Merlin AI vs Threshld
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Merlin AI
Access multiple advanced AI models for text, image, and video generation, research with sources, and chat with your files. Organize conversations into projects and collaborate with others. Offers a free tier with daily queries and paid upgrades for higher limits.
- Multiple AI models in one app
- Web research with sources
- Chat with files and photos
- Image and video creation
- Code and app generation (Crafts)
- Project organization and collaboration
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Merlin brings the most capable AI models together in one app. Ask questions, research any topic, work through your files, and create images and videos, all from a single chat. Many models, one app Choose from a wide range of leading AI models for writing, coding, reasoning, and quick answers, or turn on Magic and let Merlin pick the right model for each message. Research with sources Merlin can search the web as it answers and shows the sources it used, so you can check where every answer comes from. For bigger questions, deep research gathers and summarizes information into a full report. Chat with your files and photos Snap a photo, pick from your library, or upload a document and ask Merlin about it. Everything you upload is kept in your Vault, ready to reuse in any chat. Create images and videos Generate and edit images, and turn your ideas into short videos with optional audio. Choose the duration and aspect ratio, then save or share the result. Crafts Ask for code, a diagram, a web page, or a small interactive app, and Merlin builds it as a Craft you can preview right in the chat and share with a link. Projects Organize related chats into projects, add files as project knowledge so Merlin keeps the context, and invite others to view or edit with you. Made for your phone - Dictate your messages instead of typing - Get answers in the language you prefer - Light and dark appearance - Share chats with a link Start for free with daily queries. Upgrade to Merlin Pro for higher limits and access to Pro models. AI responses can be inaccurate. Check important information before relying on it. Privacy Policy: https://www.getmerlin.in/privacy-policy Terms and Conditions: https://www.getmerlin.in/terms-and-conditions
Threshld
This app helps you break free from distracting applications by locking them until you achieve a personal goal. Goals can be set using Apple Health data like steps or calories, or by completing a simple task. It offers scheduled locking and tracks your progress without uploading any personal information.
- Lock distracting apps until goals are met
- Integrates with Apple Health for goal tracking
- Set custom task-based goals
- Scheduled daily app locking
- Tracks progress and accountability
- Private by default, no account needed
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Your apps stay shut until the work is done. Threshld locks the apps you lose hours to, and keeps them locked until you have hit a goal you set yourself. Not a timer. Not a reminder you can swipe away. A threshold you have to actually cross. HOW IT WORKS Pick the apps. Pick today's goal. Lock it. Your goal can be steps, calories burned, miles, or a calorie ceiling you are staying under — all read straight from Apple Health, so there is nothing to mark off yourself. Or set a task and call it done. Nobody checks that one; your word is the record. The moment Health says you have hit it, your apps unlock on their own. You do not have to open Threshld to check. It is already watching. PUT IT ON A SCHEDULE Set your days and a start time once, and the lock fires on its own. Every day can share one checklist, or a day can have its own: the gym on Tuesdays, the report on Fridays. Stack up to eight goals in a day, and nothing opens until all of them are done. IT LEARNS YOUR WEEK Threshld notices the tasks you set on the same day each week. Three weeks running, it offers to put one on that day's schedule. When a scheduled task keeps going unfinished, it offers to take it off. Nothing changes without your yes, and it all happens on your phone. A RECORD YOU CAN TRUST Threshld counts the days you showed up, the hours you held the line, and the calories you burned or saved. See which days of the week you keep, and which ones slip. It also counts the days you went over, and the times you stopped early. The whole point is a record you did not edit. If you genuinely need out, you can stop early. It just goes in the record. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT Everything stays on your phone. No account, no sign-up, nothing uploaded. Task photos never leave the device. Threshld uses Screen Time to restrict the apps you choose. Phone calls always stay open, and you decide whether Messages locks too. THRESHLD PRO - Recurring schedules, with a checklist for each day of the week - Stack up to eight goals in one day - Routine suggestions that learn your week - Lock as many apps as you need, past the free plan's three $49.99 per year or $6.99 per month. Auto-renews until cancelled; cancel any time from Settings. You will be reminded three days before it renews. The free plan is fully usable on its own: one goal, three apps, locked by you each day. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Threshld at 100% against Merlin AI's 43%. Threshld also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5). Merlin AI's advantage is ratings volume (790 vs 1) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Merlin AI sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days and Threshld sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Threshld holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Merlin AI has 790 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Merlin AI's written reviews are positive against 100% of Threshld's.
Merlin AI ships an update every 10 days, Threshld every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Merlin AI | Threshld |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (790 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 42.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 790 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.4 | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 102 MB | 50 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Foyer Tech, Inc | robert gonzales |
Customer experience
Merlin AI
Threshld
Bugs and requests
Merlin AI
Reported bugs
5 issues- Frequent app crashes
- Overlapping UI elements
- Incorrect model selection
- Inability to cancel subscriptions
- Censorship of user inputs
Requested features
5 requests- Shortcut integration for iOS
- Improved iPad compatibility
- Ability to save and reuse prompts
- Enhanced security and privacy features
- Seamless integration with other apps
Threshld
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Merlin AI
- Merlin Pro Weekly$9.997 Days
- Weekly Merlin Unlimited$10.007 Days
- Monthly Merlin Unlimited$15.001 Month
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- Merlin Pro Monthly$20.001 Month
- Yearly Black Friday$89.991 Year
- Yearly Merlin Unlimited$100.001 Year
- Yearly Merlin Unlimited$150.001 Year
- TopUp - 1500 Queries, 7 Days$3.49
- TopUp - 3000 Queries, 30 Days$4.99
- TopUp - 10000 Queries, 30 Days$14.00
Threshld
- Threshld Pro$6.991 Month
- Threshld Pro$49.991 Year









