Cleo will roast your $94 delivery habit and make you laugh. Then it nudges you toward a cash advance. Flip reads the same statement, then actually fixes it.
Cleo talks a great game. Flip plays it.
You like Cleo's attitude but want something that fixes your money instead of just commenting on it.
By the numbers
The figures below are pulled from public pricing pages, press coverage, and app store listings. Every one of them maps to a source at the bottom of this page, so you can check the receipts.
Cleo Plus price
$5.99/mo
Cleo Plus listed at $5.99/mo or $44.99/yr per Cleo and 2026 reviews (Cleo Builder runs $14.99/mo)
FTC settlement
$17M
Cleo AI agreed to pay $17M in March 2025 over alleged deceptive advance and subscription claims (FTC)
Got the headline advance
0.3%
FTC: only 0.3% of Plus users who took an advance received the advertised $250; most got under $45
Cleo vs Flip, side by side
Cleo does its one job. Flip treats that job as a single feature and keeps going. Here is the honest breakdown.
| Where it counts | Cleo | Flip |
|---|---|---|
| What it does with your spending | Roasts it and nudges you, in a fun chat | Reads it, then cancels and optimizes with your okay |
| Subscriptions you forgot | Can flag some recurring charges | Finds them and cancels them in the thread |
| Moving money | Steers you toward a paid cash advance | Moves real money only after you approve it |
| Proactive alerts | Nudges and check-ins, often plan-gated | Texts you first when it spots something worth acting on |
| Fees beyond the subscription | Express advance fees of about $3.99 to $9.99 | No advance product and no express fee to skip |
| Investing and rewards | Not the focus | Rounds up to invest, copies trades, optimizes rewards |
| Connections | Bank accounts for budgeting and advances | Banks, brokerages, email, and calendar in one thread |
Without Flip
Cleo is genuinely funny, but the coach mostly steers you toward a paid plan and a cash advance that comes in smaller than the number on the ad. In March 2025 the FTC settled with Cleo for $17 million, alleging it overstated advance amounts and made the subscription hard to cancel.
With Flip
Flip lives in the same text thread but it does the work: it finds the subscriptions you forgot, cancels them with your okay, tracks spending, and moves money only when you say go. Same chat-first feel, minus the upsell, plus things actually happening.
The personality
Yes, Cleo is funny. That is the whole product.
Credit where it is due: Cleo's roast mode is a real personality, and getting dragged for a $94 delivery week can be the nudge that makes you close the app and cook. Founded in London in 2016 by Barney Hussey-Yeo, Cleo grew into a Gen Z budgeting chatbot serving more than 8 million users and reaching a $500 million valuation in its 2022 Series C. But under the jokes, the engine that pays the bills is a subscription plus a cash advance, and the coach tends to point you there. Flip keeps the text-first feel and the willingness to be blunt, then spends its energy on doing the task instead of selling you the next one.
- Cleo's roast and hype modes are great at getting your attention
- The business underneath is a paid plan plus an advance, and the chat keeps steering there
The receipts
The advance is smaller than the ad, and harder to leave
This is not just grumpy reviewers. In March 2025 the FTC settled with Cleo AI for $17 million, alleging the company promised fast cash and hundreds of dollars while most people got far less. By the FTC's own numbers, only 0.3% of Plus users who took an advance received the advertised $250, most Plus users got under $45, and most Builder users got under $60. The complaint also said the subscription was hard to cancel and that same day delivery cost extra, with express fees commonly around $3.99 to $9.99. Flip does not run an advance product, so there is no headline number to miss and no express fee to dodge. When Flip moves money, it asks first, and it does what you actually asked.
- FTC settlement: $17 million, March 2025, over advance and subscription claims
- Express fees of about $3.99 to $9.99 just to get your own money faster
The switch
Same text thread, but it actually closes the loop
Flip is an AI money operator that lives in iMessage. You text it like you text Cleo, but instead of a comeback you get an action: find and cancel the subscription, track the spending, split the bill, round up and invest, copy a trade, or move money with your approval. It connects to your banks, brokerages, email, and calendar, and it is proactive, so it texts you when it spots a charge worth killing rather than waiting for you to open an app. Flip says it finds a median of $1,242 in found value in a user's first week, or it's free. One thread replaces a stack of single-purpose paid apps, and nobody is upselling you an advance.
- Text it the way you text Cleo, and the task actually gets done
- Proactive and consent-led: it flags things, then asks before moving money
Questions people ask
Is Cleo a scam?
No, Cleo is a real, well-funded company and a lot of people enjoy it. But in March 2025 it settled with the FTC for $17 million over claims that it overstated cash advance amounts and made canceling hard, so go in clear-eyed about the advance and the subscription.
How much does Cleo cost?
Cleo Plus is listed at $5.99 per month or $44.99 per year, and Cleo Builder runs about $14.99 per month. Same day advance delivery adds an express fee of roughly $3.99 to $9.99, and prices can vary by when you signed up.
What does Flip do that Cleo does not?
Flip actually executes. It finds and cancels subscriptions, tracks spending, splits bills, rounds up to invest, optimizes card rewards, and moves money with your approval, all from one iMessage thread, instead of mainly commenting on your spending and pointing you toward an advance.
Sources
We fact-check the numbers so the comparison stays honest. Pricing and product details change, so if something looks off, follow the link and tell us.
- 1.FTC: Cleo AI agrees to pay $17 million over deceptive cash advance and subscription claims (March 2025)
- 2.The Penny Hoarder: Cleo App Review 2026, Cleo Plus at $5.99/mo and Builder at $14.99/mo
- 3.FinanceBuzz: Cleo App Review, express advance fees of about $3.99 to $9.99
- 4.FintechFutures: Cleo raises $80m at a $500m valuation (Series C, 2022)
- 5.Sacra: Cleo company profile, founded 2016 in London by Barney Hussey-Yeo
- 6.Flip: median of $1,242 in found value in a user's first week, or it's free
