What are the best alternatives to cover letter templates?

The tools’ landing pages compared

All captured on 4 September 2026 at the same window width, so the comparison is fair.

1. 

   1. SwissJobs.appOur app

   CV and motivation letter straight from a Swiss job advert, no signup.

   SwissJobs.app →

2. 

   2. cvswiss.ch

   AI-written Swiss CV in five minutes.

   cvswiss.ch →

3. 

   3. cv-easy.ch

   Done in 10 minutes, CHF 12 one-off.

   cv-easy.ch →

4. 

   4. lebenslaufapp.ch

   CV and cover letter, free to try.

   lebenslaufapp.ch →

5. 

   5. RadarJob

   Job monitoring with a motivation letter attached, CHF 39 a month.

   RadarJob →

The tools compared directly

As of 4 September 2026. Every figure for another tool comes from that tool's own site; "n/s" means it was not readable there — not that the feature is missing. Our row comes from the code and from walking the live flow.

SwissJobs.app

What it is: An editor that writes a first draft from the advert text and your CV, which you then rework like any normal document. The letter comes out in the language you are applying in — German, French, Italian or English — and the job search, the CV and the letter sit in the same four languages. Alongside it are five fully written model letters per language as Word files, free and without an account.

What it costs: The account is free and so is writing. Exporting the finished file is tied to a seven-day trial; after that the subscription is CHF 15 a month or CHF 95 a year. The five model letters are outside that and need no account at all.

Who it suits: People applying to Swiss adverts over weeks rather than once, who want a separate letter per role instead of rewriting one text six times. And people searching in a language region that is not their first language, which on this market is most arrivals.

The limitation: You need an account, and a Word template does not ask for one — if you are writing a single application, the template is finished before the sign-up is. We also cannot promise a letter gets through any employer's automated screening. What is defensible is the mechanism: a letter using the advert's own vocabulary gives the reader fewer reasons to set the dossier aside.

cvswiss.ch

What it is: A Swiss tool built around what it calls the "Job-First Approach". Its features page promises to "Generate tailored motivation letters based on job postings and your CV", and the subscription also exports the official RAV/ORP form and works in German, French, Italian and English.

What it costs: CHF 5 once buys a credit that covers "1 professional PDF download" of a CV and, in their words, "never expires". Unlimited motivation letters are in the Job-Search subscription at CHF 15 a month, cancellable monthly, with a seven-day money-back guarantee. Creating and previewing a CV is free before payment.

Who it suits: Anyone registered with a Swiss cantonal office who needs the official form export anyway, and anyone who wants to see the output before paying.

The limitation: The letter is subscription-only. The CHF 5 credit gets you a CV, not a cover letter, so for one single letter it is the more expensive route. And you paste the advert in yourself, which is the same intermediate step every text tool asks for.

ChatGPT

What it is: Not an application tool but a chat window — and the best pure writing instrument on this list. It rewrites a paragraph, shortens it, drains the adjectives out of it, and finds the sentence you have been stuck on for an hour. If you already have a template, this is how you turn it from a specimen into your own text without changing tools.

What it costs: There is a free tier, and it is enough for one letter. We cannot give you the paid tier's price: OpenAI's pricing page refused our request on 28 August 2026, and we do not print figures we have not read.

Who it suits: Confident writers polishing a final draft, and situations no template catalogue covers — a return to work after years away, a change of industry, a gap that needs explaining in two sentences.

The limitation: It knows nothing about the role that you do not tell it, and nothing at all about a small employer nobody has written about online. Swiss conventions have to be demanded explicitly, or you get a US resume-style letter: no Arbeitszeugnis awareness, no permit line, language skills described as "fluent" instead of C1. And it fills gaps with plausible invention — projects that never existed, numbers nobody measured.

Kickresume

What it is: An international CV and cover letter builder with an AI Cover Letter Writer, a large template library and matching designs across CV and letter. Of the non-Swiss builders it is the one whose free tier is genuinely usable.

What it costs: The free plan is EUR 0 and includes "4 matching cover letter templates" plus unlimited downloads. Paid plans are EUR 24 a month (about CHF 22.50), EUR 18 a month billed quarterly at EUR 54 (about CHF 50.65), or EUR 8 a month billed yearly at EUR 96 (about CHF 90). The AI writer is in the paid plans only.

Who it suits: People applying across several countries at once, where a consistent, well-designed document across markets matters more than fitting one country's convention. Also students, who tend to get the sharpest deal from the yearly plan.

The limitation: It is built for an international resume, not a Swiss dossier. Nothing in it prompts for the permit line, the Arbeitszeugnisse or CEFR levels, and its default advice leans towards the one-page US resume — which is not the Swiss norm, where arbeit.swiss puts the CV at up to three pages and lists a photo as an ordinary component.

Europass

What it is: The European Union's own application tool, with a dedicated cover letter editor. Its page says it guides you "step by step through the process", and you can create, store and share letters "in 31 languages". It is the only publicly-run option here that is a working tool rather than a leaflet.

What it costs: Nothing. Europass describes itself as "Your free, personal tool for learning and working in Europe". A login is required; money is not.

Who it suits: Applications into the EU, cross-border commuters searching on both sides of a border, and anyone who wants structure without a subscription. Also a genuinely good first letter ever written — the step-by-step prompts are exactly what a blank page does not give you.

The limitation: It is a European standard form, not a Swiss one. The output follows the Europass layout rather than the Swiss business-letter convention, and the tool writes nothing about your advert; it interviews you. You are trading a Word template for a guided online template, and the thinking stays entirely yours.

Microsoft 365 with Copilot

What it is: The template stays where it is and the AI comes to it. Copilot sits inside Word, reads the open document and rewrites paragraphs. The file stays your file, the layout stays your layout, and merging everything into the single PDF that arbeit.swiss asks for works the way it always did.

What it costs: On the Swiss price list, Microsoft 365 Basic is CHF 9.95 a month or CHF 99.95 a year, Family CHF 13.95 a month or CHF 139.95 a year, and Premium CHF 19.95 a month or CHF 199.95 a year, each with a free month to try. Word without any subscription is Office Home 2024, a one-time CHF 159.95 — and then there is no Copilot.

Who it suits: Anyone with their own letter template refined over years, anyone working offline, and anyone who wants the finished document on their own disk rather than in someone else's account.

The limitation: Copilot improves what is already there. It does not know the advert until you paste it, and it does not know the difference between a German and a Swiss application letter unless you explain it. Microsoft's own page also notes that access to the broader Copilot features is currently reserved for Premium subscribers, so the cheapest tier is not the full product.

RAV / ORP application courses and the public career sites

What it is: The only option here where a human being reads your dossier. The public career service — berufsberatung.ch in German, orientation.ch in French, orientamento.ch in Italian, all run by the SDBB/CSFO on behalf of the cantons — advises two things no software does: have someone you know read your documents, and bring in professional help or an application course if you need it. The course itself runs through your RAV or ORP as a labour-market measure; you apply there and the office decides.

What it costs: Nothing, if you are registered. The guidance pages are public and free to everyone.

Who it suits: Registered jobseekers, and anyone whose problem is not the phrasing but what belongs in the letter at all. Someone who has read your Arbeitszeugnisse will pull out evidence you would never write about yourself.

The limitation: It is not available on demand — a course needs an application, an approval and a date, while an advert stays open for about three weeks. And it is closed to you if you are not registered or are searching from abroad, which is a large share of the people reading this page in English. Then what remains is the guidance, which is instruction rather than feedback.

In short: who should pick what

Applying to Swiss adverts continuously and wanting a distinct letter per role: use us — the draft comes from the advert text, and the same four languages carry the search, the CV and the letter. Registered with a Swiss cantonal office and needing the official form export anyway: cvswiss.ch at CHF 15 a month is the cheaper combination. Applying across several countries at once: Kickresume, where a consistent international design matters more than Swiss convention.

Writing well already and only needing polish: ChatGPT's free tier is enough. Attached to your own Word template: Microsoft 365 with Copilot is the smallest change, and Office Home 2024 at a one-time CHF 159.95 is the only subscription-free answer here. Applying into the EU or commuting across a border: Europass, free and in 31 languages.

And there is the case where none of this is needed. If you are writing one application, you write well, and you only want to know where the date and subject line go, download a free template and be done — our five model letters are there without an account. If you are registered with an RAV or ORP, check the application course before paying for anything: a person who reads the whole dossier is not a replacement for software, but software is not a replacement for them either.