The 6 Best Telegram Chat Clients For Linux – Updated
Telegram is an excellent messaging service, and one of the few that actually has a native, non-web chat client for the Linux desktop. However, as nice as the official Telegram app is, some users may want to improve upon it. For this reason, there are many third-party message clients for the service popping up on the Linux platform. If you’re looking for a better Telegram client to use on the Linux platform, we’ve got you covered. Here are the 6 best Telegram chat clients for Linux to check out!
1. 64Gram
64Gram is an unofficial, open-source Telegram client for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. It works well for Linux users, however, it is very versatile and can be used on other platforms as well, ensuring you get the same experience no matter what OS you use.
Notable Features
- 64Gram is built to run extremely efficiently, and as a result, it is much faster than the stock Telegram client for Linux.
- 64Gram has a built-in “Upload Speed Boost” feature that ensures attachments you upload to the Telegram service are extremely fast.
- 64Gram integrates a Radio Controller into itself so that users can easily stream music within Telegram.
- Includes very useful added features, like the ability to hide the “All chats” folder, increased download chunk sizes, and much more.
2. Rambox
Rambox: a cross-platform messaging/email tool that makes communicating easier by putting it all in one place. Supports dozens of protocols, including Telegram.
Notable Features
- Along with support for message protocols like Telegram, it also supports various email protocols as well.
- Supports app badges so users can see unread messages at a glance.
- Lock feature lets the user keep your chat information private while AFK.
- Lets users add custom, third-party services to the app.
- “Code injection” feature lets the user take control of Rambox and add custom features.
- Support for proxy connections.
- Has a “do not disturb mode”. A great addition for those who get too many messages.
- Can be password locked with a Master Password for increased privacy and security.
- Sync connections, preferences and etc with the “sync” feature.
- Works on Mac and Windows, along with Linux.
- System tray icon lets you hide the app but keep it running at all times.
3. Franz
An all-in-one application that allows users to keep dozens of separate chat services in one window for maximum usefulness. Along with Telegram, Franz supports dozens of other protocols, some of which don’t have native Linux applications.
Notable Features
- Along with Telegram, users can access Slack, WhatsApp, Discord, Google Hangouts, HipChat, Google Inbox, and many, many more services,
- A single Franz account can manage multiple chat protocols.
- Instead of creating their own Telegram experience, Franz embeds the Telegram web interface directly in a chat window, ensuring you don’t miss out on any important features.
- Cross-platform and available on Mac, Windows and Linux allows users to get the same chat experience on different operating systems.
- Easily installable from mainstream Linux distribution repositories. A nice change from having to download or compile the official Telegram Linux client.
4. Webogram
Webogram is a web app that makes it easy to run the Telegram chat service anywhere with a native app (even Chrome OS!) Mirrors official Telegram features for familiarity.
Notable Features
- Allows users to essentially host their own private instance of the Telegram web app.
- Supports all Telegram chat protocol features come to expect.
- Even though it is a web application it offers desktop notifications.
5. Pidgin (with Telegram Plugin)
Pidgin is a chat client that allows users to manage multiple message protocols into a single buddy-list. It doesn’t support Telegram out of the box, but gives users the freedom to easily install third-party protocols (like Telegram Purple) to power up their chat experience.
Notable Features
- Allows users to add their Telegram contacts to one big “Buddy list” for easy access.
- Highly extensible with third-party plugins.
- Offers a lighter, more native Linux implementation of Telegram while still giving users the core experience they have come to expect from Telegram.
- The plugin also works well with Empathy IM on Linux thanks to Pidgin plugin integration.
6. Telegram-CLI
Telegram-CLI is Telegram for the terminal. It is fully functional and lets users communicate with friends directly in the command line. Perfect for avid users of Telegram who find themselves in a terminal most of the time.
Notable Features
- Text-only design means it’s possible to access Telegram on even the slowest of computers.
- Even though it is text-based, Telegram CLI can send multimedia files like video files and text files.
- The autocomplete feature is useful, as it mitigates the need to type the same commands over and over.
- Works on other platforms aside from Linux (like MacOS, various BSD operating systems, etc.)
- Can view multimedia (by loading up a media viewer).
- Supports exporting and importing contact cards.
- Support for secret chat mode (something the official Linux Telegram app doesn’t do).
