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Jan — An open-source, offline-first desktop app for chatting with local or cloud AI models, built as a privacy-focused alternative to ChatGPT.

By Noahlast updated pricing verified

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Best for: developers and privacy-conscious users who want to run open-weight LLMs entirely offline while keeping the option to plug in cloud models

Pricing: Free and open source under Apache 2.0; no paid tiers. Cloud model usage is billed separately by whichever provider is connected.

  • Jan is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0.
  • Jan ships native desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux; there is no web or mobile version.
  • Jan runs open-weight models like Llama, Gemma, Qwen, Mistral, and DeepSeek fully offline via a bundled llama.cpp engine.
  • Jan also connects to cloud providers including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google from the same interface.
  • Jan has over 44,000 GitHub stars and reports more than 6.3 million downloads.

Limitations: Memory/persistent-context feature is still listed as coming soon.; No web or mobile client, desktop only.; Local model performance depends on the user's own hardware.

Top alternatives: LM Studio, Ollama, Msty, AnythingLLM, Open WebUI — full list

What is Jan?

Jan is an open-source, offline-first desktop application for running AI chat locally or connecting to cloud model providers, positioned as a privacy-respecting alternative to ChatGPT. Unlike cloud-only assistants, Jan runs entirely on a user's machine by default: conversations, downloaded models, and chat history stay on-device unless the user explicitly connects a cloud provider like OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. It bundles a local inference engine (built on llama.cpp) so users can download and run open-weight models such as Llama, Gemma, Qwen, Mistral, and DeepSeek without a GPU cluster or command-line tooling, while also exposing an OpenAI-compatible API server that other applications can call against locally hosted models. Jan is developed by Jan.ai and distributed under the Apache License 2.0, with source code hosted on GitHub. It ships native installers for Windows, macOS, and Linux and does not have a mobile or web version.

Jan is an open-source desktop application from Jan.ai (formerly Homebrew.ltd) that lets people run large language models locally on their own hardware or connect to cloud providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google from a single ChatGPT-style interface. The app is free under the Apache License 2.0, ships native builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and includes an OpenAI-compatible local API server so other tools can call locally hosted models. Jan supports downloading and running open models such as Llama, Gemma, Qwen, Mistral, and DeepSeek directly on-device with no internet connection required, alongside optional cloud model connections when users want frontier-model quality. The project has over 44,000 GitHub stars and reports more than 6.3 million downloads, with a Memory feature for persistent context still listed as coming soon.

Standout feature: Runs open models like Llama, Gemma, and Qwen fully offline on local hardware via a bundled llama.cpp engine, while exposing an OpenAI-compatible API server for other apps to call.

Biggest weakness: The advertised Memory feature for persistent context across chats is still listed as coming soon, and running larger open models locally requires meaningful RAM/GPU resources that make performance uneven compared to cloud-only chat apps.

Pros

  • Fully open source under Apache 2.0 with no account or subscription required.
  • Runs models 100% offline once downloaded, with no data leaving the device by default.
  • OpenAI-compatible local API server lets other tools call locally hosted models.
  • Supports both local open-weight models and cloud providers in one interface.

Cons

  • No web or mobile client; desktop only (Windows, macOS, Linux).
  • Memory/persistent-context feature is still marked coming soon.
  • Running larger local models is limited by the user's own hardware, unlike cloud-only competitors.
  • Smaller community and fewer integrations than Ollama, which some users prefer for headless/server use.

Jan pricing

Free · verified from the vendor's pricing page

PlanPriceNotes
FreeFreeFully free and open source under Apache 2.0; no paid tiers or subscriptions. Cloud model usage (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) is billed separately by the provider connected.

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