I've seen a lot of AI tools pop up over the last couple of years, but few have made as much noise as Cluely. Its marketing is provocative, its origin story is steeped in controversy, and its core promise is both tempting and a little unsettling. The tool unabashedly claims to help you "cheat on everything," from high-stakes job interviews to your daily meetings. Naturally, I had to dig in and see what all the fuss was about.

At its heart, Cluely is a desktop assistant that acts as an intelligence layer over your entire digital life. It’s not a chatbot you open in a separate tab; it’s a persistent, translucent window that lives on your screen. The big idea is that it sees what you see and hears what you hear, providing you with real-time AI-generated insights and answers without you ever having to switch context. It’s an ambitious attempt to redefine how we interact with AI, moving it from a passive tool to an active, always-on partner.

A Closer Look at Cluely's Core Features

To understand how Cluely aims to be your secret weapon, we need to look at its main capabilities. It’s more than just a simple prompt-and-response tool; its power comes from its deep integration with your immediate workflow.

It Sees What You See

The first major component is its screen-reading ability. Cluely can see and understand virtually any content on your screen. Imagine you're a developer stuck on a complex piece of code. Instead of copying and pasting it into a separate AI tool, Cluely can analyze it directly from your editor and suggest a fix. The same principle applies to sales reps looking at a dashboard, students facing a difficult question on an online exam, or anyone reading a dense document.

This feature provides the AI with crucial context about what you're working on. By understanding the visual information in front of you, its responses can be far more relevant and immediate. You just press a key, and it knows what you’re looking at and provides a response tailored to that specific task, eliminating the guesswork and the constant tab-switching that plagues most AI workflows.

It Hears What You Hear

Beyond sight, Cluely also listens. It can silently monitor the audio from your computer, making it incredibly powerful for any kind of verbal interaction. During a meeting or a sales call, it can listen to the conversation in real-time. If a client asks a tricky technical question or makes an objection you weren't prepared for, Cluely can provide you with a suggested answer on the fly.

What I found most interesting is that it does this without ever "joining" the meeting. There’s no bot that appears in the participant list and no notification that an AI is listening in. It’s a completely private experience, designed to give you an edge without alerting anyone else. It can even recall information from earlier in the conversation, ensuring you never lose the thread of the discussion. [[text="Try Cluely" url="https://cluely.com/"]]

Undetectable by Design

This brings us to Cluely's most controversial and, arguably, most impressive feature: its stealth. The entire system is designed to be undetectable. The Cluely window is translucent and, crucially, does not appear when you share your screen. This means you can have it open during a job interview or a client presentation, getting live assistance, and the other party will have no idea.

You can also move the window around your screen, positioning it right in your line of sight so you don't have to break eye contact or look away. This focus on being completely hidden is what fuels the "cheating" narrative, but it's also what makes the tool so uniquely powerful for its intended use cases. It’s a bold design choice that directly addresses the social and professional hurdles of using AI assistance in live interactions.

How Much Does Cluely Cost?

Cluely operates on a freemium model, which makes it accessible for anyone who wants to give it a try. There is a standard version available for free, which comes with some limitations on its features. This is a great way to get a feel for the tool and see if it fits into your workflow without any financial commitment.

For those who want the full, unrestricted experience, there is a pro version. This tier costs $20 per month or, for a better value, $100 for an annual subscription. The pro version unlocks more powerful AI models and removes the limitations of the free plan, giving you the most capable version of the assistant for more demanding tasks.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cluely

Given its unique and controversial nature, I had a lot of questions. Here are the answers to some of the most common ones you might have.

Is Cluely really undetectable?

According to the company, yes. The tool is specifically engineered to be invisible during screen sharing and in meeting recordings. The translucent interface is only visible to you. While the creators have put a lot of effort into this stealth capability, it's always wise to remember that no technology is ever 100% foolproof, but it’s as close to invisible as I’ve seen.

Isn't using Cluely just cheating?

This is the million-dollar question. The founders of Cluely lean into the word "cheating" but argue that it's a matter of perspective. They compare their tool to the invention of the calculator, spellcheck, or even Google. Each of those technologies was initially seen by some as a shortcut that would make people dumber. The company’s manifesto suggests that technology always makes us smarter, and after an initial panic, society adapts. They position Cluely not as a tool for dishonesty, but as an amplifier for human intelligence.

Who is behind Cluely?

Cluely was co-founded by Chungin "Roy" Lee and Neel Shanmugam, two former Columbia University students. Their journey is a key part of the brand's story. They were reportedly suspended from the university for creating and using a similar tool to ace technical interviews, which they then used to get offers from major tech companies like Meta and Amazon. Instead of backing down, they dropped out, raised millions in venture capital from top firms like Andreessen Horowitz, and launched Cluely for the public.

What can I use Cluely for?

The potential applications are broad. The most promoted use cases include acing job interviews, handling objections in sales calls, getting real-time assistance in meetings, and even getting help on online exams or homework. However, it's also designed for solo deep work. You can use it while coding, writing, or researching to get instant, context-aware help without breaking your focus. It’s built to be a versatile cognitive partner for almost any task you do on your computer. [[text="Try Cluely" url="https://cluely.com/"]]