# Pal Chat vs MLC Chat

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MLC Chat at none against Pal Chat's 2. MLC Chat also leads on review sentiment (68% vs 59%). Pal Chat's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (417 vs 78). On price, rating, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Pal Chat sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. MLC Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Pal Chat against 4.2 for MLC Chat. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pal Chat has 417 ratings behind it against 78, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 59% of Pal Chat's written reviews are positive against 68% of MLC Chat's.

Pal Chat ships an update every 3 weeks, MLC Chat every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and August 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pal Chat | MLC Chat |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.3 (417 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pal-chat-ai-chat-client/id6447545085/reviews)** | [4.2 (78 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **417** | 78 |
| Positive reviews | 59.1% of reviews | **68.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 101 MB | 1.7 GB |
| Requires iOS | **16.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Pulkit Agarwal](https://appshunter.io/developer/1723503441) | [Tianqi Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1684828246) |

## What reviewers say

### Pal Chat

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pal-chat-ai-chat-client/id6447545085)

This app acts as a universal AI chat client, supporting a wide range of models and features like image input, image generation, and offline capabilities. It offers a private and secure experience with no data collection and no ads.

**Highlights:** Supports all major AI models, Image input and generation, Offline local model support, Save prompts and history, Stream responses, Full Markdown and LaTeX support

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

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pal Chat Pro | $6.99 | per month |
| Pal Chat Pro Annual | $68.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Excellent app design
- 🔒 Allows use of own API keys
- 👍 Customizable prompts and instructions
- 🚀 Efficient token usage tracking
- 👍 Responsive developer

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes with OpenRouter models
- 🐛 Keyboard lag and UI issues
- 💰 Subscription model for previously free features
- 🐛 Rendering issues with mathematical formulas
- 🐛 Inconsistent UI indicators for model outputs

**Reported bugs**

- Inability to change AI provider
- Freezing on long responses
- Unavailability of certain models (e.g., GPT-4o-mini)

**Requested features**

- Conversation history search
- Support for local/self-hosted models
- Multimodal support (vision, audio)
- Ability to edit/delete messages in conversation
- Dynamic model listing from providers


### 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 Pal Chat free?

Pal Chat 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, Pal Chat or MLC Chat?

Pal Chat is rated higher. Pal Chat averages 4.3 out of 5 from 417 ratings, while MLC Chat averages 4.2 from 78 ratings.

### Do Pal Chat or MLC Chat have ads?

Neither Pal Chat nor MLC Chat shows ads.

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

Pal Chat ships an update every 3 weeks, and MLC Chat every 2 months. Most recently, Pal Chat was updated on September 21, 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.*