Free CV redaction tool for recruitment agencies
Remove candidate names and contact details before you send a CV to a client — in one click, formatted into your branding, hosted in the EU. Start free; redaction is included on every tier.
What is the Quibench free CV redaction tool?
Quibench is a free CV redaction tool for UK recruitment agencies. Upload any candidate CV and it removes personal contact details — name, phone, email, LinkedIn — and rebuilds the CV into your branded template, ready to send to a client. The free Starter tier includes 3 CVs a month with no credit card; paid plans start at €29/month for higher volume. Redaction is included on every tier, so it is never a paid add-on.
How to redact a CV for free
1. Upload
Sign up free and upload the candidate CV as a PDF.
2. Toggle redaction
The AI removes the name and contact details.
3. Review
Check the redacted, branded profile.
4. Export
Download the redacted, ATS-ready PDF.
What the tool redacts — and what it keeps
Removed before client submission
- Full name (replaced with a role title or reference code)
- Phone number
- Personal email address
- Home address and postcode
- LinkedIn, GitHub and personal website URLs
- Photographs
Kept so the client can still assess fit
- Work experience and achievements
- Skills and technology stacks
- Qualifications and certifications
- Career summary
Why redact a CV before sending it to a client?
Two reasons, and one action covers both. Removing contact details stops the most common back-door hire — a client reaching the candidate directly and skipping your fee — because the only route to the candidate runs back through your agency.
It also supports UK GDPR. Article 5(1)(c) requires personal data shared with third parties to be limited to what is necessary; for a shortlisting decision, a phone number and home address are not necessary. So redaction is good data-minimisation practice — not a regulator mandate, but the sensible default.
Is it really free?
Yes — the Starter tier is free and includes 3 CVs a month, with no credit card. That is enough to send a few redacted client submissions a month, or to test the tool on your own CVs before committing.
For a working desk you will want more volume: Pro is €29/month for 50 CVs and Team is €99/month for 200 CVs. There is no separate charge for redaction on any plan — you are paying for volume, not for the feature. Compared with the alternatives (HireAra, Allsorter and Daxtra are sales-led and start in the hundreds per month), a free starting point is the exception, not the rule. See the full comparison of CV formatting and redaction tools.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a truly free CV redaction tool for recruiters?
Yes. Quibench's Starter tier is genuinely free — 3 CVs per month with no credit card — and redaction is included on it. Most tools aimed at agencies (HireAra, Allsorter, Daxtra) are paid-only and sales-led, so a free redaction tier is rare. The free tier is meant for testing the workflow or low-volume use; for a full desk you would move to a paid plan.
How do I redact a CV for free?
Sign up for the free Starter plan, upload the candidate CV as a PDF, toggle anonymisation so the AI removes the name and contact details, review the result, and export the branded, redacted PDF. No credit card is required to start.
What does the free CV redaction tier include?
The free Starter tier includes 3 CVs per month with one-click redaction, branded formatting, EU data hosting and ATS-ready PDF export — with no credit card. Redaction is not a paid add-on; it is included on every tier, free and paid.
Is free CV redaction GDPR compliant?
Yes. Quibench hosts candidate data in AWS EU (Frankfurt) with AES-256 encryption, and removing contact details before client submission supports the UK GDPR data-minimisation principle (Article 5(1)(c)). Compliance does not depend on which tier you are on.
Can I redact CVs in bulk for free?
The free tier covers 3 CVs a month. For regular volume, the Pro plan is €29/month for 50 CVs and the Team plan is €99/month for 200 CVs. Redaction is included on all of them — you are paying for volume, not for the redaction feature.
Is manual PDF redaction safe?
Often not. Drawing black boxes over text in a PDF usually leaves the original text copyable underneath, so the "redacted" details can still be extracted. Automated redaction removes the data from the output rather than hiding it, which is both safer and faster than manual editing.
Does the redaction tool work on any CV format?
Quibench processes PDF files for the highest accuracy (95%+ extraction). Convert Word documents (.docx) or scanned images to PDF before uploading for the best result. The AI finds identifiers in context — including emails, URLs and social handles in body text — not just in labelled fields.
Redact your first CV free
One-click redaction, branded formatting, EU hosting. No credit card to start.
Start free