If your workday runs on Google, from Gmail and Google Calendar to Drive and Docs, a row of browser tabs is an awkward home for it. They get lost among twenty other tabs, they sign you out when you clear your cookies, and a second Google account means juggling profiles. Kiwi for Gmail and WebCatalog Desktop both turn Google's apps into desktop apps, with your accounts signed in side by side.
Where they differ is everything outside Google. Kiwi is built only for Google Workspace: Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Chat. WebCatalog Desktop gives Google's apps the same treatment, then does it for every other web app you work in.
At a glance
| WebCatalog Desktop | Kiwi for Gmail | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Web apps as desktop apps, organized into spaces | A desktop app for Gmail and Google Workspace |
| Apps covered | Gmail and Google's apps, plus a catalog of 65,000+ apps and any website | Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Chat |
| Multiple accounts | Every account signed in side by side, each with its own session | Up to 9 Gmail or Workspace accounts |
| Organizing apps | Spaces, each in its own window, with folders inside | Tabbed workspaces for your Google apps |
| Inbox | Gmail exactly as Google builds it | Gmail with filtered inbox views |
| Notifications | Unread badges per account and on the Dock or taskbar, mute per account | Notifications for your accounts |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows |
What is WebCatalog Desktop?
WebCatalog Desktop turns websites into desktop apps with their own windows, icons, and logins. Install the Gmail app and it opens in a window of its own, with every account you add signed in at once. Google Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Sheets can each become an app the same way, and so can Slack, Notion, or any other site you use every day.
What is Kiwi for Gmail?
Kiwi for Gmail calls itself "the #1 app for Gmail." It's a desktop app for Mac and Windows that brings Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Chat out of the browser. It adds a focused inbox that filters mail by date, importance, unread, attachments, or stars, opens Docs, Sheets, and Slides in their own windows, and supports up to nine accounts.
1. Google's apps, and the rest of your workday
Kiwi's world is Google. If your team also runs on Slack, Notion, Asana, or HubSpot, those still live in a browser tab.
In WebCatalog Desktop, Google's apps sit next to the ones you use with them. A marketing manager might keep Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, and Figma together in a "Work" space: one window, with each app a click or Cmd or Ctrl plus a number away. Apps that don't fit any space, like Spotify or ChatGPT, can run on their own with their own icons.
2. Every Gmail account, side by side
Both apps keep several Google accounts signed in. In WebCatalog Desktop, each account has its own isolated session, and they sit together in the Gmail app's sidebar, each with its own picture and unread badge.
You decide how loud each one is. Keep alerts on for your work inbox, mute notifications and sounds for the newsletter account, and hide the badge on the one you check once a week. The Dock or taskbar icon still shows a total, so you know when something is waiting.
3. A Gmail window for each client
Freelancers and agency staff often have a Google account per client. In WebCatalog Desktop, each client can get a space holding their Gmail, their Calendar, their Drive, and their Slack, so you never send a reply from the wrong address.
Each space has its own Dock or taskbar icon and its own global keyboard shortcut. Open one when you start on that client's work, keep two side by side during a joint project, and close one at the end of the day so its notifications stop with it.
4. Google's apps, the way Google builds them
Kiwi adds its own layer on top of Google's apps, like filtering the inbox to the past two days or to unread mail. WebCatalog Desktop runs Gmail, Calendar, and Docs exactly as they work in Chrome, on the same Chromium engine, so every Google feature, label, and keyboard shortcut is there as soon as Google ships it. Docs, Sheets, and Slides can each run as an app of their own, with their own icons.
Around it, you get what a desktop app should have: tabs for keeping a thread open next to the inbox, a downloads manager for attachments, a built-in ad and tracker blocker, and an app lock with Touch ID on Mac. Set Gmail as your default email client, and a "mailto" link opens a new message in the right app.
5. The same setup on every computer
WebCatalog Desktop runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux, and syncs your accounts, folders, and settings across them. Set up Gmail and Google Calendar on your work PC and they're waiting on your Mac at home.
Which one should you choose?
Kiwi for Gmail can make sense if you specifically want filtered inbox views layered on top of Gmail, and your work happens entirely in Google's apps.
WebCatalog Desktop is the better fit if you:
- Use Slack, Notion, or other tools alongside Google's apps and want them all out of the browser
- Want Gmail, Calendar, and Docs exactly as Google builds them, with new features the day they ship
- Keep a Google account per client and want each one in its own window
- Move between computers and want the same setup on each
Give Google's apps, and everything you use with them, a proper home: try WebCatalog Desktop.
