What we say about Siri AI comes from Apple's support pages, and about each app from its App Store page (US unless we say otherwise), checked on 19 October 2026.
Who can use Siri AI today
Siri AI is the new Siri built on the next generation of Apple Intelligence. Apple's own page sets the limits:
- It is a beta with a waitlist. You turn it on in Settings, Siri, Try Siri AI (Beta), and wait.
- English only. “Siri AI is currently available in English”, and the device and Siri language must match.
- Recent devices only: iPhone 15 Pro and later, iPhone 16 and later, iPhone Air, Macs and iPads with M1 or later.
- Not on iPhone in the EU: “Siri AI is not available for iOS, iPadOS, or watchOS in the EU.” It is on macOS 27 and visionOS 27, in English.
- Not in mainland China: it “will not currently work if your Apple Account region is in mainland China”, and Apple Intelligence as a whole does not work on devices bought there.
In practice that leaves out most iPhone owners in the world: anyone with an older iPhone, anyone who uses their phone in a language other than English, and everyone in the EU and China. In Russia there is a second wall: Russian is not one of the languages Apple Intelligence supports at all.
What Siri AI does, and what replaces each part
| Siri AI feature (Apple's list) | Closest option on any iPhone |
|---|---|
| Broad world knowledge: answers to almost any question | ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Vibe by Mistral |
| Write with Siri: drafts and edits wherever you type | Apple's Writing Tools on iPhones with Apple Intelligence (Apple lists them for users without Siri AI), or any of the chat apps |
| Personal context across Messages, Mail, Calendar and Notes | No app on the iPhone reads all of these the way Siri AI does |
| Onscreen awareness and app actions | No full replacement on iPhone |
| Siri app with conversation history synced by iCloud | Each chat app keeps its own history, most of them on their servers |
| Works without a connection | Siri AI relies on server-side models; offline, Pinku or Locally AI |
The options, by what you need
- ChatGPT: general replacement for asking anything.
- Google Gemini: if your mail and calendar are at Google.
- Claude: writing and long documents.
- Vibe by Mistral: a European company.
- Pinku: nothing may leave the phone, or there is no connection.
- Locally AI: free offline chat.
| Where it runs | Price (US) | Rating (US) | Privacy label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Cloud (OpenAI, US) | Free; Go $8, Plus $19.99 a month | 4.8 (11.4 million) | Data linked to you, incl. contact info and user content |
| Google Gemini | Cloud (Google, US) | Free; Google AI Plus $4.99, Pro $19.99 | 4.7 (2.36 million) | Data linked to you, incl. location, contact info and identifiers |
| Claude | Cloud (Anthropic, US) | Free; Pro $20 a month | 4.7 (282,163) | Data linked to you, incl. contact info and user content |
| Vibe by Mistral | Cloud (Mistral AI, France) | Free; Vibe Pro $14.99 | 4.8 (1,318) | Contact info linked to you; usage and user content not linked |
| Pinku | On the iPhone | Free; Pinku Pro in-app purchase | 4.7 (12) | Purchase history and an anonymous user ID (for Pro); chats stay on the device |
| Locally AI | On the iPhone | Free | 4.7 (1,805) | Data Not Collected |
Prices and ratings from each app's US App Store page on 19 October 2026. Privacy labels are what each developer declares to Apple; Apple does not verify them.
ChatGPT
The most rated AI app on the App Store, and the most direct replacement for “ask Siri anything”. Free to start, with Go, Plus and Pro plans in the app. A cloud service: its privacy label lists contact info, usage data and user content as linked to you.
Google Gemini
Free, from iOS 17.4, with paid tiers bundled with Google storage. If your mail, calendar and photos are at Google, it is the closest thing to the personal context Siri AI promises, inside Google's apps. Cloud only.
Claude
From Anthropic. Free to start, Pro at $20 a month. The best of these for writing, editing and working through long documents. Cloud only.
Vibe by Mistral
Formerly Le Chat, made by Mistral AI in Paris. Its privacy label separates contact info, which is linked to you, from usage data and user content, which it declares as not linked. Free, Vibe Pro at $14.99, iOS 16.4 or later. It is also sold in Russia and mainland China.
Pinku
Pinku does not replace Siri: it cannot read your messages, see your screen or act in other apps. It answers on the iPhone itself, with an open model you download once, so the conversation goes to no server and it works in airplane mode. No account. Chats never leave your device; Apple's privacy label lists only purchase history and an anonymous user ID, used for Pinku Pro purchases. Its interface is in eight languages, including Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Korean, and it runs on any iPhone 12 or later with iOS 18.6, with or without Apple Intelligence. The default model is free; Pinku Pro, an in-app purchase, adds larger models, custom instructions, dictation and read aloud. A phone-sized model is much weaker than the cloud apps above.
Locally AI by LM Studio
Free private offline chat: no login, Data Not Collected, iOS 18.1 or later, and it can also look at images. It is not sold in Russia or mainland China.
If you are in the EU
Everything above is available in the EU App Store. On an iPhone 15 Pro or later you keep the rest of Apple Intelligence: Apple says the new features across apps (advanced photo editing, the reimagined Image Playground, Safari's intelligent features) are available to EU users on iOS 27. On a Mac with macOS 27 Golden Gate, Siri AI is available in the EU if your device and Siri language are English.
If you are in Russia
On 19 October 2026 the Russian App Store does not sell ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Locally AI. What it does have: Alice AI from Yandex (free, 4.8 from 53,071 ratings), DeepSeek (free, 3.9 from 9,770), Perplexity (free, 4.9 from 37,853) and Vibe by Mistral in the cloud; Pinku, PocketPal AI, Private LLM and Enclave offline. Of the offline apps, only Pinku has a Russian interface.
If you are in mainland China
Apple Intelligence does not work on iPhones bought in mainland China, and the Chinese App Store does not sell ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Locally AI or Enclave. The big local assistants are Doubao (ByteDance), DeepSeek, Kimi and Qwen (Alibaba), all free and all in the cloud. Offline, Pinku (with a Chinese interface), PocketPal AI and Private LLM are sold there.
Related: what Apple Intelligence does offline and the best AI apps for iPhones without Apple Intelligence.
Questions people ask
Is Siri AI available everywhere?
No. Apple says Siri AI is a beta, currently available in English only, not available on iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch in the EU, and not working for Apple Accounts in mainland China.
Is Siri AI available in the EU?
Not on iPhone. It is available on macOS 27 and visionOS 27 for EU accounts with the device and Siri language set to English. The other new Apple Intelligence features are available in the EU.
Does Siri AI work in Russian or Chinese?
Not yet. Apple says Siri AI is currently available in English. Russian is not among the languages Apple Intelligence supports at all; Chinese is, but Apple Intelligence does not work in mainland China.
What is the best Siri AI alternative on iPhone?
For asking anything, ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude; Vibe by Mistral for a European company. None of them reads your messages and acts across apps the way Siri AI does. For a private assistant that works offline, Pinku or Locally AI.
Is there an AI assistant that keeps my chats on my iPhone?
Yes. On-device apps such as Pinku and Locally AI run the model on the iPhone, so the conversation is not sent to a server. They are less capable than cloud assistants.