One app for all your chat windows seems to be the new thing right now. I’ve tested out quite a few and most are lacking features or stability.
Franz is probably the most popular. It’s built on Electron, it’s free, and works really well. That is until it starts crashing. Once this happens you need to uninstall the app and start over. This seems to be a known bug on the Mac. If it wasn’t for that, it’d be one of the best choices.
Manageyum is another good choice also built with Electron. One nice feature here is that if you disable a service, it’s hidden from view. Franz keeps it visible and just grays it out. You can also add in custom services/websites. If your service isn’t listed, you can still add it. The downside is you get a free demo and then you either need to refer people or pay to use it. Manageyum is a great choice as it’s stable and it includes all the services you need. Just refer some friends and then you won’t have to pay for it.
Rambox is another free Electron option that works well. It doesn’t feel as polished as the other two and it doesn’t include spell check yet. No spell check is a deal breaker for me. It does include a lot of services though and does allow custom sites.
Then there is One Chat. One Chat is a native Mac app and has a nice look and feel. One downside is that it’s paid. Depending on the week, the price goes from $5 to $20 but there is a free version too. It also integrates multiple accounts from one service oddly. Instead of breaking them out into separate listings in the sidebar, they separate them as browser tabs. To make it worse, One Chat forgets your logins for additional accounts. For example, if you’re logged into three Slack channels, it only remembers one. I’ve reported the issue and hope they can fix it. One Chat feels like a pretty solution that works only OK. It could be amazing once it matures.
Currently, I’m using Manageyum. It’s stable, feature rich, and it works well. I referred some friends so I didn’t have to pay for it and I’m enjoying the app. I really want One Chat to work through their issues as their app feels better being native.
Overall, I’d try them all out and find the one that’s right for you. They all have free demos so there’s nothing to lose by testing them out.
Oh, and if you’re thinking “why not just use a web browser?” well that’s a good option too. The all in one chat apps do a better job of segmenting services, providing notifications, and keeping the clutter out of your browser.