App overload
Ten apps, ten windows, and you still open each one to see who's actually waiting on you.
Spanbox drops every unread into one sorted inbox, the important stuff up top.
Why Spanbox
Every chat you have, in one calm window
Spanbox is an all-in-one messaging app and local-first chat aggregator that brings WhatsApp, Slack, Gmail, Telegram and 60+ services into a single unified inbox.
Free on Mac, Windows and Linux. No account needed.
The problem
Living in ten apps shouldn't feel like a second job.
Most all-in-one tools just park your services in tabs and call it solved. Here's what actually goes wrong under the hood, and how Spanbox fixes each one.
Your chats on a stranger's servers
Cloud aggregators route every message through servers you've never seen, just to bridge it.
Spanbox is local-first, so nothing leaves your own machine.
Accounts that get flagged
Unofficial bridges can trip a service's abuse checks and get your account locked out.
It loads each app's real web session, so there's nothing to flag.
An inbox you rent by the month
A subscription just to keep your own messages flowing, and it stops the day a payment fails.
Free for three apps, with a pay-once option. You own it.
Work and personal, tangled
One login per app, so the client thread and the family group chat pile into the same feed.
Multiple accounts and separate workspaces keep them apart.
Everything a great inbox needs. Nothing it doesn't.
Spanbox is one of the best desktop chat aggregators going, an all-in-one messaging app that pulls WhatsApp, Slack, Gmail, Telegram, Discord and 60+ services into a single unified inbox. Every aggregator makes that pitch, but most stop right where it gets hard, so here's where Spanbox parts ways with Beeper, Rambox and the rest.
Your whole inbox, one glance
Every unread from WhatsApp, Slack, Gmail, Telegram and 60+ apps lands in one sorted stream, with what needs you sitting right at the top.
+ Unified inbox
Private, and local-first
You sign in to each app yourself, and it all stays on your machine. There's no account with us and no server in the middle of your conversations.
Your messages never leave your device
Reach any chat instantly
Press the command bar, start typing, and jump straight to any conversation, or add a new service, in about a second. It's the fastest way through a busy day.
#design-review Olivia BennettEvery account, side by side
Two WhatsApp numbers, three Slacks, a work and a personal Gmail. Keep them all separate, and split them into workspaces for work and life.
Workyou@work.comPersonalyou@gmail.comQuiet when you need it
Flip on Do Not Disturb, set Quiet Hours for evenings and weekends, or use Focus Mode to hide everything except the one chat you're in.
Do Not DisturbOn until 9am
Quiet hoursEvery evening & weekend
60+ apps, one click each
WhatsApp, Slack, Gmail, Telegram, Discord, Teams, Instagram and dozens more connect with a single click, and each one stays signed in and separate.
+55On Mac, Windows and Linux
One calm app across all three, living in your tray and launching at login, so it's there the moment you sit down at any machine.
Ready on every OSMac · Windows · Linux
Free, and yours to keep
Three apps are free forever, no card and no sign-up. Go Pro for unlimited, or pay once and own it for good. No subscription hanging over you.
Free$0Any 3 apps, forever
Pro, one-time$129Yours to keep
How that stacks up
Cloud aggregators nail the single inbox but hold your data. Tab-style apps stay on your machine but never really unify anything. Spanbox is the one column that does both.
| What you actually want | Spanbox | Cloud aggregators e.g. Beeper |
Tab-style apps e.g. Rambox, Ferdium |
|---|---|---|---|
| One prioritized unified inbox | Yes | Yes | No, just tabs |
| Local-first, data stays on device | Yes | No, bridged via servers | Yes |
| Official app sessions, nothing to flag | Yes | No, unofficial bridges | Yes |
| Multiple accounts and workspaces | Yes | Limited | Yes |
| Privacy Shield and app lock | Yes | No | No |
| No forced subscription | Free or one-time | Monthly | Free |
| Mac, Windows and Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The terms, in plain English
A few names get thrown around for the same idea.
Here's what they mean, and where Spanbox fits.
Universal chat app
One app that combines lots of separate chat networks into a single place, so WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord and the rest live under one roof instead of ten. Spanbox is a universal chat app in exactly that sense.
Unified inbox
A single screen that shows every text and chat you have waiting, across all your accounts, instead of a badge you chase app by app. A real unified inbox is the heart of Spanbox, not a row of tabs. You'll also hear it called a universal inbox or omnichannel inbox.
Messenger aggregator
Software that collects separate messaging platforms and connects them in one window. The same idea goes by multi-platform message aggregator or chat aggregator too. Spanbox is one, built local-first so nothing routes through a middleman.
Spanbox comes from a small team that got fed up with ten unread badges and one more app asking for a subscription. We went local-first on purpose, because we think your messages are yours, not a product to be mined. Meet Julian, who runs our content, or see everything Spanbox does.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The honest version, including where Spanbox falls short.
Is Spanbox better than Beeper?
It depends what you're after. Beeper is genuinely good at bridging a lot of chat networks into one place, and if raw protocol coverage is the priority, it's strong. Spanbox is playing a different game. It keeps everything on your own device instead of routing it through a company's servers, it won't put your accounts at risk, and there's no monthly bill. If privacy and owning your own setup matter more than the widest possible bridge list, Spanbox is the better fit.
Why not just pin all my apps as browser tabs?
You can, and plenty of people do. The trouble is that a wall of tabs still makes you check each one, notifications get lost, and nothing tells you who actually needs you. Spanbox gives you one sorted inbox, real desktop alerts you can mute per app, and workspaces to keep work and personal apart. It's the difference between having your apps open and staying on top of them.
Is the local-first thing real, or just marketing?
It's real, and it's testable. There's no Spanbox account to make, so we have nothing to log you into. You sign in to each app yourself, and those sessions live on your machine. We don't run a server your messages pass through, so there's nothing on our side to leak, sell, or hand over. If it isn't on your computer, it doesn't exist as far as Spanbox is concerned.
Could connecting WhatsApp or Slack get my account flagged?
No. Spanbox opens each service's own web app in an isolated session, the same thing your browser does when you visit web.whatsapp.com. There's no unofficial bridge pretending to be a phone, so there's nothing for the service to flag. Your login stays yours.
Is the free plan a trial that runs out?
No expiry. Three connected apps are free for as long as you want, with no card and no sign-up. Pro only matters if you want unlimited apps, multiple accounts, workspaces and the privacy extras, and even then you can pay once instead of monthly.
What's the catch with local-first?
There are a couple of honest trade-offs. Because nothing lives on our servers, Spanbox doesn't sync its own setup between your computers, each one keeps its own logins, though your accounts still sync through the apps themselves. It's desktop only right now, with no phone app yet. And a few voice or video calls lean on things a web app doesn't fully expose, so those can be hit or miss.
Free to download
See the difference for yourself
WhatsApp, Slack, Gmail, Telegram and 60+ apps in a single local-first window. Free to start, and there's no account to create.
Free on Mac, Windows and Linux. Your messages never leave your device.