This review is part of a larger series of LinkedIn newsletters titled The Human Side of AI: Cutting through the AI noise to show you how AI can be a powerful tool for your creativity, efficiency, and strategy.
Cluely is a desktop and mobile AI assistant that listens to live calls, reads content on screen, and surfaces suggested answers, talking points, and notes in a small overlay visible to the user. Its top paid tier is marketed as hidden during screen sharing. Cluely launched in 2025 from an earlier product, Interview Coder, under the tagline “cheat on everything,” and has since repositioned itself as a meeting assistant.
For a market researcher, the important starting point is straightforward: the product’s distinctive feature is the ability to use AI without other people in the meeting seeing the overlay.
Key strengths
In-the-moment assistance during a call
Most AI tools help researchers prepare for interviews or synthesize material afterward. Cluely is designed for the live moment. A moderator can use a hotkey to pull up a suggested follow-up question or definition without leaving the conversation to type into a chatbot.
For someone following a discussion guide while keeping a respondent engaged, an on-demand prompt can be useful. That is a real capability, though it depends heavily on response speed and accuracy.
A notetaker that stays off the participant list
Cluely operates as an on-device overlay rather than joining the meeting as a visible bot. That means there is no additional participant name on the roster.
In buyer, win-loss, or sensitive qualitative interviews, a visible recording or notetaking bot can affect participant behavior. Removing the bot from the call may reduce that friction, but it does not remove the researcher’s responsibility to disclose and obtain permission for any recording, transcription, or data capture.
Live transcription across platforms and languages
Cluely says it supports more than 12 languages and works with major meeting platforms, including Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and Webex.
For researchers conducting interviews across markets, a single live-assistance layer could be more convenient than configuring separate tools for each platform.
Where it could improve
The reliability appears not to match the marketing. Cluely has promoted response times of roughly 300 milliseconds and transcription accuracy of 95 percent, but independent reviews have reported real-world response delays of five to ten seconds and substantially lower transcription accuracy in some tests.
Business Insider’s testing, as reported by independent reviews, also found instances in which Cluely fabricated résumé details, including roles and accomplishments not present in the user’s background. In a research setting, a prompt that arrives late or invents a fact can create more risk than value, especially if a moderator repeats it to a respondent. Outputs should be treated as unverified suggestions, not as evidence suitable for client findings.
Confidentiality is the harder problem. Reports indicate that a 2025 breach exposed personal information, interview transcripts, and screenshots for more than 83,000 users. Because the product is designed to process live audio and screen content, researchers should evaluate its data practices, retention rules, subprocessors, and contractual protections carefully before using it with information covered by an NDA or client confidentiality obligation.
Then there is the premise. Cluely’s core selling point is concealment during screen sharing. Ethical qualitative research depends on transparent disclosure and informed consent. Recording and monitoring laws also vary by jurisdiction. Several U.S. states generally require all parties’ consent for certain private communications, and GDPR-regulated processing requires a lawful basis and transparency.
There is also practical friction. The screen-share-undetectability feature is listed at $149.99 per month, while the lower-cost Pro plan does not include it. The high price makes the product difficult to justify for an occasional research use case.
Ratings
| Dimension | Rating | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Usability | 3.0 / 5 | The hotkey-driven overlay is simple, but live assistance can lag when speed matters, and the defining feature requires a costly upgrade. |
| Power | 2.5 / 5 | Reported transcription inconsistency, documented fabrication, and a lack of source grounding make outputs unsafe to rely on for research findings. |
| Flexibility | 2.5 / 5 | It works across major meeting platforms, but it is specialized for live meetings rather than broader research workflows. |
| Cost | 2.0 / 5 | The defining screen-share feature costs $149.99 per month, while less expensive plans omit it. |
Conclusion
The legitimate use case for a researcher is narrow: post-call notes and the occasional, clearly disclosed in-call prompt. What defines Cluely, keeping the AI overlay out of view, conflicts with how trustworthy research is conducted.
A researcher should use AI openly, obtain appropriate consent for recording or transcription, protect participant data, and apply judgment to every output. A tool whose central promise is concealment encourages the opposite instinct, making it a poor foundation for a research workflow.
Last updated: August 10, 2026.