Comparison

Cortex vs Onyx

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

Head to head
About

Cortex

Features
Read full description

Cortex is your private, on-device AI planner for daily work and life. Use Cortex to understand your calendar, spot conflicts, and turn plans into action quickly. Key features: โ€ข Calendar-aware dashboard with priority signals โ€ข Chat that can summarize your schedule and create events โ€ข Smart insights and proactive recommendations โ€ข Image-aware chat support โ€ข Local-first AI processing for privacy โ€ข Notification nudges and quiet hours controls Cortex is built to help you stay focused without sending your planning data to external AI services.

About

Onyx

Features
Read full description

Meet Onyx, the private AI assistant that runs entirely on your iPhone. Ask anything. Get instant answers. No account, no internet, nothing shared. A REAL AI ASSISTANT, THE ONE YOU ALREADY KNOW Ask questions, brainstorm ideas, write emails and messages, summarize long texts, translate languages, get explanations on any topic, fix your code, prepare for an interview, plan a trip. Onyx does everything you expect from a modern AI chat, with real conversations and follow-up questions. 100% PRIVATE, BY DESIGN Every question and answer stays on your iPhone. Nothing is sent to our servers, and your data is never used. Not even we can see what you ask. WORKS COMPLETELY OFFLINE Download an AI model once and use it anywhere. On a flight, in the subway, abroad with no signal. Onyx keeps working when other AI apps stop. HUNDREDS OF MODELS, ONE PERFECT FOR YOU Llama, Qwen, Gemma, and many more models, all free. Onyx analyzes your iPhone and highlights the ones that will run best on it, so you get the most capable assistant without guessing. FAST AND BEAUTIFUL Answers appear in real time as the AI writes. Clean formatting, elegant design, smooth from start to finish. No subscription. No data collection. Just you and a powerful AI that respects you. Download Onyx and take back control of your AI.

Screenshots

Cortex4 screens
Onyx4 screens

Verdict

The call

Cortex and Onyx are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

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

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Cortex versus Onyx: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCortexOnyx
PriceFreeFree
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size7 MB29 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPratik PoudelDavid Azancot

In-app purchases

None

Cortex

No in-app purchases

None

Onyx

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cortex free?
Cortex is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Onyx free?
Onyx is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Cortex or Onyx have ads?
Both Cortex and Onyx show ads.

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