EMMA vs Jan
An open-source ChatGPT replacement, or a companion that knows you.
Jan is a free, open-source ChatGPT replacement that runs local models and can plug into cloud ones too. It's a good app, and it's free. EMMA is built around a different idea: one AI that stays on your computer, remembers you for years and works for you, with no cloud option to accidentally slip into.
Side by side
| EMMA | Jan | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A private AI companion that lives on your computer: one ongoing relationship rather than a list of chats. | A desktop chat app for open models, with optional connections to cloud models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Mistral, Groq and others). |
| Price | £149 once, VAT included. A 60-day free trial with everything unlocked first; when it ends nothing is deleted. | Free. |
| Source code | Closed. The privacy is something you test (unplug her; read her audit log), not something you read the code for. | Open source, Apache 2.0. |
| Runs on | Windows, Linux (.deb / AppImage) and macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel). The Mac build is behind the other two right now: it's on 1.11.6, and the current version follows soon. Thinks with Ollama, or llama.cpp, LM Studio, vLLM or anything that speaks the OpenAI API. | Windows, macOS and Linux (.deb, AppImage, Flathub), plus the Microsoft Store. |
| Where your conversations live | On your machine, encrypted at rest (AES-256), key in your OS keyring. No account, no server. | On your machine with local models; with a cloud model, that provider's servers. |
| Remembers you between chats | Yes, by design: facts about you, your history, people in your life and your goals, carried across years and across model swaps. You can see every fact, and forget any of it. | Listed on its site as coming soon. |
| Works on your computer for you | Yes: files, apps, commands, the browser, the screen. Gated by a safety dial (full / ask first / locked) and folders she may never touch. | Through MCP integration. |
| Seeing and undoing what it did | Per-action undo, a panic stop, and a tamper-evident log of every action she has ever taken. | Not described on its site or README. |
| Voice | She speaks, and she hears you, both on your machine. | Not described on its site or README. |
| Also | Dream Mode (she goes over your day overnight), Her Studio (record video and podcasts), your phone on the home Wi-Fi, "Is this a scam?", offline Wikipedia, English / German / Dutch. | Custom assistants; a local OpenAI-compatible server on localhost:1337. |
Where Jan is the better choice
- Free and open source (Apache 2.0). You can read and change every line. EMMA's source is closed and she costs £149 after the trial.
- Cloud models when you want them. Jan can switch to a frontier cloud model for a hard question. EMMA never sends your words to one.
- More places to install it: Flathub and the Microsoft Store.
Where EMMA is different
- Memory is the product, not a coming feature. Facts, history, people and goals, visible and forgettable, encrypted at rest.
- She acts, and you can check her. A safety dial, undo, a panic stop and a tamper-evident log of every action.
- Beyond chat: she speaks and hears, dreams over your day, records video and podcasts, and reaches your phone on the home Wi-Fi.
Where the Jan column comes from
Try her yourself
Sixty days, everything unlocked, no card, no account. When the trial ends nothing is deleted.