Comparison

MLC Chat vs ChatterBox Pro

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

Head to head
About

MLC Chat

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
Read full description

MLC Chat lets users chat with open language models locally on ipads and iphones. After a model is downloaded to the app, everything runs locally without server support, and it works without internet connections do not record any information. Because the models run locally, it only works for the devices with sufficient VRAM depending on the models being used. MLC Chat is part of open source project MLC LLM, with allows any language model to be deployed natively on a diverse set of hardware backends and native applications. MLC Chat is a runtime that runs different open model architectures on your phone. The app is intended for non-commercial purposes. It allows you to run open-language models downloaded from the internet. Each model can be subject to its respective licenses.

About

ChatterBox Pro

This local-first AI workspace allows users to run compatible AI models on their device, manage model files, and connect to remote services. It offers flexible control over AI generation settings, document attachment, and various export options, all without a subscription.

Highlights
  • Run local AI models on-device
  • Manage GGUF and sideloaded models
  • Connect to remote AI endpoints
  • Attach documents for context
  • Tune generation settings
  • Export chats to text, Markdown, or PDF
  • Optional web search and memory
Features
Read full description

ChatterBox Pro is a local-first AI workspace for iOS. Run compatible local models, manage GGUF files, sideload your own models, connect to remote endpoints, attach documents, use optional web search, tune generation settings, and export cleanly in text, Markdown, or PDF. Built for people who want more control over AI, ChatterBox Pro gives you flexible model choices without requiring a subscription. Use Apple Intelligence when available, run compatible local models on-device, or connect to user-configured services such as Ollama, LM Studio, or OpenAI-compatible endpoints. ChatterBox Pro is designed around control: - Choose local, remote, or Apple Intelligence where available - Manage downloaded and sideloaded models - Tune context, response length, and sampling settings - Attach documents and use relevant context - Export chats as text, Markdown, or PDF - Use optional memory across chats - Lock sensitive chats - Use off-the-record mode - Configure web search only when you want it AI responses may be inaccurate. Verify important information before relying on it. Model compatibility and performance vary by device, model, and settings.

Screenshots

MLC Chat2 screens
ChatterBox Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MLC Chat at Free against ChatterBox Pro's $4.99. MLC Chat also leads on ratings volume (78 vs 1) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). ChatterBox Pro's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.2) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ChatterBox Pro holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MLC Chat has 78 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, ChatterBox Pro every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
MLC Chat versus ChatterBox Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMLC ChatChatterBox Pro
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.2 (78 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings78 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.7 GB39 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperTianqi ChenTyler Paglia

Bugs and requests

MLC Chat

Reported bugs

17 issues
  • 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
Show 12 more
  • RedPajama model crashes, custom model download removed
  • App closes when hitting send on iPhone 13
  • Conversation resets when app is backgrounded
  • Vicuna and Mistral 7B models cause crashes
  • Some 7b q4f16/q4f32 models crash on iPhone 15 Pro
  • App crashes on iPhone 13 mini
  • Cannot load other models from URL
  • Crash on iPhone 12
  • Severe heating and frequency reduction on A15
  • Low VRAM failed initialization on 3GB LP DDR4X phone
  • Cannot run 4bit model on iPhone 15 with 8GB RAM
  • Loading models from HF MLC official Repo causes crashes

Requested features

14 requests
  • 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
Show 9 more
  • Information on VRAM requirements per phone/model
  • Ability to change system message/create custom profiles
  • Ability to edit responses and system prompt
  • Add coffee support
  • Delete downloaded models
  • Change settings per model (repetition penalties, temperature)
  • How-to guide for importing/recompiling LLMs
  • Estimate model compatibility before download
  • Support for CN and ZH languages

ChatterBox Pro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

MLC Chat

No in-app purchases

None

ChatterBox Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MLC Chat free?
MLC Chat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChatterBox Pro free?
ChatterBox Pro costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MLC Chat or ChatterBox Pro?
ChatterBox Pro is rated higher. MLC Chat averages 4.2 out of 5 from 78 ratings, while ChatterBox Pro averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do MLC Chat or ChatterBox Pro have ads?
Neither MLC Chat nor ChatterBox Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MLC Chat or ChatterBox Pro?
MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, and ChatterBox Pro every 5 days. Most recently, MLC Chat was updated on October 6, 2026 and ChatterBox Pro on October 2, 2026.

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