Email is the cornerstone of modern sales communication: it's where deals progress, follow-ups occur, and relationships strengthen.

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

While both Streak and Pipedrive provide built-in email workflows, their depth, usability, and influence on daily sales operations vary significantly. For teams prioritizing simplicity over clutter and seeking quick, reliable email execution, folk offers one of the cleanest and most powerful email integrations available in any CRM—making it effortless to send, track, and automate outreach directly from your workspace.

Why Email Integration Matters?

Effective email integration elevates a CRM from a mere database to a cohesive communication hub. Instead of toggling between tabs or relying on disjointed tools, representatives can send messages, automate follow-ups, and monitor engagement all in one place.

• Centralized communication. All emails—whether sent or received—automatically sync to the appropriate contact or deal.
• Smarter follow-ups. Automated reminders and sequences enable reps to follow up at optimal times without manual input.
• Real-time tracking. Open rates, clicks, and replies flow directly into the CRM to inform subsequent actions.
• Cleaner data. Emails instantly enhance contact profiles with context and conversation history.
• Email templates. Reusable, personalized templates help teams maintain consistency and save time.
• Outreach automation. Send bulk emails, sequences, or triggered messages based on deal stages or contact activities.

When a CRM manages email seamlessly, reps can shift their focus from juggling tools to engaging in conversations that drive revenue. That's what distinguishes a good CRM from one that truly accelerates sales!

What is Streak?

Streak is a lightweight CRM integrated directly into Gmail, transforming your inbox into a collaborative pipeline for sales, support, and account management. This seamless experience allows users to manage deals, track stages, and collaborate on threads without having to switch tabs. At its core, the product revolves around email, featuring real-time tracking and pipeline views that overlay your existing Gmail conversations.

What is Pipedrive?

Pipedrive is a sales-oriented CRM designed around a visual pipeline that assists representatives in tracking deals from initial contact to closure. With its email synchronization capabilities, it connects to Gmail, Outlook, and other IMAP providers, automatically logging every message to the appropriate contact and deal. Equipped with a built-in sales inbox, tracking features, and basic campaign tools, Pipedrive enables teams to manage outreach and pipeline updates all in one centralized platform, eliminating the need for multiple tools.

Feature comparison of Streak and Pipedrive

Integration Capabilities

Streak operates entirely within Gmail, transforming your inbox into a comprehensive CRM without the need for additional windows or applications. Each email you send or receive is automatically recorded in the appropriate pipeline and shared across your team’s workspace, providing a real-time timeline of every deal without the hassle of manual bcc’ing.

Pipedrive’s email sync seamlessly integrates with Gmail and Outlook (with IMAP support for other providers), ensuring that every inbound and outbound message is linked to the correct contact or deal record. The Smart Email BCC feature allows you to log messages directly from your email client; simply add the dynamic bcc, and Pipedrive handles the rest. Additionally, native calendar integration with Google and Microsoft calendars guarantees that all your meetings automatically appear on contact timelines, offering a unified view of all customer interactions.

Sync Frequency and Reliability

Streak’s email sync operates in real time, thanks to its integration within Gmail’s infrastructure. As soon as you send or receive a message, Streak instantly logs it into the appropriate pipeline, ensuring your team is always updated with the latest activity without any delay. There’s virtually no lag or queuing—messages and thread updates appear immediately in both your inbox and Streak’s interface. By connecting directly to Gmail, you benefit from Google's exceptional uptime and reliability.

Pipedrive’s email sync with Gmail and Outlook is designed to run every few minutes, striking a balance between immediacy and system performance. Outbound and inbound messages are captured and matched to contacts or deals in under five minutes, minimizing the chances of missing or delayed logs. Additionally, the IMAP fallback adheres to standard IMAP IDLE protocols for push notifications, providing nearly instant updates for compatible providers.

Two-Way Email and Calendar Sync

Streak’s Mail Merge tool is integrated directly within Gmail, enabling you to send personalized mass emails to hundreds of recipients in under two minutes—no need for CSV imports or third-party applications. You can easily insert custom variables (like first name, company, and deal data) from your pipelines, schedule automatic follow-up sequences in the same thread, and even conduct A/B tests on subject lines to enhance reply rates. Every sent message and follow-up is automatically logged in your Streak timeline, ensuring you never lose track of who’s opened, clicked, or replied. However, it’s worth noting that Streak’s campaign features do not include advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you won't receive detailed reports on unsubscribes or bounce handling unless you integrate an additional tool.

Freshsales provides native plugins for Gmail and Outlook with the option of two-way or one-way email sync upon setup, with two-way sync set as the default. This ensures that both incoming and outgoing emails are instantly reflected in your mailbox and CRM timeline. Additionally, Freshsales supports bi-directional calendar sync with Google Calendar and Office 365, allowing appointments scheduled in either your inbox or the CRM to be reflected in both places, thereby keeping your meeting history aligned with email conversations in a unified timeline.

Mail Merge and Campaigns

Streak’s Mail Merge tool is integrated directly into Gmail, allowing you to send personalized mass emails to hundreds of recipients in just under two minutes—no need for CSV imports or third-party apps. You can easily insert custom variables such as first names, company details, and deal information directly from your pipelines. Additionally, you can schedule automatic follow-up sequences within the same thread and A/B test subject lines to enhance reply rates. Every sent message and follow-up is seamlessly recorded in your Streak timeline, ensuring you maintain visibility on who has opened, clicked, or replied. However, it's important to note that Streak’s campaign features lack advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you won't receive detailed reports on unsubscribes or bounce handling without incorporating another tool.

For those on Advanced plans or higher, Pipedrive’s Group Emailing feature enables you to select up to 100 contacts from any list and send bulk messages with merge tags and reply tracking. The Pipedrive Campaigns add-on offers a dedicated module for crafting email journeys, segmenting audiences, and analyzing open and click rates. All replies are automatically mapped back to the correct deal or contact. The downside? The Campaigns add-on comes with an additional cost, and reporting capabilities are more limited compared to standalone email marketing platforms.

Open and Click Tracking

Streak integrates a small tracking pixel and link tracker directly into Gmail, providing real-time “eye” icons that indicate when an email is opened or a link is clicked within a thread. By hovering over the green eye, you can easily access timestamps, locations, and per-link click data—all without leaving your inbox. Since it operates entirely on Gmail’s API, setup is minimal and feedback is instantaneous; however, aggregated campaign dashboards and multi-link heat-mapping are not available beyond individual message views.

Pipedrive offers “Track email opening” and “Track link opening” toggles, ensuring that every sent message records both opens and clicks, complete with counts and timestamps found in the Mail tab. You can enable or disable tracking for each email and pinpoint exactly who clicked which link in the deal view. Yet, Pipedrive's reporting is limited to basic open and click rates, lacking built-in funnel visualizations or heat-map insights unless you export data to a BI tool.

In-Inbox CRM Experience

Streak operates entirely within Gmail, offering full CRM capabilities—such as pipelines, contact details, and email logging—without you ever needing to leave your inbox. The sidebar displays deal stages, custom fields, and shared notes next to each thread, ensuring you have context readily available. You can effortlessly drag and drop emails into various pipelines or update statuses on the spot, creating a seamless integration between your inbox and CRM. However, keep in mind that Streak is exclusive to Gmail, so if you switch to Outlook or another mail client, you won’t enjoy the same in-inbox experience.

Pipedrive's Gmail Add-on places a side panel in your inbox, allowing you to view contact and deal information, update stages, and add new activities without departing from Gmail. You gain immediate access to Smart Email BCC, templates, and tracking options, while also being able to create new leads or deals with just one click. It effectively transforms your mailbox into a Pipedrive cockpit. However, this in-inbox functionality is only available on Chrome or Edge, as there is no similar add-on for desktop Outlook.

folk CRM: The Best Email CRM

folk provides teams with the seamless, integrated email workflow they've been craving. It consolidates communication, automates follow-ups, and simplifies sequencing, all within a user-friendly CRM interface. With a remarkable 4.5/5 rating on G2, folk is recognized as one of the top-rated lightweight CRMs, ideal for modern sales and partnership teams.

Designed specifically for startups, agencies, and growing sales teams of 20-50, folk streamlines email operations to enhance efficiency without causing overwhelm.

Extract Intel from Emails

One of folk’s standout features is its ability to centralize communication, turning emails and calls into actionable insights. Thanks to seamless email synchronization 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 information from emails and notes to create a summary, providing context in seconds.
• Follow up at the optimal time, as the AI scans conversations to alert you when it's time to reconnect and even drafts replies for you.

Email Sequencing & Automation

folk’s built-in sequencing engine simplifies the creation of automated outreach flows directly within the CRM. You can design multi-step email sequences, personalize messages with CRM data, and ensure every interaction is automatically logged. Whether you're nurturing leads, conducting outbound campaigns, or re-engaging inactive deals, folk offers a powerful yet straightforward sequencing workflow that eliminates the need for additional tools.

Set conditions using your CRM variables to trigger automatic email sends, such as when a deal is closed or a new lead is added.

AI-Powered Follow-Up Reminders

folk’s AI Follow-Up feature guarantees that no conversation slips through the cracks. By evaluating your email history, folk notifies you when a contact hasn't responded, brings attention to cold conversations, and pinpoints the ideal moments to re-engage. It serves as a built-in assistant, ensuring your inbox remains organized and your pipeline stays active—without the hassle of manual tracking.

folk starts at $20 per user per month, featuring native email integration and sequences, and offers a 14-day free trial—no credit card required.

Conclusion

In summary, Streak excels with its seamless Gmail integration, allowing real-time email and deal management directly within the inbox. Pipedrive offers a robust visual pipeline and solid email sync for broader email client support. However, for teams focused on automation, sequencing, and email-centric workflows, folk stands out as the premier choice. With its intuitive interface, AI-driven follow-up capabilities, and powerful email integration, folk transforms email into a dynamic sales engine, making it the best alternative for modern sales teams.

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