Check Engine Chat vs TORKO
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Check Engine Chat
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Your AI mechanic, running entirely on your phone. Ask any car question and get instant, accurate answers grounded in a curated automotive database covering 400+ vehicle models from 1976 to 2025. Oil specs, torque values, tire pressure, transmission fluid, spark plug gaps, DIY repair guides with tool lists and difficulty ratings, and symptom-based diagnostic troubleshooting. AUDIO DIAGNOSTICS (Pro) Record your engine sound. The AI analyzes the audio and identifies the problem such as knock, turbo failure, belt squeal, timing chain wear, transmission whine, VTEC rattle, and more. All processed on-device in seconds. PRIVACY FIRST Everything runs on your iPhone. No cloud servers. No accounts. No analytics. No tracking. Works in airplane mode. Your car problems are yours. FEATURES - Vehicle spec lookup (oil, torque, tire pressure, fluids) - DIY repair guides with tool lists and difficulty ratings - Symptom based diagnostic reasoning - Audio engine sound diagnosis - Aftermarket and mod guidance - Conversation history + Generate Report - Works fully offline after setup Requires iPhone with at least 6gb ram. Built by car enthusiasts.
TORKO
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TORKO turns your iPhone into a real car diagnostic tool. Plug in a Bluetooth LE or Wi-Fi OBD2 adapter and in a couple of minutes you know what your car actually has to say โ every control module, every fault code, the odometer and the emissions readiness. EVERY MODULE, NOT JUST THE ENGINE Cheap scanners read engine codes only. TORKO queries every control unit โ engine, gearbox, ABS, airbags, climate, gateway โ and also sweeps the bus for modules that are not even on the list. Each one names itself from the car. FAULTS IN PLAIN LANGUAGE Every code is explained the way a good mechanic would explain it: what happened, whether you can keep driving, the likely causes ranked by probability and what to check first. Ten AI explanations every month, free. LIVE AI DIAGNOSIS While the adapter is connected, TORKO takes a snapshot of live sensor data and reads the fault together with it. Fuel trims, MAF, temperatures โ the answer is about this car at this moment, not a generic description. MILEAGE FROM SEVERAL MODULES Mileage is not stored only in the instrument cluster. TORKO reads it from every module that keeps it, and a spread between them is direct evidence that the odometer was rolled back. HISTORY PER VIN Every scan is stored against the car's VIN. If a fault was cleared right before a sale and came back, you see it โ with the date the memory was wiped and how far the car has been driven since. BEFORE YOU BUY A CAR A health score for every system, freshly erased fault memory, unfinished readiness monitors and mileage disagreements between modules โ a pre-purchase report you can read in the seller's driveway. ROAD TEST Record a ten-minute drive and TORKO analyses it: thermostat, fuel trims, alternator voltage, boost pressure, idle stability, DPF regeneration and real fuel consumption. CLEAR FAULTS EVERYWHERE Not only the engine (Mode 04) but ABS, airbags and comfort modules too โ the way professional tools do it. Clearing repairs nothing, and the history keeps a record of it. LIVE DATA 27 sensor values in real time โ RPM, coolant and oil temperature, fuel trims, MAP, lambda, battery voltage โ plus a trip meter with real fuel consumption. WHAT YOU NEED โข iPhone with iOS 16 or newer โข A Bluetooth LE or Wi-Fi ELM327-type OBD2 adapter (OBDLink CX/MX+, Vgate vLinker or iCar Pro, Veepeak BLE+). Classic Bluetooth (SPP) adapters do not work with iPhone, and locked devices (FIXD, Carly, OBDeleven) only work with their own apps. โข A car with OBD2: petrol from 2001, diesel from 2004 in the EU. The multi-module deep scan is fully calibrated for the VW group today (VW, Audi, Skoda, SEAT, Cupra). Standard OBD2 diagnostics work on every OBD2 car and more makes are being added. TORKO is free โ every feature is available to every registered user. Support: https://torko.eu/support Privacy policy: https://torko.eu/privacy Terms of use: https://torko.eu/terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TORKO at none against Check Engine Chat's 1. TORKO also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Check Engine Chat sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. TORKO asks for nothing beyond the download.
Check Engine Chat ships an update monthly, TORKO every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Check Engine Chat | TORKO |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 days โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No โ better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad โ better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 16.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 2.7 GB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yao Vah Saechao | Zenonas Valeika |
In-app purchases
Check Engine Chat
- Audio Diagnostics Pro$4.99
TORKO
No in-app purchases









