# How to Vibe Code Your Own Enhancv (and Stop Paying for It) > Best ATS-Friendly Online Resume Builder - Site: https://enhancv.com - Category: Career & Resume SaaS - Verdict: **Solid side project** (68/100 vibecodeable) - Estimated effort: 3-4 weeks of focused coding ## Verdict You can build a functional personal-use resume builder and AI tailoring tool, but achieving pixel-perfect multi-column PDF generation for ATS parsers will require iterative debugging. Cloning Enhancv's core experience for personal use is a rewarding engineering challenge. The frontend state management for modular resume sections combined with modern print CSS or headless PDF generation is notoriously fussy—margins break, columns wrap awkwardly, and ATS text layers get flattened if rasterized. Furthermore, coordinating multiple LLM providers (OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek) for inline text improvements and job tailoring takes careful prompt engineering to prevent hallucinated job history. Since this is for personal use, you can skip team collaboration, multi-tier billing, and the Chrome extension, focusing entirely on the core JSON-driven resume editor, AI writer, and clean PDF export. ### What you can't replicate - 11-year domain authority and 10M+ user brand network - Proprietary datasets of recruiter feedback and certified resume writer templates ## What it does An online career-building and job search platform featuring an ATS-friendly resume builder, AI resume writer, one-click job tailoring, resume checker, cover letter generator, and an AI job application tracker. ### Core features - Modular resume builder with multi-column templates and custom sections - HTML-to-PDF export pipeline producing clean, ATS-parsable text layers - AI resume assistant for inline rewriting, bullet point generation, and translation - One-click job description tailoring engine matching keywords to resume bullets - ATS checker scanning content structure, layout, and keyword gaps across checkpoints - Cover letter builder and generator matching resume design - AI job application tracker (Kanban board) with metadata extraction - Chrome extension for scraping job boards (LinkedIn, Indeed, Greenhouse, Workday) ## The business ### Pricing - Free Plan: €0 — Valid for 7 days - Pro Quarterly Plan: €16.50/mo — Billed every 3 months Founded 2014. Team size: ~25. ## The hard parts - Maintaining a pristine, multi-column HTML-to-PDF generation pipeline that keeps text selectable and structured for ATS parsers without DOM fragmentation - Multi-model LLM orchestration with specialized prompt routing for inline editing, translation, and precise keyword injection without hallucinations - Building a reliable Chrome extension that parses changing DOM structures across disparate enterprise ATS systems (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever) ## How to vibe code Enhancv ### Prerequisites - Node.js (free): Runtime environment for Next.js and backend scripts - GitHub (free): Source control and integration with Vercel deployment pipeline - Anthropic API key (pay-as-you-go): Provides frontier language models for the AI resume writer and job tailoring engine ### Recommended AI tools - Claude Code: Agentic terminal coding tool capable of scaffolding the multi-file Next.js resume schema, database migrations, and complex PDF generation logic - Cursor: AI-native code editor ideal for fine-tuning complex React drag-and-drop resume components and CSS print stylesheets ### Stack - Frontend: Next.js with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui - Backend: Next.js App Router API Routes - Database: Turso (SQLite at the edge) - Auth: better-auth - Payments: None (Personal use clone) - Other: Anthropic API (Claude 3.5 Sonnet for AI writing and tailoring), React-PDF or Puppeteer headless export for ATS-friendly PDF generation ### Hosting - Vercel (Hosting the Next.js frontend and serverless API endpoints): $0/mo (Hobby Tier) - Turso (Serverless SQLite database storing user resumes, sections, and application tracker logs): $0/mo (Free Tier) ### Build guide 1. **Project Scaffolding & Database Schema** — Initialize the Next.js application with Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui, Turso database connection, and better-auth configuration for single-user authentication. ``` Initialize a Next.js 16 project with Tailwind CSS v4, TypeScript, and App Router. Set up better-auth with email/password authentication backed by Turso (SQLite via @libsql/client). Create database migrations for users, resumes (storing JSON blocks for modular sections like experience, education, skills, and custom items), job_applications (Kanban tracker), and cover_letters. Configure the project structure with modular folder layout for components, server actions, and types. ``` 2. **Modular Resume Editor UI** — Build the interactive resume editor interface with real-time preview, supporting multi-column layouts, reorderable sections, and rich text fields. ``` Build a responsive resume editor page in Next.js using a split-pane layout: left side is a form-based modular section editor (Experience, Education, Skills, Custom Items), right side is a live, scale-down CSS preview of the resume matching professional single and two-column layouts. Implement state management using React state synced with server actions to autosave resume JSON data to the Turso database on change. ``` 3. **ATS-Friendly PDF Export Engine** — Implement a reliable PDF export pipeline that generates clean, selectable text layers without flattened image rasterization. ``` Implement a server-side PDF generation route using Puppeteer or React-PDF that converts the resume JSON data and layout template into a pristine PDF document. Ensure that all output text remains fully selectable in the text layer, CSS print media queries enforce correct margins and page breaks, and custom fonts load properly without rasterizing elements into images, fulfilling ATS readability requirements. ``` 4. **AI Resume Writer & Inline Assistant** — Integrate the Anthropic SDK to power inline bullet point generation, rephrasing, and translation features. ``` Create a server action integrating the Anthropic API (Claude 3.5 Sonnet) to provide AI writing assistance inside the resume editor. Implement endpoints for three specific features: (1) 'Improve Bullet' which rewrites a work history bullet into an active, results-driven sentence, (2) 'Generate Skills' which suggests relevant industry keywords based on the resume content, and (3) 'Translate Resume' which translates all text sections into one of 10 supported languages while preserving the underlying JSON section structure. ``` 5. **One-Click Job Tailoring Engine** — Build the resume tailoring workflow that analyzes a pasted job description and suggests targeted bullet rewrites and skill additions. ``` Build a 'Tailor for Job' feature where users paste a target job description alongside their master resume. Use the Anthropic API to parse the job description for required skills and keywords, compare them against the resume, and generate a tailored version with highlighted changes (additions/modifications) that the user can review, accept, or reject individually before saving as a new tailored resume instance. ``` 6. **ATS Checker & Job Application Tracker** — Develop the ATS resume scanning checklist and Kanban job application tracker board. ``` Implement an ATS Checker utility that evaluates a resume JSON against 15 key checkpoints (contact info present, section headings matching standard parser dictionaries, quantified achievements, keyword density against a target description) and returns a compatibility score with actionable fix suggestions. Build a visual Kanban board page (Job Tracker) where users can manage application stages (Wishlist, Applied, Interviewing, Offer) and attach specific tailored resumes to each entry. ``` ### Cost vs paying **Starting costs (one-time):** - Custom domain (optional): $12/yr - Total: ~$12 one-time **Ongoing costs (monthly):** - Vercel Hobby & Turso Free: $0/mo - Anthropic API usage (personal volume): ~$3-5/mo - Total: ~$4/mo - Paying for the SaaS instead: €16.50/mo - Build time: 35-50 hours - AI tool credits: $20 (Claude Pro) - Break-even: 1 month of Pro subscription ## Sources - [Enhancv Homepage](https://enhancv.com) - [Enhancv Pricing Page](https://enhancv.com/pricing) - [Enhancv About Us Page](https://enhancv.com/about)