Jan is a desktop chat app for open models. It bundles a llama.cpp engine, runs MLX models too, supports MCP tools and has a local API server. You can also add cloud providers if you want one app for both.
On a Mac it needs macOS 13.6 or later, and an Apple silicon chip for local models (Intel Macs can only use remote providers). Jan suggests 8 GB of memory for 3B models, 16 GB for 7B and 32 GB for 13B.
Jan is free and open source (Apache 2.0). Chats, models and settings are stored on your Mac; a prompt only leaves it if you choose a cloud provider.
How to Get It
brew install --cask janOfficial downloads only. MLX never re-hosts an app, and never runs a command for you.
MLX Score
Ranked against the run models locally listings, from real public data only. How the score works.
Information
- Developer
- Menlo Research
- Category
- Run models locally
- Price
- Free
- Your data
- On your Mac or in the cloud
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
- Mac
- macOS 13.6 or later
- iPhone and iPad
- —
- Needs
- 8 GB memory, M1 or later
- Facts checked
- 2026-11-01
Sources
Compare
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vMLX (MLX Studio)Run locallyJan is a product of Menlo Research; MLX isn’t affiliated with it. Something wrong? Write to support@mlx.app.