Comparison

Local Chat vs Lochan

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

Head to head
About

Local Chat

Run powerful open language models directly on your Apple devices, even offline. Enjoy private conversations with AI assistants that can be customized to your needs. Save and sync chats across your Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

Highlights
  • Offline AI chat
  • Open language models
  • Private conversations
  • Cross-device sync
  • Customizable personality
  • Model selection
Features
Read full description

Local Chat allows you to run the latest open language models on your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Once you've downloaded the models, you can use the chat function even when your device is offline. Your chats remain totally private, since no internet connection is required to interact with the chatbots. It's like having your very own ChatGPT right on your device. You can choose to save your chat history on your devices or delete your chats automatically after you're finished. Any chats that you choose to save in your history will be synced via your private iCloud storage to your other devices. Try leading models from the open-source community, including Llama, Gemma, Qwen, Mistral, DeepSeek, and Kimi. Choose from different sizes to find the best fit for your device. You can also customize the chatbot's personality with a system prompt, whether you prefer a helpful assistant, an encouraging coach, a witty conversationalist, or anything else you can imagine. The chat function works with the following devices: - Mac (M1 and later) - iPhone 12 and later - iPad Pro (M1 and later) - iPad Air (4th generation and later) - iPad mini (6th generation and later) - iPad (10th generation and later) On earlier devices, you can view your chat history from your other devices synced via your private iCloud storage. Local Chat is just getting started, and we're planning to continue adding new features in the coming months. If you have any feedback about the app, we'd love to hear it at feedback@localchat.co. --- Privacy policy: https://localchat.co/privacy Terms of use: https://localchat.co/terms

About

Lochan

Features
Read full description

Your coding agents keep working when you step away. Lochan is how you keep up with them, calmly. When Claude Code, Codex or any other agent on your computer stops to ask a question, open its real terminal on your phone, read what it did, and answer. Then get back to your walk. A CALM VIEW OF A BUSY HERD Every agent on the machine at a glance, with a line on where each one left off. The ones waiting on you always come first. - Tiles: the whole herd as a grid that moves as your agents do - Board: Blocked, Working, Done and Idle as columns you swipe through - Projects: agents grouped by the project they are working in ASK THE SHEPHERD One question, the whole herd. The Shepherd is an agent on your computer that reads every other pane. Ask it what needs you, what changed or whether anything is stuck, and it answers from what is on the screens, with a link to each pane it mentions. It runs Claude Code by default, or Codex, Pi, OpenCode or Grok. ANY AGENT CAN JOIN THE HERD Lochan does not plug into your agent. It opens the terminal the agent is already running in, so it works with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Grok, OpenCode, Aider and anything else with a prompt. A new agent works the day it ships. A REAL TERMINAL, IN YOUR POCKET Tap any agent for the actual session: full output, scrollback and a keyboard. MAKE THE KEYS YOUR OWN Two rows of keys sit above the terminal. Drag any key to either row, switch off the ones you never use, and add your own: - Text keys for the commands you repeat, like /compact, /usage or /model sonnet - Chord keys for Ctrl, Option and Shift combos, like your tmux prefix or Ctrl-R SHARE A SCREENSHOT WITH YOUR AGENT Pick a photo, take one of the screen in front of you, or send a file. It lands on your computer and its path goes into the prompt, ready for you to finish and send. SAY IT. CHECK IT. SEND IT. Dictate a long instruction, read the transcript, and send it only when it reads right. Or write it in a real text box, with a draft that waits if you get pulled away. RUN THE HERD FROM YOUR PHONE Start a new agent in any project, rename it, and close it when it is done. BUILT FOR A PHONE Lochan tells each agent it is being driven from a phone, so it leads with the answer, keeps replies short and batches its questions. PAIRED IN ONE SCAN Run one line on your Mac or Linux machine, then scan the code it shows. Your phone makes its own key, and it stays in the phone's Keychain. Nothing to type, no private key to copy. Save every machine you own and switch between them from the title bar. No account, and no Lochan server in between: your phone talks to your computers over SSH. Away from home you need a route to them, and Tailscale is the two-minute version. ALSO IN LOCHAN: A PRIVATE AI CHAT Chat with Apple's on-device model, open models downloaded to your phone, or cloud models with your own API key. Conversations branch instead of overwriting, and you can share one with a link we cannot read. Lochan works with Herdr, the terminal workspace for AI coding agents, on the computers you own.

Screenshots

Local Chat4 screens
Lochan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Lochan at none against Local Chat's 3. On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. Local Chat sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month. Lochan asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Local Chat ships an update every 9 days, Lochan fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Local Chat versus Lochan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLocal ChatLochan
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (55 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews79.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings55 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size164 MB63 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperAnthony R. DePasqualePurplecones, LLC

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Local Chat

Subscriptions2
  • Local Chat Pro$8.991 Month
  • Local Chat Pro3 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Local Chat Pro$99.99
None

Lochan

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Local Chat free?
Local Chat is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Lochan free?
Lochan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Local Chat or Lochan have ads?
Neither Local Chat nor Lochan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Local Chat or Lochan?
Local Chat ships an update every 9 days, and Lochan fortnightly. Most recently, Local Chat was updated on November 7, 2026 and Lochan on November 1, 2026.

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