Comparison

ChatFile vs On‑Device AI

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

Head to head
About

ChatFile

Engage in natural conversations with your documents using advanced AI. Supports a wide range of file types, including PDFs, Word, PPT, and e-books, for enhanced productivity and learning.

Highlights
  • AI-powered document interaction
  • Supports PDF, Word, PPT, CSV, XML, EPUB
  • Natural language processing
  • Seamless data synchronization
  • Intuitive native app experience
Features
Read full description

ChatFile, powered by advanced AI technology, facilitates natural dialogues with documents, boosting your productivity and learning efficiency. It supports an array of formats, from PDF, Word, PPT, to more complex ones like CSV, XML, and even e-books formats such as EPUB. ChatFile offers robust support to unlock the potential of your documents. ## Core Features: - Leading AI Technology: Employs the latest in AI, including natural language processing, for efficient document processing and easy information retrieval. - Extensive Format Compatibility: Accommodates a wide variety of document formats, from commonly used PDFs and Word documents to specialized data files like CSV, XML, and e-books formats such as EPUB, ensuring seamless document handling across various work contexts. - Smooth Native App Experience: With its native app design and straightforward interface, ChatFile offers a seamless and intuitive user experience. - Seamless Data Synchronization: Enables automatic document synchronization across all Apple devices, keeping your work flow consistent and convenient. ## Supported Document Formats: PDF, Markdown, TXT, CSV, XML, Plist, JSON, RST, TSV, ORG, DOCX, EPUB, MSG, PPT, PPTX, XLSX ## Policy Links: - Privacy Policy: https://site-chatfile.vercel.app/privacy - Terms of Service: https://site-chatfile.vercel.app/terms

About

On‑Device AI

Transform your device into a private AI assistant for meetings and complex tasks. Features include speaker diarization, live transcription, and specialized subagents for research, analysis, and writing. Control your AI via messaging apps, with options for 100% offline processing or cloud connectivity.

Highlights
  • Speaker Diarization for meeting transcripts
  • Real-time live transcription
  • Natural AI speech generation
  • Deploy specialized AI subagents
  • AI-powered web browser automation
  • Control AI via messaging apps
  • 100% offline processing option
Read full description

On-Device AI puts chat, listening, transcription, notes, and research in one private app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. Your data stays on your device. Download a model once and keep working on a plane, on the subway, or without a signal. Chats, documents, recordings, and notes stay on your device. Online providers and web features are optional and work only after you enable them. ONE APP, YOUR WAY Open every workspace from a customizable Menu. Keep favorites under Pinned and everything else close by under Available. AI CHAT Chat with local or cloud models. • Run local models from families such as Gemma, Qwen, DeepSeek, and Mistral, or connect your own provider account • Browse, download, and manage models that fit your device, including ones for text, vision, reasoning, and tools • Drop in documents, images, and scanned PDFs; approve private on-device OCR only when a PDF needs it • Fork any conversation and compare several models on the same prompt • Let the model use tools for calculations, web requests, documents, Calendar, and Reminders, and review proposed changes before they apply • Create reusable Agent Profiles, then add AI Skills, MCP servers, and tools from one clearer Agent Workflows setup • Keep facts you repeat often in Global Memory LISTEN LIBRARY AND RSS FEEDS Read less, listen more. • Turn PDFs, Markdown, plain text, web articles, and scanned books into a listening queue • Scan photographed pages, correct the OCR the app runs on device, and keep each page with its spoken text • Follow sites through RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds, then send articles to Up Next • Choose Apple voices or local neural voices, follow along in the reader, and set a sleep timer VOICE NOTE, VOICE TYPING, AND TEXT TO SPEECH Speak instead of typing, and listen instead of reading. • Record and transcribe meetings, lectures, interviews, and quick ideas • Dictate with Voice Typing on Mac or the voice keyboard on iPhone and iPad • Transcribe with Apple Speech, Whisper, Parakeet, Nemotron, Qwen3-ASR, MOSS, and other engines • Turn text, or text captured from a photo, into audio with Apple voices, Kokoro, Supertonic, VoxCPM2, IndexTTS2, and other engines • Export transcripts as text, subtitles, or Markdown AI SEARCH AND AI BROWSER Research with a second pair of hands. • Search the web in a conversation and let the model read the results for you • Browse with tabs, profiles, history, and downloads, then ask your model to read, assist, or act on the page • Hand a task to the browser agent, watch each step, and take over whenever you want KNOWLEDGE AND TEXT NOTE Give your AI your own material to work from. • Add PDFs, text, Markdown, code, images, and website content to a private searchable library • Write and edit Markdown notes in the app • Import AI chats, voice notes, Text to Speech items, and AI Search results • Tune retrieval and index edited content again APP HELP Ask how a feature or setting works. App Help answers from a guide that ships inside the app, keeps help out of your saved chats, and points to the right settings. MADE FOR APPLE DEVICES • Native layouts adapt from focused navigation on iPhone to category sidebars on larger screens • Settings are grouped by purpose, including Voice Typing, Agent Workflows, Models & Storage, Privacy & Data, Memory, and—on Mac—Instant Messaging • Widgets for Listen, Voice Note, Text Note, and Quick Actions • Siri, Apple Shortcuts, App Intents, the Mac menu bar, and keyboard shortcuts you can customize • Apple hardware acceleration for supported local models • Browse chat, transcription, speech, and embedding models in one Model Library • Store models internally, on an external drive, or on a shared volume, with separate tools for cleanup and recovery • Interface in English, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Traditional Chinese EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ChatFile4 screens
On‑Device AI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ChatFile at 5.0 against On‑Device AI's 4.4. ChatFile also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On‑Device AI's advantage is ratings volume (162 vs 1) and review sentiment (64% vs 50%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. ChatFile sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and On‑Device AI sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ChatFile holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: On‑Device AI has 162 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of ChatFile's written reviews are positive against 64% of On‑Device AI's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChatFile ships an update monthly, On‑Device AI fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ChatFile versus On‑Device AI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChatFileOn‑Device AI
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.4 (162 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews63.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1162 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB1.8 GB
Age rating4+17+
Developer飞 杨Zijie Deng

Customer experience

ChatFile

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

On‑Device AI

All ratings162 ratings
Positive82.1%
Neutral8.0%
Negative9.9%
Written reviews107 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral15.9%
Negative20.6%

Bugs and requests

ChatFile

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

On‑Device AI

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on startup
  • Model selection issues
  • Inability to copy generated text

Requested features

9 requests
  • Automated multi-character conversations
  • Character set saving and syncing
  • Streamlined search integration
  • UI optimization for icons
  • Remote endpoint support for multi-agents
Show 4 more
  • HomeKit integration
  • Improved documentation
  • Enlarged agent input window
  • Per-agent model assignment

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ChatFile

Subscriptions2
  • Premium$7.991 Month
  • Premium$49.991 Year
4 purchases

On‑Device AI

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Member Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Pro Member Subscription$34.991 Year
One-time2
  • Lifetime Pro Member$49.99
  • Lifetime Pro Member$99.99

Questions

Is ChatFile free?
ChatFile is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is On‑Device AI free?
On‑Device AI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ChatFile or On‑Device AI?
ChatFile is rated higher. ChatFile averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while On‑Device AI averages 4.4 from 162 ratings.
Do ChatFile or On‑Device AI have ads?
Neither ChatFile nor On‑Device AI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChatFile or On‑Device AI?
ChatFile ships an update monthly, and On‑Device AI fortnightly. Most recently, ChatFile was updated on October 16, 2026 and On‑Device AI on October 19, 2026.

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