head to head · open source
Jan vs magentic
Jan has 45,409 GitHub stars, 3,145 forks, 521 open issues and last shipped yesterday. magentic has 2,428 stars, 133 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Jan leads on adoption by 1,770% (45,409 vs 2,428 stars). Jan is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; magentic is written in Python under MIT. Jan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, magentic 5%. Jan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (chatgpt, gpt, 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 | magentic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 133 |
| 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 magentic if
- You want the magentic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and magentic fits your workflow better
About Jan
Jan Open source ChatGPT replacement English · 中文 · 日本語 Getting Started Community Changelog Bug reports Jan is bringing the best of open source AI in an easy to use product. Download and run LLMs with full control and privacy . Installation The easiest way to get started is by downloading one of the following versions for your respective operating system: Platform Download Windows jan.exe macOS jan.dmg Linux (deb) jan.deb Linux (AppImage) jan.AppImage Linux (Arm64) How to Download from jan.ai or GitHub Releases. Features Local AI Models : Download and run LLMs (Llama, Gemma, Qwen, GPT oss etc.) from HuggingFace…
About magentic
magentic Seamlessly integrate Large Language Models into Python code. Use the @prompt and @chatprompt decorators to create functions that return structured output from an LLM. Combine LLM queries and tool use with traditional Python code to build complex agentic systems. Features [Structured Outputs] using pydantic models and built in python types. [Streaming] of structured outputs and function calls, to use them while being generated. [LLM Assisted Retries] to improve LLM adherence to complex output schemas. [Observability] using OpenTelemetry, with native [Pydantic Logfire integration]. [Type Annotations] to…
read the full magentic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jan or magentic more popular?
Jan has 45,409 GitHub stars and magentic has 2,428. Jan has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jan and magentic free?
Both are open source. Jan has no licence declared in this registry, and magentic is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Jan and magentic?
Jan is written in Rust and magentic in Python. 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 magentic?
Choose Jan if you want the larger community (45,409 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose magentic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.