head to head · open source
Jan vs claude-token-optimizer
Jan has 44,949 GitHub stars, 3,098 forks, 521 open issues and last shipped today. claude-token-optimizer has 619 stars, 80 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jan leads on adoption by 7,162% (44,949 vs 619 stars). Jan is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; claude-token-optimizer is written in JavaScript under MIT. Jan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, claude-token-optimizer 13%. Jan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), 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
| Jan | claude-token-optimizer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 619 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-15 | 2026-10-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 80 |
| 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 claude-token-optimizer if
- You want the claude-token-optimizer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and claude-token-optimizer 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 claude-token-optimizer
claude token optimizer is an MIT licensed Node.js command line tool, published on npm, that cuts the number of tokens Claude Code loads at the start of every session by replacing a large always read CLAUDE.md with a small cheat sheet plus documentation Claude opens only when it needs it.
read the full claude-token-optimizer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jan or claude-token-optimizer more popular?
Jan has 44,949 GitHub stars and claude-token-optimizer has 619. Jan has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jan and claude-token-optimizer free?
Both are open source. Jan has no licence declared in this registry, and claude-token-optimizer is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Jan and claude-token-optimizer?
Jan is written in Rust and claude-token-optimizer in JavaScript. 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 claude-token-optimizer?
Choose Jan if you want the larger community (44,949 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose claude-token-optimizer if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.