# Mollama vs Riff

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Mollama at none against Riff's 1. Mollama also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Riff sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Mollama asks for nothing beyond the download.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Mollama | Riff |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.4 (36 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mollama/id6736948278/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **36** | — |
| Positive reviews | 41.5% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 296 MB | 9 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [飞 杨](https://appshunter.io/developer/1493121831) | [CognitiveCore Technologies, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1890309148) |

## What reviewers say

### Mollama

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/mollama/id6736948278)

This AI companion runs entirely on your device, ensuring complete privacy and security. It offers intelligent conversations, creative support, and problem-solving without sending your data to external servers. Enjoy offline functionality and real-time interaction with various AI models.

**Highlights:** Fully on-device processing, Zero data transmission, Offline functionality, Real-time interaction, Multi-model support, Contextual understanding

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Great for local models
- 👍 Native MLX support
- 👍 Simple interface
- 👍 Good for hobbyists
- 👍 Works with Llama

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Buggy and error-prone
- 🐛 Unusable with larger models
- 🐛 Download issues
- 🐛 Slow downloads

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes on sending messages with certain models
- Tokenizer metadata errors in offline mode
- Unsupported model type errors (e.g., Gemma, Qwen3)
- Models not loading when selected
- App freezes phone during model download

**Requested features**

- Add notification permission for background downloads
- Show LLM name for each answer
- Support for Qwen3 family of models
- Ability to use any HuggingFace MLX models
- Allow user-defined model folders


### Riff

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/riff-on-device-ai-voice-notes/id6787581421)

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| riff+ | $19.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Mollama free?

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

### Is Riff free?

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

### Do Mollama or Riff have ads?

Neither Mollama nor Riff shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Mollama or Riff?

Mollama ships an update every 2 weeks, and Riff every 2 weeks. Most recently, Mollama was updated on November 4, 2026 and Riff on November 5, 2026.

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