Best private AI chat apps for iPhone that work without internet in 2026
All seven apps run a language model on the iPhone itself, so a chat works in airplane mode once a model is downloaded. They differ in what you give up to get that: Pinku (ours) is the smallest download here (21 MB) with 12 open models and a Data Not Collected label, but it is text chat only; Locally AI is free, small (117 MB) and the most rated; Private LLM costs $4.99 up front and the app itself weighs 1.4 GB; PocketPal AI lets you load any GGUF model from Hugging Face; Enclave, On-Device AI and Privacy AI add documents, voice, agents and optional cloud models, at 0.7 to 3.7 GB.
Pick by situation, not by brand: the section below says which one fits a flight, a nearly full phone, private documents, a Mac, or the occasional cloud model. The "private" part is also not the same in all seven: Privacy AI's label includes Data Used to Track You, and Enclave's lists Data Not Linked to You, because both offer optional cloud features.
At a glance
| App | Price (US) | Download size | Models and features named in its listing | App Store privacy label | Version (date) | Rating (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinku: Private Local AI Chat Our app | Free; Pinku Pro (one-time, per its listing) appears at $4.99, $9.99 and $19.99 | 21 MB | 12 open models (Qwen3, Llama 3.2, Gemma 3 and 3n, DeepSeek-R1 Distill, SmolLM3, LFM2) from 0.4 to 4.7 GB; text chat | Data Not Collected | 1.0.8 (9 Oct 2026) | 4.7 (12 ratings) |
| Locally AI by LM Studio | Free, no purchases listed | 117 MB | Llama 3.2, Gemma 2 and 3, Qwen 3, DeepSeek and more; image analysis | Data Not Collected | 1.66.0 (15 Oct 2026) | 4.7 (1,783 ratings) |
| Private LLM - Local AI Chat | $4.99 once, no in-app purchases listed | 1.4 GB | Llama, Gemma, Phi, Mistral, Qwen, DeepSeek R1 Distill, StableLM and more | Data Not Collected | 1.9.16 (14 Sep 2026) | 4.2 (735 ratings) |
| Enclave - Local AI Assistant | Free; Pro $9.99; tip-style purchases $0.99 to $9.99 | 717 MB | Hundreds of open models (Llama, DeepSeek, Gemma, Qwen, Phi, Mistral, SmolLM); optional cloud models with Pro | Data Not Linked to You | 1.77.0 (1 Oct 2026) | 4.7 (1,094 ratings) |
| PocketPal AI | Free; add-on purchases $0.99 to $2.99 | 88 MB | Any GGUF model from Hugging Face, searched and downloaded inside the app | Data Not Collected | 1.19.1 (8 Oct 2026) | 4.1 (161 ratings) |
| On‑Device AI: Private Workspace | Free; Pro subscription $3.99 or $34.99; lifetime $49.99 or $99.99 | 1.9 GB | Gemma, Qwen, DeepSeek, Mistral local models; documents, OCR, notes, transcription, listening library | Data Not Collected | 1.51.0 (5 Oct 2026) | 4.4 (162 ratings) |
| Privacy AI: Agent & Chatbot | Free; Pro $3.99 a week, $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year | 3.7 GB | On-device GGUF and MLX models, optional cloud providers, agent, image models, mini apps | Data Used to Track You; Data Not Linked to You | 3.3.0 (16 Oct 2026) | 4.8 (20 ratings) |
Prices are the US App Store price and the in-app purchases the page lists on 16 October 2026 (the page may list only some). Sizes are the App Store download size; models you download afterwards add to it. Ratings are the App Store average and number of ratings that day. All seven are described by their developers as working offline with local models.
1. Pinku: Private Local AI Chat Our app
Best for: a very small install: you pick one model, download it once, and chat offline with nothing else on the phone.
- Runs 12 open models locally with Apple's MLX; the six up to 1 GB are free, and Pinku Pro (an optional one-time purchase, per its listing) unlocks the larger ones, custom instructions, voice dictation and read aloud.
- No account. Its listing says it has no analytics and no server that receives your chats; the only network use is downloading the model you choose, from Hugging Face.
- Only lists models your device has enough memory for, and checks memory before loading one.
- Siri and Shortcuts to start a chat; interface in 8 languages.
- iOS 18.6 or later with Metal 3, 21 MB; its listing says it also runs on a Mac with Apple silicon.
Limits: text chat only (its listing does not mention images, documents or web search), only 12 models to choose from, and the 18.6 requirement leaves older iPhones out. Small on-device models are less capable than cloud ones, and the Pro price shows up as three different amounts on the page, so check the price in the app. Only 12 ratings in the US.
2. Locally AI by LM Studio
Best for: the easiest free start with a lot of ratings behind it.
- Its listing says 100% offline, no login and no data collection, powered by Apple MLX.
- Runs Llama 3.2, Gemma 2 and 3, Qwen 3 and DeepSeek, and can analyze images.
- 11 languages, iOS 18.1 or later, 117 MB.
Limits: its listing does not mention documents, voice or agents; it is simple by design.
3. Private LLM - Local AI Chat
Best for: people who want to pay once, with Family Sharing, and want a very long model list.
- Paid up front with no subscription; Family Sharing is included, according to its listing.
- Its listing names models from Llama 2 and 3.x, Gemma 2 and 3, Phi, Mistral 7B, Qwen 2.5 and 3, StableLM and DeepSeek R1 Distill, with OmniQuant quantization.
- Siri and Shortcuts, custom system prompts; also on Mac.
- English only, iOS 17.0 or later, 1.4 GB.
Limits: you pay before trying it, the app alone is 1.4 GB, and the interface is English only. Its rating is the lowest of the apps with many ratings (4.2).
4. Enclave - Local AI Assistant
Best for: private chat with documents and voice, plus an occasional cloud model when you choose to.
- Voice chat with on-device speech recognition and text-to-speech, and chat with PDFs, text files, images and code, processed locally.
- Custom assistants with their own instructions; Siri and Shortcuts.
- Pro adds cloud models from other companies (its listing names Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and xAI) and web search for those cloud models; its listing says cloud chats are not stored on its servers.
- 14 languages, 717 MB, requires iOS 27.0 or later.
Limits: it needs iOS 27 or later, which excludes most phones today; the optional cloud part is why its label is Data Not Linked to You rather than Data Not Collected.
5. PocketPal AI
Best for: tinkerers who want to choose their own model files.
- Its listing says you search, bookmark and download GGUF models from Hugging Face in the app, then chat offline.
- Nothing leaves the device, according to its listing.
- English only, iOS 15.1 or later, 88 MB, the oldest iOS floor here.
Limits: you choose and size models yourself, which is harder for beginners; English only, and the lowest rating here (4.1).
6. On‑Device AI: Private Workspace
Best for: one private workspace for chat, documents, voice notes and listening, on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
- Its listing says chats, documents, recordings and notes stay on the device; online providers are optional and only work after you enable them.
- Compare several models on the same prompt, drop in documents, images and scanned PDFs with on-device OCR.
- Voice notes and transcription, a listening queue for PDFs and articles, RSS feeds.
- 9 languages, iOS 18.0 or later, 1.9 GB; also iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro, per the listing.
Limits: a large and broad app (1.9 GB) with a lot of surface, a Pro tier with both subscription and lifetime prices, and 162 ratings.
7. Privacy AI: Agent & Chatbot
Best for: people who want an agent that plans and uses tools, with local models first and cloud only if they connect it.
- Its listing says local models work fully offline and nothing leaves the phone unless you connect a cloud provider yourself.
- An agent that plans, calls tools and writes a report; Google Drive access with your permission; on-device image models on iOS 27.
- Also connects to cloud providers and uses Apple's on-device Foundation Model and Private Cloud Compute.
- 12 languages, iOS 18.0 or later, 3.7 GB, the biggest app here.
Limits: the biggest download here (3.7 GB), the most complex, and its privacy label includes Data Used to Track You. Only 20 ratings.
Who should use what
- Your phone is nearly full: Pinku (21 MB), PocketPal AI (88 MB) or Locally AI (117 MB); Privacy AI (3.7 GB) and On-Device AI (1.9 GB) are the opposite.
- You are about to fly or go somewhere without signal: any of the seven, but download the model before you leave.
- You want to chat with private documents: Enclave (PDFs, text, code) or On-Device AI (documents and scanned PDFs).
- You want to pay once and never see a subscription: Private LLM ($4.99) or Pinku Pro (one-time, per its listing).
- You also use a Mac: Pinku, Locally AI, Private LLM, Enclave and On-Device AI list it.
- You want a cloud model now and then: Enclave Pro or Privacy AI, accepting that their privacy label is weaker.
Use cases
- Chatting on a plane, a train or in the mountains with no signal.
- Drafting or rewriting a private message or a work document without sending it to a server.
- Asking questions about your own PDFs and notes on the device (Enclave, On-Device AI).
- Studying or travelling abroad without a data plan.
- Trying several open models to see which one you like (Pinku, Private LLM, PocketPal AI).
How we checked
On 16 October 2026 we opened each app's US App Store page and Apple's lookup data: price and in-app purchases, version and release date, rating and number of ratings, languages, size, minimum iOS and the privacy label categories. Model lists and features are taken from each developer's App Store description; what Pinku does comes from its live listing, version 1.0.8. We did not run a quality or speed test of the models, so this page does not say which one answers best. We did not invent ratings or reviews.
Model families named above (Llama, Gemma, Qwen, DeepSeek, Phi, Mistral and others) are the ones each listing names. Prices change and pages list only some purchases; check the price shown inside each app before paying.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best private AI chat app for iPhone that works without internet?
It depends on your situation. For the smallest install, Pinku (ours, 21 MB). For the most-rated free app, Locally AI. For documents and voice, Enclave or On-Device AI. For a one-time $4.99 purchase and a long model list, Private LLM. For choosing your own model files, PocketPal AI.
Does the AI really run on the iPhone?
According to each listing, yes: you download a model and it runs on the device, so it works in airplane mode. The first download needs internet. Small on-device models are less capable than cloud services.
Which of these apps collect no data?
Pinku, Locally AI, Private LLM, PocketPal AI and On-Device AI show Data Not Collected on their App Store privacy labels. Enclave shows Data Not Linked to You, and Privacy AI shows Data Used to Track You and Data Not Linked to You; both offer optional cloud features.
How much storage do I need?
The app downloads range from 21 MB (Pinku) to 3.7 GB (Privacy AI), and each model you download adds to that. Pinku's models go from 0.4 to 4.7 GB, according to its listing.
Is there a free private AI chat app?
Pinku, Locally AI, Enclave, PocketPal AI, On-Device AI and Privacy AI are free to download; some sell upgrades. Private LLM costs $4.99 to download. Pinku's six models up to 1 GB are free.
Sources
- Pinku (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6754878073 (16 October 2026)
- Locally AI (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6741426692 (16 October 2026)
- Private LLM (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6448106860 (16 October 2026)
- Enclave (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6476614556 (16 October 2026)
- PocketPal AI (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6502579498 (16 October 2026)
- On-Device AI (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6497060890 (16 October 2026)
- Privacy AI (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6738392421 (16 October 2026)