Streak vs HubSpot: Which CRM is the best to manage contacts?

Contact management can make or break a CRM's usability, with Streak and HubSpot showcasing distinct approaches. This comparison focuses on key daily operations: contact import, duplicate management, enrichment, tagging and segmentation, search speed, and follow-up workflows.

For teams that value simplicity, folk stands out as a streamlined and powerful CRM solution.

Why Contact Management Is Essential for CRM in 2026

Contact management has become the foundation of modern revenue teams. Sales, partnerships, and customer success are now conducted across multiple channels, involve various stakeholders, and entail longer relationship cycles—all without increasing headcount. A CRM filled with messy contacts, missing context, and outdated records not only hampers team efficiency but also undermines follow-ups, trust, and ultimately, revenue.

Here are the main reasons why effective contact management is now non-negotiable:

1. Buyers engage through various touchpoints: Signals arise from emails, LinkedIn interactions, calls, events, introductions, and referrals. When contact context is scattered, teams risk missing crucial timing and losing credibility.
2. Accounts now involve multiple decision-makers: Deals typically hinge on more than one individual. Teams require a clear overview of stakeholders, their roles, and recent conversations to advance opportunities.
3. Data deteriorates quickly without ongoing cleanup: Job changes, stale emails, duplicate entries, and lost notes are common. A CRM should maintain accurate records rather than rely solely on flawless manual input.
4. Speed is more critical than ever: Faster response times lead to higher conversions. Teams need immediate access to the right contact, relevant context, and the next steps without unnecessary digging.
5. Collaboration requires a unified source of truth: Revenue generation is a cross-functional effort. If sales, marketing, and customer success do not have access to the same contact history, follow-ups can clash, handoffs may falter, and relationships can deteriorate.

The effectiveness of a CRM is determined by the long-term usability of its contact database. The best platform will keep contacts clean, easily searchable, and rich in context, allowing teams to spend less time rectifying data issues and more time nurturing relationships that drive conversions.

What is Streak?

Streak is a lightweight CRM seamlessly integrated within Gmail, transforming your inbox into a collaborative pipeline for sales, support, and account management. Users can manage deals, monitor stages, and collaborate on threads without the hassle of switching tabs, all from the familiar Gmail interface. With email at its core, Streak offers real-time tracking and pipeline views that enhance your existing Gmail conversations.

What is HubSpot?

HubSpot is a robust, platform-first CRM that excels in maintaining comprehensive contact records, tracking activities, and aligning marketing efforts. It stands out when contact data integrates with forms, emails, ads, and automations within a cohesive ecosystem. While segmentation and reporting capabilities are advanced, the platform can become complex as requirements expand, making it ideal for teams seeking an all-in-one growth solution.

Feature comparison of Streak and HubSpot

Bulk Import & Duplicate Merge

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 recorded in the corresponding pipeline and shared across your team's workspace, providing you with a real-time timeline for each deal without the hassle of manual bcc’ing.

HubSpot offers a user-friendly bulk import process designed for efficiency. You can easily upload contact lists in CSV format and take advantage of its built-in deduplication feature, which identifies duplicates based on email addresses and company domains. HubSpot promptly recognizes overlaps with existing CRM records, enabling users to skip, merge, or review duplicates as needed. This level of control is essential for maintaining data integrity, particularly when migrating from other systems or conducting acquisition campaigns.

Segmentation & Tagging

Streak’s email sync operates in real time, seamlessly integrated within Gmail’s own infrastructure. The moment you send or receive a message, Streak instantly logs it to the relevant pipeline, guaranteeing your team has access to the latest activity without any delays. There’s virtually no lag or queuing; messages and thread updates appear immediately in your inbox as well as in Streak’s interface. With its direct connection to Gmail, you enjoy the benefits of Google’s exceptional uptime and reliability.

HubSpot's segmentation engine stands out as one of the most sophisticated in the CRM industry. Users can create both static and dynamic contact lists using filters that encompass a wide range of properties—from fundamental demographics to behavioral data such as email opens or form submissions. Additionally, manual tags facilitate straightforward categorization. Smart lists update in real time, driving workflows, campaigns, and reporting throughout the CRM.

Fast Search

Streak’s Mail Merge tool is integrated directly within Gmail, allowing you to send personalized mass emails to hundreds of recipients in just under two minutes—no CSV imports or third-party applications needed. You can easily insert custom variables like first names, companies, or deal data straight from your pipelines, schedule automatic follow-up sequences on the same thread, and 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 on who has opened, clicked, or replied. However, Streak’s campaign features lack advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you won't receive detailed reports on unsubscribes or bounce handling without incorporating another tool.

HubSpot’s global search is both instant and user-friendly. As you type, it displays results from contacts, companies, deals, tickets, and more. You can search using any field, whether standard or custom, and results come enriched with activity previews and quick links. This smart user experience streamlines data retrieval, saving you time and enhancing workflow efficiency.

Duplicate Detection

Streak’s Mail Merge tool is integrated directly within Gmail, enabling you to send personalized mass emails to hundreds of recipients in less than two minutes—eliminating the need for CSV imports or third-party apps. You can easily insert custom variables (like first names, company details, 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 automatically logged in your Streak timeline, ensuring you maintain visibility on who has opened, clicked, or replied. However, Streak’s campaign features fall short in terms of advanced analytics dashboards, meaning you won't receive detailed reports on unsubscribes or bounce handling unless you integrate an additional tool.

HubSpot, on the other hand, automatically detects duplicates using email addresses and company domains. Its paid plans offer advanced deduplication tools that allow you to review, skip, or merge contacts manually. HubSpot also provides suggestions for potential duplicates during record creation. While it may not offer extensive customization, it remains a dependable option for most sales teams.

Collaboration Tools

Streak seamlessly integrates a small tracking pixel and link tracker into Gmail, providing real-time “eye” icons that indicate when 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 leaving your inbox. Since it’s entirely based on Gmail’s API, setup is minimal, and feedback is immediate; however, aggregated campaign dashboards and multi-link heat-mapping features are not available beyond individual message views.

HubSpot offers robust collaboration tools, including team inboxes, shared task management, comments with @mentions, and customizable visibility settings for CRM records. This allows teams to work together directly within each deal or contact record, with real-time tracking of changes and notes.

folk CRM: The Ultimate Solution for Contact Management!

folk CRM is a cutting-edge AI-powered CRM designed for teams that seek clean, actionable contact data without the administrative hassle. It centralizes all relationships—including leads, customers, partners, candidates, and investors—and organizes them into flexible views that align with the team's natural workflow.

Prioritizing contact management, folk seamlessly integrates email and calendar sync, ensuring that each contact record is linked to real conversations rather than manual notes. With features like tags, filtered views, and rapid search capabilities, users can easily segment the database, quickly locate the right person, and maintain consistent follow-ups. Additionally, duplicate detection and straightforward enrichment workflows ensure the contact database remains reliable over time, establishing the CRM as a true source of truth.

folk also enhances collaboration around contacts, making it smooth and efficient. Shared timelines, notes, and @mentions keep everyone on the same page regarding who communicated with whom, what commitments were made, and what the subsequent steps are. This approach minimizes double outreach, prevents missed handoffs, and eliminates the 'lost context' often experienced when a deal transitions between team members.

For teams reliant on LinkedIn and email, folk ensures the contact base remains up-to-date without the need for frequent cleanup sessions. New contacts can be added swiftly, details can be enriched as necessary, and views can serve as active working lists for daily follow-ups. The result is a contact database that remains functional and manageable as volume increases, avoiding the pitfalls of becoming a spreadsheet graveyard.

Conclusion

While Streak excels in integrating seamlessly within Gmail for email-centric workflows, and HubSpot offers a comprehensive solution with advanced segmentation and marketing alignment, neither matches the streamlined efficiency of folk. Designed for teams reliant on email integration, folk simplifies contact management with robust automation, quick search capabilities, and effective duplicate detection. It ensures that every contact is linked to real conversations and enhances collaboration without excessive admin tasks, making it the superior choice for modern teams.

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