Jan vs Page Assist
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted local llm runners options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Jan | Page Assist |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Local LLM Runners | Local LLM Runners |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 44,612 | ★ 8,227 |
| First released | 2023 | 2024 |
| Replaces | ChatGPT | ChatGPT |
What are Jan and Page Assist?
Jan
Jan is a desktop application that runs large language models fully offline on your computer. It provides a clean chat interface, a local API server, and the ability to connect to remote providers when desired.
- Fully offline by default
- Built-in local API server
- Model hub browser
- Privacy focused
Page Assist
Page Assist is a browser extension that adds a sidebar and web UI for interacting with local AI models. It can chat about the current web page and perform retrieval over its content using Ollama.
- Browser sidebar chat
- Chat with current page
- Local model RAG
- Works offline
Jan vs Page Assist: key differences
Jan is written in Rust, while Page Assist is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Jan versus MIT for Page Assist. Page Assist is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 8,192 MB for Jan. Jan has the considerably larger community, at 44,612 GitHub stars versus 8,227.
Why pick each one
Choose Jan if…
- Polished desktop interface
- Fully offline chat
- Local API server included
Watch out for
- Single-user desktop focus
- Large models need RAM
Choose Page Assist if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 8.2k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Jan or Page Assist better?
Neither is universally better. Jan has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Jan and Page Assist free and open-source?
Yes. Jan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Page Assist under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Jan and Page Assist with Docker?
Jan: check the project docs for container support. Page Assist: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Jan or Page Assist?
Page Assist has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 8,192 MB for Jan. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.