# MLC Chat vs Enclave

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MLC Chat at none against Enclave's 4. MLC Chat also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 27.0). Enclave's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Enclave sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. MLC Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.

Enclave holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Enclave has 1.1K ratings behind it against 78, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of MLC Chat's written reviews are positive against 80% of Enclave's.

MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, Enclave every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on August 19, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | MLC Chat | Enclave |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.2 (78 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937/reviews) | **[4.7 (1.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/enclave-local-ai-assistant/id6476614556/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 78 | **1.1K** |
| Positive reviews | 68.3% of reviews | **79.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 11 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 1.7 GB | 714 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 27.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Tianqi Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1684828246) | [Piotr Gorzelany](https://appshunter.io/developer/1017059261) |

## What reviewers say

### 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


### Enclave

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/enclave-local-ai-assistant/id6476614556)

This app provides a private AI assistant that runs entirely on your device, allowing you to chat with various open-source models offline. It offers features like voice chat, iMessage integration, and document analysis, with an optional subscription for cloud-based models.

**Highlights:** Runs hundreds of open-source AI models locally, Offline chat and voice conversations, iMessage extension for private message drafting, Chat with documents (PDFs, text, images), Create custom AI assistants, Integrates with Siri and Shortcuts

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro | $9.99 | per month |
| Pixel Pledge | $0.99 | one-time |
| Caffeine Charge | $5.99 | one-time |
| Mega Boost | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Runs flawlessly locally
- 🔒 Offline and private AI
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 👍 Seamless Shortcuts integration
- 🚀 Optimized for low storage usage

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes or errors
- 🐛 Voice chat and file attachment issues
- 🐛 Compatibility problems with older devices
- 🐛 Markdown rendering bugs
- 🐛 Inability to delete downloaded models

**Reported bugs**

- Initialization errors on some devices
- Gemma 3n model not working properly
- Inability to download certain models
- Shortcut integration issues with long prompts

**Requested features**

- Add ability to delete chat history
- Implement iCloud sync for chat history
- Support for more advanced LLM models
- Improve voice recognition and text-to-speech
- Add web search functionality


## Frequently asked questions

### Is MLC Chat free?

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

### Is Enclave free?

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

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

Enclave is rated higher. MLC Chat averages 4.2 out of 5 from 78 ratings, while Enclave averages 4.7 from 1.1K ratings.

### Do MLC Chat or Enclave have ads?

Neither MLC Chat nor Enclave shows ads.

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

MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, and Enclave every 11 days. Most recently, MLC Chat was updated on August 19, 2026 and Enclave on September 20, 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.*