# MLC Chat vs Mini STAXX

The clearest difference is rating: Mini STAXX at 5.0 against MLC Chat's 4.2. Mini STAXX also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). MLC Chat's advantage is ratings volume (84 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Mini STAXX holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MLC Chat has 84 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, Mini STAXX weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | MLC Chat | Mini STAXX |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.2 (84 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mini-staxx/id6811686813/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **84** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 68.3% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 1.7 GB | 30 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Tianqi Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1684828246) | [Joel Henriques](https://appshunter.io/developer/1883469587) |

## 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


### Mini STAXX

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mini-staxx/id6811686813)

This app provides AI-powered chat, writing, and coding assistance directly on your iPhone and iPad. It allows you to download and run AI models locally for private conversations, with optional cloud features for enhanced capabilities and web search integration.

**Highlights:** Download and manage AI models locally, Private on-device text conversations, AI-assisted writing and coding, Optional cloud models and web search, Organize conversations and manage storage, Account management and deletion

**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 Mini STAXX free?

Mini STAXX is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, MLC Chat or Mini STAXX?

Mini STAXX is rated higher. MLC Chat averages 4.2 out of 5 from 84 ratings, while Mini STAXX averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do MLC Chat or Mini STAXX have ads?

Neither MLC Chat nor Mini STAXX shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, MLC Chat or Mini STAXX?

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