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Claude vs Jan

Jan scores 24 out of 30 and Claude scores 15. Jan is ahead on footprint, lock-in, self-direction, power and longevity. Claude is ahead on delivery.

Claude

The giant

15/30 · Mixed

Anthropic's assistant, a capable hosted service you cannot run yourself.

Jan

The small tool

24/30 · Leaning convivial

An open-source chat app that runs AI models fully offline on your computer.

Footprint
2
3
Lock-in
2
5
Self-direction
3
4
Power
2
4
Longevity
2
5
Delivery
4
3
Price
Free; paid plans
Free
Source
Closed source
Open source (Apache 2.0)
Runs on
Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
Windows, Mac, Linux
Maker
XL · Extra large
S · Small

What you give up by switching

Jan's local models are smaller than the largest hosted ones, so expect some difference in quality, and the better models need a good computer. Its page says little about who runs the project.

How to move

Install Jan on Windows, Mac or Linux, download a model such as Llama, Gemma or Qwen, and keep Claude for the jobs that need the larger model. Jan can also connect to Anthropic's models with your own key if you choose.

Scores are our opinion on six questions from Ivan Illich, based on public sources and dated October 2026. Read the full reviews of Claude and Jan, or see how we score.

Visit Jan More tools for “chat with ai on my own machine”