Jan
Open-source desktop app for running local models, with a ChatGPT-like interface.
Visit Jan Free (open source)
Quick verdict
- Best for
- People who want an open-source LM Studio
- Pricing
- Free (open source)
- Not ideal if
- Fewer hardware hints than LM Studio when choosing models
What is Jan?
Jan is a free, open-source desktop app that runs open-weight models on your own machine with a clean chat interface, a local OpenAI-compatible server, and optional connections to cloud providers. Everything stays on your computer unless you choose otherwise.
Key features
- Download and run models from Hugging Face
- Chat interface with threads and assistants
- Local API server compatible with OpenAI clients
- Optional cloud providers alongside local models
- Mac, Windows, and Linux
Pros
- Fully open source, unlike LM Studio
- Simple enough for non-developers
- Mixes local and cloud models in one app
Cons
- Fewer hardware hints than LM Studio when choosing models
- Smaller feature set than Open WebUI
- Same hardware limits as any local runner
Best for
People who want an open-source LM StudioPrivacy-first chat with local modelsDevelopers wanting a simple local API
Read more
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LM Studio
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Run open-weight AI models on your own machine with one command.
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Open WebUI
A self-hosted ChatGPT-style web interface for Ollama and any OpenAI-compatible API.
FreeFree (open source); optional enterprise licence
Released October 2023