Questions about using Control.

Yes. New users get their first 5 messages and 2 minutes of voice transcription free. The trial runs the real product, so you can check the overlay, the hotkeys, and the transcription in the exact tools you interview in before spending anything.

Not in the capture paths we test, and we state which ones those are. Tested against current Zoom desktop releases, the HackerRank desktop app and browser-based screen recording, as of October 2026. In that set the overlay is absent from the shared screen and from recordings, no Control process appears in macOS Activity Monitor, and global hotkeys never reach the browser as keystrokes. Not covered: other proctoring tools that install their own capture driver or a locked-down browser until we test them, and cameras. The full tested list, and what falls outside it, is on the About page under "How we test what stays hidden".

All current Zoom desktop releases, re-tested October 2026. Zoom ships often, so we re-check new builds as they come out. If you want to see it for yourself, run the free trial with a test meeting and a second account before an interview.

Yes, and that includes the HackerRank desktop app. Re-tested October 2026, the overlay stays out of its screenshots and screen recording, and Control does not trip its focus or tab-switch checks. In the browser, Control sits beside the assessment tab as a separate desktop window and never takes focus from it, and screenshots of the problem are captured by the desktop app, not by anything running in the page. The platform's own proctoring keeps working: a webcam check or an ID check is outside what Control does, and so is any other locked-down browser we have not tested. Our platform guides describe what each assessment records so you know before the session starts.

There are. Open-source overlays exist and some of them are good at the one thing they do, which is usually a hotkey that sends a screenshot to a model you supply a key for. What they typically lack is live transcription of the interviewer, a phone remote so the interview machine stays untouched, a tested answer to "does this show up in Zoom", and someone to email when it breaks the morning of an interview. Control's free trial exists so you can decide that for yourself. If it earns the $12, the day pass covers a full interview day; if it does not, you have spent nothing.

Because a browser extension lives inside the window you share. A desktop app can respond to global hotkeys regardless of which window has focus, capture the problem on screen without a click in the page, and render its overlay outside the shared surface. Extensions cannot do any of those in a live screen-share, which is where most technical interviews happen.

Sign in on your phone and on the desktop app and they pair through Control's servers. From the phone you can trigger a screenshot, read the response, and type a follow-up, so the interview computer shows nothing but the interview. Nothing is installed on the phone beyond the web app.

One interview tomorrow: the Day Pass ($12, 24 hours). An onsite loop or a cluster of rounds inside three days: the Sprint Pass ($19, 72 hours). An active search with interviews most weeks: Monthly ($39, cancel anytime). Every plan has every feature; the only difference is how long you have it.

Screenshots and audio are captured only when you trigger them and are sent to Control's servers for the model to answer; they are not used for marketing or sold. Account and payment data are handled by Stripe and Supabase and are not used for advertising. The privacy policy lists each permission and what it is for.

Access starts the moment you pay, so there are no routine refunds: passes are final, and cancelling Monthly stops the next renewal without refunding the current period. Billing errors and duplicate charges are corrected. The free trial is there so a first purchase is never a blind one, and the most a first paid test can cost is $12.