Cumbersome: AI API Client
ChatGPT & Claude API Client
Free
IMPORTANT: Requires your own API keys from OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google AI Studio. This is intentional.
I'm Peter, an indie developer in Portland, Oregon. I built Cumbersome mostly for myself because I was frustrated with how consumer AI apps actually work. Cumbersome is the manual transmission of AI apps: more complex, but with far greater control.
WHY I BUILT THIS
It's claimed that ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini route requests to cheaper models behind the scenes to manage costs. They charge monthly subscriptions whether you use them once or a thousand times. They hide the technical controls that let you tune how models respond. And they lock you into one provider.
I wanted an iOS and macOS app that connects directly to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google AI Studio APIs. I wanted to pick exactly which model I use and know I'm getting it. I wanted to compare Claude Opus 4.5, Gemini 3, and GPT-5 on the same prompt. I wanted to pay per use instead of subscriptions. So I built it.
WHAT YOU GET
— Face/Off Mode generates 3 responses at once and an AI judge picks the best one. Overkill for casual questions, but it makes a real difference when quality matters.
— Full control over model parameters. Temperature, tokens, system prompts, reasoning effort. The same technical controls developers get in official API playgrounds, but on your phone.
— Switch between ChatGPT models, Claude, and Gemini mid-conversation. Try a prompt on both and compare the responses.
— Edit any message in your conversation history. Consumer apps lock your context once you send it. Cumbersome lets you remove tangents, fix mistakes, and reshape the conversation.
— Native apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud sync. Your conversations stay on your devices and sync through your personal iCloud. I never see your data because it never touches my servers (I don't have any actually).
WHO THIS IS FOR
If you pay for ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro and hit usage limits, this gives you unlimited access at lower cost. If you want to try different models without juggling multiple subscriptions, this puts them all in one app. If you care about exactly which model is responding to you, this guarantees you get what you pick.
If you want AI to just work without thinking about API keys or model selection, consumer apps are probably a better fit. No hard feelings.
THE DEAL
The app is free. You pay OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google directly for API access. I'm out of the money flow entirely.
One person. No VC money. No growth hacking. Just a tool I wanted to exist.
Ratings & Reviews
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feat(icons): add Joystick alternate icon and improve Settings UI
feat(icons): add Gear Mesh alternate icon and fix macOS Dock sizing
feat(settings): Redesign iOS Settings with card-based layout
feat(settings): add alternate app icons and switcher UI
feat(assets): add alternative 'Cu' periodic table style app icons
feat(macos): toggle menu bar icon visibility
fix(lint): move unused_declaration to analyzer_rules section
fix(settings): separate icon choices, fix assets, align UI, use local storage
fix(attachments): enforce API-safe image bytes for Anthropic
fix: dedupe authenticated request building
test: remove useless, redundant, and brittle tests
refactor(views): extract components from large view files
refactor: remove unused code identified by Periphery
refactor(tooling): configure Periphery to be more strict
refactor(views): remove unused @State properties from ChatInterfaceView
refactor(views): extract ChatInterfaceView from MainNavigationView
refactor(views): extract components from MacOSNavigationView.swift
docs(plans): document local storage decision for icon preference
The developer, Folding Sky Co, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
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Information
- Provider
- Folding Sky Co
- Size
- 37.3 MB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 18.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 15.0 or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 2.0 or later.
- Age Rating
13+
- 13+
- Infrequent
Profanity or Crude Humour
Mature or Suggestive Themes
Horror/Fear Themes
Medical Treatment Information
Alcohol, Tobacco, Drug Use or References
Sexual Content or Nudity
Guns or Other Weapons
- Copyright
- © 2025 Folding Sky Co