AnythingLLM Mobile vs MLC Chat: a maintained MLC Chat alternative for Android

MLC Chat was one of the first apps to prove that a phone could run a real language model. It came out of the MLC LLM research project, compiled models to run on mobile GPUs, and still shows up in nearly every list of offline AI apps for Android.

The Android app itself, though, has stood still. Its most recent APK was published on September 26, 2024. It is not on Google Play, so you have to sideload it, and it only runs models that have been compiled specifically for MLC. Model families released since then are not in it.

AnythingLLM Mobile is free on Google Play, updated regularly, runs any GGUF model, and does a lot more than chat.

MLC Chat vs AnythingLLM Mobile

Current models, from anywhere

MLC Chat can only run models that someone has compiled into MLC's format, and its Android app has not picked up new ones since 2024. AnythingLLM Mobile runs GGUF, the format nearly every open model is published in. Choose from a curated list built for phones, including Qwen 3.5, Gemma 4, Gemma 3, Llama 3.2, Granite, LFM 2.5, and Qwen3-VL for vision, or search Hugging Face and import any GGUF directly. Each model shows a fit badge so you know before downloading whether your phone has the memory to run it.

Far more than a chat box

MLC Chat does one thing: chat with a model. AnythingLLM Mobile turns that model into an assistant:

• Chat with your documents. PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, CSV, Markdown, and more, embedded and searched on your phone.
• Search the web with no API key, and read web pages and YouTube transcripts from a link.
• Create files, including PDFs, Word documents, and PowerPoint decks.
• Run scheduled jobs in the background, with notifications when they finish.
• Manage your day with reminders, alarms, timers, and your calendar.
• Remember what you tell it to, globally or per workspace.
• Work across Android as your default assistant, from the text selection menu, or from the share sheet.

Your phone, your desktop, and the cloud

When a phone-sized model is not enough, AnythingLLM Mobile can connect to 20 providers, from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Gemini to your own Ollama or LM Studio server. Pair it with AnythingLLM Desktop by scanning a QR code, and your workspaces, threads, and chats come with you.

Where MLC Chat is ahead

MLC Chat runs models on your phone's GPU, which can be faster on the phones it supports, and there is an iOS version. AnythingLLM Mobile runs on the CPU. It is Android only today, and it sends anonymous usage telemetry by default, which you can turn off in settings.

Try it

Get AnythingLLM Mobile from Google Play. No sideloading, no account, and no in-app purchases.