The best Cluely alternatives in 2026 are the free copilots you can run on your own keys (Natively and Cheating Daddy) and the hosted interview apps that put screen-share hiding on a cheaper plan than Cluely's $149.99 Pro + Undetectability tier (Final Round AI, Sensei AI, LockedIn AI, Parakeet AI, Verve AI and Interview Coder). Cluely itself still has a free Starter plan with limited responses and notes, and Cluely Pro is $19.99 a month, or $11.99 a month when billed annually.
Cluely on Toolfolio. Prices were checked on each vendor's official page on November 11, 2026. A related guide on whether Cluely is free is scheduled to publish on November 13, 2026.
These products are sold as meeting copilots and interview prep tools. Using a hidden assistant in a live interview, exam or recorded assessment may break the employer's, school's or platform's rules. We did not test any vendor's "undetectable," "stealth" or "invisible to screen share" claims, and we label those claims as untested below.
Quick comparison
Prices below are what each official page showed on November 11, 2026. Some vendors localize currency and discounts, so the number on your screen may differ.
| Tool | Best for | Free option | Paid from (official page, Nov 11, 2026) | Screen-share hiding (vendor claim, untested) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cluely | Live meeting help plus notes | Starter: limited responses and notes | Pro $19.99/mo, or $11.99/mo billed annually; Pro + Undetectability $149.99/mo, or $79.99/mo billed annually | Only on Pro + Undetectability |
| Natively | Free personal use, your own keys or a local model | Free for personal use with your own keys or Ollama | Pro licence $30 a year or $60 once; hosted API $8 to $35/mo | Included on every plan, per Natively |
| Cheating Daddy | Free open source overlay, you bring a key | Free (GPL-3.0). You supply a Gemini or other key | $0 for the app; you pay your model provider if you leave the free tier | Overlay can hide from screen share, per the project. Untested |
| Final Round AI | Hosted interview copilot plus practice | Free plan for goals and prep. No live CoPilot | Pro from $25+/mo on the homepage. Their pricing guide lists $25/mo billed annually ($300/year), $60/mo billed quarterly ($180), or $90/mo monthly | Stealth Mode on Pro, on by default, per Final Round AI |
| Sensei AI | Browser interview copilot with a low annual price | $0 plan with 15-minute copilot sessions | Pro $89/mo, or $24/mo billed annually | "Fully undetectable," per Sensei. Untested |
| LockedIn AI | Interview copilot with a real free daily allowance | Free: 5-minute sessions, up to 60 minutes a day | Promo with LOCKIN50: Credits $49.99/mo billed every 3 months; Unlimited $79.99/mo billed every 3 months; Lifetime $999.50 once | Stealth mode on the paid Credits and Unlimited plans shown. LockedIn says it cannot guarantee undetectability on every platform |
| Parakeet AI | Interviews, sales calls and meetings, pay by credits or unlimited | First mock interview is free | From our location: Unlimited €129.90/mo, or €43.33/mo billed yearly (€519.90/year); credit packs from €51 | "Full privacy mode" on Unlimited and credit packs, per Parakeet. Untested |
| Verve AI | Interview copilot with a lasting free plan | Free: 3 sessions of 15 minutes, plus 5 mock interviews | Annual (USD on the page): Standard $16.99/mo, Pro $34.99/mo. Monthly toggle from our location: Standard €39.99/mo, Pro €72.99/mo | "Camouflage mode" and "personal view," per Verve. Untested |
| Interview Coder | Coding and technical interviews on a desktop app | Free download. AI features need a paid plan | Monthly Pro $299/mo (1,000 credits; listed as $499 before the sale price); Lifetime Pro $799 once | "20+ undetectability features" on paid plans, per Interview Coder. Untested |
 Granola | Meeting notes, not a hidden live overlay | Basic $0, 30-day history | Business $14 per user per month; Enterprise $35 | Not designed as a stealth interview overlay. No bot joins the call |
1. Cluely: the baseline, and why people look elsewhere
AI tool that sees your screen, hears calls, and gives real-time answers—completely undetectable.
Cluely is a desktop meeting assistant for macOS and Windows 11. It listens to the call, offers live answers when you ask, and writes meeting notes afterward. It does not join the call as a bot. Official system requirements on the docs quickstart page are macOS 10.15 or later, and Windows 11. There is no Chrome extension, and the desktop docs do not list Android.
The official pricing page (cluely.com/pricing) on November 11, 2026:
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | Free | Free | Limited AI responses, limited meeting notes, custom instructions, file uploads (up to 3 files), ask AI about past meetings |
| Pro | $19.99/mo | $11.99/mo (-40%) | Unlimited AI responses and notes, latest models, priority support |
| Pro + Undetectability | $149.99/mo | $79.99/mo (-50%) | Everything in Pro, plus "Completely hidden to meeting screen sharing software" (vendor claim, untested) |
The $19.99 Pro plan does not include screen-share hiding. That feature is sold only on Pro + Undetectability. Cluely's docs describe invisibility as an opt-in setting (the eye icon, or Settings > Make Invisible). We did not test whether it stays hidden on Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or any other tool, and we cannot confirm the older third-party figure of $44.99 a month billed annually. Trust the live pricing page.
Cluely also has an iPhone app, listed at cluely.com/mobile as a notetaker you can download for free with no card. The marketing page does not list a mobile subscription price. Official docs still say in one limitations page that Cluely has no mobile app, so treat the desktop plans and the iPhone app as separate products until Cluely updates that doc.
If you mainly want notes after a call, skip the stealth pricing debate and look at Granola or Otter instead.
2. Natively: the best free Cluely alternative if you will set it up
Natively (heynatively.com) is a source-available desktop app for macOS and Windows. It is free for personal use if you bring your own API keys (OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter or a custom endpoint) or run a local model through Ollama. If you would rather not manage keys, Natively will host the AI, transcription and search for you.
Official prices on heynatively.com/pricing on November 11, 2026:
- Free, with your own keys or Ollama: $0, no card
- Natively Pro licence: $30 a year (was $39), or $60 once (was $79)
- Hosted API: Standard $8/mo ($80 a year), Pro $15/mo (was $20, or $150 a year, includes the Pro licence), Max $25/mo ($250 a year), Ultra $35/mo ($350 a year)
- One-time Pro packs: Light $5 (2 hours within 7 days), Heavy $10 (5 hours within 14 days)
Natively says screen-share hiding is included on every plan. That is a vendor claim, and we did not test it. The tradeoff is setup: you install a desktop app and either wire up keys or pay for the hosted API.
3. Cheating Daddy: the free open source starting point
Cheating Daddy is a free, GPL-3.0 desktop app. The official site is cheatingdaddy.com, and the source is the public GitHub repo sohzm/cheating-daddy. On November 11, 2026 the repo showed about 5,700 stars, a GPL-3.0 licence, and the latest tagged release was v0.8.0. The app captures screen and system audio and shows answers in an overlay. You supply your own API key (the project started on Google Gemini and later releases added more BYOK and local model options).
The app itself costs $0. Your only spend is whatever your model provider charges once you leave that provider's free tier.
Setup is on you, support is community based, and any "hidden overlay" behavior is untested here. If you want a similar idea with a clearer pricing page and a personal-use licence, Natively is the more documented option.
4. Final Round AI: hosted interview copilot, Pro from $25 a month
Final Round AI is a desktop interview copilot for macOS and Windows, with practice interviews and debriefs around a live CoPilot product. The official homepage on November 11, 2026 showed two paths:
- Free, $0: set up Goals, parse a job description, and use the desktop app. This does not include live CoPilot.
- Pro, from $25+/mo: unlimited live Interview CoPilot sessions, Stealth Mode, automatic AI debriefs, practice interviews and screen help. The page also says there is no free trial: live sessions need an active Pro subscription.
Their official pricing guide (finalroundai.com/blog/final-round-ai-pricing) lists three Pro billing cadences: $25 a month billed annually ($300 a year), $60 a month billed quarterly ($180 every three months), or $90 a month billed monthly. Annual and quarterly plans are described as having a 3-day refund window; the monthly plan is described as non-refundable. The homepage marks Pro as "$25+/mo" and points to "See all plans," so confirm the cadence and any daily offer at checkout.
Stealth Mode, which Final Round AI says keeps its windows out of supported screen shares and recordings and is on by default, is a vendor claim. We did not test it.
5. Sensei AI: the lowest billed-annual hosted price on this list
Sensei AI (senseicopilot.com) is a real-time interview copilot that personalizes answers from your resume and stories. The official homepage pricing block on November 11, 2026 listed:
- Free, $0: 15-minute copilot sessions, plus an AI resume builder and story editor. Full customization, coding copilot and the playground are paid.
- Pro: $89 a month, or $24 a month billed annually, with unlimited copilot sessions, coding copilot and the full customization suite.
Sensei markets itself as "fully undetectable." That is a vendor claim, untested here. Because it is a browser product, it is a weaker fit if you specifically need an operating-system level overlay. For a low annual hosted bill, $24 a month billed annually is the cheapest paid number on this list.
6. LockedIn AI: a real free daily cap, then promotional paid plans
LockedIn AI (lockedinai.com) pairs a desktop app with a web and mobile product. Official docs (docs.lockedinai.com) say a free account gets unlimited 5-minute sessions, up to 60 free minutes a day, with a 1-minute pause between sessions. That is a more concrete free allowance than Cluely's "limited responses" line.
The live pricing page on November 11, 2026 had a LOCKIN50 promo applied. What it showed:
| Plan | Promo price shown | Regular price shown | What it includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credits | $49.99/mo, billed every 3 months | $139.98 | 20 hours of Copilot every 3 months, or 40 hours of mock; stealth mode badge |
| Unlimited | $79.99/mo, billed every 3 months | $279.98 | Unlimited access to everything in Credits; stealth mode badge |
| Lifetime | $999.50 once | $1,999.00 | Unlimited, paid once, no renewals |
LockedIn's own footer on that page is unusually direct: stealth mode "cannot guarantee undetectability on every platform." Take that seriously. Pricing is promotional and may be regional, so recency matters. Credits never expire, according to both the pricing page and the docs.
7. Parakeet AI: credits or unlimited, prices localized
Parakeet AI (parakeet-ai.com) is a real-time assistant for interviews, sales calls and other conversations. It has a desktop app, a web app and a phone-friendly web app. The official site says your first mock interview is free, and the pricing section sells Unlimited, credit packs and a Custom tab.
From our location on November 11, 2026 the official pricing module was in euros:
- Unlimited: €129.90 a month, or €43.33 a month billed yearly (€519.90 a year). A weekly plan was listed at €67.00 a week. Included: unlimited call sessions and mocks, "full privacy mode," unlimited resume PDFs and headshots.
- Credits: 3 credits for €51.00 (€17.00 each), 8 credits for €102.00 (6 plus 2 free, €12.75 each), 15 credits for €153.00 (9 plus 6 free, €10.20 each), or 1 credit for €33.00. The page says 0.5 credit equals a 30-minute call or mock, one resume PDF, or one headshot. Credit packs also list full privacy mode.
US-dollar figures you may see in older write-ups were not what this official page showed us. If you are shopping in USD, open the live pricing module and use the number on your screen. "Full privacy mode" is a vendor claim, untested here.
8. Verve AI: a useful free plan, then Standard or Pro
Verve AI (vervecopilot.com/pricing) is an interview copilot with a lasting free plan and no card required to start. Official features on November 11, 2026:
- Free, $0: 3 interview copilot sessions of 15 minutes, 5 mock interviews, and a set of 14 AI tools (resume, cover letter, ATS checker and similar).
- Standard: longer 60-minute sessions and unlimited mock interviews.
- Pro: unlimited 90-minute copilot sessions, 20 interview domains, and the higher-end models listed on the page.
- Enterprise: pay as you go, from $10 a session, aimed at hiring teams.
The official page has annual, quarterly and monthly toggles, and it localizes currency. On November 11, 2026 the annual toggle showed Standard at $16.99 a month and Pro at $34.99 a month (USD), with Standard listed as 60 sessions of 60 minutes. Switching to Monthly from our location showed Standard at €39.99 a month and Pro at €72.99 a month, and Standard dropped to 5 sessions of 60 minutes. Recheck the toggle, currency and session count before you pay.
Verve lists a "personal view" (visible only to you) and a desktop-only "camouflage mode." Both are vendor descriptions, untested here.
9. Interview Coder: technical interviews, at a high monthly price
Interview Coder (interviewcoder.co) is a macOS and Windows desktop app aimed at coding and technical interviews. The official pricing section on November 11, 2026 was:
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free download | $0 forever | Download and explore the app. AI features stay locked until you subscribe |
| Monthly Pro | $299/mo (shown as $499 original) | 1,000 usage credits a month, audio guidance, paid undetectability features |
| Lifetime Pro | $799 once (shown as $1,598 original) | Unlimited lifetime access to the same paid feature set |
Interview Coder's marketing leans hardest on undetectability. Treat every "100% undetectable" line as a vendor claim. We did not test it, and the site's own FAQ includes a question about it being visible on Google Meet with Windows 10, which is a reminder that these features break. This is also the most expensive month-to-month option on the list. The $799 lifetime price is the one to compare against a long job search.
If you only need meeting notes: Granola (and Otter)
If your actual job is notes after a sales call or an internal meeting, a hidden interview overlay is the wrong category. Granola captures audio from your device, does not send a bot into the call, and writes notes afterward. Official pricing on granola.ai/pricing on November 11, 2026: Basic is $0 with 30-day history, Business is $14 per user per month, and Enterprise is $35 per user per month.
Otter is the other mainstream notetaker on Toolfolio if you want a transcript-first meeting assistant. Cluely itself publishes comparisons against both, which is a useful hint: notes and a hidden live overlay are different jobs.
How to choose
- You want free, and you will do some setup: Natively (personal use, your own keys or Ollama) or Cheating Daddy (open source, your own key).
- You want a hosted interview copilot with a low annual bill: Sensei AI at $24 a month billed annually, or Final Round AI at $25 a month billed annually if you also want practice interviews.
- You want a real free daily cap before you pay: LockedIn AI's 60 minutes a day in 5-minute sessions, or Verve AI's 3 short live sessions plus 5 mocks.
- You want to buy hours, not a month: Parakeet AI credit packs. Confirm the currency on the official page.
- You are sitting a coding round and you are comparing desktop apps: Interview Coder is the specialist, at $299 a month or $799 once. Natively and Cheating Daddy are the free-leaning alternatives.
- You only need notes: Granola or
Otter, not a $149.99 stealth plan.
- You already like Cluely and just need unlimited answers: Cluely Pro at $19.99 a month ($11.99 billed annually) is enough. Pay $149.99 (or $79.99 billed annually) only if the official hiding feature is the thing you are buying, and remember we did not test that claim.
A closer look at Cluely's free Starter limits will be in a related Toolfolio guide, scheduled for November 13, 2026.
FAQ
What is the best Cluely alternative?
It depends on the job. For a free copilot you run yourself, Natively is the most complete official pricing page we found. For a hosted interview copilot, Final Round AI, Sensei AI, LockedIn AI and Verve AI are the main options. For coding interviews, Interview Coder is the specialist. For meeting notes only, use Granola or Otter.
Are there free or open source Cluely alternatives?
Yes. Natively is free for personal use with your own keys or a local Ollama model. Cheating Daddy is free and open source (GPL-3.0) if you supply an API key. LockedIn AI and Verve AI also have hosted free tiers with clear session limits. Cluely's own Starter plan is free, with limited responses and notes.
Is Cluely free?
Yes, Cluely has a free Starter plan. It includes limited AI responses, limited meeting notes, custom instructions and up to 3 file uploads. Unlimited use is Cluely Pro at $19.99 a month, or $11.99 a month billed annually. Screen-share hiding is not on the free plan or on Pro. A longer free-plan walkthrough is scheduled to publish on Toolfolio on November 13, 2026.
What is the difference between Cluely Pro and Pro + Undetectability?
Pro ($19.99 a month, or $11.99 billed annually) adds unlimited responses, unlimited notes, latest models and priority support. Pro + Undetectability ($149.99 a month, or $79.99 billed annually) is the plan Cluely sells for being "completely hidden to meeting screen sharing software." That hiding feature is a vendor claim. We did not test it. Several third-party posts still cite $44.99 a month billed annually for this plan. The official page showed $79.99 a month billed annually on November 11, 2026.
Does Cluely have an Android app or a Chrome extension?
Not on the official desktop product. Cluely's docs quickstart lists macOS and Windows 11 only. The official site does have an iPhone app at cluely.com/mobile, described as a free-to-download meeting notetaker. We did not find an official Android app or Chrome extension for the desktop copilot.
Is Cluely undetectable on Zoom, Google Meet or Teams?
Cluely says Pro + Undetectability is "completely hidden to meeting screen sharing software," and that invisibility is an opt-in setting. We did not test Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Webex or any recording tool. Other vendors on this list make similar claims. LockedIn AI is one of the few that says, on its own pricing page, that it cannot guarantee undetectability on every platform. Treat every stealth claim as untested.
Is it OK to use these tools in a live interview or exam?
That is a policy question, not a pricing one. Using a hidden assistant in a live interview, exam or recorded assessment may violate the employer's, school's or platform's rules, and it can be enough to end a process if it is discovered. We are comparing public prices and features for meeting copilots and interview prep. We are not recommending that you hide a tool in a live evaluation.
How does Cluely compare with Final Round AI, Interview Coder, Natively and Granola?
Cluely is a general meeting copilot whose screen-share hiding is gated behind a $149.99 monthly plan ($79.99 billed annually). Final Round AI starts live CoPilot and Stealth Mode from $25 a month on its homepage. Interview Coder is a coding-interview desktop app at $299 a month or $799 once. Natively can be $0 if you bring keys. Granola is a notetaker, not a hidden live overlay, and is the better comparison if you just want notes after the call.
