Email is the foundation of contemporary sales communication: it’s where deals progress, follow-ups occur, and relationships strengthen.

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

While both Streak and Close CRM provide built-in email workflows, their depth, usability, and effects on daily sales operations vary significantly. For teams prioritizing simplicity and seeking efficient email execution, folk offers one of the most streamlined and powerful email integrations in any CRM, allowing you to effortlessly send, track, and automate your outreach directly from your workspace.

Why Does Email Integration Matter?

Effective email integration elevates a CRM from a basic database to a cohesive communication hub. Rather than toggling between tabs or relying on disparate tools, reps can send messages, automate follow-ups, and monitor engagement all in one place.

• 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 times without manual intervention.
• Real-time tracking. Open rates, clicks, and replies are directly fed into the CRM, guiding subsequent actions.
• Cleaner data. Emails enrich contact profiles in real-time with context and conversation history.
• Email templates. Reusable, personalized templates ensure 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 stop juggling multiple tools and concentrate on conversations that drive revenue. This is what distinguishes a good CRM from one that genuinely accelerates sales!

What is Streak?

Streak is a streamlined CRM integrated directly within Gmail, transforming your inbox into a collaborative pipeline for sales, support, and account management. Users can manage deals, monitor stages, and collaborate on emails without needing to switch tabs, all within the familiar Gmail interface. Email forms the backbone of the product, enhanced by real-time tracking and pipeline views that overlay your existing conversations.

What is Close CRM?

Close CRM is a sales platform designed for high-velocity inside sales teams, featuring integrated calling, SMS, and email functionalities. With two-way email sync built-in, sales representatives can send, receive, and track communications directly within Close, ensuring every conversation is automatically associated with the relevant contact and opportunity. Features like bulk emails, sequences, and performance reporting transform email into a structured outreach tool rather than a solitary inbox.

Feature comparison of Streak and Close CRM

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 into the appropriate pipeline and shared across your team's workspace, providing you with an up-to-date timeline for each deal without the hassle of manual bcc’ing.

Close offers a straightforward email integration: simply connect your Gmail or Outlook account, authenticate through OAuth, and every message with a matched contact will automatically populate Close’s timeline. Although Close doesn't natively sync calendar events, you can easily integrate meetings back into the CRM using Zapier or Google Calendar, ensuring your schedule is in sync with your sales pipeline.

Sync Frequency and Reliability

Streak offers real-time email synchronization as it operates within Gmail's own infrastructure. The moment you send or receive a message, Streak instantly logs it into the appropriate pipeline, ensuring that your team is always up-to-date with the latest activity. There's virtually no lag or queuing; messages and thread updates show up immediately in both your inbox and Streak’s interface. By connecting directly to Gmail, you also benefit from Google's renowned uptime and reliability.

Close ensures immediate two-way email sync by utilizing OAuth-based connections to Gmail and Outlook. When a contact emails you, Close records it instantly—eliminating the need for polling intervals or manual BCC. Outbound emails sent from Close appear in your email provider in real time, and the same goes for inbound messages. For calendar events, you can link a Google Calendar via Zapier for automatic updates, although these triggers run every few minutes depending on your Zapier plan.

Two-Way Email and Calendar Sync

Streak’s Mail Merge tool is integrated directly within Gmail, allowing 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 name, company, and deal data straight from your pipelines, schedule automatic follow-up sequences within the same thread, and even conduct A/B tests on subject lines to enhance reply rates. Every message sent and follow-up is automatically logged in your Streak timeline, ensuring you maintain visibility on who has opened, clicked, or replied. However, it’s worth noting that Streak’s campaign features do not include advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you'll miss out on detailed reports regarding unsubscribes and bounce handling unless you opt for an additional tool.

Close offers seamless two-way email integration using IMAP/SMTP: once you authenticate your Gmail, Google Apps, or Microsoft account, Close automatically logs every sent and received email, linking conversations to the appropriate contact without the hassle of manual BCCs. Although Close does not natively sync calendar events, its 'Emailing' setup indicates that you can synchronize both your work email and calendar.

Mail Merge and Campaigns

Streak’s Mail Merge tool is integrated directly within Gmail, allowing you to send personalized mass emails to hundreds of recipients in less than 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 straight from your pipelines, schedule automatic follow-ups in the same thread, and even conduct A/B tests on subject lines to enhance reply rates. Each sent message and follow-up is logged seamlessly in your Streak timeline, ensuring you maintain visibility over who has opened, clicked, or replied. However, Streak’s campaign features do not include advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you won't receive detailed reports on unsubscribes or bounce handling without incorporating another tool.

Close does not provide a traditional mail merge interface but enables you to create multi-step drip campaigns through its Workflows engine—integrating emails, calls, and SMS into a single sequence. You can enroll leads, customize messages using templates, and let Close automatically dispatch steps at your preferred cadence, while logging each interaction in its unified Inbox. Nevertheless, Close lacks a visual campaign builder and in-depth email campaign analytics, so you won’t find open-rate trends or A/B testing insights within the interface.

Open and Click Tracking

Streak seamlessly integrates a small tracking pixel and link tracker directly into Gmail, providing you with real-time 'eye' icons that indicate whenever an email is opened or a link is clicked within a specific thread. Simply hover over the green eye icon to access timestamps, locations, and detailed per-link click data, all without leaving your inbox. Since it operates entirely on Gmail’s API, setup is minimal and feedback is instant; however, keep in mind that aggregated campaign dashboards and multi-link heat-mapping features are not available beyond individual message views.

Close automatically tracks opens for every email sent from its unified Inbox, displaying open counts and timestamps right beneath each message.

In-Inbox CRM Experience

Streak operates entirely within Gmail, providing full CRM capabilities—such as pipelines, contact details, and email logging—without requiring you to leave 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 various pipelines or update statuses on the spot, creating a seamless integration between your inbox and CRM. However, keep in mind that since Streak is exclusive to Gmail, you won’t enjoy this integrated experience if you decide to switch to Outlook or another email client.

On the other hand, Close lacks a native sidebar within Gmail or Outlook, but you can use the Missive integration to manage contacts, leads, and opportunities directly from your inbox. Emails sent or received in your email client automatically appear in Close’s unified activity stream, eliminating the need for manual BCCs and maintaining context. However, you'll still need to switch tabs to view pipeline overviews or dashboards, making it a well-synced companion rather than a fully integrated in-inbox CRM.

folk CRM: The Best Email CRM

folk provides teams with the streamlined, connected email workflow they've been longing for. It centralizes communication, automates follow-ups, and simplifies sequencing within a user-friendly CRM. With a 4.5/5 rating on G2, folk is recognized as one of the top lightweight CRMs for contemporary sales and partnership teams.

Designed specifically for startups, agencies, and scaling sales teams of 20-50, folk makes email operations seamless and manageable.

Extract Intel from Emails

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

• Quickly access summaries of previous conversations using folk's Recap assistant, which extracts intelligence from emails and notes to provide context in seconds.
• Follow up at optimal times, as AI scans conversations to notify you when to reach out to a contact and prepares a response.

Email Sequencing & Automation

folk’s built-in sequencing engine allows you to create automated outreach flows directly within the CRM. Easily develop 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 offers a powerful yet straightforward sequencing workflow that eliminates the need for separate tools.

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

AI-Powered Follow-Up Reminders

With folk’s AI Follow-Up feature, no conversation slips through the cracks. By analyzing your email history, folk notifies you when a contact hasn't responded, highlights cold conversations, and pinpoints the ideal moment to reconnect. It's like having a built-in assistant that keeps your inbox organized and your pipeline flowing—without the hassle of manual tracking.

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folk starts at $20 per user per month, features 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 and real-time email tracking, ideal for users embedded in the Google ecosystem. Close CRM stands out for its robust multi-channel capabilities and structured outreach tools, perfect for high-velocity sales teams. However, for those prioritizing email integration, automation, and sequencing, folk emerges as the best alternative. With a user-friendly interface, powerful AI-driven tools, and seamless email workflows, folk positions itself as the ultimate CRM for teams that rely heavily on email communication.

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