head to head · open source
AnythingLLM vs Jan
AnythingLLM has 66,141 GitHub stars, 7,347 forks, 311 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jan has 44,512 stars, 3,032 forks, 521 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AnythingLLM leads on adoption by 49% (66,141 vs 44,512 stars). AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript under MIT; Jan is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. AnythingLLM has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Jan 7%. Jan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (llm, localai), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| AnythingLLM | Jan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 45K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.3K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AnythingLLM if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Jan if
- You want the Jan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Jan fits your workflow better
About AnythingLLM
AnythingLLM is a local first AI application that enables users to chat with their documents using any large language model (LLM), local or cloud hosted. It runs as a self hosted service—by default in Docker—and provides a complete interface for document ingestion, agent orchestration, multi user access, and workflow automation without requiring external cloud dependencies. The project lives in the local AI and AI interaction ecosystem, targeting users who want full control over their data and model selection.
read the full AnythingLLM overview →
About Jan
Jan is an open source desktop application that serves as a ChatGPT replacement, enabling users to run large language models (LLMs) locally on their machines or connect to cloud based providers like OpenAI and Anthropic. It is built with Tauri, TypeScript, and integrates llama.cpp for efficient local inference, targeting privacy conscious users who want full control over their AI workflows without sending data to third parties.
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Frequently asked questions
Is AnythingLLM or Jan more popular?
AnythingLLM has 66,141 GitHub stars and Jan has 44,512. AnythingLLM has the larger community by that measure.
Are AnythingLLM and Jan free?
Both are open source. AnythingLLM is licensed under MIT, and Jan has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between AnythingLLM and Jan?
AnythingLLM is written in JavaScript and Jan in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AnythingLLM or Jan?
Choose AnythingLLM if you want the larger community (66,141 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Jan if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.