Jan
by Menlo Research
#4 in Run AI on your own computer
I'd point beginners here for a free, open-source chat app. It downloads a starter model on first launch, and you can add GPT or Claude later.
What’s good
- Free and open source
- Starter model downloads on first run
- Shows which models fit your computer
Heads-up
- Memory across chats is still coming
The details
- Best for
- Beginners who want a simple, open-source ChatGPT-style app
- Price
- Free
- Free plan
- Free and open source
- Skill level
- Beginner-friendly
- Made by
- Menlo Research
- Website
- jan.ai
- Price checked
- Oct 1, 2026
Where it ranks
Compare with similar picks
| Rank in Run AI on your own computer | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | From $20/moLocal use free; Bionic+ $20/mo or Pro $100/mo for cloud models | From $20/moLocal use free; Pro $20/mo or $200/yr; extra cloud credits pay-as-you-go | From $50/moDesktop free; hosted Cloud billed monthly (Basic $50, Pro $99) | FreeFree; cloud models are billed by the provider whose API key you add |
| Free plan | Free: local LLMs (llama.cpp, MLX), Bionic agent, offline voice, LM Link 5 devices | Free: unlimited local models, starter cloud credits on starter models, 1 concurrent | Free desktop app (no account needed) and free self-hosting with Docker | Free and open source: local models offline; add cloud providers with API keys |
| Entry plan | Bionic+ $20/mo | Pro $20/mo billed monthly ($200/yr) | Cloud Basic $50/mo (private instance; bring your own LLM API key) | None listed; Jan is free and open source |
| What you get | US-hosted open models (Kimi K3, GLM 5.3, DeepSeek V4 Flash), web search | $60 of cloud usage credits/mo, larger pro models, 3 concurrent requests | Private hosted instance, custom subdomain, RAG and agents; LLM costs separate | Not published |
| Cost per result | Not published | ~$0.33 per $1 of cloud model usage ($60 credits for $20/mo) | Not published | Not published |
| Commercial use | Terms license use for personal and internal business purposes | MIT-licensed open source | MIT-licensed open source, licensed for organizational use | Apache 2.0 license |
| Works with | Hugging Face downloads, OpenAI-compatible local server, lms CLI, JS/Python SDKs | OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible API, Claude Code, Codex CLI, Copilot CLI, OpenCode | Local or API LLMs, Microsoft Foundry Local, developer API, custom agent skills | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google via API keys; custom endpoints; MCP; local API server |
| Platforms | macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows (x64/ARM), Linux (x64/ARM64) | macOS 14+, Windows, Linux | macOS (Apple Silicon/Intel), Windows (x64/ARM), Linux, Android, Docker | Mac, Windows, Linux; Jan Agent CLI |
| Your data | Local models run on-device; Bionic cloud and web search are zero data retention | Cloud prompts and responses are never logged or trained on | Local by default: models, documents and chats stay on your device | No chat or prompt logging; opt-in anonymous usage analytics only |
| Best for | Anyone who wants to run open models in a desktop app | Developers who want local models behind an API for apps and agents | People who want private AI over their own files and meetings | Beginners who want a simple, open-source ChatGPT-style app |
| Skill level | Any level | Built for pros | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly |
| Try it free | Try it free | Try it free | Try it free |
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