Cleo Review [2024]: Saving and Budgeting With a Side of Snark

What is Cleo?

Cleo is a free financial assistant app that uses an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to have conversations with you and help you with pressing questions about your money. Cleo is designed to help you track your spending, work on your budgeting goals, and improve your savings.

Cleo has a variety of features and services, including budget, saving, credit building, and cash advances. It has several different subscription plans to choose from, each of which offers different features and benefits.

Who is Cleo best for?

Cleo could be a good option for someone who wants access to a variety of financial services all in one place and who wants a bit more hands-on help than you can get from a traditional personal finance app.

Feature-rich even on the free version

Cleo offers an impressive suite of features, including budgeting, saving, cash advances, and credit building. Some of these features are even available without the monthly fee, so don’t automatically assume it’s not right for you if you want a free service. However, you won’t be able to access all of the features without paying the fee.

AI-assisted coaching

I also think Cleo’s AI financial coach could be appealing to people who want a bit more than most budgeting apps can offer. Sure, other budgeting apps let you set up your budget and track your spending. But they may offer little more than that. Cleo’s AI features can offer specific feedback on your budget, like areas where you may be overspending, and allow you to ask questions.

It’s a bit more lighthearted than the budgeting apps you may be used to, complete with a solid mix of snarky comments and cheerleading. If you’ve struggled with DIY financial management in the past, Cleo’s AI coach may be worth trying.

Cleo’s free version

Cleo’s free version could be a great option for someone who wants to budget while having fun and getting snarky comments about their spending habits. Its AI financial coach makes it a great option for anyone who wants a bit of extra hand-holding in their financial journey, including the ability to ask questions or get feedback on your budget.

Cleo’s top features

Budgeting

Cleo’s budgeting feature is free to use and lets you manage your money in a lighthearted manner. After downloading the app and adding your bank account information, bills, and monthly income, the app will analyze your spending patterns and offer feedback in a quirky, funny way.

First, you can link as many bank or credit card accounts as you want. Cleo will show you how much is going in and out of your accounts each month. It breaks down your spending into essential and non-essential spending, which makes it easy to see where you can cut back. It also allows you to set spending limits on specific categories.

Keep in mind that Cleo is an app, not a real person, so not all of its advice will be spot on. For example, it repeatedly tried to tell me I was overspending on daycare, referring to it as a “problem area” in my budget and suggesting I set stricter spending limits. Sure, I’d love to spend less on daycare. But the app didn’t seem to recognize this as essential spending even when I tried to set it as such.

AI financial coach

The feature that truly sets Cleo apart from other budgeting apps is its AI financial coach. The chat and voice command functions enable you to ask Cleo questions such as:

• Can I afford coffee?
• Where can I cut back this month?
• How much do I have in savings?

If you appreciate a bit of snark, you’ll probably like Cleo’s AI feature. One of the primary features of Cleo is its fun interactions with you as it tracks your spending. It, or she, as the Cleo website often refers to the app, has a roast mode, which comments on your spending habits and lets you know when you’re overspending, and not necessarily in a gentle way.

If you prefer your money tips a little milder, you can ask Cleo to hype you to encourage you to keep making progress. The app also looks for things you did right with your money to highlight them.

I did find that Cleo’s AI coach was good at answering questions about my specific situation but not so good at answering broader personal finance questions. For example, when I asked, “What is a credit score?” it responded by saying I’d have to sign up for a Plus or Builder subscription to see my credit score.

Saving money with Cleo Wallet

Cleo can help you save money by setting up a Cleo Wallet, which is actually a high-yield savings account, and setting up either manual or automatic savings. For manual savings, simply tell Cleo through the chat to move an amount into your wallet, and the app will pull money from your bank account to your Cleo wallet.

For auto savings, you can use a few different savings hacks to direct Cleo, such as:

• Set & Forget: Set a specific amount to be automatically moved to savings each week.
• Roundups: Round up any purchase to the nearest dollar and put the extra in savings.
• Smart Save: Use AI to determine how much you can afford to save this week.
• Swear Jar: Get “fined” by having money transferred to savings when you splurge.

Keep in mind that to set up automatic savings and earn interest on your savings, you’ll have to pay at least $2.99 per month for the Cleo Grow plan.

Cash advances (upgraded plan required)

Cleo offers cash advances to help you access money before your next paycheck. First, you’ll have to upgrade to either Cleo Plus or Cleo Builder. Then, you’ll connect your primary bank account, type “cash advance” into the chat, and you can get cash either the same day by paying an express fee or within three to four days for free.

You set your own repayment date when you borrow from Cleo. You do have to set up autopay, so you don’t have the option of simply not paying what you owe. If you don’t have enough in your bank account, Cleo will take a partial payment and try to take the rest later.

You’ll only be able to borrow a small amount at first, but you can work your way up to larger amounts. You can borrow a maximum of $250 with Cleo Plus and $500 with Cleo Builder.

Building credit

Cleo offers a secured credit builder credit card. Signing up doesn’t require a credit check, and the card doesn’t charge interest. To get started, you apply for the card and add cash to your security deposit — this is how much you’re able to spend on your card. Cleo will pull your payments using autopay or directly from your security deposit. It will report your payments to the three major credit bureaus to help build your credit history over time.

If you’re interested in a credit-builder card but don’t want to pay Cleo’s monthly fee, consider any of the cards on our favorite secured credit cards.

Cleo’s subscription options

Cleo has both free and paid features, including three different paid subscription options to choose from. Here are your options when you sign up for Cleo:

Cleo	Cleo Grow	Cleo Plus	Cleo Credit Builder
Set your budget goals Track your spending Save money with Cleo Wallet Get roasted or hyped by an AI chatbot	Access the features of the Cleo free version Set up automated savings Earn interest on your savings	Access the features of the Cleo Grow version Get cash advances up to $250 Get credit score updates and tips	Access the features of the Cleo Plus version Get cash advances up to $500 Open a credit builder card Get paid up to 2 days early with direct deposit Get VIP 24/7 customer support
$0	$2,99	$5.99	$14.99

If you only want Cleo’s budgeting and AI financial coach features, then you can use the free plan. However, you’ll have to sign up for a paid subscription for automated savings, interest payments, cash advances, credit coaching, credit building, or early direct deposit.

Getting started with Cleo

Opening a Cleo account is a relatively easy process. You’ll have to set up your account on the mobile app — you can’t do it from a desktop. Once you download the app, you’ll just provide your name, email address, birth date, state, and your financial goal(s), which could be getting a cash advance, improving your credit score, budgeting better, building your savings, or using Cleo’s AI financial coach.

The next step is connecting your bank account. Cleo uses Plaid to securely connect your account to one or more financial accounts. One factor that really turned me off to Cleo is that you have to connect a bank account before you can get started with the app’s other features. And unlike other budgeting apps, you don’t have the option of adding an account manually.

The final step of the onboarding process is chatting with Cleo’s AI financial coach. It asks you some basic questions about where you want to start with your financial journey, whether it be controlling your spending, getting a cash advance, improving your credit, or seeing where your money is going.

This initial AI chat was the most time-consuming part of setting up my account. If you’re someone like me who is already pretty in tune with your personal finances, it feels a little unnecessary. But if you’re just getting started and want the extra help, it could be beneficial.

FAQs

Cleo alternatives

Because Cleo offers a handful of different services, there are many alternatives you could consider, depending on what service you’re looking for.

Rocket Money

If you specifically want an alternative to Cleo’s budgeting services, you might consider Rocket Money. It can help you save money on your monthly bills by canceling subscriptions you don’t use and negotiating better rates with vendors like Verizon, Comcast, Hulu, and Netflix. The app also offers budgeting and saving features and a credit score tracker with the premium version.

Read our Rocket Money review to find out how it can help you.

Cash advance alternatives

If you want a cash advance alternative, you could consider apps like EarnIn, Current, and Brigit. These apps give you advances on your paychecks. You can borrow a small amount — generally up to $500 — and repay your loan with your next paycheck.

You can also view our list of the best paycheck advance apps for more ideas.