![](https://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/mybb18/images/reksio/flecha.png)
A linkshell is a chat tab you get invited to. You can belong to 8 of them at any given time, and talk into them with the /l(number) command, so /l1, /l2 etcetera. A Free Company is your guild-equivalent - There are benefits to being in a Free Company though they're arguably limited. Housing, chocobo stables and airships (in 3.0) are the obvious draws.