# MLC Chat vs VaultArm

The clearest difference is review sentiment: MLC Chat at 68% against VaultArm's 0%. MLC Chat also leads on price (Free vs $4.99) and rating (4.2 vs 3.5). VaultArm's advantage is chart position (#177 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

MLC Chat is free to download; VaultArm costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

MLC Chat holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MLC Chat has 84 ratings behind it against 2, 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 0% of VaultArm's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | MLC Chat | VaultArm |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $4.99 |
| Rating | **[4.2 (84 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937/reviews)** | [3.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vaultarm-firearm-inventory/id6751763115/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **84** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | **68.3% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | **#177** |
| Size | 1.7 GB | 33 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.1** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Tianqi Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1684828246) | [North View Enterprises, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/875123959) |

## 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


### VaultArm

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/vaultarm-firearm-inventory/id6751763115)

**Currently charting:** #177 Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

Manage your firearm collection with this privacy-focused inventory app. Track detailed records, add photos, and log maintenance for each weapon. Includes new location tracking to know where each firearm is stored.

**Highlights:** Privacy-first design, data stays on device, Detailed firearm records (make, model, serial), Location tracking for storage management, Photo and document storage, Maintenance logging, CSV data import/export

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is MLC Chat free?

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

### Is VaultArm free?

VaultArm costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

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

MLC Chat is rated higher. MLC Chat averages 4.2 out of 5 from 84 ratings, while VaultArm averages 3.5 from 2 ratings.

### Do MLC Chat or VaultArm have ads?

Neither MLC Chat nor VaultArm shows ads.

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

MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, and VaultArm every 2 months. Most recently, MLC Chat was updated on October 24, 2026 and VaultArm on October 25, 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.*