Cluely has generated significant controversy as an AI-powered “invisible” meeting assistant that provides hidden real-time coaching during calls, interviews, and presentations. While it promises to make users appear more knowledgeable, its stealth operation and potential ethical violations have led many professionals to search for a more transparent and legally compliant cluely alternative. This comprehensive guide compares Cluely to its top competitors, revealing why ScreenApp’s ethical, all-in-one platform for content creation and collaboration is the superior choice for modern business teams.
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Download on App StoreCluely vs ScreenApp Comparison 2025
| Criteria |
Cluely (Hidden AI Coach)
Trusted by 750K+ users
|
ScreenApp (Ethical AI Meeting Assistant)
Loved by 1M+ professionals
|
|---|---|---|
| Core Function | Covert real-time AI prompts & suggestions | Transparent AI meeting recording & content creation |
| Overall Rating | 3.8/5 ★★★★☆ | 4.8/5 ★★★★★ |
| Platform Availability | Web-based only | Web, iOS, iPad, Mac, Android |
| Transparency & Ethics | None (Deliberately hidden operation) | Full (Clear consent, open collaboration) |
| Legal Compliance | Questionable (GDPR & policy risks) | Compliant (Industry-standard practices) |
| AI Features | Hidden real-time prompts & coaching | Transparent AI transcription, summaries, content creation |
| Content Creation | None (Coaching only) | Video demos, training guides, visual content |
| Collaboration | None (Individual tool) | Team collaboration, sharing, editing |
| Pricing Model | Per-user subscription | Team-based (no per-user charges) |
| Value for Money | 3.9/5 (High risk investment) | 4.8/5 (Long-term trust & skill building) |
| Best For | Individual performance shortcuts | Professional teams & authentic skill development |
What is Cluely? The Controversial “Invisible” AI Assistant
Cluely is an AI-powered real-time coaching tool that secretly monitors your screen and audio during meetings, interviews, sales calls, and presentations. It provides hidden suggestions, prompts, and AI-generated responses that appear only on your screen, invisible to other participants. The tool gained viral attention after its founder was expelled from Columbia University for using a similar “cheating” tool during technical interviews.
Cluely’s core features include:
- Invisible overlays during video calls that go undetected by recording software
- Real-time AI prompts for objection handling, technical questions, and conversation guidance
- Silent operation designed to bypass monitoring tools and platform detection
- Smart battlecards that surface competitor information and sales rebuttals instantly
- Interview assistance providing coding solutions and technical answers in real-time
However, Cluely’s “stealth mode” operation is also its biggest liability. The tool deliberately conceals its presence from other participants, raising serious ethical concerns about misrepresentation, consent violations, and trust. This has led many professionals to seek out transparent alternatives to cluely that build genuine skills rather than creating dependency on hidden AI assistance.
What is ScreenApp? The Ethical AI Meeting Assistant
ScreenApp is a modern platform available on web, iOS, iPad, and Mac that combines high-quality screen recording, transparent AI transcription, and ethical content creation tools. Unlike Cluely’s hidden operation, ScreenApp operates with full transparency and consent, capturing the complete context of your work what you say, what you show, and what you do to help teams create valuable, professional content.
ScreenApp’s approach to AI assistance includes:
- Transparent recording with clear consent from all participants
- Advanced AI analysis that provides insights after meetings, not hidden prompts during them
- Professional content creation tools for demos, training materials, and documentation
- Team collaboration features that build collective knowledge and skills
- Compliance-first design that respects privacy laws and professional ethics
Where Cluely hides AI assistance behind deception, ScreenApp showcases the power of ethical, transparent collaboration that builds real skills and trust.
#1: ETHICS & TRANSPARENCY: THE TRUST FOUNDATION
Cluely
Operates in complete stealth mode, deliberately concealing its AI assistance from other participants. This creates serious trust issues, potential policy violations, and ethical concerns that can damage professional relationships and career prospects.
ScreenApp
Complete transparency in all operations. Clear consent for recording, visible AI assistance features, and open collaboration tools that build trust and professional credibility.
Winner: ScreenApp
In today's business environment where authenticity and trust are paramount, transparency is non-negotiable. ScreenApp's ethical approach builds long-term professional relationships.
#2: SKILL DEVELOPMENT: SHORTCUTS vs. GROWTH
Cluely
Creates dependency on hidden AI prompts, potentially stunting genuine skill development. Users risk becoming reliant on artificial assistance rather than developing authentic expertise and communication abilities.
ScreenApp
Empowers users to create better content, analyze their performance, and develop real skills through practice, feedback, and collaborative learning. The AI assists learning rather than replacing it.
Winner: ScreenApp
It builds long-term professional capabilities instead of creating short-term performance illusions. ScreenApp helps you develop genuine expertise that makes you genuinely more effective.
#3: LEGAL COMPLIANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT
Cluely
Operates in legal gray areas with potential GDPR violations, workplace policy breaches, and consent issues. Many jurisdictions require disclosure of AI assistance, making Cluely's stealth operation potentially illegal.
ScreenApp
Designed with compliance in mind, following industry standards for data privacy, consent, and professional ethics. Reduces legal risk while maximizing productivity.
Winner: ScreenApp
Professional teams cannot afford the legal and reputational risks associated with hidden AI tools. ScreenApp's compliance-first design protects your organization while maximizing productivity.
Summary and Top Recommendations
Our Top 3 Picks
ScreenApp - Ethical AI Meeting Assistant
Best overall alternative with transparency, compliance, and team value
Otter.ai - Transparent Transcription
Trusted AI meeting assistant focused on open collaboration
Fireflies.ai - Conversation Intelligence
Specialized AI assistant for sales and customer-facing teams
Choose Based on Your Needs
Ethical AI Meeting Assistant
→ ScreenApp (transparency + compliance)
Transparent Transcription
→ Otter.ai (open collaboration)
Free Basic Meeting Notes
→ Fathom (simple, free transcription)
Sales Team Analysis
→ Fireflies.ai (conversation intelligence)
Team Collaboration
→ ScreenApp (team-based value)
Top 12 Cluely Alternatives for 2025
ScreenApp
Rating: 4.8/5 · The best overall cluely alternative for its ethical approach, transparent AI meeting assistance, and comprehensive content creation capabilities.
ScreenApp delivers transparent recording, multi-modal AI analysis, and team-ready collaboration without hidden coaching. It captures what you say and what you show, turning every meeting into reusable assets.
Otter.ai
Rating: 4.5/5 · A trusted AI meeting assistant and transcription platform focused on open collaboration and transparent note-taking.
Otter.ai excels at live transcription with speaker identification for audio-first teams that prioritize trustworthy note sharing.
Fireflies.ai
Rating: 4.4/5 · Popular conversation intelligence platform offering transparent team collaboration and CRM-connected meeting analysis.
Fireflies.ai brings analytics to sales and success conversations with searchable transcripts and action tracking.
Fathom Notetaker
Rating: 4.2/5 · Straightforward, free meeting assistant prioritizing transparency for Zoom, Teams, and Google Meet.
Fathom offers auto-recording, summaries, and highlights at no cost ideal for startups needing honest notes.
tl;dv
Rating: 4.1/5 · Ethical meeting recorder supporting remote teams with video documentation and transparent insights.
tl;dv documents meetings, adds timestamps, and helps distributed teams replay key moments responsibly.
Tactiq
Rating: 4.0/5 · Chrome extension for real-time transcripts that stays transparent inside video calls.
Tactiq is a plug-and-play capture tool for Google Meet that keeps transcripts visible to everyone involved.
Grain
Rating: 3.9/5 · Meeting insights platform for customer-facing teams that share conversations ethically.
Grain clips highlights and turns customer conversations into shareable, trustworthy recaps.
Rev.com
Rating: 4.8/5 · Professional transcription service delivering human and AI accuracy with full transparency.
Rev.com is the go-to for certified transcripts, captions, and compliance-backed documentation.
Descript
Rating: 4.3/5 · Advanced audio and video editor that lets teams edit media transparently through text.
Descript powers creative teams with overdub, text-based edits, and collaborative production workflows.
Loom
Rating: 4.1/5 · Lightweight video messaging for quick, transparent screen communications.
Loom makes it easy to record async updates and share them instantly with teammates.
Krisp
Rating: 4.0/5 · AI-powered noise cancellation tool enhancing call quality with visible, consent-based filters.
Krisp is loved by hybrid teams that need crystal-clear calls without intrusive bots.
Notion AI
Rating: 3.8/5 · Workspace AI built for transparent note-taking and collaborative documentation.
Notion AI enriches wikis and project docs with quick summaries and collaborative editing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cluely's legality is questionable and varies significantly by jurisdiction. Many regions (including EU countries under GDPR) require disclosure of AI assistance and consent from all participants. Using hidden AI coaching can violate employment policies, data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, professional ethics standards in regulated industries, and academic integrity rules for interviews and assessments. ScreenApp eliminates these legal risks by operating with full transparency, proper consent mechanisms, and industry-standard compliance practices.
The risks extend far beyond immediate detection. Professional risks include career damage if discovered during or after important meetings, trust erosion with colleagues and clients, skill atrophy from dependency on artificial assistance, and performance gaps when the tool isn't available. Legal and compliance risks include policy violations leading to disciplinary action or termination, legal liability under privacy and consent regulations, reputational damage in professional networks, and potential lawsuits from deceived business partners. ScreenApp's transparent approach builds genuine capabilities while avoiding these pitfalls entirely.
The fundamental difference lies in philosophy and outcomes. Hidden coaching (Cluely-style) creates dependency on external prompts, operates through deception and concealment, provides short-term performance boosts with long-term risks, offers no genuine skill development, and potentially violates trust and legal requirements. Transparent AI assistance (ScreenApp-style) builds real skills through analysis and feedback, operates with full disclosure and consent, provides sustainable performance improvements, enhances team collaboration and knowledge sharing, and maintains ethical standards and legal compliance.
Research and user reports suggest Cluely may actually decrease performance. Cognitive load issues include splitting attention between conversation and reading prompts, delayed responses while processing AI suggestions, unnatural speech patterns from following scripts, and confusion when AI suggestions don't match context. Detection risks include suspicious pauses and timing inconsistencies, generic or off-topic responses that don't fit the conversation, lack of follow-up knowledge when questioned deeper, and body language that suggests divided attention. ScreenApp helps you perform better by developing genuine expertise through post-meeting analysis, skill-building exercises, and collaborative learning.
For sales teams seeking performance improvement without ethical risks, ScreenApp offers transparent call recording with client consent for review and coaching, AI-powered conversation analysis to identify successful patterns and improvement areas, team collaboration tools for sharing best practices and insights, performance analytics that track real skill development over time, and compliance-first design that builds rather than undermines client trust. This approach builds sustainable sales capabilities while maintaining the trust essential for long-term client relationships.
Yes, but they require transparency and consent. Ethical real-time AI applications include accessibility tools for hearing or cognitive assistance (disclosed), translation services for multilingual meetings (visible to all), technical documentation for complex product demos (acknowledged), and note-taking assistance with participant awareness and consent. The key difference is transparency. Legitimate AI assistance enhances communication openly rather than creating unfair advantages through deception.
Proven strategies for authentic improvement include: Preparation - research participants and topics thoroughly, practice key talking points and responses, prepare relevant examples and case studies, review previous meeting recordings (with ScreenApp). During meetings - focus fully on listening and engagement, ask thoughtful questions to show genuine interest, take notes the traditional way to stay engaged, be authentic about your knowledge and limitations. Post-meeting development - use ScreenApp to review and analyze your performance, identify patterns in successful vs. challenging interactions, practice based on real feedback and observations, build expertise through continuous learning and application. This approach builds lasting capabilities that make you genuinely more effective rather than just appearing more competent.
Final Verdict: Choose Authentic Growth Over Artificial Enhancement
While Cluely offers a tempting shortcut for individual performance enhancement, its hidden operation, ethical concerns, and legal risks make it a dangerous choice for any professional serious about their career and reputation.
ScreenApp is the superior alternative because it builds rather than fakes competence. It’s a comprehensive, ethical platform that empowers your entire team to develop genuine skills, create valuable content, and collaborate authentically while maintaining the trust essential for long-term professional success.
The choice is clear: you can rely on hidden AI prompts that create dependency and risk exposure, or you can build real capabilities that make you genuinely more effective and valuable to your organization.
Don’t fake expertise. Build it.
Professional success comes from authentic skill development, transparent collaboration, and trustworthy relationships not from deceiving colleagues and clients with hidden AI assistance.
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