Cluely Review 2026: Price, the $149.99 Stealth Tier, and Whether It's Worth It

TL;DR: Cluely has become a meeting assistant, and its pricing reflects that. On 5 November 2026 it listed a free Starter plan, Pro at $19.99/month, and Pro + Undetectability at $149.99/month — and that last tier is the only one whose window stays out of a screen share, which is the whole reason an interview candidate would consider it. Refunds run for 24 hours, need video evidence, and explicitly exclude detection complaints. For meetings, the $19.99 plan is fair value. For interviews, you are looking at $149.99 a month, or a one-time pass elsewhere that includes the hidden window for $39.90.

Most write-ups of Cluely still describe the product that launched in April 2025 with a "cheat on everything" tagline. That is not what the site sells now. The pricing page opens with "Whether you're using Cluely for meetings, homework, sales calls, or just curious, it's free to use", the homepage calls it an AI meeting assistant, and the documentation is written for sales teams, with CRM syncing and call coaching.

So the useful question in late 2026 is narrower than "does Cluely work": which plan do you need, what does it actually do during an interview, and what happens if it doesn't suit you. This review answers those, with figures read from Cluely's own pages on 5 November 2026 from a US connection, signed out.

Cluely's plan list on 5 November 2026

Three plans, monthly or annual billing, no lifetime option.

Plan	Monthly	Billed annually	What the page lists
Starter	$0	$0	Limited AI responses per day, limited meeting notes, custom instructions, up to 3 files, ask AI about past meetings
Pro	$19.99/month	$11.99/month (40% off, about $143.88 a year)	Everything in Starter plus unlimited AI responses, unlimited notes, latest models, priority support
Pro + Undetectability	$149.99/month	$79.99/month (50% off, about $959.88 a year)	Everything in Pro plus "completely hidden to meeting screen sharing software"

The pricing page does not state the Starter cap. It says "limited AI responses" and "limited meeting notetaking" and leaves it there, so the free plan is a way to test the interface, not a way to run an interview. Second-party reviews have quoted five AI responses a day; Cluely does not confirm that number anywhere I could see, so treat it as unverified.

The $130 gap that decides the purchase

The feature comparison table is the most important part of the page for anyone with an interview coming up. It has five rows, and one of them reads Undetectability to Screen Share:

• Starter: not included
• Pro: not included
• Pro + Undetectability: included

This is not a small print detail. Cluely's core product is an overlay that sits on your screen while another application is running. If the window appears in a shared screen or a recording, the product's defining advantage is gone, and you have paid $19.99 for a chat window. The tier that hides it costs $149.99 a month, or $79.99 a month on annual billing — a $130 monthly step up from Pro.

Cluely is not hiding this. The plan is named after the feature, and the comparison table is on the same page as the prices. But most reviews that quote "Cluely is $19.99/month" are quoting the plan that does not do the thing those readers came for.

What a job search actually costs

A monthly price is the wrong unit for a job search, which usually runs four to eight weeks. Here is the same list priced by how long you are actually interviewing, next to a one-time pass:

Your search	Cluely, cheapest way to get the hidden window	AceRound AI (US, one-time)
One interview this week	$149.99 (one month of the top tier)	Free 30 minutes, then $9.90 Starter Pack (60 minutes)
About 4 weeks	$149.99	$39.90 Monthly Pass
About 8 weeks	$299.98 (two months) or $959.88 (annual)	$69.90 Season Pass (90 days)
A full year	$959.88 (annual top tier)	Passes as needed; nothing renews

The annual discount is real — 50% off the top tier — but it only pays off if you interview for most of a year. At $959.88 up front it costs more than twenty-four Monthly Passes elsewhere. The Pro plan at $11.99/month on annual billing is genuinely cheap for meeting notes; it just is not the plan that hides from a screen share.

The refund rule, in full

Cluely's Refund Policy was last updated 20 April 2025. The whole operative text is short enough to quote:

• 24 hours. "We offer a 24-hour refund policy for our software subscription ONLY in the condition that you are able to show video evidence that it is not working on your computer."
• Some complaints are excluded by name. "Concerns like detection by screen-sharing software, or slowness in solution generation are not refundable."
• Windows 10 is excluded. "We do not offer refunds for Windows 10 computers, as support on Windows 10 is not guaranteed."
• How to ask: email [email protected] with purchase details, the reason, and the video. They say they reply within 48 hours and process refunds in 5 to 7 business days.

The Cancellation Policy, updated the same day, is separate and stricter than most people expect: cancelling takes effect at the end of the current cycle, and "we do not offer pro-rata refunds for cancellations made partway through a billing cycle (monthly or annual)". Cancelling a month after an annual charge leaves the money with Cluely and the access running until the year ends.

Two implications follow. First, if your reason for wanting a refund is "it showed up in my screen share", the policy says that reason is not refundable — which is an awkward position for a product whose top tier is sold on not showing up. Second, the Windows 10 exclusion sits alongside a download page that lists Windows 11 as the requirement. If you are on Windows 10, you are outside both the supported configuration and the refund.

What users say

Cluely's Trustpilot profile on 5 November 2026 showed 1.6 out of 5 from 23 reviews, on an unclaimed profile. That is a small sample and Trustpilot reviews skew towards people with a grievance, so treat it as a signal about billing, not a verdict on the software. The signal is consistent, though. The three most recent reviews, from October and September 2026, are all about money:

• A reviewer on 15 October 2026 describes a $100 charge appearing on their card for a renewal they say they had not seen disclosed.
• A reviewer on 11 September 2026 says a one-month trial defaulted to annual billing and that the company declined a refund under EU rules.
• A reviewer on 22 September 2026 says the card was charged for a year of a service they had not used.

These are anecdotes from a handful of people, and Cluely's own pages state the renewal terms. But the pattern — annual charges, refunds refused — is exactly what the 24-hour policy and the no-pro-rata cancellation rule predict.

Does it work in an interview?

This is where the pivot to meetings shows. Cluely is a general assistant that listens to a call and answers questions on request. Its documentation describes sessions, live insights, "what should I say next", follow-up questions, fact checks, recaps, meeting notes, and pre-call briefs. There is a Smart Mode for coding assistance and a keyboard shortcut that returns an answer about what is on your screen, so a coding problem is within reach.

What is not in the product, at any price:

• No mock interviews or practice mode. There is nothing to rehearse with before the real round.
• No assessment mode. Online assessments on HackerRank, CodeSignal or Codility are not a separate workflow; you get the same screen-aware assistant, without the problem-reading and test-case handling an OA-specific tool does.
• No resume or job-description context in the plan list. Personalisation is "custom instructions" and uploaded files, not a role you attach once and reuse.
• No interview-specific answer structure. It is a general assistant, and it answers like one.

None of that makes it a bad meeting tool. It makes it a meeting tool. In a 45-minute behavioral round, a general assistant that hears the question and writes a short answer is genuinely useful; in a technical loop with a follow-up question about complexity, an answer without reasoning is a liability. Independent testing at launch measured response delays from 5 to 90 seconds, and the CEO later described the product as "in a really raw state" at launch — both are recorded on Cluely's Wikipedia entry. Reviewers in 2026 still describe the coding output as short snippets without context. I did not benchmark it myself for this review, so weigh those as reported, not measured.

What "undetectable" covers — and what it doesn't

The word is doing a lot of work, so it is worth being precise about the layer it describes.

Cluely's documentation says invisibility is now an opt-in feature, toggled with the eye icon on the command bar or under Settings → Make Invisible. It says the window is excluded from shared screens and recordings because Cluely uses "the same technology that Zoom does" for overlay privacy — and, importantly, that this holds "as long as the software respects the Windows and MacOS default for privacy & infinite overlays." That is an honest sentence, and it is the whole mechanism: the operating system is told to exclude the window from capture, and the meeting app has to honour that instruction.

That covers screen sharing. It does not cover:

• Camera-based proctoring. A recorded one-way interview that watches your eyes and your room sees your face, not your screen.
• Machine-level monitoring. Software installed by an employer or an assessment platform can list processes, and "undetectable to screen share" says nothing about that.
• Delivery. How an answer is used shows in the conversation itself, which is why trying the tool in a mock first matters more than any invisibility claim.
• Brand recognition. Cluely is the best-known name in this category, which is exactly why detection vendors write rules for it first. Two vendors announced Cluely-specific detection in 2025.

If your interview is a live video call on Zoom, Meet or Teams, invisibility to screen share is the relevant layer and Cluely does it well — the free Starter plan is enough to run its own screen-share test page before you pay. If your interview is a recorded assessment or a proctored OA, the layer that matters is a different one.

Is Cluely legit?

Yes, in the sense that matters for a purchase: it is a real company with a real desktop app for macOS and Windows, a mobile app, funded to $20.3 million with a $15 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, and it ships updates.

There is one fact to know before you trust its marketing numbers. In 2025 the CEO told TechCrunch that Cluely had $7 million in annual recurring revenue. On 5 March 2026 he admitted publicly that the figure was false; screenshots he posted put the real number at $5.2 million. That does not change what the software does, and $5.2 million is still a substantial business — but it is a reason to check the pricing page and the refund policy yourself rather than relying on a review, including this one.

Where Cluely is genuinely strong

To be fair to it:

• The hidden window is the best-known implementation in the category. If your only requirement is that an overlay never appears in a Zoom or Teams share, Cluely is the product most people end up testing first.
• Meetings, not just interviews. Notes, recaps, follow-ups and pre-call briefs are a real product, and $19.99 for unlimited use is inexpensive next to meeting-notes subscriptions.
• No bot joins the call. Nothing appears in the participant list, which is a practical advantage over assistants that join as a guest.
• A free tier with no card. You can install it, run its screen-share test, and see the interface before paying anything.
• Small footprint. macOS 10.15 or later, Windows 11, 500 MB of disk and 8 GB of RAM recommended, with a two-device login limit.

Is Cluely worth it?

It is worth it if:

• You want a real-time assistant for meetings, sales calls or everyday conversations, and $19.99/month for unlimited use fits.
• You interview on video calls and are prepared to pay $149.99/month (or $959.88 for a year) for the tier that hides the window, knowing the refund window is 24 hours.
• You are on macOS or Windows 11 and you have tested your exact screen-share mode on its own test page.

It is probably not worth it if:

• You have one interview or a few weeks of them. The hidden window costs $149.99 for the first month, and the cheaper plan is visible in a share.
• You want to practise between interviews. There is no mock mode.
• Your rounds are online assessments. A meeting assistant is not built for them.
• You are on Windows 10. You are outside the supported configuration and outside the refund.

If you only need the interview part: AceRound AI

I'll be direct about the alternative I know best, because it is the one I use. AceRound AI is built for the interview and assessment loop rather than for meetings:

• The hidden window is included in every pass. The desktop app runs as its own window, excluded from screen sharing, window capture and screenshots on Windows and macOS. There is no separate stealth tier and no upgrade to buy.
• OA Copilot for the assessment rounds — HackerRank, CodeSignal, Codility and take-homes — using the same minutes as the interview side.
• A practice layer. Mock interviews with feedback afterwards, so the first time you use it is not the real round.
• 12 interview languages, up to four per session, with the answer in the language the question was asked in.
• Runs on Windows 10 (2004+) and macOS 13+, with a free 30 minutes and one mock interview on a new account, no card.

The pricing difference is the point. In the US: $39.90 for a 30-day Monthly Pass, $69.90 for a 90-day Season Pass, $24.90 for a week, or $9.90 for a 60-minute Starter Pack. They are one-time charges, so there is no renewal to track and no annual charge to dispute. One month of Cluely's top tier costs more than three Monthly Passes.

What AceRound does not have is Cluely's meeting-notes product or its sales-team tooling. If you want one assistant for standups, sales calls and interviews, Cluely's $19.99 plan is the better fit, and you would need the $149.99 tier only for the interview itself. If the interview is the whole job, the one-time pass is the cheaper way to cover it.

For the wider comparison, see the Cluely alternatives roundup and the head-to-head with AceRound.

Before you pay for either

1. Decide which tier you actually need, then price it. "From $11.99" is the annual rate for the plan without the hidden window.
2. Test your exact setup. Same meeting app, same microphone, same share mode — full screen and single window behave differently. Cluely's undetectability page has a test tool; AceRound's mock interview is the equivalent.
3. Read the refund policy, not the FAQ. Cluely's is 24 hours, needs video, and excludes detection complaints. Put the renewal date in your calendar either way.
4. Check your operating system first. Cluely lists Windows 11; a Windows 10 purchase is not refundable under its policy.
5. Price the search, not the month. Four to eight weeks is the normal loop; multiply before you commit to an annual plan.

FAQ

Is Cluely free?

There is a free Starter plan that needs no card, but it caps AI responses per day and meeting notes, and the pricing page does not publish the cap. The screen-share invisibility that interview candidates want is not in Starter or Pro; it starts on the $149.99/month tier.

How much does Cluely cost?

On 5 November 2026 the US pricing page listed Pro at $19.99/month, or $11.99/month billed annually (40% off), and Pro + Undetectability at $149.99/month, or $79.99/month billed annually (50% off). Billing is monthly or annual only; there is no lifetime option.

Does the $19.99 Pro plan hide Cluely during screen sharing?

No. Cluely's own feature comparison marks undetectability to screen share as unavailable on Starter and Pro, and available only on Pro + Undetectability. That is the $130/month difference between the two paid tiers.

Can I get a refund from Cluely?

Only within 24 hours, and only with video evidence that the software is not working on your computer. The refund policy explicitly excludes complaints about detection by screen-sharing software and slow answer generation, and it does not refund Windows 10 purchases. Cancelling stops the next renewal but does not refund the current period.

Is Cluely detectable in a job interview?

Its invisibility is built for screen sharing: the overlay is excluded from a shared screen, a recording or a meeting tool's capture. Cluely's own documentation says this holds as long as the meeting software respects the operating system's overlay privacy rules. It says nothing about camera-based proctoring, recorded one-way interviews, or assessment platforms that log what runs on the machine.

Is Cluely worth it?

For meetings at $19.99/month it is inexpensive and the meeting notes are good. For interviews, budget the $149.99 tier, because the cheaper plan is visible in a screen share, and there is no practice or mock-interview mode at any price. A one-time interview pass that includes the hidden window costs less than one month of the top tier.

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Author · Alex Chen. Career consultant and former tech recruiter. Spent 5 years on the hiring side before switching to help candidates instead. Writes about real interview dynamics, not textbook advice.