Jan
ActiveDescription
Jan is an open source alternative to ChatGPT that runs 100% offline on your computer, supporting multiple local LLMs with a full desktop chat UI and API server.
Key Features
- Local LLM Execution — Download and run Llama, Gemma, Qwen from HuggingFace locally
- Cloud Model Integration — OpenAI GPT, Anthropic Claude, Mistral, Groq and more cloud APIs
- Local OpenAI-compatible API — Local API server at localhost:1337 for other applications
- MCP Protocol Support — Model Context Protocol integration for agent capabilities
- Custom Assistants — Create specialized AI assistants for specific tasks
- Privacy First — Everything runs locally with no external server dependency
Use Cases
💡 Use as a privacy-first ChatGPT alternative running locally
💡 Run local LLMs for conversations and tasks in offline environments
💡 Provide local OpenAI-compatible API services for other applications
💡 Integrate local models with external tools via MCP protocol
💡 Deploy localized AI assistants in enterprise environments for data security
Strengths & Limitations
✅ Strengths
- • Actively maintained, recent updates
- • High community interest (44.3k stars)
- • Established track record (3 years in production)
⚠️ Limitations
- • No clear open-source license
Categories
Quick Start
# Download installers from GitHub Releases
# macOS: jan.dmg
# Windows: jan.exe
# Linux: jan.deb
# Or build from source
git clone https://github.com/janhq/jan
cd jan
make dev
# Local API available at
# curl http://localhost:1337/v1/chat/completions