What this calculator compares
Reformatting a candidate CV into an agency template is one of the most common hidden costs in recruitment. It rarely shows up in a budget because it is paid in recruiter time: copying sections into the template, fixing fonts and spacing, removing contact details, checking dates and saving a Word and PDF version for the client. This calculator puts a price on that time and compares it with the cost of doing the same job in CVPitch, where the formatting is automated but a recruiter still reviews and approves every CV.
How the cost per CV is calculated
By hand, the cost per CV is simply the minutes it takes divided by 60, multiplied by the cost of a recruiter hour. On a plan, the cost per CV has two parts. The first is the plan price shared across the CVs you actually format that month: a $49 plan used for 49 CVs costs $1 per CV, but used for 10 CVs it costs $4.90 per CV. The second is the review time each CV still needs, priced at the same hourly rate. The monthly figure is the plan price plus the review time for every CV. If your volume is larger than a plan’s monthly allowance, that plan is marked as too small rather than quietly assuming extra purchases.
A worked example
Suppose you format 60 CVs a month, each takes 25 minutes by hand and a recruiter hour costs $30. By hand that is $12.50 per CV and $750 a month. With a six-minute review in CVPitch, the review time costs $3 per CV. On a plan that allows 200 exports for $49, the subscription share is about $0.82 per CV at 60 CVs, so each CV costs about $3.82 and the month about $229. A plan with only 50 exports would be marked too small at this volume rather than assumed to stretch. The defaults above use these numbers; replace them with your own.
Choosing the right plan size
Plans are sized by exports per month, and every plan includes unlimited users and monthly AI credits. Because a plan’s price is fixed, the cost per CV falls as you use more of the allowance. The table highlights the lowest-cost option at the volume you entered, which is usually the smallest plan that fits. If your volume moves around, try a quiet month and a busy month to see whether one plan covers both.
Costs the calculator does not include
Manual formatting carries risks that are real but hard to price: a phone number left in a footer that lets a client contact the candidate directly, a wrong employment date that makes a client doubt the whole shortlist, and inconsistent layouts that make the agency look less professional. The calculator also leaves out setup time for your client templates, taxes and the time it takes to learn a new tool. Treat the result as the direct cost of formatting, not the full business case.
Getting good inputs
- CVs per month: count CVs that are actually reformatted and sent to clients.
- Minutes by hand: time the whole job on a few typical CVs, including saving and attaching both formats.
- Review minutes: the time to check extracted facts beside the source passages, fix anything wrong and approve. Measure it during the free trial.
- Hourly cost: salary plus employer costs divided by working hours, in the same currency as the plan prices.
About CVPitch pricing
The free trial includes 10 CV exports and 25 AI credits, with no card. Monthly plans are priced by export volume; one export is one approved CV delivered as an editable Word file and a matching PDF, and previews or re-downloads do not use extra exports. Full details are on the pricing page, the product is described on the features page, and you can start your free trial now. For hours and net savings rather than cost per CV, use the recruiter time savings calculator.