Self-host Reactive Resume.
Own your résumé.
Reactive Resume is the free, open-source resume builder — beautiful templates, multiple résumés, one-click PDF export and a private workspace you control. Deploy it on VibeNest in one click with managed Postgres and free SSL. The lightweight v5 dropped Chrome, Redis and S3, so it runs on a single small container instead of the four-service stack every other guide still ships.
What is Reactive Resume?
Reactive Resume is a free and open-source resume and CV builder with over 39,000 GitHub stars — a privacy-first alternative to paywalled tools like Zety, Resume.io and Novoresume. Build and manage as many résumés as you want, pick from a dozen polished templates, customise typography and layout, import an existing résumé from JSON or LinkedIn, share a public link, and export a pixel-perfect PDF. The hosted SaaS resume builders lock exports behind a subscription and keep your data on their servers. Self-hosting Reactive Resume on VibeNest turns that into one predictable hosting cost — and every résumé lives in a database you own.
- →Own your data. Your résumés and account live in your own managed Postgres — not locked inside a vendor’s dashboard behind a paywall.
- →No export paywall. Unlimited résumés, unlimited PDF downloads, no “upgrade to export” wall. Pay flat hosting, nothing per résumé.
- →Genuinely full-featured. Multiple templates, drag-and-drop sections, custom fonts and themes, public sharing links, LinkedIn / JSON import and client-side PDF export.
- →Truly open source. Reactive Resume is MIT-licensed. VibeNest deploys the upstream image unmodified — no lock-in, no proprietary fork.
Why it deploys cheaper here: the lightweight v5
Most “self-host Reactive Resume” tutorials still hand you a four-service Docker Compose stack: the app, Postgres, a headless Chrome / Browserless service to print PDFs, Redis, and MinIO or SeaweedFS for storage. That’s a lot of RAM, a lot of moving parts, and the usual reason people give up. Reactive Resume v5 changed that. PDF generation now runs entirely in your browser, so the Chrome / Browserless container is gone. Redis is only needed for the optional AI Agent workspace, and object storage falls back to a local volume. What’s left is a single web process on port 3000 plus Postgres — which is exactly what VibeNest is built to deploy.
The old stack (other guides)
- × App container
- × Postgres
- × Chrome / Browserless (PDF)
- × Redis
- × MinIO / SeaweedFS (storage)
On VibeNest (v5)
- ✓ App container (PDF renders client-side)
- ✓ Managed Postgres — we provision it
- — No Chrome
- — No Redis (AI workspace only)
- — No S3 (local volume)
Fewer containers means less RAM and a cheaper tier. It fits comfortably on a small box, and you skip the entire Browserless-and-Redis setup dance that trips people up on Railway or a hand-rolled Coolify stack.
Deploy Reactive Resume in three steps
Click deploy
Hit Deploy to VibeNest. We launch Reactive Resume, attach managed Postgres, run the database migrations, and serve it on a branded subdomain with free SSL.
Create your account
Open your new instance and sign up with email and password — you’re the first and only admin. No SMTP server required to get started (see the note below).
Build & export
Import an existing résumé or start fresh, pick a template, and export a PDF. Add your own custom domain anytime, and your data stays in a Postgres you control.
Two honest notes: email and AI are optional
Email is optional. Reactive Resume can send verification and password-reset emails through your own SMTP provider, but it doesn’t need one to run. With SMTP unset, those messages are written to the server log instead of sent — you can still register and use the app normally. Add an SMTP provider (Amazon SES, Brevo, Postmark, Mailgun, or Resend’s SMTP relay) later if you want self-service password resets. We never inject shared sending credentials into your instance, so your sender reputation stays yours.
AI is bring-your-own-key. Reactive Resume’s optional AI features (rewrite, translate, generate) use a key you supply from OpenAI, OpenRouter or any compatible provider. We don’t configure or pay for AI on your demo instance — the core résumé builder works fully without it.
Reactive Resume vs hosted resume builders
Hosted résumé builders are free to start and then wall the useful parts — PDF export, premium templates, more than one résumé — behind a recurring subscription, and they keep your data. Self-hosting flips that: a flat, predictable hosting cost and a database you own.
| What you want | Reactive Resume on VibeNest | Hosted builders (Zety, Resume.io) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat hosting from $4.50/mo | Recurring per-user subscription |
| PDF export | Unlimited, free | Often paywalled |
| Number of résumés | Unlimited | Limited on free tier |
| Who owns the data | You (your Postgres) | The vendor |
| Source code | Open (MIT) | Closed |
| Setup effort | One click | N/A (hosted) |
Everything VibeNest handles for you
Managed Postgres
Reactive Resume needs Postgres. We provision it, inject the connection string, and run the migrations — your résumés persist across redeploys.
Free SSL + subdomain
Live on your-app.vibenest.net with HTTPS the moment it deploys. Attach your own custom domain whenever you’re ready.
Persistent storage
Uploaded photos and assets are kept on a persistent volume mounted at /app/data — no S3 account needed, nothing lost on redeploy.
AI deploy rescue
If a deploy hiccups, our AI reads the logs and proposes a one-click fix — platform-paid, so you never pay for it.
Predictable pricing
Free for 3 months, then static tiers from $4.50/mo. No usage meters, no per-résumé tax.
Upstream & unmodified
We run the official Reactive Resume image as-is. You get upstream updates and zero proprietary lock-in.
Want to deploy something else?
VibeNest hosts any app from a GitHub repo — not just Reactive Resume. Paste a repo and ship it in 60 seconds, or read about the broader vibe deploy platform for apps from Cursor, Lovable, Bolt and Claude Code. Browse what others have shipped on the showcase.
Frequently asked questions
Is Reactive Resume a free alternative to Zety or Resume.io? +
Yes. Reactive Resume is free, open-source (MIT) software that covers what paid résumé builders do — multiple résumés, professional templates, custom themes, public sharing and unlimited PDF export — without the subscription or the export paywall. You self-host it instead of paying per month. On VibeNest you deploy it in one click with managed Postgres and free SSL.
Do I need Chrome, Redis or S3 to self-host it? +
No. That's the big change in Reactive Resume v5. PDF generation now runs in your browser, so the headless-Chrome / Browserless container is gone. Redis is only used by the optional AI Agent workspace, and file storage falls back to a local volume, so no S3 or MinIO is required. The whole thing is one web process plus Postgres — which is exactly what VibeNest provisions for you.
Do I need an email server to use it? +
No. Reactive Resume runs fine without SMTP — verification and password-reset emails are simply written to the server log instead of sent, and you can still sign up and use everything. If you want self-service password resets, add your own SMTP provider (Amazon SES, Brevo, Postmark, Mailgun, or Resend's SMTP relay) later. VibeNest never injects shared sending credentials into your instance.
How much does it cost to host Reactive Resume? +
VibeNest is free for the first 3 months, then static hosting tiers from $4.50/month with no usage-based overages and no per-résumé fees. Because v5 needs only the app and Postgres — no Chrome, Redis or S3 — it fits on a small, inexpensive tier.
Does VibeNest modify Reactive Resume? +
No. We deploy the official Reactive Resume container image upstream and unmodified, so you get genuine open-source Reactive Resume with normal upstream updates and no proprietary lock-in.
Where do my résumés live? +
In your own managed Postgres database, provisioned for your instance, with uploaded assets on a persistent volume. You own it, it persists across redeploys, and you can export your résumés as PDF or JSON at any time.
Own your résumé in one click
Free for 3 months. Managed Postgres and SSL included.