head to head · open source
Jan vs Leon
Jan has 44,512 GitHub stars, 3,032 forks, 521 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Leon has 17,518 stars, 1,469 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Jan leads on adoption by 154% (44,512 vs 17,518 stars). Jan is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Leon is written in TypeScript under MIT. Jan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Leon 8%. Jan 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.
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Side by side
| Jan | Leon | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 18K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Leon if
- You want the Leon feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Leon 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 Leon
Leon is open source personal AI assistant. It lives in Node.js and TypeScript ecosystem, under AI Interaction & Interfaces category. Project builds around tools, context, memory, and agentic execution. It aims to stay practical, privacy aware, and grounded in real environment. Leon can operate locally, use dedicated tools instead of relying on free form guessing, and complete tasks from start to finish across deterministic workflows and agent style execution.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Jan or Leon more popular?
Jan has 44,512 GitHub stars and Leon has 17,518. Jan has the larger community by that measure.
Are Jan and Leon free?
Both are open source. Jan has no licence declared in this registry, and Leon is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Jan and Leon?
Jan is written in TypeScript and Leon 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 Leon?
Choose Jan if you want the larger community (44,512 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Leon if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.