Cluely’s $150 Pricing Inspired Me to Build an Alternative

A few months ago, I noticed that Cluely had moved one of its most talked-about features — undetectability — into a separate plan priced at $150/month.

I completely understand why.

Running AI products isn’t cheap. Models cost money. Infrastructure costs money. As products mature, pricing evolves.

But it also made me realize something.

There are thousands of students, job seekers, developers, freelancers, founders, and professionals who genuinely benefit from an AI meeting companion — but simply can’t justify spending $150 every month.

That wasn’t criticism.

It was a market opportunity.

Instead of wishing there were another option, I decided to build one.

Over the last several months, I’ve been working on **Observer**, an AI companion designed to help you stay present during meetings instead of constantly switching tabs or scrambling to take notes.

Observer listens to your meeting (with your permission), understands the conversation, and can help answer questions using the context of what’s happening in real time. It also generates meeting notes and recaps afterward, so you can focus on the conversation rather than documentation.

It even supports undetectability features along with meeting languages settings.

Building it wasn’t straightforward.

Real-time transcription has to be fast enough to keep up with conversations. Responses need to arrive in seconds, not minutes. The desktop app has to feel lightweight enough that you forget it’s even running. I’ve spent months optimizing latency, experimenting with different AI models, and refining the experience so it feels like a natural companion rather than another distracting app.

I’m not trying to build a clone of Cluely.

Different products can serve different audiences.

Some users need enterprise-grade capabilities and are happy paying premium prices. Others simply want an affordable tool that helps them perform better in meetings, interviews, and everyday work.

That’s the audience I’m building for.

Observer is still in testing phase, and I’ve opened the waitlist on our website. I’ll be launching soon.

If that sounds interesting, you can join the early access waitlist here:

**https://getobserver.app**

Sometimes the biggest opportunities don’t come from inventing an entirely new category.

They come from noticing when a market shifts — and building for the people left behind.