WhatsApp for family, Telegram for a hobby group, Slack and Gmail for work, and a client who only answers on Messenger: Franz was made for exactly this pile of messengers, and so was WebCatalog Desktop. Both take those apps out of the browser and keep separate accounts signed in at once.
What each does next is different. Franz has become an all-in-one messaging hub, adding its own mail client, a native Signal client, to-dos, a calendar view, and AI. WebCatalog Desktop runs the web apps you already use, unchanged, and sorts them into spaces, so work and home each get a window of their own.
At a glance
| WebCatalog Desktop | Franz | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Web apps as desktop apps, organized into spaces | A messaging hub with built-in mail, calendar, to-dos, and AI |
| Organizing apps | Spaces, each in its own window, with folders inside | Workspaces that reorganize one window |
| Your apps | Each service's own web app, with all its features | Web services, plus Franz Mail and a native Signal client |
| Multiple accounts | Several accounts in any app or space, each with its own session | Separate accounts in isolated containers |
| Standalone apps | Any app can run on its own, with its own Dock or taskbar icon | Services live inside the Franz window |
| App catalog | 65,000+ apps, plus any website | 75+ services, plus any website |
| Notifications | Unread badges per account and on the Dock or taskbar, mute per account | Unified notifications and badges |
What is WebCatalog Desktop?
In WebCatalog Desktop, your apps are grouped into spaces, and every space is a separate window you open when you need it and close when you don't. A "Work" space might hold Slack, Gmail, and Messenger, while a "Home" space holds WhatsApp and Telegram. Apps come from a catalog of more than 65,000, and any website can be added.
What is Franz?
Franz is a desktop app that brings messengers and email together, with the tagline "All your messaging. One app. Zero noise." It supports more than 75 services, runs each in an isolated container, and adds Franz Mail with a priority inbox, a native Signal client, a to-do list, a calendar view, and AI features. Workspaces group services by mode, team, or priority.
1. Workspaces in one window, spaces in many
Franz workspaces live inside a single window. Switching workspaces rearranges that window around a different set of services, so work and home still share it.
In WebCatalog Desktop, the "Work" and "Home" spaces are separate windows, and separate apps, each with its own Dock or taskbar icon and global keyboard shortcut. At six o'clock you close "Work," and Slack stops pinging from the same window as your family chat. During a busy week, you can keep two client spaces open side by side instead. Inside each space, folders tidy long lists, and Cmd or Ctrl plus a number jumps between apps.
2. The apps you already know
Franz layers its own tools on top of your services, including its own mail client and its own Signal client. If you want those, Franz offers a lot, but it also means learning new versions of apps you already use.
WebCatalog Desktop runs each service's own web app. Gmail is Gmail, with your labels and filters, and WhatsApp is WhatsApp. There's nothing new to learn, and every feature you rely on is already there.
3. Two WhatsApps, three Slacks
Franz runs each service in an isolated container, so separate accounts can stay signed in at once.
WebCatalog Desktop does the same for any app or space with several accounts: each account has its own isolated session, all signed in together. Your personal and business WhatsApp sit in one sidebar, each with its own unread badge, and the Dock or taskbar icon shows a badge too.
4. Less noise, account by account
Franz promises "zero noise" through unified notifications. WebCatalog Desktop lets you decide per account: mute notifications, sounds, or the badge for the group chat that never sleeps, and keep alerts on for your manager's Slack. Closing a space silences everything in it at once, and the built-in home has a focus mode with a Pomodoro timer and ambient sounds for deep work.
5. Apps that stand on their own
Some tools are better as their own apps than as one more service in a hub. In WebCatalog Desktop, Google Calendar or ChatGPT can run as a standalone desktop app with its own window and icon, and a standalone mail app can be your default email client, so a "mailto" link opens Gmail instead of an app you never set up.
Which one should you choose?
Franz can make sense if you specifically want a replacement mail client with a priority inbox, or AI features built into your messaging app.
If you'd rather keep your apps as they are, WebCatalog Desktop is the better fit. It's for you if:
- Work and home chats belong in different windows
- You want Gmail, Slack, and WhatsApp exactly as their makers built them
- You run more than one account of the same messenger
- You want to quiet notifications one account at a time
Keep the apps you know and give each part of your day its own window: try WebCatalog Desktop.
