Comparison

Cortex vs LLMster

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — 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: • Calendar-aware dashboard with priority signals • Chat that can summarize your schedule and create events • Smart insights and proactive recommendations • Image-aware chat support • Local-first AI processing for privacy • Notification nudges and quiet hours controls Cortex is built to help you stay focused without sending your planning data to external AI services.

About

LLMster

Connect to local AI models for fast, private conversations on your iPhone or iPad. Manage your models, organize chats, and utilize features like vision and hands-free voice interaction. Your data stays on your device and server.

Highlights
  • Connect to local AI models
  • Private by design, no cloud relay
  • Organize chats by title, model, or folder
  • Vision support for image-based conversations
  • Hands-free voice chat with on-device speech recognition
  • Stream reasoning and rich Markdown responses
  • Background processing with Live Activities
Features
Read full description

Local AI, in your pocket. LLMster is a fast, private iPhone and iPad client for models running on your LM Studio server. Stream replies, reasoning, tool activity, and image-based conversations from the models you host—in an app designed to feel at home on iOS. Private by design LLMster connects directly to the server you choose. There’s no LLMster account, telemetry, hosted chat service, or cloud relay in the middle. Your conversation library stays on your device, while model context stays with your configured server. External integrations run only when you choose to enable them. Your models, wherever you run them Keep your models on the machine built for them: a workstation, home server, or always-on computer. Run the LM Studio desktop app or LM Studio’s headless daemon, point LLMster at the host, and start chatting. No companion desktop client is required. Choose the right model without leaving the conversation: • Search or sort by name, size, or format, then pin favorites • See which models support vision, reasoning, or tool calls • Change models without starting a new chat Organized from the start Search chats by title, model, or folder. Browse recent conversations across every folder, then organize, rename, pin, or duplicate important threads. Move and protect your chats Share individual conversations as .llmster files and import them on another device while preserving messages, images, reasoning, tool history, and chat settings. Back up and restore your entire local chat library—including folders, pins, drafts, and attachments—with optional password protection. Backups do not include server addresses, authentication keys, or app-wide settings. LLMster also verifies transferred response context against your configured LM Studio server before continuing a chat. Vision, direct to your server Attach up to four screenshots, photos, or scanned pages to a message and send them to a compatible vision model. LLMster resizes and compresses images on your device before sending them, so the originals remain with you. Open any attachment and pinch to zoom when you need to inspect the details. Hands-free voice chat Talk naturally using on-device speech recognition and text-to-speech. Audio stays on your device; only the resulting text is sent to your configured server. Natural turn-taking and subtle haptics keep the conversation moving without touching the screen. Control each conversation Every chat can have its own: • Integrations already configured in LM Studio • Custom system prompt • Tool-call visibility • Live reasoning preference Stream reasoning as Markdown while the model works, or keep the interface quiet with a compact Thinking indicator and open the completed reasoning when you want it. Control response auto-scrolling, and choose System, Light, or Dark appearance with your preferred accent color. Rich responses, as they arrive LLMster renders streaming Markdown smoothly, including syntax-highlighted code with copy controls, inline and block math, tables, links, lists, and more. Export or share transcripts with their original Markdown intact. Keep going while you move on LLMster asks iOS to continue eligible responses after you leave the app. When the system starts continued processing, progress appears as a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and, on supported iPhones, in the Dynamic Island. When a background response completes, LLMster can notify you locally—without routing your conversation through a push server. Tap a notification or Live Activity to return to the correct conversation. Setup instructions are available at https://llmster.app/support

Screenshots

Cortex4 screens
LLMster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: LLMster at none against Cortex's shown. Cortex's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Cortex versus LLMster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCortexLLMster
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequency—Every 11 days
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPratik PoudelDave Sebek

In-app purchases

None

Cortex

No in-app purchases

None

LLMster

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Cortex free?
Cortex is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LLMster free?
LLMster is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Cortex or LLMster have ads?
Cortex shows ads; LLMster does not.

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