Comparison

Open Minis vs Marklens

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

Head to head
About

Open Minis

This AI agent runs locally on your device, taking actions like browsing the web, managing your schedule, and controlling smart home devices. It integrates deeply with iOS frameworks and allows you to bring your own API keys from various AI providers. Customize its capabilities with a skills system and enjoy persistent memory for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • On-device AI agent
  • Multi-model AI provider support
  • Deep iOS framework integration
  • Built-in web browser
  • Customizable skills system
  • Persistent memory
  • Siri Shortcuts integration
Features
Read full description

Minis — Local-First On-Device AI Agent Minis is a local-first, on-device AI agent that goes beyond chat. All your data stays on your iPhone — nothing is uploaded to a server by default. Running locally means lower latency and stronger privacy, while the agent still takes real action: browsing the web, accessing your health data, managing your schedule, controlling your smart home, and automating complex tasks. Local-First AI Agent Unlike cloud-only chatbots, Minis runs directly on your device and keeps your data there. The agent executes multi-step tasks autonomously, using tools and native iOS frameworks to get things done — not just answer questions, and not just relay everything to the cloud. Multi-Model, Your Choice Bring your own API key. Choose from leading AI providers: • Anthropic Claude • OpenAI GPT • Google Gemini • DeepSeek • Kimi (Moonshot AI) • OpenRouter • Any OpenAI-compatible endpoint Deep iOS Integration The agent accesses Apple frameworks natively: • HealthKit — steps, heart rate, sleep, workouts, SpO₂ • Calendar & Reminders — create events, check availability, manage tasks • HomeKit — control lights, switches, scenes, and smart accessories • Photos — search, organize, and export from your library • Location & Maps — current location, directions, nearby POIs • Vision — OCR text recognition, object detection, barcode scanning • Speech — real-time transcription and text-to-speech • Weather — current conditions, hourly and daily forecasts Built-in Web Browser Navigate pages, take screenshots, extract content, fill forms, and interact with websites — all driven by the AI agent in the background. Skills System Import or create custom AI skills to extend the agent's capabilities. Share skills with others or build your own for specialized workflows. Persistent Memory The agent remembers your preferences, project context, and recurring patterns across sessions — building a personalized assistant that improves over time, all stored locally on your device. Siri Shortcuts Automate AI tasks with Siri and the Shortcuts app. Send prompts with file attachments, wait for results, and chain into complex workflows — all hands-free. Privacy by Design Your API keys and data stay on-device. Fine-grained permission controls let you decide exactly which personal data the agent can access. No account required. No data collected.

About

Marklens

This app is a fast, native Markdown viewer for macOS, iPadOS, and iPhone. It renders .md files instantly with beautiful typography, themes, syntax highlighting, and diagrams. Designed for reading, it offers a private and friction-free experience.

Highlights
  • Instant Markdown rendering
  • Syntax highlighting for 30+ languages
  • Mermaid diagram support
  • GitHub-Flavored Markdown
  • Light and dark themes
  • Export to PDF
  • Quick Look preview on macOS
Features
Read full description

Marklens is a fast, native Markdown viewer for macOS, iPadOS, and iPhone. Open any .md file with a click and see it rendered immediately — beautiful typography, light and dark themes, syntax-highlighted code, and Mermaid diagrams. No editor, no library, no friction. HIGHLIGHTS • Instant render — every .md opens in a clean, focused window • 30+ language syntax highlighting via highlight.js, bundled offline • Mermaid 11 diagrams — flowcharts, sequence, state, xy-charts and more • GitHub-Flavored Markdown — tables, task lists, footnotes, strikethrough • Light and dark theme matching the system appearance • Quick Look on macOS — press Space on any .md in Finder for a rendered preview • Export to PDF on every platform • Pinch-to-zoom on iPadOS and iPhone, ⌘+ / ⌘− / ⌘0 on macOS • Open files via drag-and-drop, the Share Sheet, or the Files app MADE FOR READING Marklens doesn't try to be a notes app or a knowledge base. It opens a file, renders it perfectly, and gets out of the way. If you write Markdown in another tool — VS Code, Obsidian, GitHub, your favorite text editor — Marklens is the viewer you reach for to look at the result. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Marklens collects nothing. No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reports, no network requests. Every rendering asset — Mermaid, highlight.js, fonts — ships inside the app. Read the full privacy policy at https://donald-jackson.github.io/marklens/privacy/ OPEN SOURCE Marklens is MIT-licensed and developed in the open. Source, issues, and contribution guide live at https://github.com/donald-jackson/marklens.

Screenshots

Open Minis4 screens
Marklens3 screens

Verdict

The call

Open Minis and Marklens both sit at 4.9 stars, but that hides the real split: 97% of Open Minis's written reviews are positive against 0% of Marklens's. Open Minis also leads on ratings volume (77 vs 2) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Open Minis against 5.0 for Marklens. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Open Minis has 77 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 97% of Open Minis's written reviews are positive against 0% of Marklens's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Open Minis ships an update weekly, Marklens monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Open Minis versus Marklens: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpen MinisMarklens
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (77 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews97.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings77 — better2
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size133 MB4 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developer森 王Donald Jackson

Customer experience

Open Minis

All ratings77 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative1.3%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive97.1%
Neutral2.9%
Negative0.0%

Marklens

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Open Minis

No in-app purchases

None

Marklens

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Open Minis free?
Open Minis is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Marklens free?
Marklens is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Open Minis or Marklens?
Marklens is rated higher. Open Minis averages 4.9 out of 5 from 77 ratings, while Marklens averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Open Minis or Marklens have ads?
Neither Open Minis nor Marklens shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Open Minis or Marklens?
Open Minis ships an update weekly, and Marklens monthly. Most recently, Open Minis was updated on September 28, 2026 and Marklens on September 19, 2026.

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