Blog
Notes, comparisons & guides
Thinking on live meeting AI, how Assistly compares to the other real-time assistants, honest alternatives roundups, and practical guides — plus product updates from the team.
Latest
Product updates and fresh thinking on real-time AI.
- Engineering
Meet Cue: how we built a real-time question detection model for live calls
Cue is Assistly's own question detection model. It scores every line of a live conversation in about 30 milliseconds and decides when a question is yours to answer, so help lands while the moment is still live.
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Assistly on your phone, no download: in-person meetings, from the browser
Open Assistly in Safari or Chrome on your phone, tap the mic, and put it on the table. Questions asked out loud get answered as they're asked, and the recap is waiting when the meeting ends. Nothing to install.
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Talk instead of typing: Dictate is here
Hold Control and Option, say it, let go. In a text field the words land cleaned up: filler gone, lists as lists, "no, make that Wednesday" applied as an edit. With nothing focused, you're asking Assistly out loud instead of typing. On Mac and Windows, in every app.
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Free meeting transcription, with speaker labels, no sign-up
Upload a recording or record on the spot and get the text back in about a minute: timestamps, who said what, and TXT, SRT, or VTT export. It runs on the same engine Assistly uses live on calls, deletes your audio as soon as it's done, and asks for nothing but a 30-minute cap.
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Assistly now searches the web, mid-answer
When an answer depends on something newer than a model's training, such as a competitor's price today or what shipped last week, Assistly searches the live web during the answer, cites what it read, and knows when not to bother. On by default, nothing to connect.
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Tell it once: Assistly now has memory
Assistly now remembers what you tell it: how you want answers written, and the facts about your work it keeps needing. Say it once in plain words and it sticks, per mode, in a list you can read, edit, and empty.
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Ask Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor about your meetings with Assistly's MCP server
Assistly now has an MCP server: connect it to Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Codex and ask what was said on any call, including recaps, transcripts, and action items, without leaving the tool you're already in.
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Projects: every client, its own memory
Assistly can now keep each client, deal, or search in its own project. Calls land there as you take them, answers come from that client's history alone, and every source says which project it came from.
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Talk to your meeting notes: ask your history anything, with every response cited
Stop scrolling through old transcripts. Ask your session history a plain-language question, like "what did we agree on pricing?", and get a direct, source-cited response that opens the exact moment it was said.
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Assistly now speaks MCP: connect Notion, Linear, and any tool to your live assistant
With MCP (Model Context Protocol) integrations, your assistant draws on your real docs, tickets, and data, and can take action in your tools, from a live call. Connect any MCP server in minutes.
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Assistly now connects to your Google Calendar
Connect your Google Calendar (read-only) and Assistly knows what's next: your agenda in the overlay, one-tap Join that starts listening as soon as you're in, and schedule-aware answers during the call.
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Hide the ⌘/Ctrl key from other apps: Assistly's advanced keystroke setting
An opt-in advanced setting that stops the bare ⌘ (macOS) or Ctrl (Windows) key from ever reaching another app or a keystroke logger. Here is what it does, why it's off by default, and when you'd want it on.
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Click-through: use the app behind Assistly without moving it
An always-on-top overlay is only useful if it doesn't get in your way. Click-through lets your mouse pass straight through Assistly to whatever is underneath, so you can read the guidance and keep working without hiding or dragging the window.
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Auto-assist: hands-free answers as soon as a question lands
Assistly can now detect when a question is asked in your live call, by the other side or by you thinking out loud, and answer it in your thread automatically. No hotkey, no break in eye contact.
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Introducing Assistly: real-time AI for your live conversations
An invisible, always-on-top assistant that follows your meetings, sales calls, and interviews, and never shows up in a screen share.
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Meetings
Live meeting AI — real-time guidance on your calls, notes that write themselves, and why no bot should have to join.
- Meetings
Meeting AI without the bot in the room
"AI Notetaker has joined the meeting." There's a better way to bring AI to your calls, one that never joins, never announces itself, and helps you live.
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What is a live meeting assistant? (And why a notetaker isn't one)
Notetakers help you after the meeting. A live meeting assistant helps you during it, answering before you ask, while the conversation can still change.
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Comparisons
How Assistly stacks up against the other AI interview and meeting assistants — head to head.
- Comparison
Assistly Projects vs Granola folders: an honest comparison (2026)
Granola's folders are good: shared with your team, with chat scoped to a folder. Assistly Projects do a different job: calls that file themselves from the calendar, per-client memory that works live in the call, and hard privacy containment between clients.
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Assistly vs Granola: an honest comparison (2026)
Granola is the best-loved AI notepad for meetings, but it's built to write up what happened, not to help you while it's happening. Here's how the two differ.
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Assistly vs Fathom: an honest comparison (2026)
Fathom is the best-known free AI notetaker, but it works by sending a bot into your call and delivering value after it ends. Here's how that compares to live, on-screen help.
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Assistly vs Cluely: an honest comparison (2026)
Cluely is the loudest name in real-time AI, but its undetectability is a $149/mo add-on and reviewers report billing and reliability problems. Here's how Assistly compares.
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Assistly vs Interview Coder: which should you use? (2026)
Interview Coder is a coding-interview-only tool now priced at ~$299/mo, with documented detection cases on CoderPad. Assistly is a broader real-time copilot at $14.99/mo. Here's the difference.
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Assistly vs Final Round AI: the honest comparison (2026)
Final Round AI bundles a Copilot, mock interviews, and auto-apply, but reviewers report it's pricey, hard to cancel, and laggy in live use. Here's how Assistly compares.
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Assistly vs LockedIn AI: which real-time copilot wins? (2026)
LockedIn AI is a strong coding-interview copilot, but reviewers report a 4–5s 'latency stare,' a visible browser extension, and refund problems. Here's how Assistly compares.
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Assistly vs Interview Solver: which should you pick? (2026)
Interview Solver is a budget coding-interview overlay, but reviewers say it's not truly real-time and crashes on hard questions. Assistly is a real-time copilot for far more than coding.
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Assistly vs InterviewMan: a clear comparison (2026)
InterviewMan is an affordable, interview-only live assistant with broad integrations, but it has a strict no-refund policy and some reliability reports. Here's how Assistly compares.
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Assistly vs Sensei AI: which interview copilot fits you? (2026)
Sensei AI is fast and multilingual, but it's browser-based, and the extension shows up on screen share. Assistly is a native, OS-invisible copilot for far more than interviews.
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Assistly vs LeetCode Wizard: which do you need? (2026)
LeetCode Wizard is a coding-interview tool, described by its own creator as a ChatGPT wrapper, at ~€49/mo. Assistly is a real-time copilot for interviews, meetings, and sales.
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Assistly vs Ultracode: which should you buy? (2026)
Ultracode is a coding-interview tool sold as a ~$899 non-refundable 'lifetime' license, with documented cases of users getting caught. Assistly is a broader copilot at $14.99/mo.
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Alternatives
Looking to switch? Honest roundups of the best alternatives to the popular tools.
- Alternatives
The 5 best Cluely alternatives in 2026
Cluely's undetectability is a $149/mo add-on, and reviewers report billing and reliability problems. Here are the best alternatives, ranked, with honest pros and cons.
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The 5 best Interview Coder alternatives in 2026
Interview Coder now costs ~$299/mo, only does coding interviews, and has documented detection on CoderPad. Here are the best alternatives, ranked with honest trade-offs.
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The 5 best Final Round AI alternatives in 2026
Final Round AI is pricey, reviewers report it's hard to cancel, and its live Copilot feels generic. Here are the best alternatives in 2026, ranked with honest trade-offs.
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The 5 best LockedIn AI alternatives in 2026
LockedIn AI's 4–5s lag, visible browser extension, and refund complaints send people looking. Here are the best alternatives in 2026, ranked with honest trade-offs.
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The 5 best Interview Solver alternatives in 2026
Interview Solver is coding-only and reviewers say it is not truly real-time, so here are five faster, broader, more stable AI copilots worth trying first.
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The 5 best LeetCode Wizard alternatives in 2026
LeetCode Wizard is a coding-only overlay whose own docs admit some screen-share software can see it. Here are five alternatives, plus honest study tools, ranked for real interviews.
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The 5 best Sensei AI alternatives in 2026
Sensei AI is fast and multilingual, but it lives in your browser. Here are five interview copilots worth comparing, starting with one that stays off the screen share entirely.
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The 5 best InterviewMan alternatives in 2026
InterviewMan is a solid interview-only copilot, but if you want meetings, sales calls, mock prep, or a fairer refund policy, here are five alternatives worth a look.
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The 5 best Ultracode alternatives in 2026
Ultracode is a pricey, coding-only co-pilot with a volatile non-refundable lifetime fee and documented caught reports. Here are five alternatives worth a look in 2026.
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Guides
How real-time AI assistants actually work — detection, setup, and getting the most out of them.
- Guide
How to organize client calls with Assistly Projects: a consultant's workflow
A practical setup for consultants and agencies: create a project per engagement, tap the client's meeting and people into it once, let the calendar sort every call after that, and ask the project for a briefing before each meeting.
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Assistly + Google: the AI assistant for Google Meet and Google Calendar, no bot required
How Assistly works with your Google account: sign in with Google, connect a read-only Google Calendar, and get real-time AI help on Google Meet calls with no bot in the participant list.
Read the post - Guide
AI meeting summaries: benefits, risks, and secure solutions
AI meeting summaries turn messy calls into decisions, owners, and next steps, but bot-based and overlay-based tools carry very different privacy risks. Here's how they work and how to choose one safely.
Read the post - Roundup
Undetectable note-taker for meetings: what works in 2026
Bots can't be hidden, browser tools show up in screen shares, and 'stealth mode' claims vary wildly. A practical comparison of every way to take AI notes in a meeting without anyone seeing it.
Read the post - Guide
Undetectable AI meeting assistant: what the term really means in 2026
Every tool in this category claims to be undetectable. Most are describing marketing rather than engineering. Here's the mechanism, the three ways detection happens, and how to tell real invisibility from a claim.
Read the post - Guide
Stealth AI for video conferencing: what's technically real on Zoom, Meet & Teams
Can AI assistance really be invisible on a video call? A precise look at what Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams can and can't see, the OS mechanism that makes stealth real, and the claims to be skeptical of.
Read the post - Guide
Real-time guidance for recruiters: AI help on live screens and intake calls
Your ATS automates the pipeline, but nothing helps you during the calls themselves: candidate screens, intake calls, closing conversations. Here is what real-time AI guidance looks like for recruiters.
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Real-time AI for sales calls: what helps you mid-call (2026)
Gong tells you what went wrong after the call. Real-time AI helps while the prospect is still on the line. What the category covers (dialer coaches, revenue intelligence, and live copilots) and how to pick.
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Invisible meeting AI for Mac and Windows: how it works on each OS
Screen-capture exclusion isn't magic. It's a documented capability of both macOS and Windows, with different mechanics and different caveats on each. Here's how invisible meeting AI works per platform.
Read the post - Roundup
Best undetectable AI meeting assistants for real-time guidance: tools, software & alternatives (2026)
The tools that combine real invisibility with live guidance are rarer than the marketing suggests. A ranked look at the software that delivers both, and the alternatives if your priorities differ.
Read the post - Roundup
The best AI for Zoom meetings in 2026
Zoom AI Companion, notetaker bots like Spinach and Otter, or an invisible real-time copilot? A plain guide to which AI helps you on a Zoom call and which only records it.
Read the post - Guide
AI talking points for live calls: getting the right thing to say while the call is still going
How AI generates talking points during a live call: the pipeline that makes it work, why latency and speaker tracking matter most, and what to use if you don't want to build it yourself.
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AI meeting notes, undetectable: full notes with no bot in the room
Notetaker bots announce themselves, record everyone, and change how people talk. Here's how to get complete AI meeting notes without anyone on the call seeing a thing, and where the limits are.
Read the post - Guide
AI assistant for live interviews: how it works and how to choose (2026)
What a live interview assistant does while the question is still open: the architecture that keeps it invisible, the latency bar it has to clear, and how the options compare.
Read the post - Roundup
The most undetectable AI assistants for interviews & meetings (2026)
A ranked, sourced look at which real-time AI copilots stay hidden on screen share and process scans in 2026, and where each one falls short.
Read the post - Guide
Can interviewers tell if you're using AI? What's detectable in 2026
An honest, sourced look at what interviewers and proctoring tools can and can't catch: screen-share exclusion, behavioral tells, second screens, and the one case everyone cites.
Read the post - Guide
How to use an AI copilot in meetings and sales calls (the right way)
Most 'AI meeting tools' are bots that join your call and email a transcript. A real-time copilot is different. Here's how to use one well, without the creepy notetaker problem.
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Which companies allow vs ban AI in interviews (2026)
Whether using AI in an interview is 'cheating' depends entirely on the employer. Here's where the major tech companies stand in 2026, and how to stay on the right side of the line.
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Are AI meeting notetakers safe? Privacy, consent, and the alternatives
Otter, Fireflies, and Read AI join your calls as bots and record everyone, which has triggered lawsuits and bans. Here's what is risky, and a less invasive way to get notes.
Read the post - Roundup
The 8 best AI interview assistants in 2026
An honest, ranked roundup of the top AI interview assistants in 2026, with real strengths, attributed weaknesses, and reported prices for each.
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The best AI meeting assistants and copilots in 2026
A fair guide to the best AI meeting assistants of 2026: live copilots that help you during the call versus notetaker bots that join and record everyone.
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The cheapest AI interview assistants worth trying in 2026
We rank the most affordable real-time AI interview copilots of 2026 by value, comparing reported prices, free tiers, and refund policies so cheap never means useless.
Read the post - Guide
How 'undetectable' AI overlays work (2026)
A plain-English explainer of how AI overlays hide from screen capture, where that invisibility breaks, and the second detection layer most tools ignore.
Read the post - Guide
How to answer behavioral interview questions with an AI copilot (STAR)
A practical guide to behavioral interviews with the STAR method, plus how a real-time AI copilot brings up your own stories as soon as a question lands.
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Using AI in system design interviews: a practical guide (2026)
How to run a structured system design interview, where a real-time AI copilot helps, and where you still have to drive and defend the design yourself.
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AI for sales calls: real-time objection handling that works
How a real-time AI copilot brings up the right battlecard, answer, and competitor counter mid-call, then writes your notes and action items after.
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