# Pythonista 3 vs MLC Chat

The clearest difference is price: MLC Chat at Free against Pythonista 3's $9.99. MLC Chat also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 19 months). Pythonista 3's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (1.5K vs 78). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

MLC Chat is free to download; Pythonista 3 costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Pythonista 3 holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pythonista 3 has 1.5K ratings behind it against 78, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Pythonista 3's written reviews are positive against 68% of MLC Chat's.

Pythonista 3 ships an update every 19 months, MLC Chat every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pythonista 3 | MLC Chat |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $9.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.5 (1.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pythonista-3/id1085978097/reviews)** | [4.2 (78 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **1.5K** | 78 |
| Positive reviews | **73.4% of reviews** | 68.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 19 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#23** | — |
| Size | 853 MB | 1.7 GB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [omz:software](https://appshunter.io/developer/285608316) | [Tianqi Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1684828246) |

## What reviewers say

### Pythonista 3

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pythonista-3/id1085978097)

**Currently charting:** #23 Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

Develop and run Python 3 scripts directly on your iPad or iPhone. This complete scripting environment includes popular third-party modules and allows access to iOS features like sensors, location, and photos. Automate your device with app extensions and integrate with Shortcuts and Siri.

**Highlights:** Powerful code editor with syntax highlighting, Interactive prompt with code completion, Integrated visual debugger, Offline Python documentation, UI editor for prototyping, Share sheet and system-wide keyboard extensions, Shortcuts app integration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### MLC Chat

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937)

Engage in conversations with open language models directly on your iPad or iPhone. Once a model is downloaded, all interactions occur locally, ensuring privacy and offline functionality without internet access. This app is designed for non-commercial use, allowing you to run various open-source language models on your device.

**Highlights:** Local AI model chat, Offline functionality, No internet required, Privacy-focused, Open-source project integration, Downloadable language models

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Runs fast locally
- ✅ Works offline
- 💰 Free to use
- 👍 Easy to use
- 💡 Supports various LLM models

**What reviewers complain about**

- ⚠️ Limited model selection
- 📉 High VRAM requirements
- 📱 Incompatible with older devices
- ❌ Crashes on some devices/models
- 🗄️ Cannot save conversations

**Reported bugs**

- Phi model crashes on iOS 26.0.1 17 Pro Max
- App crashes on iPad Pro 4th Gen, iPadOs 17.7
- RedPajama model crashes app on initialization
- Update is extremely slow
- Download model button disabled in new version

**Requested features**

- Ability to import custom models (from URL/Hugging Face)
- Support for more specific models (DeepSeek, Phi-2, Gemma 2B/7B, MoE Mixtral 8x7B, LLaVA)
- History of conversations
- iOS shortcuts support
- Ability to export entire responses


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pythonista 3 free?

Pythonista 3 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is MLC Chat free?

MLC Chat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Pythonista 3 or MLC Chat?

Pythonista 3 is rated higher. Pythonista 3 averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while MLC Chat averages 4.2 from 78 ratings.

### Do Pythonista 3 or MLC Chat have ads?

Neither Pythonista 3 nor MLC Chat shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Pythonista 3 or MLC Chat?

Pythonista 3 ships an update every 19 months, and MLC Chat every 2 months. Most recently, Pythonista 3 was updated on September 24, 2026 and MLC Chat on August 19, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*