Prices verified September 2026. Vendors in this category change plans often, so check each pricing page before you pay.

The best Cluely alternatives in 2026 are CloakAI, Sensei AI, LockedIn AI, Final Round AI, Natively, and Cheating Daddy. Most people leave Cluely for one reason: the feature they actually want, an overlay the interviewer cannot see during a screen share, sits behind the Pro + Undetectability plan at $149.99 per month. Cluely's $19.99 Pro plan does not include it. Every tool below either includes screen share protection at its base price or is free.

Disclosure: CloakAI is our product. Competitor prices are taken from public pricing pages and third party reviews, and we note where sources disagree.

The Real Cluely Price, and Why It Drives People Away

Cluely has four ways to pay, and only one of them does the thing most candidates sign up for.

Cluely plan	Price	Overlay hidden in screen shares?
Starter	Free	No
Pro	$19.99/month	No
Pro + Undetectability	$149.99/month, or $44.99/month billed annually	Yes
Mobile	$8/week	Separate iOS app

Two other points come up repeatedly in reviews. A 2025 security incident exposed data belonging to more than 83,000 users, which matters because this category of tool captures resumes, screen content, and audio. And because Cluely is the most recognised brand in the space, some assessment platforms have built detection aimed at popular assistants by name.

None of that makes Cluely a bad product. It is fast, well funded, and good at general meetings. It is simply expensive for the one job most readers of this page want done.

Six Cluely Alternatives, Grouped by What You Are Paying For

If you want screen share stealth without the $149.99 tier: CloakAI

CloakAI is a Windows and macOS desktop app aimed at technical and coding interviews. The overlay is drawn at the operating system level, so it is excluded from screen shares and recordings in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. That behaviour is included at every paid price rather than gated behind a top tier.

Price: Free 7 day trial with 3 sessions and no card required, then $4.99 per week or $17.99 per month on current promotional pricing.
Speed: Under 2 seconds on average.
Works with: Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, Webex, plus browser tests such as HackerRank and CodeSignal.
Tradeoffs: Closed source, desktop only, no option to use your own API key, currently in private beta.

If you want the lowest annual price: Sensei AI

Sensei AI runs in the browser and generates answers from your resume and stories with sub second latency.

Price: Free tier capped at 15 minutes per session, Pro at $89 per month, or about $24 per month billed annually at $288 upfront. No refunds on any plan.
Tradeoffs: Because it runs inside the browser, it does not get operating system level stealth, which matters on proctored coding tests. There is no desktop app.

If you want unlimited sessions across many rounds: LockedIn AI

LockedIn AI pairs a desktop app with a web interface and covers behavioural rounds, coding, and resume work in one account.

Price: Unlimited listed at $54.99 per month during a promotion against a $109.98 standard price, roughly $39.99 per month billed quarterly, a credits plan around $69.99 per month, and a lifetime licence that has appeared between $999.50 and $1,499.25.
Tradeoffs: Pricing is regional and heavily promotional, so the number you see may differ from the number someone else sees. Trustpilot sits at 3.7 out of 5 across 76 reviews, with lag reported in the browser extension version.

If you want practice as well as live help: Final Round AI

Final Round AI bundles its Interview CoPilot with AI mock interviews, a question bank, and a resume builder.

Price: Final Round AI's own pricing page lists $25 per month billed annually at $300 per year, $60 per month quarterly, and $90 per month monthly. Several third party reviews report higher figures near $149 per month and $500 per year, so check the live page. There is no permanent free plan, only a short trial session.
Tradeoffs: Month to month billing is expensive, and refund policies are strict.

If you want free and private: Natively

Natively is a source available meeting assistant and interview copilot, free for personal use, with bring your own key support for any LLM, local models through Ollama, and local RAG memory.

Price: Free for personal use.
Tradeoffs: You configure it yourself and supply your own API key or local model. Support is community based.

If you want the original free option: Cheating Daddy

Cheating Daddy is the free, open source app much of this category was first compared against. It captures your screen and system audio, sends them to Google Gemini, and shows answers in a transparent overlay.

Price: Free, but you supply your own Gemini API key.
Tradeoffs: Gemini only, community support, and setup is on you. We cover it in detail in our guide to Cheating Daddy alternatives.

Price Comparison at a Glance

Tool	Cheapest paid plan	Free option	Stealth at base price	Platform
Cluely	$19.99/month	Yes, limited	No, needs $149.99 tier	Desktop, iOS
CloakAI	$4.99/week or $17.99/month	7 day trial	Yes	Windows, macOS
Sensei AI	$24/month billed annually	Yes, 15 min cap	Browser only	Browser
LockedIn AI	About $39.99/month quarterly	Small credit grant	Yes	Desktop and web
Final Round AI	$25/month billed annually	Trial session only	Yes	Desktop
Natively	Free	Yes	Yes	Desktop
Cheating Daddy	Free	Yes	Yes	Windows, macOS

How to Choose in Under a Minute

You have one interview next week. A weekly plan or a free tool beats an annual commitment. CloakAI's weekly pass or Cheating Daddy both fit.
You are interviewing for months. Annual pricing wins. Sensei AI and Final Round AI are cheapest per month if you can pay upfront.
Your rounds are coding tests on HackerRank or CodeSignal. Choose a desktop app. Browser based tools sit inside the environment being monitored.
You care most about privacy. Natively runs locally and never sends your interview content to a vendor.
You need help in meetings and sales calls, not interviews. Cluely is genuinely strong here, and $19.99 is fair for that use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a free alternative to Cluely?

Yes. Natively is free for personal use and Cheating Daddy is free and open source. Both require you to supply your own model access. CloakAI and Sensei AI offer free trials rather than permanently free plans.

Why is Cluely $149.99 per month?

That price is for the Pro + Undetectability plan, the tier that hides the overlay from screen sharing software. The cheaper $19.99 Pro plan gives you live answers and meeting notes but not that protection. Annual billing brings the stealth tier to about $44.99 per month.

What is the best Cluely alternative for coding interviews?

CloakAI and LockedIn AI are both built with technical rounds in mind and run as desktop apps, which keeps them outside the browser that coding platforms monitor. Sensei AI has a coding copilot but runs in the browser.

Is Cluely safe to use after the data breach?

The 2025 incident exposed data on more than 83,000 users. Whether that matters depends on how sensitive your interview content is. If you are interviewing in a regulated industry or discussing confidential work, a tool that processes data locally, such as Natively, removes that exposure entirely.

Can interviewers detect Cluely?

Cluely's stealth tier hides the overlay from screen sharing, but no tool can promise invisibility in every environment. Proctoring software that inspects running processes can see that an application is open, and some platforms have added detection targeting well known assistants by name. Test your exact setup with a private call and a screen recording first.

The Short Version

If the $149.99 stealth tier is what pushed you to look for Cluely alternatives, you have cheaper options that include the same behaviour by default. CloakAI covers technical interviews at $17.99 per month, Sensei AI is the cheapest annual option at about $24 per month, and Natively costs nothing if you are willing to configure it. Whichever you pick, test it in a recorded practice call before it matters, and check the rules of the interview you are walking into.

Best Cluely Alternatives in 2026 (Cheaper Stealth, Same Job)