Local Brain vs Local LLM
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Local Brain
This app allows you to run powerful AI language models directly on your device, ensuring complete privacy and offline functionality. Select from various models and manage multiple conversations simultaneously for a personalized AI experience.
- Run AI models locally
- Full offline capability
- Choose from multiple models
- Create multiple chat contexts
- Privacy-focused AI
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Run Large Language Models locally on your device with full offline capability. You can choose from multiple available models and create multiple chat contexts using different models. The power of AI in your pocket without hurting your privacy.
Local LLM
This AI assistant runs locally on your device, offering privacy and control over your data. It can access device information, perform web searches, manage tasks, and even interact with your Mac for enhanced capabilities. Supports both Apple's built-in models and open-source options from Hugging Face.
- Local AI model processing
- No cloud or tracking
- Access to Apple's on-device model
- Download open models from Hugging Face
- Device integration for tasks
- Image and document analysis
- Mac pairing for enhanced processing
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MITHRIL is a private AI assistant that runs on your iPhone and iPad. Your conversations are processed and saved on your device, or on your own Mac if you pair one. No account, no cloud, no tracking. TWO KINDS OF MODELS • Apple's on-device model, built into iOS 26 on devices with Apple Intelligence. Nothing to download. • Open models from Hugging Face in GGUF format, from companies like Alibaba, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Mistral, DeepSeek and Liquid AI. Browse by company, see whether a model fits your device's memory before you download it, and switch any time. AN ASSISTANT THAT CAN DO THINGS It knows today's date, the time and your city from your device, and asks before it acts. Texts and emails open as drafts for you to review and send. Choose which abilities it can use: • Reminders and calendar events • Texts, email and phone calls • Look up your contacts • Directions and places nearby • Run your Shortcuts • Web search: Wikipedia, DuckDuckGo, or Brave with your own key • Search your own documents • Today's date and exact math PHOTOS, YOUR PHONE AND YOUR MAC • Ask about a photo: attach one, take one or paste a screenshot, and models that read images answer on the device. • Search my phone: ask about the text in your photos, screenshots and the folders you pick, indexed on the device. • Use your Mac: pair your own Apple silicon Mac and chat with the bigger models on it over your Wi-Fi, encrypted between your devices. • Run your coding agents or a terminal on your Mac from here. PRIVACY YOU CAN SEE The Privacy map shows what runs on your device, what goes online, and exactly what is sent. A web search sends only the search words, never your conversation, and your location is only turned into a city name. A live list shows every network request MITHRIL makes. VOICE Dictate with Apple's speech recognition, or download NVIDIA Parakeet for more accurate on-device transcription. Hear answers in natural voices generated on the device. The floating assistant stays with you in Picture in Picture while you use other apps. FOR THE CURIOUS Tap the speed line under an answer for a live engine dashboard: tokens per second, time to first token, context use, cache hits and memory. REQUIREMENTS iOS 26. Apple's on-device model needs a device with Apple Intelligence. Open models run on any supported iPhone or iPad. Larger models need more memory, and MITHRIL shows what fits before you download. Models are made by their publishers and downloaded from Hugging Face. MITHRIL doesn't train or host models.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Local LLM at 89% against Local Brain's 33%. Local LLM also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.9) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 10 days). Local Brain's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Local LLM holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Local Brain's written reviews are positive against 89% of Local LLM's.
Local Brain ships an update every 10 days, Local LLM every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Local Brain | Local LLM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.9 (7 ratings) | 4.5 (16 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 16 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 106 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Michal Jach | DEPLOY FORWARD LLC |
Customer experience
Local Brain
Local LLM
In-app purchases
Local Brain
No in-app purchases
Local LLM
No in-app purchases
