Email is the cornerstone of contemporary sales communication; it's where deals progress, follow-ups occur, and relationships are nurtured.

As teams increasingly depend on automated outreach, multi-channel engagement, and accurate tracking, CRMs are competing more on the effectiveness of their native email integrations.

While both Streak and Attio provide built-in email workflows, their depth, usability, and influence on daily sales operations vary significantly. For teams prioritizing simplicity over complexity and seeking swift, effective email execution, folk offers one of the cleanest and most robust email integrations available in any CRM—streamlining the processes of sending, tracking, and automating outreach directly from your workspace.

Why is Email Integration Important?

Effective email integration elevates a CRM from a mere database to a cohesive communication center. Instead of toggling between tabs or relying on disparate tools, representatives can send messages, automate follow-ups, and track engagement all from one platform.

• Centralized communication. All emails—sent or received—sync seamlessly with the corresponding contact or deal.
• Smarter follow-ups. Automated reminders and sequences empower reps to follow up at optimal moments without manual intervention.
• Real-time tracking. Open rates, clicks, and replies are fed directly into the CRM, guiding subsequent steps.
• Cleaner data. Emails instantly enrich 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 the deal stage or contact activity.

When a CRM manages email seamlessly, reps can stop juggling multiple tools and concentrate on conversations that generate revenue. This distinction is what sets a good CRM apart from one that truly propels sales forward!

What is Streak?

Streak is a streamlined CRM seamlessly integrated within Gmail, transforming your inbox into a collaborative pipeline for sales, support, and account management. With everything housed in one place, users can effortlessly manage deals, track progress, and collaborate on emails, all without the need to switch tabs. At its core, Streak emphasizes email, featuring real-time tracking and pipeline views that overlay your existing Gmail conversations.

What is Attio?

Attio is a contemporary, customizable CRM designed as a shared workspace, allowing teams to centralize contacts, companies, and deals in a single live database. It integrates with Gmail and Microsoft 365 to automatically sync emails and calendar events, ensuring every conversation is linked to the appropriate contact or opportunity timeline. Users can send emails directly from their connected inboxes within Attio, utilize templates, and monitor engagement without leaving the CRM.

Feature comparison of Streak and Attio

Integration Capabilities

Streak seamlessly integrates within Gmail, transforming your inbox into a comprehensive CRM without the need for additional windows or applications. Every email you send or receive is automatically logged to the appropriate pipeline and shared across your team's workspace, ensuring you have an up-to-date timeline for each deal without the hassle of manual bcc’ing.

In contrast, Attio does not feature a built-in inbox or calendar plugin; instead, it utilizes Zapier’s Email by Zapier or Pipedream to capture both inbound and outbound emails, reflecting them in Attio’s contact timelines. You can easily set up triggers like “New Email Received” or “Send Email,” and map fields such as subject, body, and attachments to the relevant Attio properties.

Sync Frequency and Reliability

Streak provides real-time email synchronization by operating within Gmail's own infrastructure. The moment you send or receive a message, Streak logs it instantly into the relevant pipeline, ensuring your team always has access to the latest activity without any delays. 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 enjoy the benefits of Google's exceptional uptime and reliability.

In contrast, Attio relies on Zapier or Pipedream to capture email and calendar events, which means that the sync frequency is contingent on the plan of your chosen automation platform.

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 just under two minutes—no need for CSV imports or third-party applications. You can easily insert custom variables, such as first names, companies, and deal data from your pipelines, schedule automatic follow-up sequences in the same thread, and even A/B test subject lines to enhance reply rates. Every sent message and follow-up is logged seamlessly in your Streak timeline, ensuring you maintain visibility on who has opened, clicked, or replied. However, Streak’s campaign features lack advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you won’t have access to detailed reporting on unsubscribes or bounce handling unless you incorporate additional tools.

On the other hand, Attio sets itself apart by immediately ingesting your email and calendar data during the onboarding process: simply connect your Google or Microsoft account, and Attio will pull in email events and calendar appointments in real-time as CRM activities.

Mail Merge and Campaigns

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 (such as first names, company names, and deal data) from your pipelines, schedule automatic follow-up sequences within the same thread, and even A/B test subject lines to enhance response rates. Each sent message and follow-up is logged seamlessly in your Streak timeline, ensuring you maintain visibility on who has opened, clicked, or replied. However, Streak’s campaign features do fall short in terms of advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you won't receive detailed reports on unsubscribes or bounce handling unless you incorporate another tool.

On the other hand, Attio does not offer a native mail merge or campaign module, so you'll need to subscribe to an automation tool like Zapier to fill this gap.

Open and Click Tracking

Streak integrates a small tracking pixel and link tracker directly into Gmail, providing real-time “eye” icons that display each time an email is opened or a link is clicked within a specific thread. By hovering over the green eye, you can access timestamps, locations, and detailed per-link click data without ever leaving your inbox. Thanks to its foundation on Gmail’s API, setup is nearly effortless, and feedback is instantaneous; however, it lacks aggregated campaign dashboards and multi-link heat-mapping beyond individual message views.

In contrast, Attio does not feature built-in open or click tracking. Instead, email events are captured through Zapier or Pipedream triggers, requiring you to create your own pixel-and-webhook workflows to track opens and clicks and associate them with contacts. While this setup offers maximum flexibility, it comes at the cost of a user-friendly analytics dashboard; you’ll need to develop custom reports within your automation platform or business intelligence tool.

In-Inbox CRM Experience

Streak operates entirely within Gmail, providing comprehensive CRM features—including pipelines, contact details, and email logging—all without leaving your inbox. The sidebar displays deal stages, custom fields, and shared notes alongside each thread, ensuring you always have context readily available. You can easily drag and drop emails into different pipelines or update statuses instantly, creating a seamless integration of your inbox and CRM. However, since Streak is exclusive to Gmail, this in-inbox experience won't be available if you choose to switch to Outlook or another email client.

In contrast, Attio does not integrate directly into your inbox; instead, you rely on Zapier or Pipedream to log emails and events back into Attio’s timeline. While Attio offers a clean, contact-centric view, it lacks a sidebar in Gmail or Outlook for on-the-spot record editing. This approach provides flexibility, but it doesn’t deliver the same seamless in-inbox experience.

folk CRM: The Ultimate Email CRM

folk provides teams with the seamless, interconnected email workflow they've been lacking. It centralizes communication, automates follow-ups, and simplifies sequencing, all within a clean and user-friendly CRM. With a 4.5/5 rating on G2, folk stands out as one of the top lightweight CRMs for modern sales and partnership teams.

Designed specifically for startups, agencies, and expanding sales teams of 20-50 members, folk makes email operations effortless rather than overwhelming.

Extract Intel from Emails

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

• Easily recap past conversations with a click using folk's Recap assistant, which gathers information from emails and notes to create a summary, giving you context in seconds.
• Follow up at optimal times, as AI scans conversations and notifies you when it’s time to reach out, even drafting replies for you.

Email Sequencing & Automation

folk’s integrated sequencing engine simplifies the creation of automated outreach flows directly within the CRM. You can build multi-step email sequences, personalize messages using CRM fields, and automatically log every interaction. Whether nurturing leads, executing outbound campaigns, or re-engaging inactive deals, folk provides a robust yet straightforward sequencing workflow that eliminates the need for separate tools.

Set conditions based on your CRM variables to automatically send emails, such as when a deal closes or when a new lead is acquired.

AI-Powered Follow-Up Reminders

folk’s AI Follow-Up feature guarantees that no conversation slips through the cracks. By analyzing your email history, folk alerts you when a contact hasn’t responded, highlights cold conversations, and pinpoints the perfect time to reconnect. It functions like a built-in assistant, keeping your inbox organized and your pipeline active—without the hassle of manual tracking.

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

Conclusion

In summary, Streak offers seamless Gmail integration with real-time tracking, making it ideal for users who value efficiency within their inbox. Attio provides a customizable workspace that centralizes data but relies on third-party tools for email functionality. However, for teams focused on email integration, automation, and sequencing, folk stands out as the best alternative. Its powerful native email features and intuitive interface streamline communication and automate follow-ups, transforming email into a key driver of sales success.

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