BYOAIK (Bring Your Own AI Key) is a directory of AI tools that run on your own API key.
Jan
Open-source local-first desktop AI assistant that runs models offline or via your own cloud provider keys.
- Category:
- Desktop AI Assistants
- Maintenance:
- Actively developed (last commit today)
- Pricing:
- Open Source
- Open source:
- Yes (Apache-2.0)
- Self-hostable:
- Yes
- Local-first:
- Yes
- Platforms:
- Desktop, CLI, Self-hosted, Docker
- AI providers (bring your own key):
- OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, OpenRouter, Groq, Mistral, Hugging Face, Ollama, Custom / OpenAI-compatible
- API key storage:
- Stored locally on device
- Key risk level:
- LOW
- Trust score:
- 85/100
Jan is an open-source (Apache 2.0) desktop AI assistant from Menlo Research positioned as a private, local-first alternative to ChatGPT. It bundles local inference (HuggingFace models like Llama, Gemma, Qwen, GPT-oss) and runs fully offline when desired, exposing a local OpenAI-compatible API server at localhost:1337. Crucially for a BYOK directory, its documented Settings -> Model Providers flow lets a user paste their own API key for cloud providers and pick a model from that provider. Official docs (jan.ai/docs/desktop/remote-models/*) walk through the identical "create & copy an API key -> Settings -> Model Providers -> insert your API Key" flow for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Groq, Mistral, Azure OpenAI, OpenRouter, and Hugging Face, plus Custom Endpoints for any OpenAI- or Anthropic-compatible base URL. It also supports MCP for agentic features and ships a CLI. Available for Windows 10+, macOS 13.6+, and Linux (deb/AppImage/Arm64), with Microsoft Store and Flathub distribution. ~43k GitHub stars and active (latest release v0.8.2, 100+ releases). Note: the candidate's claimed MIT license is incorrect; the actual license is Apache 2.0.
Why this trust score (85/100)
Trust measures how the tool treats your API key and how much of that has been verified. It contains no popularity signal.
- Key Safety 23/25: The key is held on your own device.
- Request Routing 17/20: Requests go straight from you to the AI provider.
- Transparency 20/20: Source is public under Apache-2.0, so anyone can check how the key is handled.
- Privacy 14/15: Local-first: it works without sending your data anywhere. Can be self-hosted, so the data path stays inside infrastructure you control.
- Maintenance 10/10: Actively developed: commits within the last three months.
- Verification Confidence 1/10: Compiled from public documentation by an AI-assisted pass, not independently confirmed.
What was checked
Verification tier RESEARCH_ASSISTED, derived from the evidence below and not set by hand.
- [REPORTED · RESEARCH] This listing was compiled by an AI-assisted research pass over the tool's public website, README and documentation. No person independently confirmed it.
- [STRONG · SOURCE_SCAN] Supports a local model backend, so it can run with no cloud provider key at all. source
- [CONFIRMED · SOURCE_SCAN] Most recent commit 2026-08-13, about 0 month(s) ago. source
How your API key is handled
Your API key is stored locally on your device. Requests are sent directly to the AI provider. Because it can be self-hosted, your key never has to touch a third-party backend.
Setup
Open settings, paste your provider API key, choose a model, and start. The key stays on your device.