head to head · open source
Jan vs invisible_dots
Jan has 44,888 GitHub stars, 3,084 forks, 521 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. invisible_dots has 31,957 stars, 4,711 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jan leads on adoption by 40% (44,888 vs 31,957 stars). Jan is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; invisible_dots is written in TypeScript under MIT. Jan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, invisible_dots 15%. invisible_dots was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Jan | invisible_dots | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 32K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-10 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 4.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Jan if
- You weight community size — 45K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick invisible_dots if
- You want the invisible_dots feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and invisible_dots fits your workflow better
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.
About invisible_dots
invisible dots is an open source, self hosted alternative to OpenAI Dots and Grok Bot that gives you your own AI agent running on a private, hardware virtualised computer with an anti detect browser.
read the full invisible_dots overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Interaction & Interfaces projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Interaction & Interfaces field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Jan or invisible_dots more popular?
Jan has 44,888 GitHub stars and invisible_dots has 31,957. Jan has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jan and invisible_dots free?
Both are open source. Jan has no licence declared in this registry, and invisible_dots is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Jan and invisible_dots?
Jan is written in Rust and invisible_dots 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, Jan or invisible_dots?
Choose Jan if you want the larger community (44,888 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose invisible_dots if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.