Email continues to be the foundation of contemporary sales communication, serving as the platform where deals progress, follow-ups occur, and relationships are nurtured.

As teams increasingly depend on automated outreach, multi-channel engagement, and precise tracking, CRMs are vying for attention based on the quality of their native email integrations.

While both Freshsales and Zoho CRM provide built-in email workflows, their effectiveness, usability, and influence on daily sales activities vary significantly. For teams prioritizing simplicity and seeking fast, reliable email execution, folk offers one of the most streamlined and robust email integrations available in any CRM—facilitating easier sending, tracking, and automation of outreach directly from your workspace.

Why Email Integration Matters?

Effective email integration elevates a CRM from merely being a data repository to a cohesive communication hub. Rather than toggling between tabs or relying on disparate tools, sales reps can send messages, automate follow-ups, and monitor engagement all from a single platform.

• Centralized communication. All emails—both sent and received—automatically sync to the appropriate contact or deal.
• Smarter follow-ups. Automated reminders and sequences enable reps to follow up at optimal moments without manual input.
• Real-time tracking. Open rates, clicks, and replies are directly fed into the CRM, informing subsequent actions.
• Cleaner data. Emails instantly enrich contact profiles with context and conversation history.
• Email templates. Customizable, reusable templates help teams maintain consistency while saving time.
• Outreach automation. Send bulk emails, sequences, or triggered messages based on deal stages or contact activities.

When a CRM manages email seamlessly, sales reps can focus less on juggling tools and more on engaging in conversations that drive revenue. This distinction is what elevates a solid CRM to one that truly propels sales forward!

What is Freshsales?

Freshsales is Freshworks’ sales CRM tailored for small to mid-sized teams seeking an intuitive interface paired with robust automation features. Users can seamlessly connect their Gmail or Microsoft 365 accounts, opting for either one-way or two-way sync to maintain alignment between their mailbox and the CRM. With tools like templates, bulk email options, and activity timelines, email becomes central to how representatives manage their leads and opportunities.

What is Zoho CRM?

Zoho CRM is a versatile, all-in-one CRM solution ideal for businesses that require extensive customization and an expansive suite of business applications. Its email integration accommodates Zoho Mail, Gmail, Outlook, and various IMAP providers, enabling teams to send, receive, and archive emails directly within the CRM. With features like shared inbox views, basic tracking, and automation, email interactions become a key component of a comprehensive omnichannel engagement strategy.

Feature comparison of Freshsales and Zoho CRM

Integration Capabilities

Freshsales offers native plugins for Gmail and Outlook that display email threads, scheduling tools, and relevant contact information right within your inbox. Once connected, Freshsales automatically scans incoming emails for recognized contact addresses and logs conversations, allowing you to manage clutter by selecting which folders to sync.

Zoho’s Email Insights add-on enables you to sync Gmail, Outlook, or any IMAP provider directly with Zoho CRM, automatically logging messages and attachments to the appropriate records. You have the flexibility to choose which folders to include, ensuring irrelevant threads are excluded from your CRM while capturing every email that drives opportunities. Additionally, Zoho Calendar syncs in both directions with Google, Office 365, or iCal, ensuring that meeting invites and updates seamlessly integrate into both your personal calendar and CRM timeline.

Sync Frequency and Reliability

Freshsales offers seamless connectivity through native plugins, ensuring a constant link to your Gmail or Outlook account while syncing emails and calendar events in real time. You'll see incoming messages from known leads within seconds, and outgoing emails logged from the CRM are immediately reflected in your email thread. Calendar events also sync instantly, guaranteeing that meetings scheduled in Freshsales appear in your personal calendar without delay.

Similarly, Zoho’s Email Insights add-on maintains a live connection to your mail provider using IMAP IDLE or OAuth, allowing for near real-time message synchronization. Expect emails to show up in the CRM timeline just seconds after they arrive, with all attachments and metadata preserved. The two-way calendar sync is equally prompt for Google Calendar, Office 365, and iCal, with Zoho’s retry logic effectively managing any temporary disruptions.

Two-Way Email and Calendar Sync

Freshsales offers a comprehensive Marketing Campaigns module—simply go to Campaigns > Email to design email blasts or create automated Journeys based on user behaviors. With features like drag-and-drop templates, dynamic segments, and analytics dashboards tracking delivery rates, opens, clicks, and unsubscribes, you'll have everything you need. Additional enhancements such as built-in retry logic and ISP throttling boost your email deliverability. However, keep in mind that more advanced functionalities like heat-map click analysis and AI-driven send-time optimization necessitate an upgrade to Freshmarketer.

Zoho CRM facilitates email synchronization through POP/IMAP or OAuth for Outlook, Gmail, and any IMAP provider. Once set up in Settings > Channels > Email, both inbound and outbound messages are automatically linked to the corresponding lead or contact record.

Mail Merge and Campaigns

Freshsales features a comprehensive Marketing Campaigns module—simply go to Campaigns > Email to launch email blasts or automated Journeys based on user behavior. With drag-and-drop templates, dynamic segments, and analytics dashboards, you can track delivery rates, opens, clicks, and unsubscribes. The built-in retry logic and ISP throttling enhance deliverability. However, keep in mind that more advanced functionalities like heat-map click analysis and AI-driven send-time optimization necessitate an upgrade to Freshmarketer.

Zoho CRM's Mass Email tool allows you to send up to 1,000 emails per day per user, utilizing customizable templates and merge tags for a personalized touch. For larger campaigns, Zoho Campaigns integrates effortlessly, providing advanced segmentation, a drag-and-drop design interface, and detailed analytics on delivery, opens, clicks, and unsubscribes. Be aware that since Zoho Campaigns is a separate product, managing billing and user permissions across both platforms may lead to additional administrative tasks.

Open and Click Tracking

Freshsales allows you to enable “Track opens and clicks” in Settings > Email Settings, ensuring that every email sent through the native plugin logs open events and link clicks in the contact timeline. You can view delivery, open, and click metrics in both the Deal dashboard and the Campaigns module. However, keep in mind that open rates depend on image-based pixels; if a recipient blocks images or views links in preview panes, the stats may be underreported.

Zoho CRM’s basic Email Insights automatically track opens when emails are sent via Gmail or Outlook connectors, and you can activate link-click tracking using the ZeptoMail integration for comprehensive click-through data. Without ZeptoMail, CRM users only see open metrics, as full click analytics necessitate the separate transactional email product, which entails additional costs and configuration steps.

In-Inbox CRM Experience

Freshsales offers native plugins for Gmail and Outlook that seamlessly integrate your CRM sidebar into your inbox, allowing you to access lead profiles, deal values, and past email exchanges while composing or reviewing messages. You can easily log emails, schedule meetings, and initiate sequences with just one click, syncing everything back to Freshsales. The plugin also consolidates calendar events in the same view, creating a smooth experience for managing both messages and appointments. However, if you prefer a different email client, you'll need to rely on IMAP sync instead of the full plugin features.

Zoho’s eWidget provides a sidebar within Zoho Mail, Gmail, or Outlook, enabling you to add leads, view contact details, and log emails without leaving your inbox. You can see deal stages, tasks, and meeting notes inline, and with a single click, you can send predefined templates or create new records. Just keep in mind that this sidebar is limited to those specific email clients—using Thunderbird or other services means sacrificing the in-inbox convenience.

folk CRM: The Ultimate Email CRM

folk provides teams with a seamless, connected email workflow that enhances productivity. By centralizing communication, automating follow-ups, and simplifying sequencing, it offers a clean and intuitive CRM experience. With a 4.5/5 rating on G2, folk is recognized as one of the top lightweight CRMs for modern sales and partnership teams.

Designed specifically for startups, agencies, and growing sales teams of 20-50 members, folk streamlines email operations, making them intuitive rather than overwhelming.

Extract Insights from Emails

One of folk’s standout features is its ability to centralize communication and convert every email and call into actionable intelligence, thanks to native email syncing with Gmail and Outlook, along with AI-driven analysis. Teams can:

• Quickly recap past conversations with a click using folk's Recap assistant, which gathers insights from emails and notes to create a summary, providing context in seconds.
• Follow up at the optimal time, with AI scanning conversations to notify you when to reach out and even draft a reply for you.

Email Sequencing & Automation

folk’s built-in sequencing engine allows you to easily create automated outreach flows directly within the CRM. You can develop multi-step email sequences, personalize messages using CRM fields, and ensure every interaction is logged automatically. Whether you’re nurturing leads, executing outbound campaigns, or re-engaging inactive deals, folk offers a powerful yet straightforward sequencing workflow that eliminates the need for separate tools.

Set conditions based on your CRM variables to automatically trigger emails, such as when a deal is closed or when a new lead is added.

AI-Powered Follow-Up Reminders

The AI Follow-Up feature in folk guarantees that no conversation slips through the cracks. By assessing your email history, folk notifies you when a contact hasn’t responded, highlights conversations that have cooled off, and pinpoints the best moments to re-engage. It functions as your personal assistant, keeping your inbox organized and your pipeline active—without any manual tracking.

folk starts at $20 per user per month, offering native email integration and sequencing, along with a 14-day free trial—no credit card required.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Freshsales excels with its intuitive interface and automation features, making it ideal for small teams. Zoho CRM offers extensive customization and integration options, appealing to businesses needing a comprehensive solution. However, for teams that prioritize seamless email integration, automation, and powerful sequencing, folk stands out as the best choice. Its AI-driven insights, centralized communication, and straightforward workflows transform email into a strategic asset for driving revenue, positioning folk as the ultimate CRM for email-centric teams.

Start your 14-day free trial or book a demo today.