Jean and ChatGPT
A free ChatGPT alternative that keeps your files on your device
Jean answers with the AI you choose: one on this computer, a free one, or ChatGPT itself. Bring your ChatGPT history with you. Nothing to install, made in France, open source.
Try JeanBring your ChatGPT history
- Free and open source
- Made in France
- No sign-up with the AI on this computer
- Your ChatGPT plan works too
ChatGPT, fairly
ChatGPT is OpenAI’s assistant, used by more than 900 million people a week. It starts in one click, its text chat is free, and it is very capable. Your conversations are kept on OpenAI’s servers, and on its personal plans they help train OpenAI’s AI unless you turn that off in its Data controls.1OpenAI: more than 900 million weekly usersOct 20, 20262OpenAI help centre: where content is storedOct 20, 20263OpenAI help centre: data controlsOct 20, 2026
Side by side
| Jean | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Jean In a browser tab. Your files are sealed on your device. Built | ChatGPT On OpenAI’s servers, in the US and around the world, through the web and its apps.2OpenAI help centre: where content is storedOct 20, 20264ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 2026 |
| Who reads what you send | Jean The AI you choose. With the AI on this computer, nobody. Built | ChatGPT OpenAI. On personal plans, used to train its AI unless you turn that off.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 20263OpenAI help centre: data controlsOct 20, 2026 |
| Which AI | Jean Any, ChatGPT included: on this computer, a free one, your key or your plan. Built | ChatGPT OpenAI’s own; the free plan gets the lighter ones.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 2026 |
| What comes back | Jean Answers with sources, and finished files: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, charts. Numbers worked out by code. Built | ChatGPT Answers, pictures and files, with data analysis; limited on the free plan.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 2026 |
| What it costs | Jean Jean is free. The AI is free on this computer or with a free account; otherwise your key or your plan. By design | ChatGPT Free, with limits on uploads, pictures and voice. Plus at $20 a month.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 20265OpenAI help centre: ChatGPT Plus, $20 a monthOct 20, 2026 |
| Leaving with your things | Jean Plain files and backups. ChatGPT’s export comes in. Built | ChatGPT An export you ask for in Data controls; a link arrives by email or text, within 7 days.6OpenAI help centre: exporting your dataOct 20, 2026 |
| For a family | Jean A profile per child, set by a parent, with no account for the child. Built | ChatGPT Accounts from 13, or your country’s age of consent; parental controls link a parent’s account to a teen’s.7OpenAI terms of use: 13 and overOct 20, 20268OpenAI help centre: parental controlsOct 20, 2026 |
Where ChatGPT does better
Said plainly, so you can choose.
- One account on every device: your history follows you. Jean keeps it on this device, unless you set up sync on a computer.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 2026
- Spoken conversation and polished phone apps.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 2026
- Pictures made in the app, with nothing to set up.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 2026
- It starts in one click. Jean asks you to pick an AI first.4ChatGPT pricingOct 20, 2026
Use both
Bring your ChatGPT history
In ChatGPT: Settings › Data controls › Export data. Drop the file it sends you in Jean: every conversation comes in, nothing twice.
BuiltPick the AI per task
The payslip with the AI on this computer, the trip plan with ChatGPT. Switch from the box and ask again.
BuiltYour ChatGPT plan, in Jean
Plus or Pro, on a computer, through This computer: a line you paste once, then you sign in to ChatGPT. No second subscription.
Built · on a computer
The catch, plainly
- Jean is free; the AI behind it may not be.
- Without a sign-up, only the AI on this computer answers. It needs 12 GB of memory and a recent graphics chip, and no phone runs it.
- Your ChatGPT plan needs This computer: a line to paste once, on a computer.
- Your work lives in this browser. Clear its data without a backup and it’s gone.
Questions people ask
Can I keep my ChatGPT conversations?
Yes. Export them from ChatGPT and drop the file in Jean. They stay yours, in plain files on your device.
Is it safer than ChatGPT?
With the AI on this computer, nothing you write leaves it. With an AI online, ChatGPT included, that provider reads what you send, as in its own app. Jean adds no server of its own.
Do I need an account?
Not with the AI on this computer. The free one asks for an OpenRouter account.
Is there a European ChatGPT alternative?
Jean is made in France and open source, and its AI can be European too: Mistral’s with your key, or one on your own computer.
Try Jean, and bring ChatGPT with you
Facts about ChatGPT were checked on Oct 20, 2026 on OpenAI’s own pages. ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI; Jean is not affiliated with it.
- 1OpenAI: more than 900 million weekly users
- 2OpenAI help centre: where content is stored
- 3OpenAI help centre: data controls
- 4ChatGPT pricing
- 5OpenAI help centre: ChatGPT Plus, $20 a month
- 6OpenAI help centre: exporting your data
- 7OpenAI terms of use: 13 and over
- 8OpenAI help centre: parental controls