36 open-source chat apps
Open Source Chat & Video Call Apps
The most popular open-source chat apps for Windows, macOS and Linux on GitHub are Tdesktop, Zulip and Signal Desktop. appsgit lists 36, including free alternatives to WhatsApp, TeamSpeak and Discord, each with its platforms, license and install commands.
Updated Oct 8, 2026
Open Source Chat & Video Call Apps
Tdesktop
telegramdesktop/tdesktop
Telegram Desktop messaging app.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxZulip
zulip/zulip
Zulip server and web application. Open-source team chat that helps teams stay productive and focused.
OfficialChat & communicationLinuxSignal Desktop
signalapp/Signal-Desktop
A private messenger for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxHammerspoon
Hammerspoon/hammerspoon
Staggeringly powerful macOS desktop automation with Lua.
OfficialChat & communicationmacOSSolaar
pwr-Solaar/Solaar
Linux device manager for Logitech devices.
Chat & communicationLinuxBetterDiscord
BetterDiscord/BetterDiscord
Better Discord enhances Discord desktop app with new features.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxVesktop
Vencord/Vesktop
Vesktop is a custom Discord App aiming to give you better performance and improve linux support.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxMumble
mumble-voip/mumble
Mumble is an open-source, low-latency, high quality voice chat software.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxHuLa
HuLaSpark/HuLa
A cross-platform instant messaging desktop application with exceptional performance built on Rust + Vue3, compatible with Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and…
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxRed DiscordBot
Cog-Creators/Red-DiscordBot
Music, Moderation, Trivia, Stream Alerts and Fully Modular.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxQq Chat Exporter
shuakami/qq-chat-exporter
QQ聊天记录、表情包导出工具 | 自动化提取图片/文字/图片消息,支持TXT/JSON导出,高效备份,支持NT QQ.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxFinicky
johnste/finicky
A macOS app for customizing which browser to start.
Chat & communicationmacOSFranz
meetfranz/franz
Franz is a free messaging app for services like WhatsApp, Slack, Messenger and many more.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxWePush
rememberber/WePush
专注批量推送的小而美的工具,目前支持:模板消息-公众号、模板消息-小程序、微信客服消息、微信企业号/企业微信消息、阿里云短信、阿里大于模板短信 、腾讯云短信、云片网短信、E-Mail、HTTP请求、钉钉、华为云短信、百度云短信、又拍云短信、七牛云短信.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxFerdium App
ferdium/ferdium-app
All your services in one place, built by the community.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxLegcord
Legcord/Legcord
Legcord is a custom client designed to enhance your Discord experience while keeping everything lightweight.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxStreamlink Twitch Gui
streamlink/streamlink-twitch-gui
A multi platform Twitch.tv browser for Streamlink.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxChatterino2
Chatterino/chatterino2
Chat client for https://twitch.tv.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxNheko
Nheko-Reborn/nheko
Desktop client for Matrix using Qt and C++20.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxDino
dino/dino
Modern XMPP ("Jabber") Chat Client using GTK/Vala.
OfficialChat & communicationLinuxWayback
wabarc/wayback
An archiving tool with an IM-style interface that prioritizes privacy and accessibility, integrated with various archival services including Internet Archive, archive.today, Ghostarchive, IPFS…
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxAbaddon
uowuo/abaddon
An alternative Discord client with voice support made with C++ and GTK 3.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxAdaptiveCards
microsoft/AdaptiveCards
A new way for developers to exchange card content in a common and consistent way.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsDissent
diamondburned/dissent
Dissent (previously gtkcord4) is a third-party Discord client designed for a smooth, native experience on Linux desktops.
Chat & communicationWindowsLinuxInstaller
BetterDiscord/Installer
A simple standalone program which automates the installation, removal and maintenance of BetterDiscord.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxRocket.Chat.Electron
RocketChat/Rocket.Chat.Electron
The Secure CommsOS for mission-critical operations.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxZapfast
crmne/zapfast
ZapFast: a fast, native WhatsApp client in Rust and egui.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxJitsi Meet Electron
jitsi/jitsi-meet-electron
Jitsi Meet desktop application powered by.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxZapzap
rafatosta/zapzap
WhatsApp desktop application written in PyQt6 + PyQt6-WebEngine.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxDeltachat Desktop
deltachat/deltachat-desktop
Decentralized private messenger with chat-shared tools and games for Desktop.
OfficialChat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxLlamaChat
alexrozanski/LlamaChat
Chat with your favourite LLaMA models in a native macOS app.
Chat & communicationmacOSTelephone
64characters/Telephone
Telephone is a VoIP SIP softphone for Mac.
Chat & communicationmacOSTangram
sonnyp/Tangram
Tangram is a new kind of browser. It is designed to organize and run your Web applications.
Chat & communicationLinuxGoofCord
Milkshiift/GoofCord
Take control of your Discord experience with GoofCord – a highly configurable and privacy minded discord client.
Chat & communicationWindowsmacOSLinuxChatty
chatty/chatty
Twitch Chat Client written in Java.
Chat & communicationWindowsActiona
Jmgr/actiona
Actiona 3: cross-platform automation tool.
Chat & communicationWindowsLinux
What are the best open-source chat apps?
By GitHub stars, Tdesktop is the most popular (33,131 stars), followed by Zulip and Signal Desktop. People often use these instead of WhatsApp, TeamSpeak and Discord. Each page lists the platforms, license and last commit.
Which of these run on Windows, Mac and Linux?
28 of the 36 open-source chat apps listed here run on Windows, 28 on macOS and 30 on Linux; on a Mac, the most starred is Tdesktop. 17 can be installed with a package manager such as Flathub, Homebrew, winget or Chocolatey.
Are these open-source chat apps free?
Yes. All 36 use an open-source license (OSI-approved or FSF-free), so you can use, copy and change them for free.
How are these open-source chat apps chosen?
Apps come from desktop awesome lists (Awesome Linux Software, awesome-mac, awesome-windows, awesome-electron and the media and file sections of awesome-cli-apps), more than 70 GitHub topics such as desktop-app, electron-app, tauri-app, gtk, qt, macos-app, pdf-editor, cad and remote-desktop, and a hand-picked list of flagship apps. An app is listed only if it has a license (one GitHub detects, or one appsgit checked by hand), a README and a commit in the last six months, is not archived or a fork, and has 1000+ GitHub stars (topics), 500+ (awesome lists) or 100+ (hand-picked). It must also be an end-user application with a desktop signal: installers in its releases, install instructions for Windows, macOS or Linux, or a Flathub, Homebrew, winget, Chocolatey, Snap or AUR package. Libraries, frameworks, themes, plugins and servers are left out, and source-available apps are labelled as such.