Offline local-model app · Last verified July 22, 2026
Skales vs. Jan
The purest offline model runner vs. a local-first agent that also does the work.
Jan (roughly 43,700 GitHub stars as of July 22, 2026, Apache-2.0, by Menlo Research in Singapore) is the cleanest answer to one specific requirement: run models on my own disk, with no account, no network and no compromise. It downloads GGUF models from HuggingFace, runs them on its own llama.cpp engine, and exposes an OpenAI-compatible server on localhost so other apps can use it as a backend. Apache-2.0 makes it the most permissively licensed product on this page.
Skales shares the conviction and adds the other half. It also runs fully offline through Ollama or LM Studio - and on the phone, through a model on the device - but its point is what happens after the answer: 183 tools acting on your files, browser, calendar and mail, goals that keep running in the background, a coding agent, Flow and a media studio. If Jan is the engine, Skales is the vehicle. They are not enemies; you can point Skales at Jan's local server.
Choose Skales if…
- You want the agent to do things, not only to answer - across your files, mail and calendar.
- You want background goals, a coding agent, Flow and media generation in one app.
- You want the same agent on your phone, including offline.
Choose Jan if…
- Your requirement is model management: browse, download, run and serve GGUF models locally.
- You want a permissive Apache-2.0 licence with no commercial conditions at all.
- You want the smallest possible surface: local inference and a chat window, nothing else.
Common questions
Is Skales better than Jan?
They solve different problems. The purest offline model runner vs. a local-first agent that also does the work. Skales is the right choice if: You want the agent to do things, not only to answer - across your files, mail and calendar. Jan is the right choice if: Your requirement is model management: browse, download, run and serve GGUF models locally.
Is Skales free while Jan is also free?
Skales is free for personal, educational and internal business use (BSL 1.1, converting to Apache 2.0 in 2030). You bring your own AI key or run local models for a total cost of zero.
Can I migrate from Jan to Skales?
Skales imports settings and conversations from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, OpenClaw, Hermes and Cherry Studio via Settings → Import from Another Tool.
Sources
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