Jan vs PrivateGPT
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Jan
Open-source offline ChatGPT alternative for the desktop
VS
PrivateGPT
Ask questions about your documents fully offline
| Feature | Jan | PrivateGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Local LLM Runners | Self-Hosted AI |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 8,192 MB | 8,192 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 43,899 | ★ 57,416 |
| First released | 2023 | 2023 |
| Replaces | ChatGPT | ChatGPT |
Why pick each one
Choose Jan if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 43.9k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Choose PrivateGPT if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 57.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Jan or PrivateGPT better?
Neither is universally better. PrivateGPT has the larger community, while Jan is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Jan and PrivateGPT free and open-source?
Yes. Jan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and PrivateGPT under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Jan and PrivateGPT with Docker?
Jan: check the project docs for container support. PrivateGPT: yes.