No surprise pivot.
The product roadmap is the same as it was ten years ago: one window for communication, refined.
I've spent ten years building one desktop app, with the same stance on your data.
Franz started in Vienna in 2016 and turns 10 this year. One window for messengers, email, and Signal, refined by the same person who built the first prototype.
Vienna · Since 2016 · 1,000,000+ downloads
Stefan Malzner
Founder of Franz
Built in Vienna, Austria
Used by people at leading companies worldwide
Over a million downloads and a decade on desk. Franz is built for recruiters, consultants, founders, and operators who move between client chat, team chat, inbox follow-through, and secure threads all day.
On the record
Ten years and six major versions, built from one desk.
- March 2016 After a weekend prototype, Franz launches on Product Hunt with around 2,000 upvotes.
- Late 2016 Product Hunt Golden Kitty Award. Desktop App of the Year.
- 2018 Franz 5 ships with paid plans built in from the start.
- 2020 Workspaces ship. Franz now keeps work and personal communication apart.
- 2022 Franz Todos ship. Capture follow-ups without leaving the inbox.
- 2026 Franz 6: native email, on-device AI, EU-hosted Cloud. The ten-year anniversary release.
Covered by
Why one person still runs this
The decisions that kept Franz independent.
Each would have been the obvious move at the time. None of them would have made Franz better for the people who use it.
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No to a VC fundraise (2016)
Term sheets didn't fit, my son was born, and months of fundraising had eaten product time. So I stopped. The result for you: the roadmap isn't driven by what moves a metric next quarter.
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No to enterprise sales
Enterprise inquiries kept landing in my inbox. They didn't fit the way Franz is built. The result for you: pricing stays simple. Monthly, annual, or once for life. No per-seat creep. No traps.
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No to growing the team back
Franz once had a team of five. Now I'm on my own again. With a team, every decision starts to optimise for revenue per visitor and conversion per cohort. Alone, I build for myself and trust that you will want Franz for the same reasons. The result for you: when something breaks for me, it gets fixed fast.
Along the way we've had several acquisition offers from companies and competitors that aren't around anymore. Franz still is.
What that means for you
What you can count on.
No price creep.
Pay monthly, annually, or once for life. No per-seat creep. No usage surprises. We'll email you before any subscription renewal.
No data resale.
Use AI locally, bring your own provider key, or choose EU-hosted Franz Cloud with zero retention.
Built in Vienna
Your work stays yours. Built in the EU, where we take this seriously.
Privacy is the default in Franz. Your inbox lives on your machine. On-device AI handles classification, drafting, and search without anything leaving your laptop. Pick Max and requests run on Franz-managed infrastructure in Europe. We don't train on your content or keep it beyond the answer. Bring your own provider key, and your request never touches a Franz server.
Why Franz?
A serious product with a very human name.
Part of the name was a wink at Franz Joseph. If you're running an empire, you should probably get your communication under control first.
But the name stayed for a more personal reason too: Franz was Stefan's grandfather's name. That felt like a better foundation than another cold software brand.
Running Franz
What you should know.
- Most of what I tried in ten years never shipped. Probably 80% of it.
- I won't promise enterprise SLAs or a five-person account team. Franz isn't built that way.
- I built Franz 6 while I was still recovering from a serious accident in early 2025. It helped me stay coherent. I mean that literally.
Ready to take control?
Try Franz free. The product behind the story is on your machine in under two minutes.