If your chats and email still live together in Hamsket, you're running software that stopped moving years ago. Hamsket began as a community fork of Rambox Community Edition, and for a long time it was a dependable way to keep chat and email in one window. Its repository was archived in October 2023, and its last release came out in 2022.
WebCatalog Desktop is an actively developed replacement that does what Hamsket did and keeps getting updates. Here's how they compare, and what changes when you switch.
At a glance
| WebCatalog Desktop | Hamsket | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Actively developed | Archived in 2023 |
| Organizing apps | Spaces, each in its own window, with folders inside | One window with a list of services |
| Multiple accounts | Every account signed in side by side, each with its own session | Add a service more than once |
| App catalog | 65,000+ apps, plus any website | About 95 built-in services, plus custom services |
| Updates | WebCatalog Desktop and your apps update automatically | No new updates |
| Sync | Your setup syncs across your computers | Not available; offline backup and restore |
| Privacy | Ad and tracker blocker, app lock with Touch ID, per-account proxies | Master password lock, proxies |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows, Linux |
What is WebCatalog Desktop?
WebCatalog Desktop keeps your chat, email, and work apps together the way Hamsket did, but draws from a catalog of more than 65,000 apps instead of a fixed list of services, and lets you add any other website with your own name and icon. It runs on Chromium, the engine behind Chrome and Edge, and updates itself and your apps automatically.
What is Hamsket?
Hamsket is an open-source app based on Rambox Community Edition. It brings about 95 built-in services into one window, with custom services, a master password, Do Not Disturb, and per-service CSS and JavaScript.
1. A browser engine frozen in 2022
This is the difference that matters most. Hamsket's services run on the browser engine it shipped with in 2022. Web apps keep changing and new security issues keep being found, and Hamsket won't get the fixes for either.
WebCatalog Desktop updates in the background, and so does every app you install, so the engine your messages and email run on stays current. Switching takes a few minutes: install the services you used in Hamsket from the catalog, then sign in.
2. Every account, without duplicating services
In Hamsket, a second Gmail account means adding the same service again and keeping track of which entry is which. In WebCatalog Desktop, an app simply holds several accounts, each with its own isolated session. Your personal and work Gmail sit together under one app in the sidebar, both signed in, each with its own unread badge, and you can mute notifications or sounds for one without touching the other.
3. Separate windows when one gets crowded
Hamsket puts every service in one list. Once you add a couple of clients or a side project, that list gets long, and everything rings at once.
WebCatalog Desktop lets you split it up with spaces. Keep your personal chats in one space and each client's Slack and email in another. Each space opens in its own window, has its own Dock or taskbar icon and global keyboard shortcut, and can be closed when you're off the clock. Apps you'd rather keep apart entirely, like a calendar, can run as standalone desktop apps.
4. Sync instead of backup files
Hamsket can back up and restore your setup offline, which means exporting a file and moving it yourself. WebCatalog Desktop syncs your accounts list, folders, bookmarks, and settings across your computers on macOS, Windows, and Linux, so a new laptop is ready as soon as you sign in. Teams can go one step further with shared spaces: everyone gets the same list of apps and accounts, and logins stay on each person's computer.
5. The controls Hamsket users rely on
If you used Hamsket's master password, per-service CSS and JavaScript, or proxies, you'll find their counterparts here:
- An app lock with a password, or Touch ID on Mac, that can lock automatically
- Custom CSS and JavaScript for any app
- Proxies for each app or each account
WebCatalog Desktop also adds a built-in ad and tracker blocker.
Which one should you choose?
Hamsket can still make sense if you specifically need an open-source app you can modify, and you accept that it won't receive updates.
For anyone looking for a Hamsket replacement, WebCatalog Desktop is the natural next step. Choose it if you:
- Want the apps holding your messages and email to keep getting security fixes
- Run more than one account per service and want them under one app
- Need more than a fixed list of about 95 services
- Use more than one computer and want your setup on all of them
Hamsket kept Rambox Community Edition alive for years. To keep your apps together with something that's still moving forward, try WebCatalog Desktop.
