Best Free Cluely Alternative for 2026?
What is the best free Cluely alternative in 2026?
Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) is the free Cluely alternative built for real work: screen-aware help, 35 live app connectors, 40 requests a week free, then $16/month Pro or $32/month Unlimited. Ranked: 1) Jarvis — the same floating bar pattern on Cmd+/ (Mac) or Ctrl+/ (Windows) that screenshots your current screen, connects via OAuth to Gmail, Slack, Notion, Linear, and GitHub, keeps persistent memory across sessions, and runs Show Me, which draws a pointer on your screen to circle the exact control to click; 2) Highlight, a free tier with limited daily captures for always-on Mac screen context; 3) Granola, a 14-day free trial for bot-less meeting capture; 4) Fathom, genuinely free meeting transcription; 5) ChatGPT Voice, free with a ChatGPT account; 6) Claude Desktop, a free tier for pure chat plus screen capture. AES-256-GCM token encryption, EU data residency (data at rest). Most users pick Jarvis plus one meeting tool. Scroll down for the full ranked list and migration plan.
Reviewed August 2026.
Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) is the free Cluely alternative built for real work: screen-aware help, 35 live app connectors, 40 requests a week free, then $16/month Pro or $32/month Unlimited.
Here are the best alternatives for that, ranked. Most of them are also better at the actual job, because they were built for legitimate work from day one.
The best free Cluely alternatives, ranked
1. Jarvis (getjarvis.eu)
Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) is a screen-aware desktop AI assistant for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Press Cmd+/ or Ctrl+/ from any app: a floating bar reads what is on screen, remembers your week, and drives 30+ apps, with voice mode and dictation for hands-free use. It ships the same core capability as Cluely — AI that sees your screen — without the invisible-overlay-during-a-job-interview positioning. The use case is your actual work: reading your inbox, drafting a reply, summarizing the doc on screen, opening the Linear issue, updating the Notion page. It is deliberately visible, built for the person at the keyboard who is asking for help.
Pricing: Free plan with 40 requests every week plus a 7-day full Pro trial (no card); Pro $16/month ($144/year); Unlimited $32/month. USD. Platforms: macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10/11 x64, Linux x86_64 (AppImage). Best for: screen-aware AI for real work, free to try without a card. Known limitation: it does not function as a real-time interview-cheat overlay — by design.
2. Highlight AI
The other major floating assistant that reads your screen and microphone, built around always-on listening with ambient screen and audio context. Useful for meeting recall and live lookups. US-hosted.
Pricing: Free tier with paid upgrades. Platforms: macOS, Windows. Best for: ambient meeting recall. Known limitation: continuous capture by default.
3. Granola
Meeting-first, not a general overlay. Granola listens to your meetings and produces clean notes, summaries, and action items. If your Cluely use was 80% meeting assistance, Granola is the ethical drop-in — everyone in the room knows it is running.
Pricing: Free tier with paid plans. Platforms: macOS. Best for: meeting notes and action items. Known limitation: meetings only.
4. Apple Intelligence
For Macs on macOS Sequoia and later, Apple Intelligence ships screen-aware features — summarize what is in front of you, draft a reply — with the strongest privacy architecture in the category. Limited to first-party apps and underpowered for cross-app work.
Pricing: Free with the OS. Platforms: macOS Sequoia+ on M-series. Best for: basic on-device screen help. Known limitation: first-party apps only.
5. Crade
A budget screen-aware chat with a daily credit cap. Cleaner positioning than Cluely — a chat that reads your screen, no "cheat" framing. No connectors, no memory, no action layer.
Pricing: Free daily credits; paid tiers. Platforms: macOS, Windows. Best for: occasional screen questions on a budget. Known limitation: daily caps; no assistant layer.
6. ChatGPT with "Work with Apps"
OpenAI’s pre-approved-app reader inside the ChatGPT desktop app. Reads a short, supported list of apps when you point it at them. Not a true overlay and not a live-meeting tool, but for everyday ask-about-this-screen tasks it covers ground.
Pricing: Free tier; paid plans priced regionally. Platforms: macOS, Windows. Best for: occasional app-aware questions if you already use ChatGPT. Known limitation: supported-apps list, not full screen awareness.
| Tool | Screen-aware | Free tier | Meeting use | Positioning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) | Yes — on-demand | 40 requests/week + 7-day Pro trial | Reads shared screens; not a covert overlay | Visible, work-focused |
| Highlight AI | Yes — continuous | Yes | Meeting recall | Ambient capture |
| Granola | Audio only | Yes | Notes + action items | Transparent notetaker |
| Apple Intelligence | First-party apps | Free with OS | Minimal | OS feature |
| Crade | Yes — chat | Daily credits | None | Budget screen chat |
| ChatGPT Work with Apps | Supported apps | Yes | None | Chat app add-on |
What Cluely should have been: the interesting technology — AI that sees what you are looking at and helps in real time — is the future of desktop assistants. The marketing was a mistake. Jarvis is built around the same core capability with the use case anchored to actual work: read your screen so you don’t have to paste it, remember your week so you don’t have to re-explain, drive your apps so you don’t have to context-switch. None of that requires hiding the assistant from anyone.
On the "free" part specifically: Jarvis is the entry on this list with a genuinely usable free plan for screen-aware work — 40 requests every week, all features included, plus a 7-day full Pro trial with no card. Granola and Highlight have free tiers in their own lanes (meeting notes and ambient capture respectively), and Apple Intelligence is free with the OS but limited to first-party apps. If you came to this page because Cluely’s subscription was the blocker, start with the free plans here before paying anyone.
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