Cleo App Review – $250 Cash Advances and Wiseass AI Money Management

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30-SECOND SUMMARY: Looking to get a better grip on your finances but can’t find a way to stick with it? Cleo organizes your money habits in a way that makes it easy to see how just a few small changes can make a big impact, and her sassy (ok, WISEASS) way of explaining things to you will truly make you LOL. With cash advances for up to $250 (no interest, no tips and no credit check) Cleo makes finances fun.

Should you make Cleo your friend with (cash advance) benefits? We’ll show you all she has to offer in Cleo app review.

Why is Cleo one of our favorite cash advance apps?

• Super speed - Get up to $250 in your bank account today!²
• No, No, No! - No credit check, no interest, no tips, no late fees
• 😂 😂 🤣 - Hilarious, smart money advice you might finally listen to

Get up to $250 NOW from Cleo

Watch: Our Cleo app video review

What is the Cleo app for?

Cleo is the no B.S. app that’s helped millions of Americans budget better, improve their credit score, and avoid overdraft fees with cash advances up up to $250.

As an AI-driven app, Cleo will share powerful insights and advice on your finances and is powered by a smart assistant that will have you cracking up (multiple times). 

After downloading Cleo you can set up your free account which includes a secure link to your bank account in under two minutes. Cleo instantly imports and analyzes your recent transactions, and the chatbot will ask you some quick questions about your goals and to better understand your earning and spending patterns. Then she’ll start helping you manage your money! 

Cleo flips between two modes:

• Toast Me (for when you need a pick me up)
• Roast Me (for those times when you want to be ripped to shreds) 

Both are hilarious and full of your (new) favorite memes and GIFs while giving you some useful financial advice you may actually pay attention to. Watch out though – if you have a thin skin, Roast Mode may not be for you!

Cleo breaks down your earnings, spending and bills in a way that may finally make it click for you. Then, you’ll receive practical recommendations on how you can easily spend less, save more and start making progress towards your financial goals.

Cleo cash advance: What are the requirements?

You can borrow up to $250 with a Cleo cash advance. 

First-time users will only be able to borrow $20 – $100 depending on their eligibility, which is decided by Cleo based on things like your recurring deposits, their consistency, and your spending habits. 

You can increase your borrowing limit over time simply by paying your advances on time and getting higher and more consistent deposits in your account.  Plus, you can raise your limit to up to $500 (if you qualify) by setting up a Cleo Direct Deposit account, which is a feature included in the $5.99/month Cleo Plus subscription plan.

Here’s what you’ll need to know before you get started:

• New users can borrow as much as $70 right away, which is a higher initial limit than most other cash advance apps. 
• The transaction history of your linked bank account is Cleo’s primary assessment tool.
• There is no credit check to borrow from Cleo, and no regular income is required, making Cleo a good option for freelancers and gig workers. 
• Cleo is one of the few apps that provides cash advances to Uber drivers and DoorDashers.
• You don’t need to change your direct deposit, or submit timesheets like apps like Earnin require. 
• Funds are sent to your linked bank account, so you can use them for ATM withdrawals, debit card purchases, or however you like.

How much does a Cleo cash advance cost?

Like many cash advance apps, Cleo doesn’t charge interest or late fees.

You’ll need to be a Cleo Plus for $5.99/month to access cash advances. If you want to get your money the same day, there’s also an express fee ranging from $3.99 – $9.99. Cleo doesn’t charge interest or late fees, and seems to be one of the places in America that still doesn’t ask for tips!

If you take out a $100 advance once per month and choose express delivery, you’ll pay $9.98 in fees. This is well below the $19.08 average cost of a $100 cash advance! Cleo is one of the few cash advance apps that will lend you $100 for less than ten dollars in fees. 

And here’s a major pro tip! You can use Cleo’s cash advance features without subscribing simply by asking. Email [email protected]  and state that you’d like to use Cleo cash advances without subscribing and they’ll waive the fee. If you opt for the no-fee slower delivery option, you can use Cleo cash advances with no fees at all!

Need low cost extra cash? >>> Get a low-fee or no-fee cash advance from Cleo 👈

You can set your repayment date for up to 14 days after you take out your advance. You can also extend your repayment date for an additional 14 days with no interest or fees. If you’re unable to repay your cash advance, you won’t be able to borrow any additional money, however Cleo does not utilize debt collectors or report unpaid loans to credit bureaus.

What Other Features Does Cleo Offer?

• Analyze your spending: Cleo automagically categorizes your spending and gives you the punchy highlights. The monthly earning vs. spending charts can be very eye-opening and Cleo is particularly good at identifying those small, frequent charges that add up to much more than you realize, such as food delivery or Amazon purchases.

• Set monthly goals and spending targets: You may not want a rigid budget, and Cleo is a great tool if you do have a sense of where you could shop smart and shave a little spending. For example, maybe Cleo helped you identify that you spent way more than you would have liked at restaurants last month so you want to cut back by $200. 

• Automate your savings: You can set up multiple savings goals, like save for a trip or build a reserve fund, and create an (optional) free Cleo Wallet account to use Cleo to move money and track your progress. Cleo offers easy set-it-and-forget-it savings hacks like rounding up purchases to the next dollar or allocating a few bucks from each paycheck.

All of these services are available on the free version of Cleo, with no subscription required.

Spend, save, laugh >>> Try Cleo for FREE 👈

Cleo’s Paid Plans

While the free version of Cleo can offer you a lot of value on its own, you’re gonna have to pay a monthly subscription if you want to access the “good stuff”, including cash advances and credit building. 

Here’s what each of Cleo’s paid subscription tiers offers on top of the free features:

Cleo Plus – $5.99month

• Cash back – Earn a small percentage back of the money you spend on certain stores and merchants. 
• View Your Credit Score –  Keep track of your credit score thanks to Cleo’s partnership with Equifax.
• Direct Deposits – You may choose for Cleo to open a new bank account for you with Thread Bank. This feature allows you to apply to cash advances for up to $500.
• Early Paycheck Access –Your Cleo Builder subscription has you covered with 2 days of early access to your paycheck³.

Cleo Credit Builder – $14.99/month

The Cleo Credit Builder subscription offers saving goals, hacks, challenges, APY on savings, cashback, credit score insights, cash advances if eligible, credit history, and priority support. 

It includes everything that you get from the free version and the Cleo Plus version, as well as credit the Credit Builder Card. ⁴

Is there a Cleo Free Trial? 

There is no free trial to try the Plus and Credit Builder features of Cleo at the moment. So, there isn’t a way to test things like larger cash advances or credit-building tools before you commit to paying. But there are certain things you can do with the app for free.

The cool toast and roast me modes from Cleo’s famous chatbot are accessible for free, as well as its plethora of budgeting and finance tools. 

Is the Cleo App Safe?

Cleo connects to your bank account via Plaid, the premier company in building ‘pipes’ for financial technology apps. Plaid not only makes it super simple for you to link your bank account to Cleo, but it also ensures that you’ve only granted read-only access to the app. 

This means that Cleo can see what’s happening in your bank account to give you spending and saving summaries and recommendations.

Plus, Cleo protects data with bank-grade data encryption and doesn’t store your bank login information anywhere, so you don’t need to worry about hackers stealing it in a data breach.

As far as Cleo’s banking services go, your Cleo Builder and Credit Builder cards are provided by Cleo’s FDIC-member partners Thread Bank and WebBank, which means your deposits are federally insured for up to $250,000.

Create a Cleo account in two minutes 👈

Frequently Asked Questions About Cleo

Is the Cleo App Safe?

Yes. The Cleo app is safe. Sharing all your financial information – and access to your bank account – with a foul-mouthed app can be a scary proposition, but behind the scenes things are all business.

Cleo connects to your bank account via Plaid, the premier company in building ‘pipes’ for financial technology apps. Plaid not only makes it super-simple for you to link your bank account to Cleo, it also ensures that you’ve only granted read-only access, meaning that Cleo can see what’s happening in your bank account to give you spending and saving summaries and recommendations, but it can’t touch your money. 

Plus, Cleo protects data with bank-grade data encryption and doesn’t store your bank login information anywhere, so you don’t need to worry about hackers stealing it in a data breach.

How quickly can you get cash from Cleo’s SpotMe?

Funds usually take 3 – 4 business days to reach your bank account. If this is too long, you can pay a $3.99 express fee to get your funds in your account within 24 hours. Paying an express fee might not be top of your list, but it helps to know you can get your money instantly for a small fee.

Does Cleo give $100?

Yes. You can borrow up to $250 although new Cleo users are more likely to be capped around $70 – which is still much higher than many of the other money borrowing apps which are only willing to put $20 to $50 in your pocket as a new user.

You got this far, but decided this isn’t your jam? Check out these apps like Cleo instead.

• Albert: $250 and the help of real Albert “geniuses” inside your app
• Brigit: $250 with no interest or late fees to worry you (ahhhhh, that’s nice))
• Dave: $500 cash advance available inside 60 seconds and for new users
• MoneyLion: $1000 loan with no credit check and generous repayment options
• Pockbox: $2,500 (or more) available even if your credit score is poor

WAIT! Why borrow quick cash when you can earn it?!

Cash advance apps can be a great tool for getting a little extra cash when you need it, but you’ll need to repay it – plus fees – wihtin a week or two. Did you know there’s an easy way to earn extra cash that’s yours to keep?

KashKick is a wildly popular service that lets you earn money for playing games, completing surveys, signing up for trial offers and more. (You’ll even earn cash for just completing your profile!) You can earn cash today and withdraw your earnings through PayPal once you’ve reached $10. You can earn over $100/month with KashKick – and you don’t need to spend a dime or take out your credit card to do it.

There are dozens of high-paying offers available on KashKick, and if you’re into playing new games on your phone, you can earn some serious cash for doing what you love. Though offers change regularly, there are currently¹ more than three dozen offers available where you can earn cash – sometimes over $100 – just by downloading and playing popular games like Coin Master, Monoply Go, Bingo Blitz, and more. These games are all free to download, and no in-app purchases are required to earn with KashKick.

Get paid to play on your phone >>> Check out KashKick

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Mitchel Harad

Mitchel Harad is an expert in consumer lending, including cash advance apps and personal loans. He has over 20 years of experience in financial services at both banks (JP Morgan Chase) and upstart lenders (Lending Club, SocietyOne). He is passionate about educating consumers on how financial systems work to empower them to make informed and cost-effective decisions. During some challenging financial times, he paid thousands of dollars in overdraft fees at a time when he could least afford them – an experience he hopes to help others avoid.

Mitchel holds a Bachelors of Business Administration in Finance from The Goizeta School of Business at Emory University and a Masters of Business Administration from The Haas School of Business at The University of California.

Latest posts by Mitchel Harad (see all)

• Self Financial Review – Credit Builder Loans to Build Your Credit and Savings - April 29, 2024
• Cleo App Review – $250 Cash Advances and Wiseass AI Money Management - April 24, 2024
• FloatMe Review – Simple $50 Cash Advances with Low Fees - April 17, 2024

1. As of February 13, 2024. Offers may change and may not be available to all users. Eligibity requirements apply. See KashKick's Terms of Service for full details.
2. Subject to eligibility. Amounts range from $20-$250, and $20-$100 for first time users. Amounts subject to change. Same day transfers subject to express fees.
3. Cleo is not a bank. Direct deposit banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. Early access to direct deposit funds not guaranteed, timing may vary.
4. The Credit Builder Card is issued by WebBank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa USA Inc. Access to the Card is subject to approval.