Jan

What is Jan?

Jan is a free, open-source desktop application that works as a ChatGPT alternative. It lets you run open models locally on your computer or plug in online models, and it is developed in public on GitHub.

Key capabilities of Jan

• Local models: Download and run open models on your own machine
• Cloud models: Connect to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral and other providers
• Open source: Built in public, with 44.7K GitHub stars
• Model hub: 123 models published on Hugging Face by the project
• Jan Agent: An agent application alongside Jan Desktop
• Memory: A context retention feature that the vendor lists as upcoming

How Jan works

You install Jan Desktop, then either download an open model such as Llama, Gemma, Qwen or DeepSeek and run it locally, or add an API key for an online provider such as OpenAI, Anthropic or Google. Conversations happen in a chat interface on your machine. The vendor lists 6.8 million downloads and a Discord community of 15,000+ members.

Who uses Jan?

Jan appeals to developers and privacy-minded users who want to run models offline, and to people who prefer one interface for both local and cloud models. Because it is open source, teams can inspect and modify it.

Jan pricing

Jan is free and open source. There is no paid plan listed on its site, though connecting a cloud provider means paying that provider separately for API usage.

Jan alternatives

Alternatives include Fellou and Dia, which are AI-first browsers, MaxAI, a browser extension assistant, and MultiOn, which automates web tasks. Jan differs by focusing on local, offline model use in an open-source desktop app.