordtune):

Observations:

Here are my observations using Resume.io to create a cover letter:

• The platform offers a user-friendly interface and is straightforward to use.
• The fact that I have to write my own cover letter and Resume.io only helps format and structure my cover letter is a bit disappointing.
• From the design-front, Resume.io is a great cover letter generator; however due to its lack of text-generation, it falls short of my expectations.
• If you’re looking for a cover letter generator that writes and also designs a cover letter for you, Resume.io may not be the right fit. 

5. CVShaper (Free)

CVShaper is another popular platform that lets job seekers build cover letters. You can start using this tool without even registering. A few reasons why it’s popular among job seekers is:

• It’s extremely easy to get started.
• CVShaper lets you build cover letters for free.
• Even though the user-interface is cluttered, generating cover letters using CVShaper is simple and straightforward.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of creating a cover letter using CVShaper:

First, CVShaper asked me to submit basic details like Full Name, Email, Address and Phone Number. Once added, click “Next.”

Next, you’ll be asked to add employer details and how you’d like to address the recruiter:

Again, click “Next” once filled.

Next, you’ll be asked to add the desired job title and years of experience you have.

Add this information and click “Next.”

Now, you’ll be asked to add your five major skills. 

After adding your skills, select “Submit.”

CV Shaper will take all your inputs into consideration and instantly generate a personalized cover letter. You can download this cover letter in the form of a PDF. 

Here’s my Cover Letter generated by CVShaper:

Observations:

Here are my observations and an honest review of generating a cover letter with Zety:

• CVShaper's questionnaire did touch upon some relevant areas; yet, in my personal opinion, the depth was somewhat lacking. There's potential for the platform to delve deeper, asking questions that would ensure a more bespoke and tailored cover letter.
• The output from CVShaper had a distinct templated feel. While it managed to hit the standard points, it lacked the nuances that show a candidate's specific insight into a company or the particular role they're applying for.
• As it stands, I wouldn't forward the generated cover letter without revisions. To bolster my chances of catching a recruiter's attention, substantial edits would be necessary.
• CVShaper doesn’t provide a wide range of cover letter templates to choose from. The output’s design is pretty generic, which may not really be appealing to those looking for a more unique and personalized touch.

Which Cover Letter Generator is the Best?

Every cover letter generator on this list are great. 

The one you choose depends on your personal preference. 

If you’re looking for a paid cover letter generator that helps you design visually-appealing cover letters, Zety, ResumeLab or Resume.io may be great fits. 

However, if you’re not looking to invest yet, consider CVShaper.

Lastly, if you’re looking for free AI-powered cover letter generator, we highly recommend you to use Wordtune.