Fractal
Shares rank 40 of 48 messaging apps by recommenders
Linux chat client that people say works better than others and runs well with self-hosted servers; caveat: it has lacked spaces and threads.
Linux chat client that people say works better than others and runs well with self-hosted servers; caveat: it has lacked spaces and threads.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 60%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works well as a Linux client
“It's not perfect, but it's a Linux client that works better than any other client I've used”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Running My Own XMPP Server” “Similiar native applications integrate much better and use a fraction of memory”
Comment from 28 Nov 2025 in “Airloom – 3D Flight Tracker” Works well for daily use
“It's not perfect, but it's a Linux client that works better than any other client I've used”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Running My Own XMPP Server” “I use fractal and a self-hosted server and it works great.”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “Running My Own XMPP Server” Broad range of clients and uses
“I also liked the fractal gnu app & it has tons of clients.”
Comment from 10 Feb 2026 in “Discord Alternatives, Ranked” “So many use-cases for this”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “Show HN: Fractal – recursive agent loops for complex, multi-step work”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Missing spaces and threads
“there were some issues in Fractal where it didn't support spaces sometime back”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Telegram's t.me domain has been suspended” “it still misses some fairly major features like spaces and threads”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Telegram's t.me domain has been suspended”
Other messaging apps people recommend
The four most recommended other messaging apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 48 messaging apps, rankedWhat people said
9 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“So many use-cases for this”
“it still misses some fairly major features like spaces and threads”
“there were some issues in Fractal where it didn't support spaces sometime back”
“neither was polished at the time of use”
“I use fractal and a self-hosted server and it works great.”
“It's not perfect, but it's a Linux client that works better than any other client I've used”
“I also liked the fractal gnu app & it has tons of clients.”
“every time they fail to validate their sessions”
“Similiar native applications integrate much better and use a fraction of memory”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.