Is Cluely worth it for interviews?

That depends on one test you can run before the refund window closes. Cluely is built mainly as a meeting assistant. Its refund article says it does not refund “interview software detection/cheating use cases”, so if the window is seen or a test platform flags it, that is not grounds for your money back. The refund route it does name is a computer where Cluely does not work, reported within 24 hours. So the question to answer is simple: can you check, on your own machine and meeting app, inside those 24 hours, that it does what you need? The rest of this page shows where those rules live, what the plans cost, how to cancel, and how to ask for your money back if you already paid.

The question people ask looks like this:

“Has anyone here used Cluely or similar AI tools to get through interviews? Curious how well it worked in real scenarios.”

Blind, July 2025

We make PiriPiri AI, another interview copilot, so we have a stake in this. Everything we say about Cluely’s rules links to Cluely’s own pages, which we read on 4 November 2026. Everything about how it behaves comes from named reviews you can open yourself. Our own section is near the end.

What is Cluely, and what does it do well?

Cluely is a desktop app for Mac and Windows that listens to your calls and shows AI help in a small window on your screen. Its pricing page pitches it for “meetings, homework, sales calls”. The word interview does not appear there. Its help centre calls it a meeting note taker and describes its main use as sales, project briefs and support.

It does some things well. The iPhone note taking app has a 4.7 rating from 573 ratings on the App Store, and one reviewer there, stemdax, on 18 December 2025, called it a “really powerful note taker and meeting manager”. On Trustpilot, Cheryl Qian gave it five stars on 4 August 2025 and wrote that “Cluely is a great assistive technology provider”. Its billing is self serve, which is better than tools where you have to email someone to stop a plan. And its help articles are frank about limits, as you will see below. If your calls are mostly sales or team meetings, it may be a good fit.

If you are buying it for an interview, three things deserve a close look: the refund policy, the price of the plan that hides the window, and a run of billing complaints.

What does Cluely’s refund policy say about interviews?

Cluely’s refund article in its help centre, dated 5 March 2026, offers a 24 hour refund window “for system-level restrictions such that Cluely does not work on your computer.” It then lists cases that are “not applicable for a refund”:

• forgetting to cancel;
• “Interview software detection/cheating use cases”, with a pointer to a “standalone product, Interview Coder” and the line “Cluely is for meeting assistance across sales, project briefs, and support”;
• changing the subscription plan.

The older refund policy on cluely.com, last updated 20 April 2025, is stricter still. It gives the same 24 hours, but “ONLY in the condition that you are able to show video evidence that it is not working on your computer.” It says that “detection by screen-sharing software, or slowness in solution generation are not refundable”, and that there are no refunds at all for Windows 10 computers. A separate subscription article adds that refunds are “typically not provided if the software is functioning correctly but does not meet user expectations.” The terms of service sum it up: fees are “non-refundable and non-creditable, except as expressly set forth”.

Cluely says it will not refund two problems interview users may worry about: the interviewer seeing the window and answers arriving too slowly. Its newer article adds interview software detection to that list. What it leaves open is a computer where Cluely does not work.

That exception is real. Cluely’s guide to testing the hidden mode says that if you subscribe and Cluely is not compatible with your device, you should contact support “and we will assist with a refund.” Its test is a screenshot of your whole screen with the hidden mode on: if the window shows in it, the guide says your system is not compatible. A machine that fails that test is a different case from a window that an interviewer or a test platform spotted during a call. So run Cluely’s own test, and any other check you need, inside the first 24 hours. If it passes and you are comfortable with the refund terms, it may suit you. If you cannot test it in that time, you are paying with no way back.

What does Cluely cost for an interview search?

Cluely’s published prices, as we record them on our comparison page (checked October 2026), are $19.99/mo, $149.99/mo for stealth. The free Starter plan has a daily limit on AI answers. The part that matters for interviews is the second number. The plan Cluely calls Pro + Undetectability is the only one where the window is hidden from screen sharing. Its plan comparison is plain about it: the standard Pro plan “does not include this feature”. So the entry price of $19.99/mo is not what an interview costs on Cluely. The figure to plan with is $149.99/mo (stealth tier).

A job search rarely ends in one month. Three months on that plan, billed monthly, comes to $449.97, whether you have three interviews or thirty. The pricing page also has an annual switch that shows a lower monthly figure billed for the year up front. Look hard at that before you click, because Cluely’s subscription article says that once you are charged for a year, you cannot move to a monthly plan until the year ends.

Will the hidden mode work on your setup?

Cluely’s list of supported apps is more candid than most sales pages. Before paying for the top plan, read these lines from it:

• Zoom is “Not Undetectable by Default”. You need an older Zoom version or the “Advanced capture with window filtering” setting.
• Microsoft Teams: Cluely says it is visible when you share your entire screen on Windows 10 and Windows 11 Home.
• Older machines: no Windows 10, and its testing guide says Macs from before 2022 are not compatible.
• FaceTime is not supported at all.
• Proctoring tools: Cluely says it will be detected by Proctorio, Honorlock, Respondus LockDown Browser, Mercer Mettl and several others.

If your interview runs on Teams and you will share your entire screen from a Windows 10 or Windows 11 Home laptop, Cluely says the window can be seen in that case, even on the plan you would pay extra for.

Cluely’s help pages give conflicting signals about interview use. The same article, dated 22 December 2025, lists CodeSignal, CoderPad, Codility and HackerRank as platforms Cluely has tested, and names a specific CodeSignal assessment. So its documentation has interview platforms in mind, while its refund article excludes interview software detection. Read both before you pay.

Cluely’s refund article sends interview users to Interview Coder. That tool is not cheap either: we list it at $299/mo (or $799 once). See our Cluely alternatives page to compare tools built for interviews.

What do Cluely users say about billing and support?

Cluely’s Trustpilot page showed a score of 1.6 from 23 reviews when we opened it. That is a small sample, and unhappy customers are more likely to write. Most of these reviewers do not say they used Cluely for interviews. We include them because they are about billing, cancelling and support, which an interview user goes through too. These are their accounts, not facts we checked with Cluely.

Charges after cancelling

Several reviewers described this. Vincent wrote on 30 April 2026: “I cancelled my subscription, yet Cluely continued to charge my card.” Artsiom Sarokin, 30 July 2026: “They even charged me for the second month after I canceled my subscription.” Aaron Sayoc, 25 May 2026: “They keep attempting to charge my card even after I cancelled my subscription on Stripe”. Keep this in mind for the cancel steps below: the confirmation screen is your proof.

Renewals people did not expect

Todd Williams wrote on 16 October 2026 that he found a renewal on his card and “had not seen any option for auto-renewal at the time of the subscription and haven’t used the software for over a year.” He asked for an exception and was told no. Ashutosh Maheshwari, 22 September 2026: “They kept charging my card for a year, when I never used their services.” Cluely’s terms say plans renew automatically “at our then-current pricing”, and its subscription article says plans auto renew “by default, as disclosed during checkout”.

A monthly price that became a year

Tushar, from the UK, wrote on 14 March 2026 that he saw a monthly price on an upgrade card inside the app, clicked to upgrade to yearly, and was “immediately charged” for the full year with “no confirmation screen, no total price shown”. Michael Chang, 26 March 2026: “Money was taken immediately with no chance to review or cancel the transaction.” Yu F, who paid for a year, added on 16 April 2026: “What it didnt say is that you cant get part of your money back if you cancel after a month or so.” Cluely’s cancellation policy does say this, under the heading “No Pro-Rata Refunds”.

Support answered by an AI agent

Cluely is open about this one. Its support article says email gets “answers from Fin AI”, and that “the team is small, so we do not have a dedicated support agent yet.” Some reviewers wanted a person. Tushar wrote that “Their AI agent “Fin” refused a refund citing internal policy.” Francis Gatsinzi, 9 March 2026: “The cancellation process is a maze, no simple way to cancel at all.”

The app failing during a call

Emmanuel Colina wrote on 21 March 2026: “a transcription tool that dies mid-conversation is worse than not having one at all.” The only review we found that mentions an interview comes from an account shown only as “Client of the Reviewed Company”, on 30 January 2026. It says the “app closed itself on its own during the interview”, and that during an online test “the Cluely app was 100% detectable as separate window” and the test ended. We cannot check who wrote it, and it does not say which platform the test ran on, so treat it as one person’s report.

How do you cancel Cluely?

Cluely’s cancel article (dated 9 December 2025) gives these steps for a plan bought in the desktop app:

1. Open the Cluely desktop app.
2. Click your profile icon, then Settings.
3. Open the Billing tab and click Manage.
4. This opens Stripe, the payment company Cluely uses. Cancel the plan there.
5. Take a screenshot of the screen that confirms the cancellation, and keep the email Stripe or Cluely sends you.

Three lines in that article matter. “Fin AI cannot cancel your plan for you”, so emailing support asking to cancel will not do it. The subscription article adds that support cannot make subscription changes for you at all. And deleting your account is a separate step, under Settings, then General, then Delete Account. Deleting the account and cancelling the plan are not the same thing, so cancel first.

Does your access end right away?

Cluely’s pages say two different things. The cancellation policy on cluely.com (20 April 2025) says a cancelled plan keeps its paid features until the end of the billing cycle. The help article (9 December 2025) says “Canceling your subscription cancels your access to Pro features immediately.” We cannot tell you which one the Stripe page will follow for you. Read what it says before you confirm. If you have an interview in the next few days and want to keep using the tool, you may prefer to cancel right after it. If you are near a renewal date, cancel now: no partial refund is coming either way.

If you use the iPhone app

Cluely’s mobile help article (6 February 2026) says “Cluely Mobile does not charge through the App Store”. It tells you to cancel in the app: tap the gear in the top right corner, then Manage Billing. But when we opened the App Store listing on 4 November 2026, it listed two in-app purchases. So check both places. On the iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. If Cluely is there, cancel it there and ask Apple for any refund through reportaproblem.apple.com. If it is not, use the Manage Billing link in the app.

Removing the app from a Mac

One reviewer, Deborah Ramirez, wrote on 27 October 2025 that removing the app “was only possible by manually using Activity Monitor on my Mac and force-quitting about seven separate processes.” If dragging it to the Trash fails, quit it from the menu bar first, then check Activity Monitor for anything still named Cluely. Removing the app does not cancel the plan.

How do you stop the next charge if cancelling did not work?

Start by checking who charged you. Cluely’s article on unrecognised charges says real charges show the descriptor CLUELY, INC. It warns about a separate site, cluelyai.com, with a purple logo, which it says is not connected to Cluely. If your statement shows CluelyAI, Cluely cannot cancel it. Contact that company and your bank. This may be why people search for “Cluely AI refund”.

If the charge is from Cluely and you already cancelled:

1. Open Stripe again through Settings, then Billing, then Manage, and check the plan shows as cancelled. Screenshot it with the date visible.
2. Email help@cluely.com with your cancellation proof and ask for the charge to be reversed, because it was taken after you cancelled. Expect Fin to answer first. Ask for the case to go to a person, and keep the thread.
3. Block further charges at your bank. Most banking apps let you stop recurring payments to a merchant or freeze the card. In India, recurring card payments run on an e-mandate: you should get a notice at least 24 hours before each debit, and you can cancel the mandate yourself in your bank or card app.
4. Dispute the charge with your card issuer as a last step, if Cluely does not fix it. Tell them you cancelled, give the date, and attach your proof. Some reviewers say they went this way; Tushar wrote that he escalated to his bank and to Stripe.

Your rights depend on where you live and how you paid. The EU’s 14 day right to withdraw can end once a digital service starts, but only if you agreed to that at checkout. In the US, the federal “click to cancel” rule was struck down in July 2025. We explain these, and the app store refund routes, in our guide is an AI interview copilot worth it.

How do you ask Cluely for a refund?

Move fast. Both of Cluely’s refund pages give 24 hours. The help article asks for the email on your Cluely account, an invoice and a detailed reason, sent to help@cluely.com. The older policy page also asks for video showing the software not working on your computer, and promises a reply within 48 hours. The two pages give different times for the money to arrive: five to seven business days on the policy page, five to ten on the help article.

What to attach

• The invoice or receipt, with the date and time of the charge.
• A screen recording showing the fault on your machine, such as the app not opening or not picking up any audio. If you bought the hidden plan and Cluely’s own whole screen screenshot test shows the window on your computer, say so and mention its testing guide, which treats that as a device that is not compatible. Being seen by an interviewer or a test platform during a call is a different thing, and Cluely’s policy pages say it is not refundable.
• Your operating system and version, and your meeting app.
• If you were charged after cancelling, the cancellation screenshot and email.
• If you were charged for a year when you expected a month, a screenshot of the checkout or upgrade screen, if you have one.

A message you can copy

Subject: Refund request, account [your email], charge on [date]

Hello. I am writing within 24 hours of a charge of [amount] on [date] to my card ending [last four digits]. Cluely does not work on my computer: [what happens, for example “the app does not pick up any audio”, or “the window shows in your own full screen screenshot test with the hidden mode on, which your testing guide says means my device is not compatible”]. My system is [Mac or Windows, version]. I have attached a screen recording and the invoice. I have cancelled the plan in the billing portal; the confirmation is attached. Please refund this charge in full to the original card and confirm by email. If an automated agent cannot approve this, please pass it to a member of the team. Thank you, [name]

Keep it short and factual. Describe what happens on your computer, step by step, and only a fault that really happened. A clear fault with a recording is the case Cluely’s policy says it will look at; a general complaint that the tool was not good enough is one it says it usually refuses.

If nobody answers

Wait for the 48 hours the policy page mentions, then reply on the same thread so the dates stay together. If you get a bot reply that does not address your case, say so in one line and ask again for a person. If a week passes with no answer and you were charged after cancelling or without a clear total at checkout, that is the point to go to your card issuer.

What to check before you pay for any interview tool

Most of the complaints above could happen with any subscription. These checks take ten minutes and work for every tool, ours included.

• The renewal type. Monthly, yearly or weekly? Does it renew on its own? Find the date it will charge next and put it in your calendar the day you buy.
• The total charged today. A per month figure shown on a yearly plan is still a yearly charge. Screenshot the checkout with the total on it.
• The refund window, word for word. Look for hours or days, and for conditions like video evidence, “substantial usage”, sessions started, or uses that are excluded.
• Which plan has the feature you need. If screen share hiding is on a higher plan, price that plan, not the entry one.
• Your meeting app and machine. Look for a supported apps list and system requirements. Then test with a full screen share and a recording in a mock call.
• Credits and caps. Do unused credits or sessions expire? Is there a daily or monthly cap on answers?
• Where you cancel. In the app, on a website, or in the App Store or Google Play? Find the button before you pay.
• Who answers support. Send one question before buying. See whether a person replies, and how fast.

What to do next if you have interviews coming up

If you came here because a plan did not suit you, the simplest fix is a tool that charges per interview, so there is nothing to forget to cancel. That is how PiriPiri AI works.

• Pay per interview. One-time packs cost about $2.50 an interview. The sessions never expire, so a slow month costs you nothing. There is also an optional monthly plan, if you prefer one; prices for both are on the pricing page.
• Try it free first. Every new account gets 3 free sessions of 10 minutes each, with no card. That is enough to test your audio, your screen share and the answer speed on your own setup. For a full length mock round, the smallest pack is $5 for 2 sessions.
• Desktop app for macOS and Windows. It hears both sides of the call, your microphone and the interviewer’s audio from the computer, so headphones are fine. No bot joins the meeting.
• The overlay does not appear when you share your screen. Screen share protection is not a paid extra with us. Still run a full screen share and a recording test yourself before a real interview.

We have refund rules too, and you should read them before buying, as with any tool. An unused pack can be refunded for a short time after purchase. Once you start a session it is used, unless the service failed on our side. The details are on our refund policy page. On a Mac, hearing the interviewer needs macOS 14.2 or later. And like any copilot, it will not make up for experience you do not have, and reading answers word for word sounds rehearsed.

For how we compare with Cluely and other tools point by point, see the Cluely alternatives page. All our prices are on the pricing page.

Questions people ask

Where to go next

If you are not sure a copilot is for you at all, read is an AI interview copilot worth it and whether interviewers can tell you are using AI. For an interview in a day or two, try the guide for an interview tomorrow.

To try PiriPiri AI, start with the 3 free sessions every new account gets, run the checks above, and buy only if it passes.

Keep reading

• Cluely alternatives compared
• Pay per interview instead of a monthly plan
• Can interviewers tell if you use AI?