<p>The micromix combustor is capable of shortening flame lengths and achieving very low emissions under lean fuel conditions, and mostly uses multi-jet burner. Lacking the traditional swirl flame stabilization mechanism, the limited stability range of multi-jet burner restricts its application in gas turbine combustor, especially for methane fuel. This study presents the development and experimental analysis of a multi-jet burner with pilot flames, using both premixed and non-premixed pilot flames. The design aims to improve lean blowout limit, a critical factor for expanding the operational range and low-load capability. Experiments at atmospheric pressure, along with large eddy simulations, are conducted to illustrate the stabilizing mechanisms and establish pilot flame design criteria. The findings reveal that the stability of the multi-jet burner is primarily depended on the stability of single-nozzle flame. An optimized pilot flame is crucial for the single-nozzle. The premixed pilot flame requires the pilot nozzle diameter to be less than 0.6 mm to provide sufficient heat and radicals to stabilize the main flame, ensuring that the burner stability is improved by 35 K. The non-premixed pilot flames demonstrate a greater potential for stability enhancement, particularly as the pilot fuel ratio increases. In addition, when the pilot fuel ratio is less than 15%, the non-premixed pilot flame has certain NO_<i>x</i> emission advantages, achieving a wide range of 252 K for burner stability without causing emission problems. These results provide an innovative perspective on enhancing stability in gas turbine combustors by designing pilot flames on the single-nozzle.</p>