My last interview loop I got the feeling that some companies just say it's 'close' to get you to apply again in 6 months. Unless they give actionable, solid feedback (FB always does, at least with me), I consider it a binary.
Story time: At <X>, I knew after the culture fit round that I wasn't getting an offer. I had middling coding rounds and a terrible culture fit round with the hiring manager. The recruiter claimed that it was close and the team was arguing about the hire, while the person that referred me let me know that they were passing because the hiring manager vetoed everyone with a 'no hire' about 2 hours after I left their building. I had no qualms with the reject, I truly felt a misfit in the interview, but the recruiter play was funny. Someone reached out to me 4.5 months later asking if I wanted to interview :)
Story time: At <X>, I knew after the culture fit round that I wasn't getting an offer. I had middling coding rounds and a terrible culture fit round with the hiring manager. The recruiter claimed that it was close and the team was arguing about the hire, while the person that referred me let me know that they were passing because the hiring manager vetoed everyone with a 'no hire' about 2 hours after I left their building. I had no qualms with the reject, I truly felt a misfit in the interview, but the recruiter play was funny. Someone reached out to me 4.5 months later asking if I wanted to interview :)