Frame vs Gather (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Gather grades higher than Frame: 2.2 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Gather grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Frame
Browser-based 3D spaces for team meetings and events
Gather
Virtual office with presence, meetings and chat for remote teams
Which one is for you
Pick Frame if
- Fits if you want an online 3D space for a small meeting
- Works for events that need to scale up to 50 or 300 people
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free, with 8 users in a space
- Pricey if you have several spaces, because each is billed separately
- Watch out: analytics, chat file sharing and AI video are not in the free tier
- Watch out: the prices shown are monthly, with 20% off for annual billing
- Skip it if you want a desktop or phone app, as it is browser only
Pick Gather if
- Fits if your remote team wants the quick chat you'd get by walking to someone's desk
- Works for teams that want meetings, chat and presence in one place, at $12 a member
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need a free plan, because after 30 days only one admin can get in
- Not for you if you join calls from your phone or work on Linux, as 2.0 supports neither
- Tight if you record a lot, with 2 recording hours per member a month on paid plans
- Watch out: Gather suggests 2.0 for offices of up to 100, and its single sign-on is in beta on the Custom Plan
- Too light for linking other tools, with Google Calendar, GitHub and Spotify the only integrations listed
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAFrameFair | 2.2GPAGatherFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$10 per space a month for Basic, $50 and $200 above it. Each space is upgraded and billed separately. | COne plan, $12 a member a month billed yearly or $15 monthly. That's above the $7 team chat typically starts at but short of the dear end, and it does include every feature. Single sign-on for 2.0 is in beta and sits on the Custom Plan. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free Trial plan with no time limit, capped at 8 users in a space and no analytics or file sharing. | CNo free plan. The 30-day trial is the whole product for up to 50 members and asks for no card, but when it ends only one admin can get into the workspace until somebody subscribes. |
| Features | C3D spaces, spatial chat, shared content, AI tools and roles. Analytics, file sharing and AI video are paid. | CPresence, walking over to talk, unlimited meetings with screen sharing, permanent chat with channels and threads, recording and AI notes. The limits are metered, though. Recording, transcription and guest time are monthly allowances per member, and Gather suggests 2.0 for offices up to 100. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. You build or pick a space and invite people. | CNo App Store rating on record, and the office is a thing you build: pick a template, choose an open, private or hybrid floor plan, edit rooms, walls and floors and place from more than 200 objects before anyone sits down. |
| Platforms and integrations | CBrowser only, with one integration listed. | BWeb plus Mac and Windows desktop apps and a browser extension. No phone app for Gather 2.0 and no Linux, so you join from a computer or not at all. Google Calendar, GitHub and Spotify are the integrations listed. |
| Best for | 3D meeting spaces in the browser | a virtual office for a fully remote team |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Frame and Gather. How we grade
Price against what you get
Frame starts at $10 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Gather starts at $12 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Gather scores higher, and starts $2 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other team communication apps on the chart, 39 score higher than Frame for less, and 23 score higher than Gather for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Gather also covers meeting notes, transcription and whiteboard.
At a glance
| Frame | Gather | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $10 per Frame / month | $12 per member / month, billed yearly |
| Free plan | Trial plan at no cost: 8 users in a Frame, spatial voice and text chat, 3 video uploads of 50MB each, and one AI environment generation. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of every feature for up to 50 members, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Frame | Gather Presence Inc. |
| Price read from | learn.framevr.io | gather.town |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Frame
- Plans are per Frame, not per account: each space is upgraded separately.
- The Trial tier caps a Frame at 8 users and the other tiers step up to 8, 50 and 300 users.
- Analytics, file sharing in text chat and AI video creation are not in the free tier.
- The $10, $50 and $200 prices are the monthly view; the page offers 20% off for annual billing.
Gather
- There is no free plan: after the 30-day trial only one admin can enter the workspace until a subscription starts.
- Gather 2.0 has no mobile app and does not support Linux; its desktop apps are for Mac and Windows.
- Recording, transcription and guest time are monthly allowances tied to member count, with minimums of 20, 30 and 30 hours.
- Gather recommends 2.0 for offices of up to 100 people; single sign-on for 2.0 is in beta and listed under the Custom Plan.
Key features
Frame
- 3D spaces in the browser
- Spaces run in Chrome, Edge or Safari on desktop, mobile and VR headsets, and the site says nothing needs to be installed.
- Spatial voice and text chat
- Voice chat uses spatial audio, a megaphone and custom voice zones, alongside text chat, speech-to-text and translation.
- Shared content
- Spaces can hold images, videos, PDFs, 3D models, polls, web browsers, screen share and webcams.
- AI tools
- The site lists meeting summaries, live translation in 45 languages, AI-generated images and environments, and AI characters with custom instructions.
- Custom worlds
- Teams pick from template environments or upload their own 3D assets, with documentation for advanced creators.
- Roles and access
- Admin and member roles and password protection appear on every plan.
Gather
- Virtual office and presence
- See who is available, busy or in a meeting, hear nearby conversations if you choose, and wave a teammate over or join a conversation in one click.
- Meetings
- Unlimited scheduled meetings with simultaneous screen sharing, Google Calendar sync, coworking sessions and interactive whiteboards.
- Team chat
- Permanent chat with public and private channels, DMs and group chats, thread replies and file uploads, plus meeting chat and nearby chat.
- Recording and AI meeting notes
- Meetings can be recorded and summarized as AI notes with a transcript. Paid plans include 2 recording hours and 3 transcription hours per member a month.
- Guest hours
- Clients and candidates join as guests after checking in with a member. Paid plans include 3 guest hours per member each month, with a minimum of 30.
- Office customization
- Start from a template, choose open, private or hybrid floor plans, edit rooms, walls and floors, and place more than 200 objects.
Plans
Frame
Trial$0
8 users in a Frame, spatial audio, text chat with translation, unlimited AI NPCs; no analytics, file sharing in chat or AI video.
Basic$10
per Frame / month, billed monthly
8 users in a Frame, plus analytics with 7 days of history, file sharing in text chat and Google Street View Explorer.
Plus$50
per Frame / month, billed monthly
50 users in a Frame and 6 months of analytics history.
Pro$200
per Frame / month, billed monthly
300 users in a Frame, logo branding on the load screen and sidebar, and unlimited analytics history.
Gather
Essential Plan$12
per member / month, billed yearly ($15 billed monthly)
Every feature: custom virtual office, unlimited meetings and chat, and monthly recording, transcription and guest hours that grow with team size.
Custom PlanCustom
For large teams: custom pricing and onboarding, larger offices, hybrid solutions, single sign-on and an extended trial.
Ways to pay less
Frame
- Annual discount
20% off annual billing
The pricing page has an annual toggle labelled 20% off.
- Education
50% discount for educators
The pricing page states educators can get a 50% discount.
Gather
- Annual discount
20% less with yearly billing
The Essential Plan costs $12 per member / month billed yearly against $15 billed monthly.
- Nonprofit
30% off monthly plans for nonprofits and schools
Gather's Classic (1.0) help center says spaces for nonprofits and educational institutions may be eligible for 30% off a monthly subscription, arranged through its sales team.
- By country
Regional pricing on the Custom Plan
The pricing page lists regional pricing among the Custom Plan's terms, arranged by contacting Gather for a quote. It names no countries or amounts.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Frame or Gather?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Frame starts at $10 per Frame / month, and Gather starts at $12 per member / month, billed yearly. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Frame or Gather?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Frame has a free plan. Gather does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Frame and Gather run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Gather lists macOS and Windows apps and a browser extension. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.