Comparison

Charles Proxy vs Private LLM

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Charles Proxy

Capture and inspect network requests and responses directly on your iOS device. Debug networking issues without needing a computer. View detailed metadata, headers, and bodies, and even transfer sessions to a desktop for further analysis.

Highlights
  • Capture network requests and responses
  • Inspect metadata, headers, and bodies
  • SSL Proxying for plain text viewing
  • Measure network performance
  • Block requests to specific hosts
  • DNS spoofing
Features
Read full description

Charles Proxy for iOS lets you capture, inspect and modify network requests and responses on your iOS device. You can view metadata, headers and bodies in the app, so you can finally debug your app’s networking issues without a computer. Charles Proxy for iOS is an app from the creator of Charles Proxy for desktop. HOW IT WORKS Turn Charles on when you want to start capturing. Charles captures your network requests and responses in the background while you test your app or website. Return to Charles to inspect the requests and responses. If you also have Charles on your desktop, you can transfer recorded sessions to your desktop to explore them on the big screen. Charles creates a local VPN on your device. All of your network traffic passes through Charles on your device, and then out to the internet as usual over either WiFi or Mobile / Cellular data. There is no remote server involved, and your data always remains private to you. FEATURES * SSL Proxying to view SSL requests in plain text * View and share request and responses bodies * Syntax highlighting for text request and response bodies * Measure network performance over WiFi or Mobile / Cellular networks * Block requests to nominated hosts * DNS spoofing

About

Private LLM

This AI assistant offers advanced on-device capabilities for productivity and creativity, ensuring your interactions remain confidential and offline. It supports a wide range of open-source LLM models and integrates seamlessly with Siri and Shortcuts.

Highlights
  • On-device AI processing
  • Wide selection of open-source LLM models
  • Siri and Shortcuts integration
  • Customizable system prompts
  • Offline functionality
  • Family Sharing support
Features
Read full description

Discover the Ultimate Privacy-Focused AI Assistant on iOS: Private LLM Unlock a new realm of productivity and creativity on your iPhone and iPad with Private LLM, the premier AI assistant designed with your privacy in mind. Available for a one-time purchase, it offers a range of AI capabilities without needing a subscription. Experience advanced on-device AI that keeps your interactions confidential and offline. Why Private LLM is Your Go-To AI Companion: - Exclusive AI Model Selection: Choose from a diverse set of open-source LLM models optimized for performance and perplexity on iOS with state of the art OmniQuant quantization: including models from Llama 2, Llama 3.2, Llama 3.1, Google Gemma 2, Gemma 3, Microsoft Phi-3, Mistral 7B, Qwen 2.5, Qwen 3, StableLM 3B and many more. Whether you need help with creative brainstorming, coding, or daily questions, customize your AI experience to meet your unique needs. - Integrated with Siri & Shortcuts: Enhance your AI interactions with Siri commands and customizable Shortcuts. Private LLM seamlessly fits within your Apple ecosystem, making your digital assistant more accessible. - Customizable Interactions: Tailor your AI's responses and interactions with customizable system prompts to match your preferences and needs. - Uncompromised Privacy and Security: With Private LLM, your conversations stay confidential and on your device. Our advanced on-device AI performs robust computing without risking data compromise or needing an internet connection. - Family Sharing & Offline Capabilities: Benefit from a one-time purchase that includes Family Sharing. Download models as needed and enjoy the full functionality of your AI assistant, even without internet access. Supported LLM Model families: - DeepSeek R1 Distill based models - Phi 4 based models - Qwen 3 based models (Qwen3-4B-Instruct-2507) - Qwen 2.5 based models (0.5B, 1.5B, 3B and 7B) - Qwen 2.5 Coder based Models (0.5B, 1.5B, 3B, 7B and 14B) - Llama 3.1 8B based models - Llama 3.2 1B and 3B based models - Google Gemma 2 2B and 9B based models - Google Gemma 3 1B based models - Mistral 7B based models - Yi 6B based models For a full list of supported models, including detailed specifications, please visit privatellm.app/models. Private LLM is not just a chatbot; it's a comprehensive AI companion designed to respect your privacy while providing versatile, on-demand assistance. Whether you're enhancing your creative writing, tackling complex programming challenges, or just seeking answers, Private LLM adapts to meet your needs while keeping your data secure. Start your journey with Private LLM today and elevate your productivity and creative projects with the most private AI assistant for iOS devices. Private LLM is a better alternative to generic llama.cpp and MLX wrappers apps like Enchanted, Ollama, LLM Farm, LM Studio, Locally AI, RecurseChat, etc on three fronts: 1. Private LLM uses a faster and highly-optimized mlc-llm based inference engine. 2. Models in Private LLM are quantized using the state of the art quantization algorithms like OmniQuant, while competing apps use naive round-to-nearest quantization. 3. Private LLM is a fully native app built using C++, Metal and Swift with deep integrations with iOS and iPadOS, while many of the competing apps are bloated and non-native Electron or Flutter based apps. Please note that Private LLM only supports inference with text based LLMs. Model support varies by device capabilities.

Screenshots

Charles Proxy4 screens
Private LLM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Private LLM at $4.99 against Charles Proxy's $8.99. Private LLM also leads on chart position (#9 vs unranked) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 2 months). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Charles Proxy costs $8.99 and Private LLM $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Charles Proxy against 4.1 for Private LLM. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 189 and 750 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 52% of Charles Proxy's written reviews are positive against 49% of Private LLM's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Charles Proxy ships an update every 2 months, Private LLM every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Charles Proxy versus Private LLM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCharles ProxyPrivate LLM
Price$8.99$4.99 — better
Rating4.0 (189 ratings)4.1 (750 ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.9% of reviews — better48.8% of reviews
Number of ratings189750 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#9 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB1.3 GB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperXK72 LimitedNumen Technologies Limited

Customer experience

Charles Proxy

All ratings187 ratings
Positive74.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative19.8%
Written reviews231 reviews
Positive51.9%
Neutral11.7%
Negative36.4%

Private LLM

All ratings741 ratings
Positive77.2%
Neutral5.5%
Negative17.3%
Written reviews385 reviews
Positive48.8%
Neutral14.0%
Negative37.1%

User reviews

Charles Proxy

From 189 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great tool for developers
  • 👍 Useful for debugging
  • 🔒 SSL proxying works
  • 💡 Convenient to use on mobile

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Stability issues, crashes
  • 🐛 SSL certificate not trusted
  • 🐛 Doesn't handle gzip compression
  • 🐛 Slow performance compared to desktop

Private LLM

From 750 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing AI app
  • 🔒 Privacy-focused local LLM app
  • 👍 Optimized for Apple devices
  • 👍 Wonderful developers and great community
  • 👍 Plenty of models to choose from

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes a lot
  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable
  • 🐛 Slow and crashes often
  • 🐛 Vile trash and unusable
  • 🐛 Inaccurate and provides strange responses

Bugs and requests

Charles Proxy

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Doesn't work with latest iOS versions
  • Fails to export sessions frequently
  • Incompatible with apps using VPN
  • Large JSON bodies not displayed properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to edit and replay requests
  • Improve JSON viewer and formatting
  • Add support for WebSockets
  • Provide option to map to local
  • Add scripting and breakpoint features

Private LLM

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when downloading larger models
  • Shortcuts integration issues
  • Conversations get cleared when switching away
  • Doesn't work with accessibility features

Requested features

7 requests
  • Allow importing own models
  • Add chat history and export options
  • Implement voice to chat and RAG features
  • Add support for larger models on Mac
  • Provide more information about each model
Show 2 more
  • Allow creating custom prompt presets
  • Integrate with iOS Shortcuts

In-app purchases

None

Charles Proxy

No in-app purchases

None

Private LLM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Charles Proxy free?
Charles Proxy costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Private LLM free?
Private LLM costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Charles Proxy or Private LLM?
Private LLM is rated higher. Charles Proxy averages 4.0 out of 5 from 189 ratings, while Private LLM averages 4.1 from 750 ratings.
Do Charles Proxy or Private LLM have ads?
Neither Charles Proxy nor Private LLM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Charles Proxy or Private LLM?
Charles Proxy ships an update every 2 months, and Private LLM every 5 weeks. Most recently, Charles Proxy was updated on November 11, 2026 and Private LLM on November 12, 2026.

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