Comparison

lpm Link vs Charge

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

Head to head
About

lpm Link

Features
Read full description

lpm Link is the iPhone companion for lpm on macOS. Pair once by scanning a QR code, then view your projects, check service status, start and stop local development projects, and type into running terminal sessions — including AI coding agents — right from your phone. All commands continue to run on your Mac. The app connects only to your own lpm desktop instance, over your local network or your private Tailscale network. No account, no cloud, no data collected. Requires the free lpm app for macOS.

About

Charge

Track your AI coding usage and costs across various providers directly from your iPhone. Monitor your remaining time, weekly caps, and daily spending with at-a-glance widgets and detailed dashboards. Setup is quick, and privacy is prioritized with no access to your code or conversations.

Highlights
  • Rate-limit gauges per provider
  • Burn-rate forecasts
  • Cost dashboard (daily, weekly, monthly)
  • Plan badges and account separation
  • Multi-computer support
  • Home and Lock Screen widgets
  • Streak heatmap and cost trend
Features
Read full description

Charge shows your AI coding usage and cost on your iPhone. "How much of my 5-hour window is left?", "Am I close to the weekly cap?", "What did I spend today?" Check it away from your desk, or from Windows, in a glance. Setup takes two minutes. Sign in with Apple, paste the one-line command the app shows you into your computer's terminal, and a lightweight collector securely uploads your usage every five minutes. (Node.js 18+, macOS / Windows / Linux) WHAT YOU GET • Rate-limit gauges per provider: Claude and Codex out of the box, plus Gemini, Cursor, Copilot, OpenRouter and more through the macOS CodexBar bridge. Reset countdowns included. • Burn-rate forecasts that warn before you hit a wall: "at this pace you'll run out in about 4 hours." • Cost dashboard: today / 7-day / 30-day spend and tokens, a daily chart, and a per-model cost ranking. • Plan badges and account separation: your plan (Max 20x, Education, ...) is detected automatically, and machines signed in with different accounts get their own cards. • Multi-computer support: see which machine last reported and when, get a heads-up when one stops collecting, swipe to unpair. • Limit-reset notifications and custom gauge thresholds. • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, with per-provider and per-account layouts. • Streak heatmap and 14-day cost trend. PRIVACY Charge never sees your prompts, code, or conversations. The collector reads only usage counters and cost data from your local tools and uploads them under your own Apple ID. Unpair a computer any time and its token is revoked immediately. Charge is open source: github.com/baekdusan/charge

Screenshots

lpm Link4 screens
Charge3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: lpm Link at every 5 days against Charge's fortnightly. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

lpm Link ships an update every 5 days, Charge fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 7 level
lpm Link versus Charge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterlpm LinkCharge
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGurgen AbagyanDusan Baek

In-app purchases

None

lpm Link

No in-app purchases

None

Charge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is lpm Link free?
lpm Link is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Charge free?
Charge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do lpm Link or Charge have ads?
Neither lpm Link nor Charge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, lpm Link or Charge?
lpm Link ships an update every 5 days, and Charge fortnightly. Most recently, lpm Link was updated on October 15, 2026 and Charge on October 19, 2026.

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