--- title: "surf vs jan" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/deta-surf-vs-janhq-jan" tools: ["deta-surf", "janhq-jan"] --- # surf vs jan *GraphCanon updated Jul 15, 2026* ## Verdict Pick surf when license: surf is Apache-2.0, jan is Other; pick jan when license: jan is Other, surf is Apache-2.0. [surf](https://deta.surf) reports 3.5k GitHub stars, 255 forks, and 32 open issues, last pushed Jul 8, 2026. [jan](https://jan.ai/) has 43k stars, 2.9k forks, and 387 open issues, last pushed Jul 10, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [surf's repository](https://github.com/deta/surf) and [jan's repository](https://github.com/janhq/jan). | | [surf](/tools/deta-surf.md) | [jan](/tools/janhq-jan.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Personal AI Notebooks. Organize files & webpages and generate notes from them. Open source, local & open data, open model choice (incl. local). | open source alternative to ChatGPT that runs offline locally | | Stars | 3,476 | 43,499 | | Forks | 255 | 2,896 | | Open issues | 32 | 387 | | Language | TypeScript | TypeScript | | Adopt for | - | Jan is a TypeScript-based, self-hosted chatbot application that acts as an offline alternative to services like ChatGPT. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | Other | | Categories | Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [surf](/tools/deta-surf.md) | [jan](/tools/janhq-jan.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 6d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 32 | 387 | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/deta-surf/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/janhq-jan/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: jan - **Adopt for:** Jan is a TypeScript-based, self-hosted chatbot application that acts as an offline alternative to services like ChatGPT. ## Choose when ### Choose surf if… - License: surf is Apache-2.0, jan is Other. - Tags unique to surf: claude, deepseek, gemma, knowledge-base. - Leaner open-issue backlog (32). ### Choose jan if… - License: jan is Other, surf is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to jan: chatgpt, gpt, llamacpp, localai. - - If you require an offline-capable AI assistant for environments without internet access. ## When NOT to use surf - Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. - LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ## When NOT to use jan - - If you require real-time updates to the AI model, since Jan uses static local models which may not get frequent updates. - - When a vast knowledge base or continuous learning capabilities are essential, as Jan's offline nature constrains its ability to stay current with new information. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between surf and jan? surf: Personal AI Notebooks. Organize files & webpages and generate notes from them. Open source, local & open data, open model choice (incl. local).. jan: open source alternative to ChatGPT that runs offline locally. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose surf over jan? Choose surf over jan when License: surf is Apache-2.0, jan is Other; Tags unique to surf: claude, deepseek, gemma, knowledge-base; Leaner open-issue backlog (32). ### When should I choose jan over surf? Choose jan over surf when License: jan is Other, surf is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to jan: chatgpt, gpt, llamacpp, localai; - If you require an offline-capable AI assistant for environments without internet access. ### When should I avoid surf? Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ### When should I avoid jan? - If you require real-time updates to the AI model, since Jan uses static local models which may not get frequent updates. - When a vast knowledge base or continuous learning capabilities are essential, as Jan's offline nature constrains its ability to stay current with new information. ### Is surf or jan more popular on GitHub? jan has more GitHub stars (43,499 vs 3,476). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are surf and jan open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (surf: Apache-2.0, jan: Other). ### Where can I find alternatives to surf or jan? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [surf alternatives](/tools/deta-surf/alternatives) and [jan alternatives](/tools/janhq-jan/alternatives) ([surf markdown twin](/tools/deta-surf/alternatives.md), [jan markdown twin](/tools/janhq-jan/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/deta-surf-vs-janhq-jan.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, surf or jan? surf: Very active. jan: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for surf and jan? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [surf trust report](/tools/deta-surf/trust); [jan trust report](/tools/janhq-jan/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=deta-surf`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=deta-surf) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_