Team Chat
Zulip on your desktop, inside Franz
Connect Franz to your Zulip organization, hosted or self-run, as a desktop app on Mac, Windows, and Linux, beside all your other chat.
- macOS
- Windows
- Linux
Zulip takes a different shape from most team chat, organising everything into topics inside streams so long conversations stay threaded instead of scrolling away. Teams choose it for that clarity, and many run it on their own servers to keep the archive in their own hands. Either way, a chat tool that earns its keep still deserves a real desktop home rather than a stray browser tab. Franz runs your Zulip organization as a first-class service tab in one window, right next to email and every other messenger you use.
Connect Franz to your Zulip organization
Zulip organizations live at their own address, whether that is a hosted your-org.zulipchat.com realm or a self-managed server on your own domain. When you add Zulip in Franz, you provide that organization URL and the tab connects straight to it. Because every tab keeps an independent session, you can be signed in to more than one Zulip realm at the same time, a community in one tab and your company in another, with no sign-out shuffle between them. Each tab tracks its own unread badge so the realms never blur together.
Topic-aware notifications that reach you
Zulip's whole appeal is knowing which thread needs you, and notifications should honour that. Franz raises native desktop alerts for Zulip, including the notification sound, so a direct message or a mention in a stream you follow pulls your attention right away. The unread count reflects what is genuinely aimed at you rather than every message across every topic, and it stays accurate across each organization you connect. You get Zulip's structured calm with the immediacy of a desktop client that actually tells you when you are needed.
Zulip across macOS, Windows, and Linux
Franz runs natively on all three desktop platforms, and Zulip works identically on each: the same notifications, a consistent dock or taskbar badge, and fast switching between your tabs. Teams spread across operating systems all reach the same organization the same way, with no per-machine relearning. You keep the complete Zulip web experience, streams, topics, and search included, except now it is one tab in the single window where the rest of your work already happens.
Other Team Chat services
Frequently asked questions
Which platforms does Zulip work on in Franz?
Franz runs Zulip as a native desktop app on macOS, Windows, and Linux, with the same notifications, badges, and fast switching on every operating system.
Can I use multiple Zulip accounts at once?
Yes. Franz lets you add Zulip as many times as you need, one tab per account, all signed in at once. Each tab keeps its own session and unread badge, so you never sign out of one to check another.
Is Zulip in Franz free?
Franz is free to use with Zulip and every other service. A free account covers the essentials and takes minutes to set up; paid plans add extra features, but running Zulip in Franz costs nothing to start.