Comparison

MLC Chat vs Secure Vault

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

Secure Vault

Features
Read full description

Secure Vault is a private document vault for iPhone, built for people who want to keep important documents organized, searchable, signed and protected. Store passports, IDs, driver licenses, bank cards, contracts, diplomas, certificates, insurance papers and other personal documents in one secure place. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Secure Vault is built around local-first privacy. Your documents are stored on your device and encrypted on disk. The app does not require an account, does not use its own backend, and does not collect analytics. You stay in control of your files. SCAN AND IMPORT DOCUMENTS Add documents in multiple ways: • Scan paper documents with the camera • Import PDF files from Files • Import photos from your photo library • Convert scans and images into PDF documents OCR TEXT RECOGNITION Secure Vault uses Apple Vision to recognize text from scans and PDFs directly on your device. Recognized text can be used for: • Searching documents • Viewing extracted content • Copying selected text fragments • Auto-filling document information when possible The app can help detect useful information such as document type, document number, issue date and expiration date. ORGANIZE YOUR VAULT Keep your documents structured with beautiful folders and metadata. You can organize documents by: • Folder • Document type • Tags • Title • Expiration date • Custom fields Supported document types include passports, national IDs, driver licenses, tax IDs, bank cards, contracts, diplomas, certificates, insurance documents, vehicle documents and more. CUSTOM SECURE FIELDS Different documents need different information. Secure Vault supports custom fields so you can store exactly what you need. For sensitive information, such as document numbers, card data, CVC or PIN codes, values are encrypted. SIGN PDF DOCUMENTS Create a signature once and place it on your document. You can: • Draw a signature with your finger • Type a text-based signature • Place the signature on any PDF page • Move, resize, rotate and adjust opacity • Save the signed PDF back into your vault EXPIRATION REMINDERS Secure Vault helps you stay ahead of document expiration dates. You can receive local reminders before a document expires, including: • 30 days before • 7 days before • 1 day before • On the expiration day Reminders are handled locally using iOS notifications. ENCRYPTED BACKUPS Create an encrypted backup package and save it manually to Files, iCloud Drive or another storage provider. Backup packages are encrypted locally with a backup password chosen by you. This allows you to restore your vault if you change or lose your device. IMPORTANT: Keep your backup password safe. Secure Vault cannot recover forgotten backup passwords. Secure Vault Premium unlocks: • Unlimited encrypted documents • Unlimited scans and imports • Unlimited OCR document storage • PDF signing tools • Encrypted backup packages • Expiration reminders for all documents Secure Vault is designed for personal privacy, document organization and peace of mind. Subscription Plans: - Payment will be charged to your App Store Account at confirmation of purchase. - Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period. Automatic renewals will cost the same price you were originally charged for the subscription. - Manage or cancel your subscription from your user settings in the App Store at any time after purchasing. - Any unused portion of a free trial will be forfeited if you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://sunteame.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://sunteame.com/terms-of-service/

Screenshots

MLC Chat2 screens
Secure Vault4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MLC Chat at none against Secure Vault's 3. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Secure Vault sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. MLC Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
MLC Chat versus Secure Vault: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMLC ChatSecure Vault
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (78 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews68.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings78 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size1.7 GB12 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperTianqi ChenSUN TEAME PTE. LTD.

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

Secure Vault

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

MLC Chat

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Secure Vault

Subscriptions3
  • One Week Premium$3.997 Days
  • One Month Premium$8.991 Month
  • One Year Premium$39.991 Year

Questions

Is MLC Chat free?
MLC Chat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Secure Vault free?
Secure Vault is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do MLC Chat or Secure Vault have ads?
Neither MLC Chat nor Secure Vault shows ads.

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