CV writing prices in the UK run from around £40 at the budget end to £400 or more for senior, consultative work. That is a wide spread, and it makes it genuinely hard to know what a fair price looks like. The honest answer is that price tracks three things: how much human time goes into the work, how senior and specialised the role is, and how much of the CV is tailored to you rather than dropped into a template. Here is how to read the market and judge value rather than just cost.
The quick answer
Most mid-career professionals get the best value somewhere in the £120–£200 range: enough for a genuine rewrite tailored to a target role, delivered as an editable file you can reuse. Below that you are usually paying for a tidy-up; well above it you are paying for executive-level consultation that most applicants do not need. None of these tiers is wrong — they just suit different situations.
The budget end (roughly £40–£90)
At this price you are typically getting a quick rewrite or a template-led service, often with limited back-and-forth. It can be fine if your CV is basically sound and just needs tightening, better formatting, or a second pair of eyes. Where budget services tend to fall short is tailoring and strategy: the writer usually will not have time to reframe your experience around a specific role, and you may receive a locked PDF rather than an editable file you can adapt later.
The mid-market (roughly £120–£200)
This is where most professionals get the strongest return. You should expect real tailoring to a target role or role family, sharper positioning of your experience, ATS-safe formatting, and an editable document you own and can reuse for future applications. If you are applying for mid-career or management roles and want more interviews rather than just a cleaner layout, this tier usually pays for itself in a single successful application.
The premium end (£300+)
Premium and executive services are consultative. Expect an in-depth interview or call, senior-level positioning, and often a bundle covering the CV, a cover letter and LinkedIn. For director and executive roles — where how you are perceived matters as much as what you have done — this is worth it. For most applicants it is more than the situation calls for.
What about AI CV builders?
Self-serve AI tools now sit at the very bottom on price, often a few pounds for a short pass or around £15–£20 a month. They can produce a serviceable draft quickly, and for a straightforward early-career CV that may be all you need. The limitation is judgement: an AI builder does not know which two of your achievements a hiring manager will actually care about, and it will happily produce confident, generic phrasing that reads like everyone else's. If you use one, treat its output as a first draft to edit hard, not a finished CV.
What to check before you pay
Price alone tells you very little. Before you hand over money, ask:
- Is the CV tailored to a specific role or sector, or is it a generic rewrite?
- Do you receive an editable Word file you can reuse, or a locked PDF?
- What is included on revisions — how many rounds, and are factual corrections free?
- What is the turnaround, and is there a rush fee?
- Does the writer explain their ATS approach, or just claim to 'beat the system'?
Is a cheap CV a false economy?
Sometimes. The lowest price usually means the least tailoring, and a CV you cannot reuse is not really cheap if you pay again for the next application. But expensive is not automatically better either — a £350 CV with weak tailoring is worse value than a well-targeted £150 one. Judge the work, not the number: relevance, evidence, and whether the finished CV genuinely represents you are what get interviews.
How we price it
For transparency: our packages run from a £29 ATS audit (an honest read on what is holding your CV back) through to a £269 career-change repositioning, with our core Targeted CV Pro at £179. Every package is delivered in editable Word and PDF, and factual corrections are always free. If you are not sure which tier fits, the free CV review is the cheapest way to find out — it costs nothing and we will tell you honestly whether you need us at all.
Common questions
How much does a good CV cost in the UK?
For most professionals, a genuinely tailored rewrite with an editable file sits around £120–£200. Budget rewrites start near £40–£90; executive and consultative services run £300 or more.
Are expensive CV writing services worth it?
They can be, for senior and executive roles where positioning and consultation matter. For mid-career applicants, a well-targeted mid-market service usually delivers better value than paying premium prices.
Is a cheap or AI-written CV good enough?
For a simple, early-career CV it can be a reasonable starting point. The risk is generic phrasing and no real tailoring — so treat any cheap or AI-generated draft as a first version to edit hard against the specific role.