# Jan vs GPT4All: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)

Canonical: https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/jan-vs-gpt4all · Last verified: 2026-10-26 · Published: 2026-10-25 · Author: Agentic Weekly (operated independently from Texas, US) · Evidence: Evidence: GPT4All has a Tested entry; Jan is Reported (scope on each tool page). The facts in the tables were read from each vendor's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago) and are Reported. The What we measured section lists what we have actually run, with links to the test logs, and what we have not run yet; anything we could not confirm is marked as not captured.

**Our pick:** Pick Jan for people who want a private local chat app; pick GPT4All for people who want a simple private desktop chatbot. No overall winner: we have not benchmarked them against each other. **Updated:** 2026-10-26 (America/Chicago).

> Jan and GPT4All are both listed under Local LLMs and model platforms. Pricing model: Jan is "Free and open source"; GPT4All is "Free". GPT4All's repository had its last push on May 27, 2025, 516 days before we checked. Jan is the better fit for: people who want a private local chat app. GPT4All is the better fit for: people who want a simple private desktop chatbot. Facts were read from vendor and GitHub pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported; what we ran ourselves is under What we measured.

## What we measured

We have run GPT4All ourselves but not the other tool, so no head-to-head result exists yet. Everything else on this page is Reported from vendor and GitHub pages.

Table: Our own tests for Jan and GPT4All

| Test | Jan | GPT4All |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-on test log (install and a real task) | Not tested yet. What we will run: the same prompts through each runtime on the same model, with tokens per second and output agreement. | Tested: GPT4All gpt4all 2.8.2 (Python SDK), Oct 26, 2026: passed. GPT4All's Python SDK 2.8.2 loaded a local 3B GGUF in 4.01 s and answered 17 + 25 with 42 in 3 of 3 trials, but kept writing past the answer. [Full test log](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests/gpt4all) |

How we test and label results: [methodology](https://theagenticweekly.com/methodology#testing-rig). All test logs: [test hub](https://theagenticweekly.com/tests).

## Jan vs GPT4All at a glance

Jan and GPT4All are both listed under Local LLMs and model platforms. Agentic Weekly's GPT4All page names Jan as an alternative. Jan: Open-source alternative to ChatGPT that runs open models locally or connects to cloud models like GPT and Claude. GPT4All: Local chatbot from Nomic that runs open-source models on your device; the latest GitHub release we saw is v3.10.0 from Feb 2025.

Table: Jan and GPT4All side by side (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)

|  | Jan | GPT4All |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Menlo Research | Nomic |
| Listed under | Local LLMs and model platforms | Local LLMs and model platforms |
| License | Apache-2.0 (per LICENSE file) | MIT |
| Pricing model | Free and open source | Free |
| Free tier | Free; cloud model use is paid to the provider you connect | Free |
| Paid plans | None listed | None listed |
| Platforms | Desktop app | Desktop app |
| Public repository | janhq/jan: 45,086 stars, last push Oct 26, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026) | nomic-ai/gpt4all: 77,357 stars, last push May 27, 2025 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026) |
| Latest release we saw | 0.8.7, Oct 20, 2026 | v3.10.0, Feb 25, 2025 |
| Evidence | Reported from vendor pages | Tested (scope on its tool page) |

## How Jan and GPT4All differ

- Pricing model: Jan is "Free and open source"; GPT4All is "Free".
- GPT4All's repository had its last push on May 27, 2025, 516 days before we checked.
- License: Jan is Apache-2.0 (per LICENSE file); GPT4All is MIT.
- GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: GPT4All 77,357 (nomic-ai/gpt4all) vs Jan 45,086 (janhq/jan). Stars measure attention, not quality.
- Latest release we saw: Jan 0.8.7 on Oct 20, 2026; GPT4All v3.10.0 on Feb 25, 2025 (602 days earlier).

## Which should you pick?

- Pick Jan if: people who want a private local chat app; users who want one app for local and cloud models. Skip it if: you need a hosted multi-user team product.
- Pick GPT4All if: people who want a simple private desktop chatbot. Skip it if: you want a project with recent releases (last release we saw is Feb 2025).

## Strengths and limits

Table: Strengths and limits as listed on each tool page

|  | Jan | GPT4All |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Open source; Works with cloud and local models | MIT license; No cloud required |
| Limits | Hardware limits local model size | Latest release tag is from Feb 2025 |

## What we did not verify

- Jan: Performance by model.
- GPT4All: Current maintenance status.
- Output quality, speed and reliability beyond the smoke tests listed under What we measured: not compared.

## FAQ

### Is Jan or GPT4All open source?

Jan: Apache-2.0 (per LICENSE file). GPT4All: MIT. Licenses come from each project's GitHub repository or the vendor's own pages, read Oct 25, 2026; read the license text itself before redistributing or building a competing service.

### Does Jan or GPT4All have a free plan?

Jan: Free: ; cloud model use is paid to the provider you connect. GPT4All: Free: . Checked Oct 25, 2026; prices and limits change, so confirm on each vendor's page.

### Which was updated more recently, Jan or GPT4All?

Jan's newest release we saw is 0.8.7 (Oct 20, 2026); GPT4All's is v3.10.0 (Feb 25, 2025). Read Oct 25, 2026 from the official release page or repository; a newer date is not a quality ranking.

### What is the main difference between Jan and GPT4All?

Pricing model: Jan is "Free and open source"; GPT4All is "Free". GPT4All's repository had its last push on May 27, 2025, 516 days before we checked.

## Sources

- [Jan](https://jan.ai/) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [Jan repository (GitHub)](https://github.com/janhq/jan) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [GPT4All](https://gpt4all.io/) (fetched 2026-10-25)
- [GPT4All repository (GitHub)](https://github.com/nomic-ai/gpt4all) (fetched 2026-10-25)

## Related

- [Jan facts and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/jan)
- [GPT4All facts and sources](https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/gpt4all)
- [Alternatives to Jan](https://theagenticweekly.com/alternatives/jan)
- [Local LLMs and model platforms: all tools we track](https://theagenticweekly.com/best/llm-platforms)
- [Ollama vs Jan](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/ollama-vs-jan)
- [Open WebUI vs Jan](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/open-webui-vs-jan)
- [Ollama vs GPT4All](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/ollama-vs-gpt4all)
- [llama.cpp vs GPT4All](https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/llama-cpp-vs-gpt4all)

## Changelog

- 2026-10-25: First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.

## How to cite

Agentic Weekly, "Jan vs GPT4All: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)", last updated 2026-10-26, https://theagenticweekly.com/compare/jan-vs-gpt4all