What is an alternative to a Google Docs CV template?

Feature comparison

As of 4 September 2026. "not stated" means it could not be read on their own site — not "does not exist". Our rows come from the code (lib/stripe/trialConfig.ts) and from walking the live flow, not from marketing copy.

Pricing side by side

As of 4 September 2026. "not stated" means it could not be read on their own site — not "does not exist". Our rows come from the code (lib/stripe/trialConfig.ts) and from walking the live flow, not from marketing copy.

SwissJobs.app

What it is. Not a template catalogue but the reverse route: you open an advert on our own pages and the CV is written against its wording, in one column, with the fields a Swiss dossier expects — photo, place of origin, permit line, languages with levels, Pensum. The advert is already here, because the job board and the CV tool are the same site, so there is nothing to paste. You download the result as a PDF.

What it costs. Seven days free, then CHF 15 a month or CHF 95 a year. Writing, editing and previewing work on a free account that needs an email address and no card; payment is for the download.

Who it suits. People applying over weeks to ten, twenty or fifty Swiss adverts who want each version to carry that advert's own vocabulary. And people searching across language regions, since the CV is produced in the language the advert is written in.

The limit. Exactly one layout. There is no shared editing, no comment margin and no offline mode — precisely the three things Google Docs is built for. For a single application a year, the subscription does not pay for itself.

berufsberatung.ch / orientation.ch

What it is. The official template, published by the cantonal careers service: a fill-in Word file plus three completed examples, with a field-by-field explanation of what belongs in a Swiss CV — the title, a colour photo and no selfie, full date of birth, place of origin or birth, nationality, residence permit, languages starting with your mother tongue, and referees with phone numbers you have asked first.

What it costs. Nothing. No account, no sign-in, no payment.

Who it suits. Anyone arriving in Switzerland who wants to see, once and for free, exactly which fields a Swiss CV has that a British, American, Indian or German one does not. As a reference document it is worth more than the file itself.

The limit. It exists in German and French only, and it is written for school leavers applying for an apprenticeship — it talks about taster placements and training companies, not about fifteen years of professional experience. The layout is plain and there is no choice of design.

Europass

What it is. The European Commission's own CV tool, described on its site as «a free online tool» offered «in 31 languages». You fill in an online profile and export a CV in a fixed, standardised format that any European employer recognises immediately.

What it costs. Nothing, and it is state-run rather than commercial, which is why it never tries to upsell you.

Who it suits. Anyone applying across borders, especially into public bodies, universities and research institutions, where the format is familiar and welcome. If your qualifications were awarded outside Switzerland, Europass is also the tool that explains them in terms an employer here can compare.

The limit. It is an EU format, and Switzerland is not in the EU. The layout is rigid, it looks distinctly institutional next to what Swiss employers usually receive, and it does not adapt to a specific advert. Swiss recruiters read it, but they rarely ask for it.

Microsoft Word

What it is. The closest like-for-like replacement for Google Docs. Microsoft publishes a large free CV template gallery at word.cloud.microsoft, including versions it labels as optimised for applicant tracking systems, and Word on the web runs free with a Microsoft account.

What it costs. The templates and the browser version are free. Installed: Microsoft 365 Single is CHF 99.95 a year or CHF 9.95 a month, and a one-off Office Home 2024 licence is CHF 159.95.

Who it suits. Anyone who needs a .docx rather than a PDF — recruitment agencies in particular still edit CVs in the file itself, and some Swiss employer portals accept Word only.

The limit. The gallery is huge and blind to Switzerland: it is built around the US resume, it has no permit line and no place of origin, and the occupation templates follow American job categories. Nothing in it adapts to the advert you are answering.

FlowCV

What it is. A browser CV builder with a free tier that is genuinely usable: one CV and one cover letter, unlimited PDF downloads with no watermark, every template and full control of the layout, plus three imports of an existing document.

What it costs. Free for that first CV. Pro is USD 5 a month billed yearly at USD 60 — roughly CHF 4 a month, CHF 48 a year — and adds unlimited CVs, unlimited imports, a job application tracker and AI features.

Who it suits. People who want a modern, well-designed document without paying, and who are prepared to supply the Swiss content themselves. It is the strongest free design tool in this list.

The limit. It knows nothing about Switzerland. There is no field for a permit or a place of origin, its guidance is written for the international market, and — like every builder here except us and cvswiss.ch — it does not read the advert you are applying to.

cvswiss.ch

What it is. A Swiss competitor that promises what we do and calls it a «Job-First Approach»: «Paste any job posting and our AI creates a tailored CV that matches exactly what employers are looking for.» It also writes motivation letters, checks the document against applicant systems, places the photo in the Swiss position and works in German, French, Italian and English.

What it costs. CHF 5 once for a single PDF, explicitly with «No edits after download», or CHF 15 a month for unlimited CVs and letters including an export to the official RAV/ORP job-search form. Creating and previewing are free; you pay to download.

Who it suits. Anyone with exactly one application to send — CHF 5 is the lowest price here for a finished document tailored to an advert. And anyone registered with an unemployment office, because of that form export.

The limit. You have to paste the advert in. The difference between them and us is not the tailoring, which they genuinely do, but where the advert comes from: we already hold the Swiss adverts, they ask you to bring one. And their single-document option cannot be edited once downloaded.

LibreOffice Writer

What it is. A full word processor for Windows, macOS and Linux that opens and saves .docx and runs offline. It will edit the official Swiss template or any Microsoft one without creating an account anywhere.

What it costs. Nothing, permanently, with no subscription. The Document Foundation asks for a donation and does not require one.

Who it suits. Anyone who does not want their application documents sitting on a provider's servers. Your CV contains your date of birth, your address, your permit status and your employment history; here it stays on your own machine, which is the clearest answer to that concern on this list.

The limit. It ships no Swiss CV template — you bring the structure yourself or download it from berufsberatung.ch. No language-level field, no tailoring, no sync between devices.

Google Docs

What it is. The starting point of the question, and a good tool. Google describes its gallery as «Google-created templates like resumes, budgets, and order forms», available in 22 languages including German, French and Italian. Add autosave, version history, sharing with comments, download in a choice of file types, and offline access once it is set up.

What it costs. Nothing with a personal Google account. Google Workspace in Switzerland starts at CHF 7.00 per user per month for Starter, CHF 14.00 for Standard and CHF 22.00 for Plus — none of which anyone needs in order to apply for a job.

Who it suits. People who keep one CV going for years and revise it occasionally. Above all, people who want it read by someone else: a friend opens the link, comments in the margin, and every change is in the history. None of the other seven tools here can do that.

The limit. Those templates are generic documents, not Swiss application papers — the photo, place of origin, permit line, language levels and Pensum are yours to add, and you have to know they belong there in the first place. And every new application means duplicating the file and rewriting it by hand; twenty applications, twenty copies in your Drive.

In short: who should pick what

One application, tonight, free: FlowCV for the design, or the official template from berufsberatung.ch if you want the Swiss fields explained one by one. A file that is yours and still opens in five years: Word or LibreOffice Writer. Someone has to comment on it: stay in Google Docs. Applying across Europe or with foreign qualifications: Europass. One tailored PDF for five francs: cvswiss.ch.

And if you are applying over weeks to many Swiss adverts and want a separate version for each: SwissJobs.app, because the advert is already here and the CV is written against its wording. That is the single advantage we hold over a Google Docs template — and it only counts if you are applying thirty times, not once.