The Best Open Source Franz AlternativesTop Instant Messengers and other similar apps like Franz

The best open source alternative to Franz is Station. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Franz and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Franz are Ferdium, ElectronIM, Freeter and Empathy.

filter to find the best alternatives

Franz alternatives are mainly Instant Messengers, but if you're looking for Web Browsers or Application Launchers you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Google Chrome, iPad, Linux, Mac, Android and iPhone. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Franz.
More about Franz
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Franz alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. Station icon

    Station

     114 likes

    Station is the first open-source smart browser for busy people. A single place for all of your web applications.

    25 Station alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Brave
    Station screenshot 1
     
    |
    4
    44
    Comments about Station as an Alternative to Franz
    Guest
    Positive
    3

    Beautiful design and more easy to configure, right. A lot of apps, right. But, no languages support (only english) and really not consume less ram. On my test : 4 services connected on both (Franz and Station), Station takes about 2,1 Go of Ram ! Franz consume 700 mo. In comparision, I have also 30 opened tabs in Chrome and it consume about 1 Go of my Ram.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    400+ apps. Very modern design. It has also a notifications manager.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Had the services I wanted that Franz didn't, even with its recipes some apps were impossible to add.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 4 comments
    Franz Icon
    Station icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Station is a great Franz alternative.

    • Station is the most popular Open Source alternative to Franz.

    • Station is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Open Source
  2. Ferdium icon

    Ferdium

     66 likes

    All your services in one place, built by the community.

    27 Ferdium alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flathub
    • Snapcraft
    Services
     
    |
    2
    7
    Comments about Ferdium as an Alternative to Franz
    marcolopes
    Positive
    2

    I tested a bunch of them after too many unsolved problems with Franz...

    All of them FAILED on memory usage and sluggish performance, except for Ferdium!

    Been using it for the past years almost without any problem (except few hours downtime when the server was down - Ferdium should not need a connection to a server to work!)

    Galactic Man
    Positive
    1

    It's Ferdi after the Ferdi developer threw a wobbly and walked away (Ferdi being forked from Franz after THAT developer started pricing a little too aggressively). If you liked Ferdi you'll like Ferdium 'cos it's the same, innit. Ferdium seems to be still getting updates but its future is anyone's guess at this point.

    Franz Icon
    Ferdium icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Ferdium is a great Franz alternative.

    • Ferdium is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Open Source
    • Ferdium is Lightweight and Privacy focusedFranz is not according to our users
  4. ElectronIM icon

    ElectronIM

     6 likes

    Free open source Electron based multi instant messaging (IM) client.

    Combine all your IM applications (or whatever you want) in a single browser (Electron) window.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Twitter in ElectronIM
     
    |
    14
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Wavebox icon
    Wavebox

    Productivity browser featuring unified webmail, website, and web app management, isolated multi-account support, vertical sidebar with grouping, memory-saving tab sleeping, app-to-app linking, built-in chat and screenshare, colla...

    https://wavebox.io
    Learn More
  6. Freeter icon

    Freeter

     30 likes

    The smartest way to work on your computer. Freeter is a productivity app that allows you to gather everything you need for work in one place, organized by projects and workflows, and have a quick access to them.

    285 Freeter alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Freeter screenshot 1
     
  7. Empathy icon

    Empathy

     157 likes

    Empathy is a messaging program which supports text, voice, video chat, and file transfers over many different protocols. You can tell it about your accounts on all those services and do all your chatting within one application.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    Empathy screenshot 1
     
  8. Hamsket icon

    Hamsket

     20 likes

    Hamsket is a fork of Rambox that was started when Rambox moved from being totally free to a "freemium" model.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Hamsket screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Comments about Hamsket as an Alternative to Franz
    RemovedUser
    Positive
    0

    This is the tracker-free version of Rambox which is the best alternative for Franz

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Franz Icon
    Hamsket icon
    • Hamsket is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Open Source
  10. Wavebox icon

    Wavebox

     41 likes

    Productivity browser featuring unified webmail, website, and web app management, isolated multi-account support, vertical sidebar with grouping, memory-saving tab sleeping, app-to-app linking, built-in chat and screenshare, collaboration workspaces, and strong security.

    31 Wavebox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Subscription)
    • Open Source (MPL-2.0)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Browse the app directory
     
  11. matterbridge icon

    matterbridge

     6 likes

    Bridges between a growing number of protocols: mattermost, IRC, gitter, xmpp, slack, discord, telegram, rocketchat, steam, twitch, ssh-chat, zulip, whatsapp, keybase, matrix, microsoft teams, and more with REST API (mattermost not required!).

    21 matterbridge alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Android Tablet
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    matterbridge screenshot 1
     

    • matterbridge is the most popular Web-based alternative to Franz.

    • matterbridge is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Open Source
  12. Speek! icon

    Speek!

     12 likes

    Speek! is the first messenger that is anonymous and censorship-resistant by design. Speek! messenger encrypts all messages and is secure, private and decentralized.

    89 Speek! alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    Speek! screenshot 1
     
  13. Tinode icon

    Tinode

     10 likes

    Fully open source instant messaging server and clients. No proprietary components or non-free dependencies. Backend in pure Go (GPL 3.0), with a command-line administration tool in python + gRPC. Clients for Android, iPhone, and Web - ReactJS (all licensed under Apache 2.0).

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Self-Hosted
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    iOS client
     

    • Tinode is the most popular SaaS alternative to Franz.

    • Tinode is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Open Source
  14. Chatter icon

    Chatter

     1 like

    Chatter is a centralized platform for chat apps, ensuring privacy and automatic login. Supports WhatsApp, Discord, Microsoft Teams, Telegram, Snapchat, WeChat, and more. Built on Tauri framework requiring Node.js and NPM, offering a seamless multiple chat experience.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    The main page of Chatter (as of Version 1.0.0)
     
  15. Kopete icon

    Kopete

     72 likes

    Kopete is an instant messenger supporting AIM, ICQ, Jabber, Gadu-Gadu, Novell GroupWise Messenger, and more. It is designed to be a flexible and extensible multi-protocol system suitable for personal and enterprise use.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Kopete screenshot 1
     
12 of 29 Franz alternatives