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Create ML

by Apple Inc. · Application · also known as CreateML

Apple's app and Swift framework for training image, text, sound, tabular and activity models on a Mac without writing training code, exporting directly to Core ML

ProprietaryFreeLocal
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Link verified Nov 2, 2026

Overview

Create ML is Apple's model-training tool for developers who want a Core ML model without building a training pipeline. It exists as a Mac application bundled with Xcode and as a Swift framework usable in playgrounds and on-device. Users pick a template, such as image, object detection, text classification, sound, tabular regression, activity or recommendation, point it at labeled data, and train with transfer learning on top of the models Apple ships in the operating system, which keeps training short and the resulting models small.

The app shows accuracy metrics, lets you test with new data and exports a .mlmodel ready to drop into an Xcode project. Because training runs on the Mac's own hardware, data never leaves the machine. The framework variant supports training on iOS and iPadOS for personalization scenarios.

It is tied to Apple's template set and platforms: there is no arbitrary architecture definition, no distributed training and no non-Apple export, so anything beyond the supported tasks is done in PyTorch or MLX and converted with coremltools.

Capabilities

  • Template-based training for images, text, sound, tabular data, activity and recommendations
  • Transfer learning on Apple's built-in models
  • Evaluation and live testing in the app
  • Direct export to Core ML format
  • Swift framework for programmatic and on-device training

Typical workflows

  1. Train an image classifier from labeled folders and add it to an app
  2. Build a text classifier for support tickets
  3. Personalize a model on-device with user data

Strengths

  • No training code required
  • Fast, local training with small outputs
  • Free with Xcode

Limitations

  • Only Apple's task templates
  • Apple platforms only; no other export format
  • Not suited to large or custom architectures

Prerequisites

  • Mac with Xcode
  • Labeled training data

Who it is for

  • App developers adding ML features
  • Educators and students

Alternatives & comparison

  • Core ML

    Apple's on-device machine-learning runtime for iOS and macOS apps, with the open-source coremltools package for converting PyTorch and other models to its format

    MixedFree
  • MLX

    Apple's open-source array framework for machine learning on Apple Silicon, with NumPy-like Python, C++ and Swift APIs and unified CPU/GPU memory

    Open sourceOpen source
  • PyTorch

    Open-source deep-learning framework with eager tensors, autograd, torch.compile and distributed training, governed by the PyTorch Foundation and the base of most LLM tooling

    Open sourceOpen source
  • scikit-learn

    BSD-licensed Python machine-learning library for classification, regression, clustering, dimensionality reduction, preprocessing and model selection on NumPy and SciPy

    Open sourceFree
Compare Create ML with its alternatives →

Sources & verification

Primary sources consulted for this record. Claims are tied to the fields each source supports; the automated link checker re-verifies every URL on a schedule.

Confidence
High
Reviewed
Nov 1, 2026
Links
Verified · Nov 2, 2026

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