Code Bridge vs Sidecar ML
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
Code Bridge
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Code Bridge lets you remotely connect to your PC's development server from a phone or tablet and work with an AI coding assistant. Run the server on your PC at home or office, then continue development from anywhere you can connect. Key Features: ⢠Quick server connection via QR code scan ⢠Remote project management from mobile ⢠Real-time chat with a local AI coding assistant ⢠Secure external access via Cloudflare Tunnel ⢠Device mirroring and web preview in one workspace ⢠Policy engine for risky commands, paths, and secrets ⢠Task schedules, approvals, and audit logs Server Installation: github.com/rumururu/code-bridge-server Code Bridge is a third-party client made by an independent developer. It does not host AI models.
Sidecar ML
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Turn your iPhone into a private, on-device AI server for your whole network. Sidecar ML runs a lightweight HTTP server on your iPhone that exposes Apple's built-in machine-learning models to any device on your local network. Tap Start Server, scan the QR code, and your Mac, PC, Raspberry Pi, or browser can call powerful on-device AI over plain REST ā no cloud, no accounts, no API keys, no usage fees, and no data leaving your network. Everything runs on the phone. Nothing is uploaded to a server and there's nothing to pay for. (The one exception, music recognition, matches against Apple's catalog and tells you so up front.) ONE IPHONE, A DOZEN AI CAPABILITIES ⢠Chat with the on-device large language model through a chat-completions endpoint that's compatible with the popular OpenAI API format ā streaming, JSON mode, and structured output included. Point existing tools and SDKs at your phone and they just work. ⢠Generate images from a text prompt in a choice of art styles. ⢠OCR ā pull text out of photos, receipts, and screenshots with per-line boxes and multi-language support. ⢠Read barcodes and QR codes (EAN, Code128, and more). ⢠Classify images across roughly a thousand categories, or produce image embeddings for similarity search. ⢠Remove backgrounds and isolate subjects or people as clean PNG cut-outs. ⢠Detect faces and facial landmarks, body pose, and hand pose. ⢠Scan documents with automatic edge detection and perspective correction. ⢠Convert speech to text and text to speech, with a wide range of voices (including Personal Voice). ⢠Translate text between languages completely offline. ⢠Analyse text: language, sentiment, named entities, tokens, and embeddings. ⢠Classify sounds across hundreds of categories, or identify the music that's playing. BUILT FOR DEVELOPERS AND MAKERS ⢠Clean REST + Server-Sent Events API ā call it from curl, Python, JavaScript, or any HTTP client. ⢠Chat endpoint compatible with the OpenAI format, so many existing tools and SDKs work unchanged. ⢠Automatic discovery on your network via Bonjour. ⢠Honest capability reporting: ask the server what it can do and it tells you exactly what's available on your device, and why. ⢠Optional bearer-token authentication to lock the server down on shared networks. FREE WEB CONSOLE AND CODE EXAMPLES A ready-to-use web console ā plus Python examples, a command-line client, and full API documentation ā is free and open-source. Download the single-file console and browse the source here: https://github.com/AndersFB/Sidecar-ML-Console/ Open the console in any browser, enter your phone's address, and try every capability with a friendly UI ā nothing to install. GOOD TO KNOW ⢠The on-device large language model and image generation require an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone. The other capabilities run on a much wider range of devices. ⢠The server runs while the app is in the foreground; a keep-awake option helps during longer sessions. ⢠Some features (offline translation language pairs and certain speech models) download their models on first use. Turn the iPhone in your pocket into a private AI endpoint for your projects, your home lab, and your prototypes ā Sidecar ML.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: Code Bridge at 3 against Sidecar ML's 1. Code Bridge also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Code Bridge ships an update fortnightly, Sidecar ML monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Code Bridge | Sidecar ML |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly ā better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod ā better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 ā better | 26.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 118 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | mkideabox Co. Ltd. | Anders Fog Bunzel |
In-app purchases
Code Bridge
No in-app purchases
Sidecar ML
No in-app purchases









