# MLC Chat vs Astelio

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MLC Chat at none against Astelio's 1. MLC Chat also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Astelio's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Astelio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MLC Chat asks for nothing beyond the download.

MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, Astelio weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | MLC Chat | Astelio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.2 (83 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mlc-chat/id6448482937/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **83** | — |
| Positive reviews | 68.3% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 1.7 GB | 8 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Tianqi Chen](https://appshunter.io/developer/1684828246) | [Hiromichi Fujiwara](https://appshunter.io/developer/6802565222) |

## 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


### Astelio

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astelio-personal-ai-workspace/id6813856433)

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

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Astelio Unlimited | $9.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is MLC Chat free?

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

### Is Astelio free?

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

### Do MLC Chat or Astelio have ads?

Neither MLC Chat nor Astelio shows ads.

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

MLC Chat ships an update every 2 months, and Astelio weekly. Most recently, MLC Chat was updated on November 3, 2026 and Astelio on November 10, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*