Why people switch from Cluely
Cluely built a brand on provocative marketing. The product itself is competent, but three structural concerns drive switching:
- The mid-2025 data exposure — user transcripts and account metadata reportedly left an unsecured endpoint. Cluely's incident response was minimal.
- No clear server-side data-retention policy — unclear what's stored, for how long
- Pricing model lacks a single-interview tier — you're either on free trial limits or full subscription
If you were considering Cluely or want to leave, Mirly is the most direct alternative.
What Mirly does differently
| Mirly | Cluely | |
|---|---|---|
| Per-session retention | Transcripts never leave the local machine | Cloud-stored (terms-of-service ambiguous post-incident) |
| Pricing | £5 single interview, no subscription required | $20/mo minimum |
| First-token latency | <150ms (open benchmark) | 600–1,200ms |
| Stealth approach | Documented Apple + Microsoft OS APIs | Process disguise (more fragile against OS updates) |
| Trust signal | Public 24-hourly stealth + uptime status page | None |
| Renewal | Opt-in monthly, 5-day reminder, no silent charge | Auto-renew |
The structural privacy win
Mirly's session data lives on your laptop. The backend sees the request (what model, how many tokens) but never stores the content (the question, your answer). When you delete an interview from history in the app, it's gone — there's no cloud copy.
Cluely's architecture stores sessions cloud-side, which is the only way their "transcript history across devices" feature can work. That's a product decision; it also created the surface area the mid-2025 incident exposed.
Switching guide
- Cancel Cluely (their settings → subscription)
- Download Mirly — 96 MB macOS arm64
- Free 7-minute trial; you'll know within one interview whether it's right