At a glance
| App | Side by side | Free plan | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ferdium | Split mode | Everything | Free |
| Rambox | Tiled layouts, on Pro | Unlimited apps, 2 logins each | $70 a year |
| Franz | Two at once | 3 apps | From $60 a year |
| Wavebox | Two at once, on Pro | 2 groups of 2 apps | $99 a year |
| Shift | Two at once | 5 spaces of 10 apps | $199.99 a year |
| Tabula | Any number, any size | One zone | $9.99 a month |
Prices are for one person, paying yearly where there’s a choice, as listed on each maker’s site in September 2026. All but Tabula also run on Windows.
The question that decides it: chat, or everything?
Five of these six are messaging apps. They’re built around a column of app icons with unread counts, and each has a way to put two apps side by side — Rambox’s Pro plan tiles more. If what you want is your conversations in one tidy place, one of them is the simpler choice, and the free ones are very good.
Tabula is the odd one out: a browser, not a messaging app. WhatsApp, Slack and Gmail go on one canvas next to the docs, tickets and dashboards the conversations are about, with no fixed number of panes. Pick it if chat is part of the job rather than a job of its own.
01
FerdiumBest free option
Ferdium is the community-built descendant of Franz: add WhatsApp, Slack, Gmail and anything else with a web version, and each gets an icon in the sidebar; split mode shows neighboring apps side by side. It costs nothing, asks for no account, and you can add your own services if one is missing.
- Free, with no limit on apps
- Open source
- No account needed
- Mac, Windows and Linux
- Split mode is basic
- Run by volunteers, so fewer extras
02
RamboxBest free option for two accounts of one app
Rambox’s free Basic plan takes as many apps as you like and two logins of each — work and personal Gmail, say. Pro, at $7 a month or $70 a year, lifts the login limit and adds workspaces, which can tile several apps in a grid — the most side-by-side of the messaging apps.
- Unlimited apps on the free plan
- Two logins of each app, free
- Mac, Windows and Linux
- Tiled layouts and more logins need Pro
03
FranzThe original, now with AI extras
Franz started this category. Its free Starter plan covers three services — exactly WhatsApp, Slack and Gmail — with one workspace, and a split view keeps two apps side by side. Pro is $60 a year, and a lifetime license is $199. Recent versions add AI features, some of which run on your own machine.
- Polished and long-running
- A lifetime license option
- Built-in AI features, some on-device
- Free plan stops at three apps
- Side by side stops at two
04
WaveboxBest if you need Chrome extensions
Wavebox is closer to a browser than a messaging app: web apps sit in groups, Chrome extensions work, and Pro adds split screen for two. The free plan is enough to try it, not to live in — Pro is $99 a year.
- A full Chromium browser underneath
- Runs Chrome extensions
- Groups apps by project
- Tight free plan: two groups of two apps
- Split screen needs Pro
05
ShiftBest for many accounts at once
Shift is built for people juggling several email and chat accounts. Its free plan — five spaces, ten apps in each — is the most generous of the paid products here, and enough for most people. Drag an app to the edge of the window to split the screen in two. The Advanced plan removes the limits.
- Generous free plan: 5 spaces of 10 apps
- Built around multiple accounts
- Mac and Windows
- Advanced plan is $199.99 a year
- Side by side stops at two
06
TabulaBest when chat sits beside your work
Tabula isn’t a messaging app — it’s a browser where every site is a live tile on one canvas. Put WhatsApp, Slack and Gmail next to each other and next to the work they’re about, sized however suits you, and a new message is a glance instead of a click. Sites send notifications the way they would in Chrome, once you allow them. What a spatial browser is.
- Any number of apps side by side, at any size
- Your docs and dashboards on the same canvas
- Ads and trackers blocked by default
- Mac only
- A whole browser, not just a messaging app
- A second login for one app needs a second zone, on the paid plan
Or use what’s already on your Mac
WhatsApp and Slack both have their own Mac apps, and Safari can turn Gmail into one: open it, then choose File › Add to Dock. You end up with three windows rather than one, but macOS can tile them side by side in a keystroke. How to split your Mac screen into three.
Questions
- Is there one app for WhatsApp, Slack and Gmail on a Mac?
- Several. Ferdium, Rambox, Franz, Wavebox and Shift are built for exactly this: a sidebar of apps, with a way to show two or more side by side. Tabula is a browser that puts them on a canvas with the rest of your work. Ferdium is free with no limits; the others have free plans with limits.
- Are these apps safe to sign in to?
- They load the real web versions of each service — web.whatsapp.com, app.slack.com, mail.google.com — so you sign in to WhatsApp, Slack and Google directly, the way you would in a browser. Your messages stay with those services. As with any app, install them from their makers’ own sites.
- Do I still get notifications?
- Yes. The sidebar apps show unread counts and pass on notifications. In Tabula, sites notify you the way they do in Chrome: it asks the first time a site wants to send notifications, and remembers your answer.
- Can I use two WhatsApp or Gmail accounts?
- Rambox’s free plan takes two logins of each app; Shift and Wavebox handle many accounts on their paid plans. In Tabula, a second login for the same site lives in its own zone, which takes the paid plan.
- Can I do it without installing anything?
- Mostly. WhatsApp and Slack have their own Mac apps, and in Safari you can turn Gmail into an app of its own with File › Add to Dock. That gives you three windows rather than one, which macOS window tiling can arrange side by side.