BlogInterviews
Best AI Interview Copilots in 2027
The copilots that help while the interview is happening, compared on how they capture the call, coding support, privacy and price, with a straight answer on when you may use one.
By Evin JohnPublished 9 min read
An AI interview copilot listens to a live interview and puts suggested answers, talking points or code on your screen while the conversation is happening. For 2027 the field splits three ways: paid hosted copilots (Final Round AI, LockedIn AI, Verve AI, Parakeet AI, Sensei AI, Interview Coder), copilots that run on your own AI keys or a local model (Natively, Pluely, Cheating Daddy), and Cluely, which has moved to general meetings. If you want your interview data on your own machine and no subscription, start with Natively. If you want one paid product that also runs your practice interviews, Final Round AI is the most complete.
Before choosing any of them, read the section on when you may use one. Many employers forbid AI help during a live interview, and a copilot is only the right tool where it is allowed.
The short answer
- Private, no subscriptionNatively: your own keys or a local model, transcripts on your disk
- One paid productFinal Round AI: live copilot, practice interviews and debriefs under Pro
- Phone or tablet tooLockedIn AI: desktop, web, iOS and Android
- Free hosted trial runsVerve AI: three 15-minute sessions a month at no cost
- Open sourceCheating Daddy: GPL-3.0 code on GitHub, with your own Gemini key
When you may use an interview copilot
A copilot does the same thing in a mock interview and in a real one; what changes is whether the other side has agreed to it. Some employers now allow AI during interviews and say so. Others forbid it outright. Anthropic's guidance for candidates, for example, encourages using AI to prepare but says of live interviews: "This is all you, no AI assistance unless we indicate otherwise."
Assessment platforms enforce their own rules. HackerRank's Proctor Mode takes periodic screenshots, logs leaving the test window and runs an AI check for external coding assistants and overlay apps. So treat every vendor's "undetectable" claim, ours included, as a claim about specific screen-sharing setups and not as a promise about every interview. Natively lists where its overlay is and is not hidden on its supported apps page, including the cases where nothing can hide it.
The practical rule we suggest:
- Use a copilot freely in mock interviews, recorded practice and your own rehearsal.
- In a real interview, use one only when the employer has said AI help is allowed, and in the way they allowed it.
- For a proctored assessment, follow the platform's rules; if AI is not permitted, close the copilot.
If preparation is what you need, our guide to the best AI interview assistants covers practice tools as well as copilots.
The copilots side by side
| Copilot | Best for | Free option | Paid | Platforms | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natively | Private help on your own keys or a local model | Free for personal useFree for personal use. Bring your own API key (your provider bills you for usage) or run a local model through Ollama (no API charges). A short trial of the hosted Natively API needs no card. | Pro licence $39 a year or $79 once; hosted Natively API plans $8 to $35 a month | macOS and Windows desktop app | Not a mock-interview platform |
| Final Round AI | An all-in-one paid copilot with practice built in | Free plan, with limitsFree plan covers preparation only (résumé, job-description parsing, checklists). No free live sessions and no trial. | Pro from $25 a month (the full price table only renders in the browser; check it at checkout) | macOS 14.4+ and Windows desktop app | No free live minutes |
| LockedIn AI | The widest platform list, phones included | Free plan, with limitsA free plan with no card. The site states its limit two ways (10 minutes of live help, and unlimited 5-minute sessions up to 60 minutes a day). | Unlimited, credit (400 minutes a month) and lifetime plans; prices only render at checkout and could not be confirmed | Windows 10+ and macOS 13.1+ desktop, iOS, Android, and a web app in Chromium browsers | Prices and free limit stated unclearly |
| Verve AI | Trying a hosted copilot for free | Free plan, with limits3 copilot sessions a month of 15 minutes each, plus 5 AI mock interviews. | Standard $44.99 a month ($16.99 billed annually); Pro $84.99 a month ($34.99 billed annually) | Web, macOS and Windows desktop, mobile | Free sessions are 15 minutes |
| Parakeet AI | Paying per interview with credits | Trial onlyOne 10-minute free session and one free mock interview, no card. | Unlimited $99.90 a month or $399.90 a year; credit packs from $25 (one credit is about an hour) | Windows and macOS desktop app, and a web app in desktop Chrome | Unlimited plan is $99.90 a month |
| Sensei AI | A browser-only copilot | Free plan, with limitsFree plan with 15-minute copilot sessions; how many is not stated. | Pro $89 a month, or $24 a month billed annually | Web app; no desktop or mobile app is mentioned | No desktop app mentioned |
| Interview Coder | Coding rounds, if price is no object | No free optionThe app downloads for free, but every AI feature needs a subscription. | $299 a month (1,000 credits) or $799 lifetime | macOS and Windows desktop app | $299 a month; no free AI use |
| Pluely | A free overlay on your own keys, Linux included | Free app, you pay the AI providerFree plan with no account, unlimited on your own API keys or a local model through Ollama. Closed source since v1. | Pro plans with hosted models exist; prices only render at checkout and could not be confirmed | macOS, Windows and Linux desktop app | Closed source since v1 |
| Cheating Daddy | Open-source code you can read | Free app, you pay the AI providerOpen source (GPL-3.0) and free, but it needs your own Gemini API key, billed by Google. | No paid plan | macOS and Windows (Linux described as testing only) | Needs a Gemini key; hobby project |
| Cluely | Meetings rather than interviews | Free plan, with limitsStarter plan with limited AI responses and meeting notes and 3 file uploads; the caps are not published. | Pro $19.99 a month (from $11.99 billed annually); hiding from screen sharing is a separate $149.99-a-month tier | macOS and Windows desktop app, iOS app | Hiding from screen share costs $149.99 |
How we evaluated
We read each product's official site, pricing page, documentation and, for open-source projects, the repository, on 27 October 2026. We did not run benchmark tests on competing products, and nothing below reports a test we did not run. Where a vendor's own pages contradict each other, or a price only appears inside the checkout, we say so instead of picking a number.
We compared the copilots on six things, in this order of weight:
- Where your interview goes. Whether audio, screenshots and transcripts stay on your computer, can go to a provider you choose, or must go to the vendor's cloud.
- How it hears the call. A desktop app that hears system audio works with any meeting app; a browser-tab approach ties you to one browser.
- Coding support. Whether it can read a problem from the screen, not only from speech.
- Cost to keep using it. Price after any free allowance, and whether that price is published.
- A real free way in. A permanent free plan, a trial that ends, or nothing.
- Platforms. macOS, Windows, Linux, web, mobile.
The order below follows those weights. It is not a score, and a different weighting (if you care most about polish, or a phone app) moves the list, which is why each review says who should pick it.
The copilots, reviewed
Natively: best for private help on your own terms
- Platforms
- macOS and Windows desktop app
- Free option
- Free for personal useFree for personal use. Bring your own API key (your provider bills you for usage) or run a local model through Ollama (no API charges). A short trial of the hosted Natively API needs no card.
- Paid plans
- Pro licence $39 a year or $79 once; hosted Natively API plans $8 to $35 a month
- How it works
- Desktop app that hears both sides of the call from your computer; no bot joins the meeting
Natively is a desktop app for macOS and Windows that hears both sides of the call from your computer, so it does not depend on the meeting app and nothing joins the meeting. Answers appear in an overlay. For coding rounds it can read the problem from a screenshot as well as from what the interviewer says. It is the product we make, so weigh this review with that in mind.
The difference from the paid copilots is where the AI runs. With your own API key, the prompt goes from your computer to the provider you chose and you pay that provider for what you use. With a local model through Ollama, nothing leaves the machine and there is no API bill, provided your computer has the memory to run the model (16 GB or more is a sensible start). The app is free for personal use; the Pro licence ($39 a year or $79 once) adds résumé and job-description context and the expert modes, and the hosted Natively API ($8 to $35 a month) is there if you would rather not manage keys. Our answer latency benchmark publishes how quickly answers start, with the files to rerun it.
Strengths
- Transcripts, notes and keys stay on your disk
- Your own OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or Groq key, or a local model through Ollama
- Reads coding problems from the screen as well as from speech
- Publishes its latency measurements, with the method
Drawbacks
- Desktop only: no phone or web app
- No built-in mock interviewer; you bring the practice partner
- Résumé and job-description context need the Pro licence
Choose it if you want a copilot without a monthly subscription, or you would rather your interview never reached a vendor's servers. See Natively's plans.
Final Round AI: best all-in-one paid copilot
- Platforms
- macOS 14.4+ and Windows desktop app
- Free option
- Free plan, with limitsFree plan covers preparation only (résumé, job-description parsing, checklists). No free live sessions and no trial.
- Paid plans
- Pro from $25 a month (the full price table only renders in the browser; check it at checkout)
- How it works
- Desktop app with floating windows; no bot joins the call; can capture the screen for coding questions
Final Round AI's Interview CoPilot runs as a desktop app with floating windows and does not add a bot to the call. Its free plan helps you prepare (it parses the job description and builds a checklist), but its own pricing page says there is no free trial and that live sessions need an active Pro subscription. Pro is listed from $25 a month and also unlocks practice interviews and automatic debriefs, which makes it the most complete single product here if you are willing to pay.
Its stealth mode, on by default, keeps the windows out of screen shares in Zoom, Meet and Teams according to the vendor. If you are comparing it with Natively directly, our Final Round AI alternative page goes into the differences.
Strengths
- Live copilot, practice interviews and AI debriefs in one subscription
- Desktop app for macOS and Windows, with screen help for coding
- SOC 2, GDPR and CCPA badges on its site
Drawbacks
- No free live minutes and no trial: live help needs Pro
- Only the $25-a-month starting price is readable; the full table renders at checkout
- Cloud processing only
Choose it if you want one polished paid product for both preparation and the interview, and cloud processing is fine for you. Official site.
LockedIn AI: best for the most devices
- Platforms
- Windows 10+ and macOS 13.1+ desktop, iOS, Android, and a web app in Chromium browsers
- Free option
- Free plan, with limitsA free plan with no card. The site states its limit two ways (10 minutes of live help, and unlimited 5-minute sessions up to 60 minutes a day).
- Paid plans
- Unlimited, credit (400 minutes a month) and lifetime plans; prices only render at checkout and could not be confirmed
- How it works
- Separate app or browser tab that hears the call; on macOS the interview has to run in a Chrome tab
LockedIn AI covers more platforms than anything else in this list: desktop apps for Windows 10 and later and macOS 13.1 and later, a web app in Chromium browsers, and iOS and Android apps. It sells unlimited plans, credit plans (400 minutes of live help a month, which do not expire) and a lifetime plan.
Two things to check before you rely on it. The free plan is described both as 10 minutes of live help and as unlimited five-minute sessions up to an hour a day, so confirm the current limit in the app. And on a Mac it hears the call through a Chrome tab, so a Zoom or Teams desktop interview has to move into the browser. Our Natively vs LockedIn AI comparison covers the two side by side.
Strengths
- Windows, macOS, web, iOS and Android
- Credit plans whose minutes do not expire
- Mock interviews and a VS Code extension alongside the copilot
Drawbacks
- The site describes its free limit in two different ways
- Prices only appear at checkout; mobile subscriptions cost more
- On macOS the interview must run in a Chrome tab
Choose it if you need the copilot on a phone or in a browser as well as on a laptop. Official site.
Verve AI: best free way to try a hosted copilot
- Platforms
- Web, macOS and Windows desktop, mobile
- Free option
- Free plan, with limits3 copilot sessions a month of 15 minutes each, plus 5 AI mock interviews.
- Paid plans
- Standard $44.99 a month ($16.99 billed annually); Pro $84.99 a month ($34.99 billed annually)
- How it works
- Listens to the interview and detects questions; screen-region capture for coding problems
Verve AI listens to the interview, detects questions and suggests answers, with a "snap and solve" screen capture for coding problems and transcription in over 55 languages. Its free plan is the most usable of the hosted copilots: three 15-minute sessions a month and five mock interviews, with no card.
Paid plans are Standard ($44.99 a month, or $16.99 a month billed annually) with five 60-minute sessions, and Pro ($84.99, or $34.99 billed annually) with unlimited 90-minute sessions. The gap between monthly and annual is wide, so the annual price is only a saving if you will interview for months.
Strengths
- A permanent free plan: three 15-minute copilot sessions a month
- Five free AI mock interviews
- Desktop, web and mobile
Drawbacks
- 15 minutes ends before most interviews do
- Monthly prices are high unless you pay a year up front
- No statement on how long transcripts are kept
Choose it if you want to see what a hosted copilot is like before paying for one. Official site.
Parakeet AI: best for paying per interview
- Platforms
- Windows and macOS desktop app, and a web app in desktop Chrome
- Free option
- Trial onlyOne 10-minute free session and one free mock interview, no card.
- Paid plans
- Unlimited $99.90 a month or $399.90 a year; credit packs from $25 (one credit is about an hour)
- How it works
- Shares the interview's browser tab, or a desktop app that listens to the call
Parakeet AI works in the browser by sharing the interview's tab, or through Windows and macOS desktop apps. You choose the model (Gemini, GPT or Claude) from a menu. Pricing is either Unlimited ($99.90 a month, $399.90 a year, or $52 for a week) or credits: one credit costs $25 and covers about an hour, with cheaper rates in larger packs. The free allowance is a single 10-minute session and one mock interview, so treat it as a demo.
Strengths
- Credit packs suit a short job search
- Desktop apps and a Chrome web app
- States plainly that it is for conversations where AI help is permitted
Drawbacks
- The free allowance is one 10-minute session
- Unlimited is $99.90 a month
- How the desktop app captures audio is not documented
Choose it if you have a handful of interviews coming up and would rather buy hours than a subscription. Official site.
Sensei AI: best browser-only copilot
- Platforms
- Web app; no desktop or mobile app is mentioned
- Free option
- Free plan, with limitsFree plan with 15-minute copilot sessions; how many is not stated.
- Paid plans
- Pro $89 a month, or $24 a month billed annually
- How it works
- Web app with speech recognition alongside Zoom, Teams or Meet
Sensei AI runs as a web app next to Zoom, Teams or Meet and answers from speech recognition. The free plan gives 15-minute copilot sessions; the site does not say how many. Pro is $89 monthly or $24 a month billed annually, and adds unlimited sessions, a résumé builder and a story editor for behavioral answers. Coding help is a paid add-on.
Strengths
- Nothing to install
- Annual price ($24 a month) is among the lower ones here
- Résumé and story-editing tools included in Pro
Drawbacks
- Monthly price is $89
- No desktop app, so no screen reading for coding questions is documented
- The number of free sessions is not stated
Choose it if you cannot install software on the computer you interview from. Official site.
Interview Coder: coding rounds, at a premium
- Platforms
- macOS and Windows desktop app
- Free option
- No free optionThe app downloads for free, but every AI feature needs a subscription.
- Paid plans
- $299 a month (1,000 credits) or $799 lifetime
- How it works
- Desktop app for technical interviews, with audio support and screen capture of coding problems
Interview Coder is the tool whose creators went on to found Cluely. It focuses on technical interviews: LeetCode style problems, system design and behavioral questions, with audio support. The download is free but every AI feature needs a subscription: $299 a month for 1,000 credits, or $799 for lifetime access. That is several times the price of every other copilot here. For a direct comparison, see Natively vs Interview Coder.
Strengths
- Built for technical interviews
- States that it stores no interview content
- Lifetime option
Drawbacks
- $299 a month, or $799 once
- No free AI use
- Its own FAQ admits visibility issues on Google Meet under Windows 10
Choose it if you are preparing only for coding interviews and the price is not a concern. Official site.
Pluely: a free overlay on your own keys
- Platforms
- macOS, Windows and Linux desktop app
- Free option
- Free app, you pay the AI providerFree plan with no account, unlimited on your own API keys or a local model through Ollama. Closed source since v1.
- Paid plans
- Pro plans with hosted models exist; prices only render at checkout and could not be confirmed
- How it works
- Desktop overlay that transcribes your microphone and system audio and can capture the screen
Pluely began as an open-source desktop overlay. Its README now says version 1 and later are proprietary, distributed as binaries, because clones were reselling the code. The free plan still needs no account and is unlimited with your own API keys, a local model through Ollama, or AI command-line tools. It is the closest product to Natively's bring-your-own-key model, and the only one in this list with a Linux build.
Strengths
- Free and unlimited on your own keys or Ollama
- macOS, Windows and Linux
- Keeps chats and transcripts in a local database
Drawbacks
- Closed source since version 1, despite its open-source start
- Paid plan prices could not be confirmed
- All purchases are final
Choose it if you want a free bring-your-own-key overlay and you use Linux. Official site.
Cheating Daddy: open-source code you can audit
- Platforms
- macOS and Windows (Linux described as testing only)
- Free option
- Free app, you pay the AI providerOpen source (GPL-3.0) and free, but it needs your own Gemini API key, billed by Google.
- Paid plans
- No paid plan
- How it works
- Desktop overlay that captures the screen and system audio and sends them to Gemini Live
Cheating Daddy is an open-source desktop overlay that captures screen and audio and streams them to Google's Gemini Live model. It is free software, but not free to run: you need your own Gemini API key, and usage beyond Google's free allowance is billed. Glass, another open-source project often mentioned alongside it, is no longer available: its GitHub repository returned a 404 when we checked.
Strengths
- GPL-3.0 licence, active repository
- No subscription
- macOS and Windows
Drawbacks
- Needs a Gemini API key, which Google bills
- A single-developer project
- Sends screen and audio to Gemini Live
Choose it if you want to read every line of the copilot you run. Official site.
Cluely: now a meeting assistant
- Platforms
- macOS and Windows desktop app, iOS app
- Free option
- Free plan, with limitsStarter plan with limited AI responses and meeting notes and 3 file uploads; the caps are not published.
- Paid plans
- Pro $19.99 a month (from $11.99 billed annually); hiding from screen sharing is a separate $149.99-a-month tier
- How it works
- Desktop overlay that listens to the meeting; no bot joins
Cluely launched as an interview and "cheat on everything" tool and now presents itself as an AI meeting assistant; its homepage and pricing page no longer mention interviews. Pro is $19.99 a month, and keeping the overlay out of screen sharing moves you to the $149.99 plan. In March 2026, TechCrunch reported that its CEO admitted to misstating revenue figures in 2025. Our article Is Cluely safe? covers the privacy side, and Natively vs Cluely compares the two.
Strengths
- Polished overlay with no bot in the call
- Desktop and iOS
- Annual Pro price from $11.99 a month
Drawbacks
- Its site no longer mentions interviews
- Hiding from screen sharing is a separate $149.99-a-month plan
- Free plan caps are not published
Choose it if you want the overlay for everyday meetings rather than interviews. Official site.
Privacy: where your interview goes
An interview is personal data about you and, often, confidential material from the employer. With a hosted copilot, your audio or transcript goes to the vendor, who sends it to a model provider. None of the hosted copilots we reviewed publish a retention period on their main pages; Final Round AI shows compliance badges, Interview Coder says it stores no interview content, and the rest link to a privacy policy.
A bring-your-own-key copilot takes the vendor out of that chain: the request goes to the provider you chose, under your account's terms. A local model takes the provider out too. That is the case for Natively and Pluely with Ollama, at the cost of needing a capable computer and accepting that a small local model gives plainer answers than the largest hosted ones. Our guide to bring-your-own-key and local copilots explains the setup.
Coding rounds and behavioral rounds need different things
Coding and system design
A coding question is usually on screen, not spoken in full, so a copilot that only listens misses half of it. Natively, Final Round AI, Verve AI and Interview Coder can capture the screen; Sensei AI documents none. For system design, answers are long and structured, so a copilot that streams its answer as it writes it is easier to follow than one that waits to finish.
Behavioral and screening calls
Here the copilot's value is memory: your own stories, numbers and the job description, ready when the question comes. That depends on giving it context. Natively Pro reads your résumé and the job description; Final Round AI and LockedIn AI build similar context from uploaded materials; Sensei AI has a story editor. Our behavioral interview assistant page shows how that works in Natively.
Which copilot for which situation
| Situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Student or new graduate on a budget | Natively | Free for personal use; a local model avoids API bills |
| Working professional, little time to set up | Final Round AI | One subscription covers practice and the live copilot |
| Coding interviews | Natively | Reads problems from the screen; streams answers; no per-minute cost on your own keys |
| Behavioral rounds | LockedIn AI | Context from your materials, on any device |
| Privacy first | Natively | Local model option and local transcripts |
| Genuinely free, hosted | Verve AI | Three 15-minute sessions a month without a card |
| Open source | Cheating Daddy | GPL-3.0, with your own Gemini key |
If cost is the deciding factor, our free interview assistants and copilots guide separates free plans, trials and bring-your-own-key setups in more detail.
Questions people ask
What is an AI interview copilot?
An AI interview copilot is software that listens to a live interview, and sometimes reads the screen, and shows suggested answers, talking points or code while the conversation is happening. It differs from a practice tool, which runs mock interviews before the real one.
Is it allowed to use an AI copilot in a job interview?
Only when the employer allows it. Some employers now permit AI help and say so; others forbid it, such as Anthropic, whose candidate guidance says live interviews are done without AI unless stated otherwise. Use a copilot freely for practice, and in a real interview only within the rules you were given.
Can an interviewer detect an AI interview copilot?
Sometimes. Vendors say their overlays stay out of screen shares on particular apps, but assessment platforms such as HackerRank take periodic screenshots and check for overlay apps and external AI assistants, and some screen-sharing modes capture everything on the display. Treat any undetectable claim as a claim about specific setups, not a guarantee.
Which AI interview copilot is free?
Natively and Pluely are free to use with your own API key, which your AI provider bills, or with a local model through Ollama, which has no API charges. Cheating Daddy is open source but needs a Gemini key. Among hosted copilots, Verve AI has the most usable free plan, with three 15-minute sessions a month. Final Round AI has no free live sessions.
Do interview copilots work for coding interviews?
The ones that can read the screen do. Natively, Final Round AI, Verve AI and Interview Coder can capture a coding problem from the screen; a copilot that only listens misses problems that are shown rather than read aloud.
Which interview copilot keeps my data most private?
One that can run on a local model. With Natively or Pluely and a model in Ollama, the audio, transcript and answers stay on your computer. With your own API key, requests go only to the provider you chose. Hosted copilots send your interview to the vendor's servers.
Sources
Pages read on 27 October 2026 unless a line says otherwise:
- Natively: pricing and licences
- Natively: what the app does
- Natively: supported meeting apps
- Natively: answer latency benchmark
- Final Round AI: Free and Pro plans, no free trial, platforms
- Final Round AI: desktop download and supported apps
- LockedIn AI: platforms, capture method, free plan wording
- LockedIn AI: plan types and credit minutes
- Verve AI: plans, session limits and prices
- Verve AI: platforms and capture
- Parakeet AI: plans, credits, free session, platforms (USD prices from the page's own price data)
- Sensei AI: plans and prices (homepage pricing section)
- Interview Coder: prices, credits, platforms and FAQ
- Pluely: plans
- Pluely: README: licence change to closed source from v1, local storage
- Cheating Daddy: repository, licence and requirements
- Cheating Daddy: downloads
- Cluely: plans and prices
- Cluely: platforms and positioning
- Cluely: TechCrunch, March 2026, on the CEO's revenue statements
- Anthropic: guidance on candidates' AI usage
- HackerRank: Proctor Mode
- Glass by Pickle repository (returned 404)
More 2027 guides
- Best AI Interview Assistants in 2027Which AI tools help you prepare for an interview and get through it?
- Best AI Meeting Notetakers in 2027Which tool gives you the best record of a meeting, with or without a bot?
- Best AI Notetakers in 2027Which AI notetaker fits lectures, voice memos and your own notes?
- Best AI Meeting Assistants in 2027Which assistant helps during the meeting, not only after it?
- Best Free AI Interview Assistants and Copilots in 2027What interview help can you get for free, and where does free end?
- Best Free AI Meeting Assistants and Notetakers in 2027Which meeting tools have a free plan you can actually work on?
- Best Free AI Notetakers in 2027Which notetakers cost nothing, on your phone, your laptop or in class?
- Best Free AI Assistants in 2027Which general AI assistant gives you the most for free?
If Natively fits what you need, you can download it for macOS or Windows, read what it does, or compare plans and the Pro licence.
Posted about Natively? A post with 5,000 views earns you a month of Ultra, free.
