Comparison

Local LLM vs PocketLLM's

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

PocketLLM's

This app allows you to run large language models entirely on your device without an internet connection. Access a vast library of free models, create custom personas, and keep your conversations private. An optional Pro subscription unlocks advanced features like document chat and personal data indexing.

Highlights
  • On-device AI model execution
  • No internet or account needed
  • 36 free AI models available
  • Image analysis capabilities
  • Offline translation
  • Custom AI personas
  • Export conversations
Features
Read full description

Every model is free. Every conversation stays on your iPhone. PocketLLM runs large language models entirely on-device using Apple Silicon. No cloud. No servers. No account. No internet needed once a model is downloaded. 36 MODELS, ALL FREE Download any model in the catalogue at no cost — from a 290 MB model that runs on older iPhones to an 8 GB model for iPad Pro and Mac. Qwen, Llama, Gemma, Phi, Mistral, DeepSeek, SmolLM, Granite and Liquid, plus Apple's built-in on-device model on supported devices. Six of them can see images. Unlimited messages. No daily cap. No paywall on any model, ever. BRING YOUR OWN MODEL Paste any HuggingFace repo and PocketLLM checks it against the on-device runtime before downloading a single byte — so you know it will actually run first. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No analytics. No tracking. No telemetry. Conversations are stored only on your device. Turn on airplane-mode-enforced for a hard offline guarantee, and lock the app behind Face ID. FREE, WITH NO LIMITS • All 36 models, unlimited chats • Vision — ask questions about photos, screenshots and receipts • Offline translator across 24 languages • Custom AI personas and a prompt library • Memory that carries facts across conversations • Compare two personas side by side • Export as PDF, Markdown or text • Widget, Lock Screen controls and a Share extension • Benchmarks to measure model speed on your device • Face ID lock • iPad and Mac Catalyst POCKETLLM PRO Pro doesn't sell you models — open weights are free everywhere, and they're free here. Pro pays for the app itself: • Personal Data — index your files, photos and calendar on-device, then ask questions about them. Photos are read with on-device OCR. Nothing is uploaded. No cloud assistant can do this. • Document chat — ask questions across your PDFs and notes with cited sources • Hands-free voice mode — speak your prompts and hear replies read aloud Weekly $0.99 · Monthly $4.99 · Yearly $44.99 Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple ID on confirmation. Manage or cancel any time in your Apple ID settings. Privacy Policy: https://ghassanjaa.github.io/pocketLLM-sLandingPage/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://ghassanjaa.github.io/pocketLLM-sLandingPage/terms.html

Screenshots

Local LLM4 screens
PocketLLM's4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Local LLM at 89% against PocketLLM's's 0%. Local LLM also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.5) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). PocketLLM's's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, 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. PocketLLM's sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Local LLM asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Local LLM holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Local LLM has 16 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Local LLM's written reviews are positive against 0% of PocketLLM's's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Local LLM ships an update every 4 days, PocketLLM's monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Local LLM versus PocketLLM's: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLocal LLMPocketLLM's
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (16 ratings) — better2.5 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews88.9% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings16 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB42 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDEPLOY FORWARD LLCGhassan Jaam

Customer experience

Local LLM

All ratings16 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%

PocketLLM's

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

Local LLM

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

PocketLLM's

Subscriptions3
  • Pro-Weekly$0.997 Days
  • Pro-Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro-Yearly$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Local LLM free?
Local LLM is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PocketLLM's free?
PocketLLM's is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Local LLM or PocketLLM's?
Local LLM is rated higher. Local LLM averages 4.5 out of 5 from 16 ratings, while PocketLLM's averages 2.5 from 2 ratings.
Do Local LLM or PocketLLM's have ads?
Neither Local LLM nor PocketLLM's shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Local LLM or PocketLLM's?
Local LLM ships an update every 4 days, and PocketLLM's monthly. Most recently, Local LLM was updated on November 5, 2026 and PocketLLM's on November 7, 2026.

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