# OpenCat vs MLC Chat

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MLC Chat at none against OpenCat's 4. OpenCat's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.2) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, review sentiment, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. OpenCat sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. MLC Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.

OpenCat holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OpenCat has 851 ratings behind it against 83, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of OpenCat's written reviews are positive against 68% of MLC Chat's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

OpenCat ships an update weekly, MLC Chat every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 30, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | OpenCat | MLC Chat |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (851 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/opencat-ai-chat-agent-mcp/id6445999201/reviews)** | [4.2 (83 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **851** | 83 |
| Positive reviews | 64.6% of reviews | **68.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Weekly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 96 MB | 1.7 GB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Early Moon, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1119881923) | [Tianqi Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1684828246) |

## What reviewers say

### OpenCat

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/opencat-ai-chat-agent-mcp/id6445999201)

This AI utility tool offers seamless integration of advanced AI models into your daily routine on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It features a user-friendly interface, keyboard extensions for in-app AI access, and Siri/shortcut integration for automation. Supports a wide range of popular AI models and offers team deployment options.

**Highlights:** Support for latest popular AI models, Keyboard extensions for in-app AI, Realistic voice synthesis, Siri and shortcut integration, Team deployment with Docker, Customizable AI parameters, Markdown content rendering

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cloud AI | $3.99 | per month |
| Cloud AI | $24.99 | per year |
| Tokens Package | $5.99 | one-time |
| OpenCat Pro | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 👍 Convenient and user-friendly
- 💡 Customizable API integrations
- 🌐 Syncs across devices
- 🎨 Clean and visually appealing design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Bugs and performance issues
- 🔒 Lack of custom API support
- 💻 Compatibility issues with older devices/OSes
- 🗂️ Difficulty managing conversations
- 📤 Inability to export chat data

**Reported bugs**

- Streaming response disruptions
- Disappearing API key input fields
- Inconsistent Markdown rendering
- Keyboard extension not working as expected
- Sync issues between devices

**Requested features**

- Support for more AI models (e.g., Ollama, Groq)
- Markdown rendering for chat responses
- Ability to upload images and files
- Customizable keyboard extensions
- Background task support for long-running queries


### 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 OpenCat free?

OpenCat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is MLC Chat free?

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

### Which has better reviews, OpenCat or MLC Chat?

OpenCat is rated higher. OpenCat averages 4.6 out of 5 from 851 ratings, while MLC Chat averages 4.2 from 83 ratings.

### Do OpenCat or MLC Chat have ads?

Neither OpenCat nor MLC Chat shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, OpenCat or MLC Chat?

OpenCat ships an update weekly, and MLC Chat every 2 months. Most recently, OpenCat was updated on October 30, 2026 and MLC Chat on October 30, 2026.

---

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