Home/Paid apps/AI assistant
Cluely cluely.com

Can AI replace Cluely?

The core loop is genuinely thin: capture a screenshot, transcribe the mic, feed both to a multimodal model, stream the answer into a transparent always-on-top window on a hotkey. An agent gets that working in a session, and it will feel uncomfortably close to the demo. The gaps are the unglamorous parts: capturing the other side's audio takes virtual audio devices, latency has to beat the conversation, and the headline trick of staying invisible in screen shares depends on fragile platform window flags that vary by OS and conferencing app. Your DIY version will work fine when you are alone with your own screen, and may quietly betray you the one time it matters.

Verdict: Half-bot · AI gets you partway; the hard part stays hardBuild time: a weekend

Replacing a paid app means you set it up and keep it running: hosting, updates and backups can be on you. What you give up.

Half-bot

01What it costs

$19.99/moPro, monthly
$239.88per year at that price

Checked Aug 16, 2026 · source: cluely.com.

02Could AI build it for you?

The core job: A local Electron overlay bound to a hotkey that screenshots your active display, transcribes recent audio, sends both to a multimodal LLM, and streams a short answer into a translucent window nobody else is supposed to see.

What a working version needs:

  • An OpenAI API key (or any multimodal chat endpoint) in .env
  • macOS or Windows desktop, plus screen recording and microphone permissions
  • A virtual audio device for other-party audio: BlackHole on macOS, VB-Cable or WASAPI loopback on Windows
  • Node 20 and willingness to sign or self-trust an unsigned Electron build

The value proposition is helping you fake competence, so budget for the possibility that your build works perfectly and you still get caught.

03What you'd give up

  • Screen-share invisibility that has actually been tested against Zoom, Meet, Teams and OS screenshot tools
  • Sub-second latency and the prompt tuning that makes answers short enough to read while someone is talking
  • System audio capture that just works without you installing and routing a virtual audio device
  • Mobile and browser-extension coverage, plus a hosted account so your setup follows you to another machine
  • Somebody else's legal and PR exposure for a product whose pitch is 'cheat on everything'

Because the hard part is not the LLM call, it is the twenty small platform details that make an overlay silent, invisible and fast under pressure, and because people who reach for this tool are, by definition, not in the mood to debug a virtual audio driver ten minutes before an interview. Paying converts a fragile personal hack into something that mostly behaves on a laptop you did not configure yourself.

Sponsor slot · openFeatured alternative to Cluely. A labeled card for one relevant tool.
Book this spot →

04The build prompt

Get the Build Kit for Cluely

The complete build prompt, plus 11 step-by-step prompts from research to launch, a design system file, a page-by-page spec, the data model and a launch checklist.

Get the Build Kit · $9 →

One-time payment. Delivered on screen and by email.

Prices change; confirm on the vendor's site before you decide.