Franz: one desktop chat app for 14 messaging services

Let’s be frank: there are too many chat services in the world, and it can take a stack of background processes and open browser tabs to manage them all.

Franz is a free Windows, Mac and Linux application which makes your life easier by supporting them all.

Okay, maybe not "all", but 14 is a good start: Skype, WhatsApp, Steam Chat, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, HipChat, GroupMe, ChatWork, Grape, Discord, WeChat, Hangouts and Glitter.

The underlying technology isn’t anything too surprising. It’s a little like a custom tabbed browser, where each tab represents a particular account and service, and you can add as many as you need.

This approach does help to cut down on desktop and browser clutter, though. It also means you’re able to add tabs for multiple accounts on the same service, and switch between them with a click.

Franz is a free application for Windows 7 and later, Mac and Linux.