Cleo Review – A Smart and Sassy Money Management App

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on an affiliate link I may get a small commission for referring you to that link.

Looking to use the digital world to your financial advantage? You can with Cleo – your own AI-powered financial assistant. In this Cleo review I share the best features of the money management app with a sense of humour; stick your budget and you can expect praise, spend too much and expect to be roasted.

I’ve had Cleo on my phone for the past 3 years. It’s my favourite budgeting app because not only does it help you stay in control of your money but it’s also hilarious! Another added bonus is the weekly competition where you have the chance to win between £100-£300 for answering questions about your spending habits correctly.

Here’s my Cleo review to show you all the best features of this sassy, AI-powered money management app.

What is Cleo?

Cleo is a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence that makes managing your finances fun.

Sometimes known as “MeetCleo”, this smart app will track your spending and can see when you over spend on takeaways and clothes. It will push you to be more conscious of your spending – allowing you to set goals, compete in quizzes and give you the odd helpful reminder if you reach your spending limits.

Since its launch in 2016, Cleo has helped 150,000+ UK users to gain a more positive relationship with their budgeting. The app is also available in the US and there may be plans for them to expand to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, and South Africa in the near future.

How does Cleo work?

First, download the app (available on both Android and Apple) and connect your bank. Once you connect your bank to Cleo, it’s able to securely analyse your transaction data. You can connect most major banks to your Cleo account including American Express, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide, Natwest, TSB, Monzo and more. You can search for your bank and if your bank doesn’t yet support Cleo you can request that it be added.

Once connected, Cleo takes a look at your banking activity – identifying trends and habits. From here it is able to give you personalised budgeting advice, and provide quick access to your account balances and recent transactions.

Cleo stands out from other budgeting apps and chatbots because of its tough love personality. It can be friendly and funny, and can be set up to roast you. Here are some of the brilliant features that the Cleo app boasts:

  • Set up autosave (brilliant for saving without noticing)
  • Answers questions about your budget
  • Weekly quiz to test your spending knowledge (and win money!)
  • Create budgets and spending limits
  • Rate your spending choices (Spendr)

Your cleo app is completely customisable, whether you prefer funny, supportive or strict – there’s a setting to help with budget motivation.

woman using smartphone in bed

Cleo Review – A Smart and Sassy Money Management AppCleo Review

Is Cleo safe?

Cleo can only gain read-only access to your account, meaning they can only view encrypted transactions and can’t move money without your permission.

They are so confident in the safety of your bank details that they pledge to cover you up to £85,000 if anything was to go wrong with your account (equivalent to the FSCS deposit and savings guarantee).

Cleo Free V’s Cleo Plus

Cleo offers two products; a free option and a paid subscription called Cleo Plus. The free account offers all the features mentioned above (chat feature, weekly quizzes, budgets and autosave). Cleo Plus costs £5.99/month and provides you access to:

  • Credit score coaching
  • Cashback
  • Salary advance of up to £100
  • Access to new daily challenges

Apps simular to Cleo

If you’re in the market for a new budgeting app and would like to weigh up your options, there are some alternatives to Cleo that you could consider.

Chip – Similar to Cleo, Chip offers an autosave feature, however it doesn’t offer the same budget breakdown or fun quizzing/roasting. The biggest advantage to Chip right now is the market-leading savings account.

Snoop – Snoop gives you an oversight into your bills and provides recommendations on areas you could save money.

Your Banking App – Banking apps seem to be constantly developing. Some now offer autosaving features and savings posts. It’s worth seeing what features your existing banking app offers.

My Cleo Review

The free version of Cleo seems like a no-brainer. It’s a fun way to improve your awareness of your spending and tighten up your budget. The weekly competition is a massive incentive to get the app too!

On Trustpilot, Cleo has been rated over 1,700 times, with 83% of those rating the budget app excellent. Similarly the Cleo reviews on the Apple App Store are largely positive with an average rating fo 4.6/5 stars.

Sign up to Cleo

Have you found this Cleo review helpful? Let me know in the comments below.