5 Best AI Cover Letter Generators in 2025 | Free & Paid Options

Few activities induce anxiety like the modern job search.  You have to deal with applicant tracking systems, automated resume sorting, and, of course, the dreaded cover letter.

While you can tweak your resume as you go, cover letters are another challenge altogether.. You have to craft a unique one for each application. It takes time to research the company, customize your pitch, and nail that perfect professional tone.

And you might spend all that effort without knowing if the hiring manager will actually read it.

AI cover letter generations help ease some of that burden. They can’t replace the need for personalization. What they can do is give you a strong foundation to build from.

I created a standardized test to make things fair for our contenders by using the same prompt for each tool: “Content marketer specialized in growing organic traffic for tech companies”.

Initially, I had planned to test different prompt lengths and styles. But I learned that most tools prefer (or only accept) concise inputs. No fancy prompting allowed.

Turns out that a lot of tools are pretty streamlined. You upload your resume, paste a brief description of your role or expertise, and let AI do its thing. 

I understand the reason behind this design choice. Most cover letters go unread these days. The ones that do get read get maybe 15 seconds of attention before a hiring manager makes a decision—if you’re lucky..

For each tool, I followed a consistent testing process:

1. Input the prompt and a few extra basic information (e.g. my name)
2. The AI generated the cover letter
3. I spent a few minutes to edit the design or text to make it usable

The last step was necessary, since a few tools churned out nearly identical boilerplate letters. 

As a job seeker, the last thing you want to do is waste time tinkering with an AI perfecting its output. You need a good cover letter, and fast.

Writing a cover letter that stands out is challenging. You need to be professional yet personable, showcasing your achievements without bragging.

Plus, who knows if a hiring manager will actually read it. Some find cover letters an outdated practice, others think they’re necessary to filter the best candidate from the rest.

Still, having a solid cover letter is better than having none at all. 

Piktochart is a visual communication platform that comes with a suite of AI-powered design tools. Among these you can find an AI cover letter generator that combines professional writing with clean, modern layouts to help your application stand out.

If you want to impress a hiring manager from the get-go, this might be the perfect tool for you.

You have two ways of getting started:

1. Input a prompt
2. Upload your resume 

The software will generate a cover letter quickly. I never had to wait more than 1 minute for a result over 8 generations.

You can choose from several templates, each offering a different balance of professionalism and creativity. 

Once you have picked one, hit the “edit this cover letter” button. You’ll get redirected to Piktochart’s editor, where you can edit the letter accordingly.

The cover letter designed by the platform surprised me. The content was fairly standard, but the visual layout made the letter stand out. All this in spite of the little input I gave it.

What I appreciated:

• Professionally designed templates that stand out visually
• Easy editing of both content and design elements
• Clean, modern layouts that work well for creative roles

As far as negatives go, these were my main gripes with the result:

• The text needs a lot of polish
• You have limited room for adjustments
• The designs lean towards a minimalistic style, which might feel too simple for some users

Piktochart’s plans that make the most sense for a job seeker are: 

• The free plan
• The $14/month plan (billed annually)

The difference is in the amount of AI credits you get: 50 per month versus 1000 per month. Generating a cover letter via prompt costs 1 credit, while starting from a resume costs 3 credits. 

For context, you’ll likely need 2-3 generations per application to get it right.

Piktochart is the ideal choice for job seekers in industries like tech, marketing, or design where visual presentation matters. 

Users who can get the most out of it include:

• Recent graduates in creative fields
• Designers who want to show their artistic vision right off the bat
• Marketing professionals targeting agencies that prize creativity and brand awareness

Grammarly is a household name in the writing space. Its sophisticated language analysis engine has saved many emails from embarrassing mistakes.

And now, they’re using that technology for cover letter creation too.

The platform combines AI generation with its signature writing enhancement capabilities. 

Creating a cover letter with Grammarly’s AI generator is simple. 

The platform guides you through three steps:

1. Upload your resume by either pasting its contents or uploading a document file 
2. Enter the job title you’re applying for
3. List the key responsibilities from the job posting

Hit “Create cover letter” and you’re done. The generation will be swift. I waited 10-15 seconds at most in all my attempts. 

I was genuinely impressed by how natural the output felt. The AI did a solid job weaving my experience and the job requirements into a cohesive narrative.

My favorite parts:

• Produces the most natural-sounding first draft among AI tools
• Maintains professional tone while avoiding common AI writing clichés
• Built-in writing enhancement catches potential grammar and style issues

What hold Grammarly’s cover letter generator back in my opinion:

• Text-only output
• The free tier has limited customization options
• Can sound too formal

You can generate cover letters without an account. But Grammarly offers two plans that enhance the experience:

• Free
• Pro ($12/month)

The Pro plan gives you access to the full Grammarly editor suite. That means you’re getting Grammarly’s complete writing assistant that helps polish everything: tone, style, formality, readability, and more.

Grammarly’s AI cover letter generator is great for job seekers who value writing quality and natural language over visual design. 

It’s particularly valuable for:

• Job seekers who want a solid first draft they can then customize
• Professionals who need to create multiple cover letters quickly but want each to sound authentic
• Those who prefer to handle formatting separately or already have a template they like

Kickresume began as a resume creation tool. 

Three million resumes later, they’ve turned that experience into an AI cover letter generator.

Kickresume takes a resume-first approach to cover letter generation. Here’s how it works:

1. Start with a resume (you have three options):
   • Upload your existing resume
   • Import your LinkedIn profile
   • Create a new resume using Kickresume’s AI
2. Enter the job title you’re targeting

That’s it. The platform’s AI handles the rest, pulling relevant information from your resume to craft a tailored cover letter. 

In my tests, generation times averaged around 20 seconds.

Kickresume shines in its technical execution, offering several standout features:

• The seamless integration with Kickresume’s resume builder is brilliant
• Clean, professional templates that look polished right out of the gate
• Straightforward editing interface with standard formatting options

However, the platform does struggle with content generation:

• The letter’s design is set in stone
• No option to input the actual job description
• Any recruiter would spot this text as AI generated 

Kickresume takes the classic freemium approach, though you’ll need to upgrade to access the AI features. It comes in 2 plans:

• Free
• Paid, with the price depending on contract length:
  • $7/month for a 12-months contract
  • $12/month for a 3-months contract
  • $19/month for a monthly contract

The free plan is fine for basic use, but it comes with serious limitations, as it’s more of a preview. It lets you generate 2 basic cover letters. You’ll need a paid plan to access unlimited generations and revisions.

If you’re actively job hunting, the quarterly plan hits the sweet spot. It’s cheaper than monthly but doesn’t lock you into a full year.

Kickresume’s AI cover letter generator is best for job seekers who want a unified, streamlined approach to their application documents. 

For example:

• Job seekers who already use Kickresume and want everything in one place
• Professionals who prefer a traditional, no-frills cover letter format
• People who value ease of use over customization 

ChatGPT is the tool that pushed generative AI to the masses.

While it doesn’t offer specialized cover letter templates, its open-ended nature gives you unmatched flexibility in crafting your message.

ChatGPT simulates conversations with a person. Imagine you’re talking to a brilliant writing coach who memorized large swathes of texts. 

The writer’s main issue? They don’t know what is good writing. So they default to the most safe options unless you make a specific request.

But, unlike most people, ChatGPT has infinite patience. So the real magic happens when you refine your prompts. 

You can ask ChatGPT to “make it more informal,” “remove clichés,” or “make it more concise”. Same way you would with a human editor. Each iteration gets you closer to the perfect letter.

The cover letter ChatGPT produced was pretty good, and it only took me 3 prompts.

What I appreciated:

• Infinite rewrites and adjustments at no extra cost
• Ability to match any tone or style you request
• You can ask it to incorporate specific achievements or experiences naturally

Where ChatGPT falls short:

• No visual formatting (though you can pair its output with our cover letter templates to create a polished look)
• Tends to be wordy unless specifically told to be concise
• You need strong prompting skills to get the best results

ChatGPT has 2 plans that appeal to job seekers:

• Free
• Paid ($20/month)

For writing cover letters, the free version works well, especially when you provide clear prompts and use the iterative refinement process.

ChatGPT is perfect for job seekers who want full control over their cover letter’s content and tone through an iterative process. It’s particularly valuable for:

• Writers who like to tweak and refine their message until it’s just right
• Professionals who already have a template and just need help with the content
• People who prefer a collaborative writing process but don’t have access to a human editor

Simple yet versatile, Rytr started as a tool for marketers and content creators.

Now their AI writing capabilities extend to cover letters, with unique tone controls that help your application hit the right note.

What makes Rytr interesting is its purpose-built approach to different writing tasks. When you select “Cover Letter” as your use case, here’s the process:

1. Choose your tone of voice from 20+ options:
   • Professional and formal
   • Enthusiastic and friendly
   • Conversational yet polished
   • And many more
2. Input three key pieces of information:
   • The job title you’re targeting
   • The job skills
   • The level of creativity you want 

Rytr then generates your cover letter. Generation is speedy, I consistently got results in under 15-20 seconds during my testing, even when going for 3 outputs at once.

After testing multiple generations, Rytr’s approach to cover letters is refreshingly different, though not without its quirks.

What I appreciated:

• Getting three versions to choose from saves time on regenerations
• Tone control is more nuanced than most AI tools
• The output adapts well to different industries without sounding generic

What you should be careful of before picking Rytr:

• No direct resume integration
• Plain text output needs formatting elsewhere
• The free tier’s 10,000 character limit requires careful planning

Rytr offers three tiers:

• Free: Limited to 10K characters per month, one language, and no tone matching
• Unlimited ($7.50/month): Unlimited generations, one tone match, and 50 plagiarism checks monthly
• Premium ($24.16/month): Unlimited generations, multiple tone matches, 100 plagiarism checks, and support for 35+ languages

Interestingly, even the free tier includes access to their 20+ pre-programmed tones of voice, which makes it a solid option for testing the waters. 

The Unlimited plan hits a sweet spot for most job seekers, with enough features for a thorough job search without breaking the bank.

Rytr’s AI cover letter generator is best for job seekers who want to experiment with different tones, while keeping costs down. It’s particularly valuable for:

• Job seekers applying across different industries who need varied writing styles
• Budget-conscious professionals who want AI assistance without a subscription
• Non-native English speakers who want help matching the right professional tone

There’s no single “best AI cover letter generator” that works for everyone. The best generator is the one that matches your specific needs and gets you results. That’s why we picked tools that cover most use cases, from visual-first approaches to polished text generation.

It’s fine to use AI as an assistant. But it likely won’t get it right the first time. You will have to spend a few minutes adjusting prompts and editing the text yourself to make them sound more like you. 

Few tools can improve your job search as much as AI—provided you use them efficiently.