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Alternatives to WhatsApp, Slack and Teams
Tame the chat apps that live in your browser tabs.
Most of us keep several chat apps open at once because each of our friends and teams chose a different one. Ferdium puts them all in one desktop window, which doesn't replace them but makes them easier to live with. Delta Chat takes a different route and builds chat on top of ordinary email, so there is no phone number to give and no company that can shut the network down.
Neither is a perfect answer, and both are honest about it.
The tools
Delta Chat
A chat app that runs on ordinary email, with no phone number needed.
Ferdium
Puts all your messaging services in one desktop app.
For comparison, we also reviewed WhatsApp (14/30, Mixed) and Gmail (16/30, Mixed), the giants these tools are measured against. They sit outside the directory, on the benchmarks page.
How to choose
The hard part of any chat alternative is that it only works if the people you talk to use it too. Start with a tool that works alongside the apps you already have, then move the conversations that matter most to somewhere you control.
Questions people ask
Can I use WhatsApp and Slack without keeping them all open?
Ferdium gathers your messaging services in one desktop app, so you manage them in one place.
Is there a messaging app that doesn't need a phone number?
Delta Chat runs on email, so you sign up with an address or a chat relay and give out no phone number.