Cleo Credit Builder Card Review, Cleo Builder Cost at $14.99 a Month, Fees, and What the Card Reports

The Cleo Credit Builder card is a secured credit card issued by WebBank that you can only get with Cleo's Builder subscription, at $14.99 a month or $134.99 a year. There is no credit check, no interest and no card fee, and you can start with a $1 deposit. It reports to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion every month. The catch is in Cleo's own help center: the card reports no credit limit, so it adds nothing to your available credit and cannot lower your utilization.

We read Cleo's pricing page, its Cleo Card page and the help center articles on Builder pricing, card fees, credit reporting, closing the card and cancelling the subscription. CreditPal is a credit coaching tool, not a card issuer, and we earn nothing from Cleo or any product you choose.

How much does the Cleo Credit Builder card cost?

The card itself is free. Access to it is not. Cleo sells three subscriptions, and only the top one includes the card. Its help center says: "You'll need a Builder subscription, which allows you access to the Cleo Card and higher cash advances."

The yearly option is not on Cleo's pricing page, which shows only $14.99. It is in the help center: "We also have a yearly option available for $134.99, a 25% savings." The math holds: $134.99 is 25% less than twelve payments of $14.99. If you plan to keep the card for a year or more, pay yearly, but read the refund rules below first.

Other charges are small and optional. There is no interest on the card. An ATM withdrawal costs $2.50 plus whatever the ATM operator charges, and same-day delivery of a cash advance costs $4.49 to $14.99 depending on the amount, according to the footnotes on Cleo's pricing page.

Does the Cleo card report to all three credit bureaus?

Yes. The Cleo Card page says: "Cleo reports to all three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) on a monthly basis." That puts it ahead of the Extra debit card, which reports to two, and level with most secured cards.

Cleo lists exactly what it sends: your outstanding balance owed, your payment status, your current balance, and your "highest credit," which is the largest statement you have ever run up. It also lists what it does not send, and that is the part most Cleo reviews skip.

The Cleo card reports no credit limit, so it does not help utilization

On one page Cleo says your deposit is your limit: "If you add $200 to your security deposit, your credit limit will be $200." A few questions further down the same page it says the opposite: "Cleo doesn't report percent utilization because the Cleo Card has no preset credit limit."

The help center settles it. "Because there isn't a credit limit, the Cleo Card doesn't have credit utilization to report," and "The credit bureaus just don't use a credit utilization number from your Cleo Card when they calculate your credit score." Cleo frames this as freedom to spend without watching a ratio. For credit building it cuts both ways.

Utilization is the second-largest factor in a FICO score. A traditional secured card with a $500 limit adds $500 to the total credit the bureaus see, which pulls your overall ratio down if you carry balances elsewhere. The Cleo card adds no limit, so it does nothing for that ratio. If your score is being held down by cards near their limits, the Cleo card will not fix it. It builds payment history, and payment history only. You can see how much a limit would move your ratio with our credit utilization calculator.

Can you get a refund from Cleo Builder?

Only within 30 days, and only if you have not asked for the physical card. Cleo's cancellation article says: "If you cancel your subscription within 30 days of signing up then you'll be refunded your subscription payment." The next sentence is the condition: "if you successfully requested a physical Cleo Card during this 30-day time frame, you will not be eligible for a refund of your subscription."

Since the card is the reason most people buy Builder, most people will order it in the first week and lose the refund. That matters most on the $134.99 yearly plan. Two more rules from the same help center: deleting the app does not cancel the subscription, and if you have an active cash advance when you cancel, you still repay it on the date you chose.

There is history here. In March 2025 Cleo AI agreed to pay $17 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that said it misled customers about how much cash advance they could get and how fast, and made its subscription hard to cancel. The order requires clear subscription terms and a simple way to cancel. The current steps are short: Profile, Subscriptions, Manage Cleo Builder, Unsubscribe.

What happens if you stop paying the Builder subscription?

Cleo gives you 90 days. The help center says no action is taken for 90 days if the subscription fee goes unpaid, although the card may start throwing errors. "After 90 days with no subscription payments, your subscription will end and your card will be closed." Any money left in the deposit goes back to your linked account, which Cleo says can take up to 45 days.

You can resubscribe, but there is a two-card lifetime limit, and a new card opens a new tradeline. Cleo warns that "both your new and old card will show up on your credit report," and a new account usually costs a few points at first. Letting the subscription lapse is the most expensive way to leave.

Cleo Credit Builder card pros and cons

Is the Cleo Credit Builder card worth it?

It is worth it for one kind of buyer: someone with a thin file who already uses Cleo's cash advances and budgeting, and wants on-time payment history reported to all three bureaus without a credit check. For that person the card is folded into a subscription they would pay anyway.

For credit building alone it is an expensive way to get a payment history line. Over 24 months, Builder on the yearly plan costs $269.98 and none of it comes back. Kovo costs $240 over the same period, Self's smallest plan nets out near $89 because most of your payments are returned, and a traditional secured card with no annual fee costs nothing beyond the deposit you get back. Our credit builder apps comparison lines all of them up by real cost and bureau coverage.

If cash advances are the reason you are looking at Cleo at all, the credit card is not the core problem. A paycheck that runs out before the month does is usually an income problem, and the fix that lasts is a higher salary. A salary negotiation coach can help you walk into your next review with a real market number instead of a guess.

A cheaper first step if your file is not thin

A builder card only helps if the problem is a lack of history. If your score is low because of a late payment, a collection or maxed-out cards, a new tradeline with no limit will not touch the factors that are costing you points. CreditPal reads your file read-only, explains in plain English which factors hurt most, lets you simulate a change before you make it and puts the fixes in the order that pays, from $7 a month. It does not lend, open accounts or file disputes. If you already know you need a new account, compare the card-and-loan options in our Brigit Credit Builder review and our OpenSky secured card review, which both report a real limit.

Cleo Credit Builder card FAQ

How much is Cleo Builder a month?

Cleo Builder costs $14.99 a month, or $134.99 a year if you choose the yearly option in the app, which works out to 25% less. Builder is the only Cleo plan that includes the Cleo Card. Plus at $5.99 and Pro at $8.99 do not include it.

Does the Cleo card report to all 3 credit bureaus?

Yes. Cleo reports the card to Experian, Equifax and TransUnion every month. It sends your balance owed, payment status, current balance and highest statement balance. It does not send a credit limit, so no utilization figure is reported from the card.

Does the Cleo card do a hard credit check?

No. Cleo does not run a credit check for the card and has no minimum score. You need to be at least 18 with a valid SSN or ITIN and a US address, and you need an active Builder subscription before you can apply.

Does the Cleo card help credit utilization?

No. Cleo says the card has no preset credit limit, so it reports no utilization and adds nothing to the total credit the bureaus see. It builds payment history only. A secured card that reports a limit can lower your overall utilization; the Cleo card cannot.

Can I get a refund from Cleo?

Yes, if you cancel Builder within 30 days of signing up and have not requested a physical Cleo Card in that window. Once you order the physical card, the subscription payment is not refundable. Refunds go back to the card you signed up with within about 4 business days.

Is the Cleo card a credit card or a debit card?

It is a secured credit card issued by WebBank, Member FDIC. Your deposit sets how much you can spend and can repay each statement automatically. Because it is a credit card, it cannot be used to repay a Cleo cash advance or to pay the Cleo subscription itself.