Cherry Studio vs LM Studio
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LM Studio
Desktop app for running open AI models on your own computer
Free plan · from $20/mo
Where they differ
- Only Cherry Studio lists iOS and Android apps.
- Cherry Studio is open source, according to its own site.
In commonFree planmacOSWindowsLinuxWorks offlineLocal-firstAI featuresChat assistantAI agents
At a glance
| Cherry Studio | LM Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $20 per month (Bionic+, for cloud models) |
| Free plan | The Community Edition is free and open source under AGPL-3.0. It includes no model credits: you connect your own provider API keys or local models. | LM Studio is free for home and work use. Bionic's Free plan covers the agent, local models, offline voice transcription, LM Link for up to 5 devices and limited web search. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Shanghai Qianhui Technology Co., Ltd. | Element Labs, Inc. |
| Price read from | github.com | lmstudio.ai |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Cherry Studio
- People who already hold API keys for several model providers
- Running local models through Ollama or LM Studio with a full desktop interface
- Users who want chat history and documents kept on their own device
LM Studio
- Running open models privately on a Mac, Windows or Linux computer
- Developers who want a local OpenAI-like endpoint for their own tools
- Agent work on code and documents with open models, through Bionic
Worth knowing
Cherry Studio
- No model access is included: you add your own API keys or local models, and each provider charges for usage separately.
- The Android, iPhone and iPad apps are in beta and are distributed as an APK and through TestFlight.
- Central model access, employee accounts and access control are in the Enterprise Edition only, which is quoted on request.
- AGPL-3.0 terms apply to commercial use; a commercial license that exempts a business from them is arranged by email.
LM Studio
- LM Studio itself is desktop only; on iPhone and iPad its models are reached through the separate Locally app. Intel-based Macs are not supported.
- Local models need capable hardware: the docs recommend 16GB of RAM or more, and on Windows at least 4GB of dedicated VRAM.
- The paid plans cover cloud models in LM Studio Bionic, a separate app; cloud use needs an LM Studio account with available credits.
- LM Link is in preview and free for now; LM Studio says free and paid LM Link plans will follow at general availability.
Key features
Cherry Studio
- Multi-provider chat
- Connects to more than 50 providers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini and DeepSeek, and to local models through Ollama and LM Studio. One question can be sent to several models at once to compare replies.
- Work agent and MCP servers
- Work is the agent mode: it carries out a task on its own by reading files, running commands and reasoning over several steps. MCP servers add external tools and services.
- Knowledge base
- Imports PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, TXT and Markdown files, URLs and sitemaps into a local knowledge base with vector search that chats can draw on.
- Quick Assistant and Selection Assistant
- A global hotkey opens a small question window, and a floating toolbar calls AI on text selected in any app for translation, summaries or explanations.
- Painting, translation and notes
- Separate panels generate images with text-to-image models, translate text side by side and keep Markdown notes that can be exported to a knowledge base.
- Local storage and backup
- Chat history, settings and knowledge base files are stored on the device. Backups can be local or sent to WebDAV, on a schedule if wanted.
LM Studio
- Local model runner
- Downloads and runs open models such as gpt-oss, Qwen, Gemma and DeepSeek on your own hardware with llama.cpp, plus Apple's MLX on Apple Silicon Macs.
- Offline chat with documents
- Chat and document chat (RAG) run on the device. The docs say nothing entered into a local chat or dropped into it as a document leaves the machine.
- Local API server and SDKs
- Serves models on OpenAI-like endpoints on localhost or the local network, with Python and TypeScript SDKs, the lms command line tool and the headless llmster daemon for servers.
- MCP client
- MCP servers can be installed in LM Studio so that local models can call the tools they provide.
- LM Link
- Links your own machines over an end-to-end encrypted connection built on Tailscale, so a model on a remote device can be used as if local, including from an iPhone through the Locally app. In preview.
- LM Studio Bionic agent
- A separate app that works on code and on documents, slides and spreadsheets inside projects, using local models, LM Link models or cloud models billed in credits.
Plans
Cherry Studio
Community Edition$0
The full desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux under AGPL-3.0. You supply your own API keys or local models.
Enterprise EditionCustom
A privately deployed server with an admin backend for central model access, employee accounts, shared knowledge bases, access control and backup. Sold as a buyout or subscription.
LM Studio
Free$0
Local models through llama.cpp and MLX, the Bionic agent, offline voice transcription, LM Link for up to 5 devices and limited web search.
Bionic+$20
per month
Adds US-hosted open source cloud models such as Kimi K3 and DeepSeek V4 Flash, discounted bulk tokens, and web search with page extraction.
Pro$100
per month
Everything in Bionic+ with 5x the usage limits, discounted bulk tokens and early access to new features.
