Jan: local AI that stays on your machine

What is Jan?

Jan is a desktop application that downloads open-weight models and runs them on your own computer. It is open source, free, and built around working offline: the model, the interface and your conversation history all sit on your machine. It can also act as a local OpenAI-compatible server, so other software can call the model it is running.

At a glance

Product identity

Pricing

Nothing. It is free and open source with no paid edition, no subscription and no account. The only way to incur a cost is to deliberately connect a commercial API using your own key, at which point you pay that provider directly and Jan takes no part in it.

The whole application is free. There is no tier structure, no trial and nothing held back. Models are downloaded separately and the widely used open-weight ones cost nothing either.

Refunds: Nothing is sold, so no refund terms exist.

Platforms

Windows, macOS and Linux as a desktop application. There is no mobile version. Hardware requirements depend on the model: a small quantised model runs on an ordinary laptop, larger ones want a capable GPU.

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux

Feature matrix

Absence of evidence is not recorded as absence of a feature. Anything that needs an account to confirm is marked not tested rather than "no".

Privacy and data

Better than anything hosted, and it says so in the right document. The privacy policy states that Jan is used entirely offline on your own computer, that conversation history and usage logs are stored locally and never leave your computer, and that Menlo Research products do not collect personally identifying information. It also names the exception honestly: connect a remote API and your data goes to that provider under their policy, which is a fact about them rather than about Jan.

Privacy disclosure

What the vendor lets you know before paying

This measures disclosure, not quality. A good product can document nothing, and that is worth knowing separately from whether it is any good.

Content policy and safety

Jan documents its output filtering asno documented output filter, and its age policy as none stated.

Jan does not offer clothing removal from photographs of real people. ClickTug does not list tools that do. Its stated position on the likeness of real people is that documented consent is required.

What the vendor prohibits

• Nothing is enforced by the application, which ships no model of its own
• What a session refuses is a property of the model file you downloaded

Jan is a runner and an interface. It applies no content policy and cannot: behaviour belongs to whichever model you loaded, and connecting a commercial API puts you under that provider's rules instead.

Jan runs on your own hardware, so it receives none of what you generate. ClickTug does not require a minor safety policy or an acceptable use policy from a tool that never receives user content, because there would be nothing for such a policy to govern. Any optional hosted tier is a separate service under its own terms.

ClickTug content policy

ClickTug verdict

The clearest local privacy position in this directory, stated in the document that counts. Jan is a free open-source desktop application that runs open-weight models offline, and its privacy policy states plainly that conversation history and usage logs are stored locally and never leave your computer. It names its own exception too: connect a remote API and your data goes to that provider. Against that, it does only chat, enforces no content rules of its own, and output quality is entirely down to the model you picked.

Hands on

How Jan compares

Every figure on the right is computed across the 37 tools ClickTug currently tracks, at the moment this page was built. They are facts about this catalogue rather than about the market, and they move as it grows.

Quick answers about Jan

Generated from the same records as the tables above, so an answer here cannot contradict a figure there. Questions only appear when the answer says something specific to this product.

Is Jan free?

There is a free tier. The entire application. No paid tier, no trial, no account and no card at any point.

How much does Jan cost?

No price is published. Free and open source. There is no paid edition and no account. Costs arise only if you choose to connect a commercial API with your own key.

Does Jan require a credit card to start?

No card is required to reach the free layer. One is needed for any paid plan.

Does Jan offer refunds?

Nothing is sold, so no refund terms exist.

Does Jan have an app?

No. It runs in a web browser only, which is common for adult products because both app stores restrict them.

Can Jan run locally?

Yes. It runs models on your own hardware, so prompts and output never leave the machine and the retention question does not arise.

Does Jan train on my conversations?

The vendor states it does not use user content to train models. That is a written commitment, and rarer in this category than it should be.

Can I delete my Jan account?

Yes, through a control in the account rather than by asking support.

Can I use Jan without an account?

Yes. The service can be reached without registering, which almost nothing else in this directory permits.

Is Jan actually uncensored?

ClickTug records no documented output filter, which is a different claim from having no rules: its terms still prohibit a specific list of conduct, set out above.

What company owns Jan, and where?

Menlo Research, Not stated in the privacy policy. Publishing an identifiable counterparty is worth noting: several tools in this directory name no company at all.