Franz AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Instant Messengers

The best Instant Messenger alternative to Franz is Rambox, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Franz and many of them are Instant Messengers so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Instant Messenger alternatives to Franz are Station, Beeper, Ferdium and Freeter.

filter to find the best alternatives

Franz alternatives are mainly Instant Messengers, but if you're looking for Video Calling Apps or Group Chat Apps you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Google Chrome, Open Source, iPad, Android, Mac, iPhone and Linux. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Franz.
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Alternatives list

  1. Rambox icon

    Rambox

     144 likes

    A digital workspace organizer that allows you to unify as many applications as you want, all in one place. It is perfect for those who care about productivity while working with many business and personal apps.

    41 Rambox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Rambox screenshot 1
     
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    9
    Rambox vs Franz Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    syntax
    10

    Very similar concept. Rambox is also open-source and supports more applications.

    javaorca
    Positive
    -1

    Doesn't have problems with notifications for whatsapp and google chat as Franz has

    RemovedUser
    Positive
    -3

    It's better, open-source, and cheaper.

    3 of 9 comments
    • Rambox is Freemium and ProprietaryFranz is also Freemium and Proprietary
    • Rambox is CustomizableFranz is not according to our users
  2. Station icon

    Station

     115 likes

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

    31 Station alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Google Chrome
    • Brave
    Station screenshot 1
     
    |
    4
    Discontinued

    The website is unavailable and the project no longer appears to be maintained.

    Station vs Franz Comments
    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.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

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

    Guest
    Positive
    0

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

    3 of 4 comments
    • Station is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Station is an Application Launchers Franz is an Instant Messenger
  4. Beeper icon

    Beeper

     86 likes

    Brings together messaging from 14 networks into a single inbox, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, and more, with strong privacy via on-device connections, cross-platform availability, chat reminders, scheduling, and unified notifications for all devices.

    27 Beeper alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Self-Hosted
    Beeper screenshot 1
     
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    Google Chat icon
    Google Chat

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    Secure team messaging platform with organized topic-based conversations, real-time collaboration on Docs, Sheets, Slides, integrated calendar scheduling, one-click meetings, shared tasks and files, Google Workspace support, admin...

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  6. Ferdium icon

    Ferdium

     73 likes

    Open source cross-platform desktop app uniting messaging, email, productivity, and custom services in a side-by-side interface with easy account-free use, workspaces, built-in Todo panel, resource hibernation, robust privacy controls, and optional multi-device sync.

    33 Ferdium alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    Services
     
    |
    2
    Ferdium vs Franz Comments
    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.

    • Ferdium is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Proprietary
    • Ferdium is LightweightFranz is not according to our users
  8. Freeter icon

    Freeter

     32 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
     
  9. 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
     
  10. Ripcord icon

    Ripcord

     30 likes

    Ripcord is a desktop chat client for group-centric services like Slack and Discord. It provides a traditional compact desktop interface designed for power users. It's not built on top of web browser technology: it responds quickly to input, sips gently from computer...

    174 Ripcord alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Discord
    • Slack
    Ripcord screenshot 1
     
  11. IM+ icon

    IM+

     111 likes

    One app for all your messaging.

    WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Gmail, Slack, Facebook, Facebook Pages, Instagram, Twitter, Outlook, SnapMap, WeChat, LinkedIn, HipChat, and ChatWork.

    98 IM+ alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • Mac
    IM+ screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    IM+ vs Franz Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    -1

    Does not support the same range of messengers

    • IM+ is Freemium and ProprietaryFranz is also Freemium and Proprietary
  12. 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
     
  13. 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.

    16 Hamsket alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Hamsket screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Discontinued

    The latest version (0.6.3) is from March 2022, and the GitHub repository has been archived.

    Hamsket vs Franz Comments
    RemovedUser
    Positive
    0

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

    • Hamsket is Free and Open SourceFranz is Freemium and Proprietary
  14. Google Chat icon

    Google Chat

     1 like

    Secure team messaging platform with organized topic-based conversations, real-time collaboration on Docs, Sheets, Slides, integrated calendar scheduling, one-click meetings, shared tasks and files, Google Workspace support, admin controls, compliance, and advanced search.

    74 Google Chat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    Google Chat screenshot 1
     
  15. 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
     
12 of 35 Franz alternatives