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eM Client 11.0.1054: mail, calendar and tasks with PGP and S/MIME
A desktop client that brings mail, calendar, contacts and tasks together, works with the main mailbox providers, and supports PGP and S/MIME encryption. A free licence covers home use. Current version 11.0.1054.
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Slack keeps team conversation in channels across desktop, web and phone
A collaboration platform that organises conversation by channel and keeps messages, files and outside applications in one interface, reachable from desktop, browser and phone, with a free tier and paid plans priced by monthly active user.
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Keybase: encrypted chat built on public keys, release 6.6.3 still current
A communication tool that puts public key cryptography into everyday messaging, with chat and file sharing both encrypted end to end and an optional timer that makes sensitive messages vanish. Clients cover five systems, the code is published under a BSD licence, though the release rhythm has slowed to maintenance.
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TeamSpeak: low latency voice with a server you run yourself, clients for five systems
A long-established low latency voice option whose client is free and whose server can be hosted by the user. Encryption based on AES is on by default, permissions split by server or channel, and clients cover five desktop and mobile systems. The new client is still in testing.
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Zulip: team chat that keeps the thread of a conversation
Chat organised the way mail is organised: every message belongs to a channel and a topic, so hundreds of messages stay readable, replies can arrive days later, and self hosting is free.
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Proton Mail Review: Mail That Even the Provider Cannot Read
Proton Mail encrypts message bodies on your device, so the provider holds ciphertext it cannot open. Swiss jurisdiction, no phone number required, a usable free tier and password protected mail for outsiders.
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Mumble puts the voice server back in your hands
With commercial voice services the rooms, the permissions and the data all sit in somebody else's account. Mumble takes the self hosted route: a small server runs Murmur, and a community or a squad has its own voice house with channels, permission tiers and user management under local control.
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Jami: Peer-to-Peer Encrypted Messaging Without an Account
Jami is an open source, decentralised messenger: no account to create, no central server in the path, and messages plus voice and video calls travel device to device. Free on every major platform, it hands control of a conversation back to the two people having it.
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Mailfence: choosing an encrypted mailbox built on OpenPGP
Mailfence is a Belgian encrypted mail service built on OpenPGP, offering end to end encryption and digitally signed mail, bound by GDPR and free of advertising and profiling, with a suite of calendar, contacts and documents and a usable free tier.
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Fastmail: paying for a mailbox without ads, with domains and aliases as the main act
Fastmail charges its users instead of showing ads or scanning mail, and earns its keep with custom domains, one alias per site, and open protocols.
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Tencent Meeting: a hundred people for free, with one limit worth knowing
Tencent Meeting gets people into a call with almost no ceremony, holds up on a poor connection and turns recordings into minutes with AI assistance. The free tier seats a hundred and stops at forty minutes per session.
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Mailbird 3.0: every mailbox in one window, with a workbench bolted to the side
A desktop mail client for Windows and Mac that pulls several accounts into one inbox and connects to the mainstream mailbox services in a step. A sidebar holds chat, cloud drives and task tools, and the client covers send later, templates, read receipts and a speed-reading mode. A free tier starts it, a one-off licence finishes it.
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Element: open source encrypted chat on the Matrix protocol, with a server you can host yourself
A chat client built on the open Matrix protocol, with end to end encryption, servers you can run yourself and federation between them, and Spaces for organising rooms. The client is free and open source, and the current version is 1.12.28.
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Rocket.Chat: messages, video meetings and support tickets in one self-hosted platform
An open team communication platform that keeps messages, calls, tickets and a customer service desk in one system running on your own machine. Channels, meetings and an omni-channel inbox are built in, and the latest releases add semantic search and an agent interface.
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WeCom: the office suite that keeps work talk away from private chat, free at the base level
An office platform from the team behind WeChat: customers can be added as external contacts, the directory follows the real structure, documents and meetings sit in one client, and the base level is free. As of 2026-09 there are Windows and macOS desktop clients.
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