Offline AI chat app with a friendly interface
Jan is a free, open-source desktop app for chatting with AI models that run entirely on your own computer. It looks and feels like a familiar chat app, but your conversations stay on your PC and work without an internet connection.
Jan includes a model hub for downloading popular open models in one click, and it automatically uses your graphics card when available. You can also connect it to online AI providers with your own API key, keep separate chat threads, adjust model settings and run a local server compatible with the OpenAI API for use with other apps.
Local models need a reasonably powerful PC — plenty of RAM and ideally a modern GPU — and smaller models are less capable than the biggest cloud assistants. For a private, easy way to try AI chat offline, Jan is a great starting point.
Pros
- Runs AI models offline
- Simple chat interface
- One-click model downloads
Cons
- Needs a strong PC for larger models
