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Cluely vs Highlight AI

A side-by-side comparison of Cluely and Highlight AI, drawn from Ignaite's continuously-verified listings.

Compared from listings verified as of

Cluely

Meeting

Real-time AI meeting assistant — answers and notes during the call.

View Cluely

Highlight AI

Assistant

A desktop AI assistant that sees your screen and works across every app.

View Highlight AI

At a glance

Feature comparison of Cluely and Highlight AI
AttributeCluelyHighlight AI
Category (differs)MeetingAssistant
PricingFREEMIUMFREEMIUM
LicenseProprietaryProprietary
Deployment (differs)CloudLocal
Platforms (differs)macOS, Windows, iOSmacOS
Model support (differs)—Multi-model
Vendor (differs)CluelyHighlight
Capabilities (differs)
  • Transcription (STT)
  • Meeting notes
  • Conversation intelligence
  • Interview assistance
  • Multi-model access
  • Transcription (STT)
  • Dictation
  • Summarization
  • Meeting notes

The honest brief

Cluely

Runs as an invisible desktop overlay that can stay hidden from screen-sharing software, rather than joining the call as a visible meeting bot.

  • Real-time, in-call answers and notes
  • Works over any meeting or call app
  • Free Starter tier
  • iOS plus Mac and Windows apps
  • 'Undetectable' mode raises consent concerns
  • Hidden mode costs $149.99/mo
  • Reputation from its 'cheating' origins
  • No Android app

Highlight AI

Grounds answers in your live on-screen context across every app, so you query what you're looking at without copy-paste into a chat window.

  • Captures screen, voice, and documents
  • Free tier with unlimited base-model chat
  • Local audio transcription
  • Auto-selects a model per task
  • Desktop only (no mobile)
  • Some features still in transition
  • Premium models gated to Pro credits

When to pick which

Both cover Transcription (STT) and Meeting notes.

Pick Cluely if you need Conversation intelligence and Interview assistance.

  • Conversation intelligence (primary capability)
  • Interview assistance (secondary capability)

Pick Highlight AI if you need Multi-model access, Dictation, and Summarization.

  • Multi-model access (secondary capability)
  • Dictation (secondary capability)
  • Summarization (secondary capability)

They share capabilities, but each leads with different ones as a headline job:

Cluely is built around Transcription (STT).

  • Transcription (STT) (primary capability)

Highlight AI is built around Meeting notes.

  • Meeting notes (primary capability)

They also differ on:

Deployment
Cloud · Local
Platforms
macOS, Windows, iOS · macOS
Cluely detailsHighlight AI details