Your AI, your hardware

Jan is a desktop app that runs Llama, Mistral, and other open models locally. No cloud, no usage fees, no data leaving your laptop. It's a drop-in ChatGPT alternative for the privacy-minded.

Who it's for: Privacy-focused users, developers, and businesses that can't send data to third-party APIs.

Key features

Local models Total privacy

Run models on-device; nothing leaves your machine.

Multi-model Swap easily

Download and switch between Llama, Mistral, Gemma, and more.

Threads Organize

Keep separate conversations like any chat app.

API OpenAI-compatible

Point your existing tools at Jan's local endpoint.

The honest take

✓ What works

Fully offline and private
Free and open source
OpenAI-compatible API
Clean, native desktop UI
Runs on consumer hardware

✗ What doesn't

Quality capped by your hardware
Big models need lots of RAM/VRAM
Setup can intimidate beginners
No mobile app yet

Verdict

Jan is the easiest on-ramp to private, local AI in 2026. If you handle sensitive data or just hate subscriptions, it's the first thing to install — pair it with a cloud model for the hard tasks.

💡 Transparency: This review contains affiliate links. If you sign up through our link, we may earn a commission at no cost to you. We only recommend tools we use ourselves. Full disclosure.