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BetterOpenSource

Jan vs Cody

A side-by-side comparison of two open-source tools to help you choose the right one.

Feature
SummaryAn offline AI assistant that runs on your device.Enterprise AI coding assistant by Sourcegraph.
GitHub stars30K3K
LicenseAGPL 3.0Apache 2.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
PricingFree & Open SourceFreemium
Self-hostable
ReplacesChatGPT, GitHub CopilotClaude Code, GitHub Copilot
Rating4.6 / 54.4 / 5

Jan features

  • Runs open models entirely offline on CPU or GPU
  • Cross-platform desktop app (macOS, Windows, Linux)
  • Optional connection to remote model APIs
  • Local API server compatible with OpenAI clients
  • No telemetry by default

Cody features

  • Whole-codebase context via code search
  • Chat, autocomplete, and inline fixes
  • Works across large, multi-repo codebases
  • VS Code and JetBrains support
  • Enterprise controls and self-hosting

Janpros & cons

Pros

  • Genuinely private and offline-first
  • Simple, friendly desktop UX
  • Doubles as a local OpenAI-compatible server

Cons

  • Local model quality depends on your hardware
  • Smaller plugin ecosystem than web apps

Codypros & cons

Pros

  • Excellent context on large codebases
  • Strong enterprise and on-prem options
  • Backed by Sourcegraph's code intelligence

Cons

  • Advanced/enterprise features are paid
  • Most valuable on big codebases

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