Comparison

Nimbus8 vs MLX

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

Head to head
About

Nimbus8

Run powerful AI models directly on your iPhone or iPad without sending data to servers. This app offers local chat, coding assistance, image generation, translation, and more, with advanced features available through a one-time purchase.

Highlights
  • On-device AI model execution
  • Local chat and coding assistance
  • Image generation and translation
  • Background agents and scheduling
  • Hybrid local/web search
  • Speech-to-text and text-to-speech
  • Cross-module memory and recall
Features
Read full description

Nimbus8 is an on-device AI studio for iPhone and iPad. Run open models locally — chat, code, search, vision, image generation, audio, translation, and background agents — with nothing sent to Nimbus servers for inference. Gale (chat) is free forever. Download models from Hugging Face, attach photos and PDFs, and stream replies entirely on your device. Nimbus8 Pro (one-time in-app purchase) unlocks: • Cirrus — repo-aware coding agent with inline diffs • Ashe — confirm-first background agents and scheduled Hands • Mist — hybrid local search with optional web layer • Mirage — on-device image generation • Stratus — camera, OCR, and vision Q&A • Overture — speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and audio tools • Zephyr — on-device translation • Haze — cross-module memory and recall Built native in Swift with a Rust core. No Nimbus account required. Optional cloud inference. No telemetry. Models you choose are downloaded to your device and run locally. Processing stays on your phone unless you explicitly enable optional network features (such as web search or a BYOK cloud provider in Cirrus). Purchase Nimbus8 Pro once through Apple In-App Purchase. Restore anytime with your Apple ID. Family Sharing follows Apple's IAP rules. Privacy policy: https://trynimbus.org/privacy.html

About

MLX

This AI studio runs entirely on your device, processing conversations, voice recordings, and generated images locally. It offers hands-free calling, voice cloning, and image generation without any account creation, subscriptions, or tracking.

Highlights
  • On-device AI processing
  • Hands-free voice calls
  • Personalized voice cloning
  • Text-to-image generation
  • Offline model functionality
  • No account or tracking
Features
Read full description

MLX-Serve is a private AI studio that runs entirely on your iPhone. Every conversation, voice recording, and generated image is processed on-device by open-weight models — nothing you type, say, or create ever leaves your phone. There is no account to create, no subscription, and no tracking of any kind. MUSIC Generate songs locally using your device ! You can also play it back in the background and use MLX-Serve as a player for your generated music on the go. CHAT Talk with capable open language models (Google Gemma 4) right on your device. Ask questions, brainstorm, draft messages, get things explained. Some models can even understand photos you attach. CALL Tap Call inside any conversation to talk to the AI hands-free, like a phone call. Your speech is transcribed on-device and the reply is read back aloud. Speaker and handset modes are both supported, and the transcript is saved to your chat. VOICE CLONE Record about eight seconds of your voice and have the AI speak text in your own voice, using an on-device text-to-speech model. Great for narration and fun. IMAGES Generate images from a text prompt with an on-device diffusion model (FLUX.2). Tap a result to zoom in, save it to your photo library, or share it. FULLY PRIVATE, FULLY OFFLINE - Runs 100% on-device using Apple MLX and the Metal GPU. - No account, no analytics, no ads, no tracking. - The network is used only to download the AI models you choose from Hugging Face. After a model is downloaded, that feature works offline. REQUIREMENTS Models are multi-gigabyte downloads and on-device AI is demanding, so MLX Chat requires a recent, high-performance iPhone. Download over Wi-Fi is recommended. You pick which models to download and can delete them anytime to reclaim space. Open models are provided under their respective licenses (Gemma, Apache 2.0). MLX Chat is an independent app and is not affiliated with Google or Apple.

Screenshots

Nimbus83 screens
MLX4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Nimbus8 at every 2 days against MLX's monthly. MLX's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, ratings volume, 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. Nimbus8 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and MLX sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MLX holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Nimbus8's written reviews are positive against 100% of MLX's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Nimbus8 ships an update every 2 days, MLX monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Nimbus8 versus MLX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNimbus8MLX
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (6 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews88.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings67 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size270 MB200 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperRobert Georges Jr.David Dalcu

Customer experience

Nimbus8

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral11.1%
Negative0.0%

MLX

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Nimbus8

One-time2
  • 3-day TrialFree
  • Nimbus8 Pro - Lifetime$19.99
1 purchases

MLX

One-time1
  • Music Generation$4.99

Questions

Is Nimbus8 free?
Nimbus8 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MLX free?
MLX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Nimbus8 or MLX?
MLX is rated higher. Nimbus8 averages 4.8 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while MLX averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Nimbus8 or MLX have ads?
Neither Nimbus8 nor MLX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Nimbus8 or MLX?
Nimbus8 ships an update every 2 days, and MLX monthly. Most recently, Nimbus8 was updated on September 8, 2026 and MLX on September 23, 2026.

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