head to head · open source
Jan vs open-spaces
Jan has 44,854 GitHub stars, 3,075 forks, 521 open issues and last shipped yesterday. open-spaces has 3,394 stars, 496 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jan leads on adoption by 1,222% (44,854 vs 3,394 stars). Jan is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; open-spaces is written in JavaScript under MIT. Jan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, open-spaces 15%. open-spaces was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (open-source, self-hosted), 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 | open-spaces | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 496 |
| 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 open-spaces if
- You want the open-spaces feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and open-spaces 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 open-spaces
OpenSpaces is a free, MIT licensed, self hostable AI workspace that brings shared Spaces, editable pages, conversations, and AI tools into one application, aimed at individuals and teams who want an open alternative to ChatGPT Spaces running on their own infrastructure.
read the full open-spaces overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jan or open-spaces more popular?
Jan has 44,854 GitHub stars and open-spaces has 3,394. Jan has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jan and open-spaces free?
Both are open source. Jan has no licence declared in this registry, and open-spaces is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Jan and open-spaces?
Jan is written in Rust and open-spaces 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 open-spaces?
Choose Jan if you want the larger community (44,854 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose open-spaces if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.