What is the best CRM for Gmail in 2026?
The one that actually stays in your inbox instead of dropping a shortcut there. Plenty of vendors say "Gmail integration"; very few let you move a deal forward without opening another tab.
Gmail has no built-in CRM. You get labels, stars and Google Contacts, which works until you have a dozen open deals and a teammate asking who replied last. A CRM for Gmail fills that gap, but vendors mean three different things by it: a CRM inside the inbox, where pipelines sit next to your threads; a sidebar that opens a contact record beside each email; or a CRM next to Gmail that pulls your emails in through sync.
The short answer: Streak is the only tool here that lives entirely in Gmail, and our top pick for solo operators and small Google-first teams, from $49 per user per month billed annually. HubSpot is the best free starting point, for up to 2 users. Salesflare fills in contact records from your email signatures so you barely type. folk suits founders and agencies managing a network. Pipedrive has the clearest pipeline, Zoho CRM the most features per dollar, and Nutshell the lowest entry price.
One question cuts the list in half: do you want to spend your day in Gmail, or are you fine with a CRM in another tab as long as your emails show up there?
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored placement is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link changes a score.
The best CRM for Gmail by profile
Pipelines in the inbox, Pro at $49 per user billed annually
You want to start freeFree plan for up to 2 users, Sales extension included
You hate data entryRecords built from signatures and email history
You manage a networkfolkX extension, Standard at $24 per member
Your team lives in a pipelineFull Gmail sync from Growth at $39
Tight budget, broad needsFree for 3 users, Standard at $14
7 CRMs for Gmail side by side
The "Where it sits in Gmail" column is the point of this page: it tells you whether the CRM shows up in your inbox or waits in another tab. Prices per user per month in the currency each vendor shows US buyers.
| Best for | Where it sits in Gmail | Free plan | Team size | Visit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Streak | Best overall | Inside the inbox: pipelines next to your threads | 3.7/5 | Pro $49/user (annual) | ✓ | Solo operators, small Google teams | Visit → |
| 2 | HubSpot | Best free | Sidebar and email logging through the Sales extension | 4.2/5 | Free, then Starter from $20/seat | ✓ | Small businesses planning to grow | Visit → |
| 3 | Salesflare | Least data entry | Gmail sidebar, records built from your emails | 4.1/5 | Growth $29/user (annual) | — | Small B2B sales teams | Visit → |
| 4 | folk | Simplest for a network | folkX extension in Gmail, CRM in its own tab | 4.2/5 | Standard $24/member (annual) | — | Founders, agencies, small teams | Visit → |
| 5 | Pipedrive | Clearest pipeline | Next to Gmail: full sync from Growth | 4.2/5 | Lite $14/seat (annual) | — | Sales teams | Visit → |
| 6 | Zoho CRM | Best value | Free Gmail add-on, full integration from Standard | 3.9/5 | Standard $14/user (annual) | ✓ | Budget-conscious SMBs | Visit → |
| 7 | Nutshell | Cheapest to start | Next to Gmail: email sync | 3.8/5 | Foundation $13/user (annual) | — | Very small teams | Visit → |
Scores come from our full reviews and match across the site. Prices from each vendor's official pricing page in 2026.
Is your tool missing from this page? Email us: hello@hackceleration.com
How we compared and scored
Most pages ranking for this search are written by a vendor that puts itself first: Nutshell ranks Nutshell, Copper ranks Copper. Prices are often stale, free plan limits get skipped, and none of them talk about what users actually complain about: the extension that slows Gmail down, the one that fights with another extension, or the CRM that disappears the moment you open Gmail on your phone.
We compared each vendor's official pricing page and Gmail documentation, then read public reviews on the Chrome Web Store and Google Workspace Marketplace and the vendors' own community forums. The core requirement: the CRM has to show records, deals or history inside Gmail, not just import contacts. Tools that pass without a full review on our site yet are covered further down, unscored.
All five criteria carry the same weight, as on every review we publish, so a tool keeps one score across the site. The rank follows the question: at similar scores, the CRM that sits deeper in Gmail goes first.
- Ease of useTime to a first pipeline, how clean the Gmail view is.20%
- Value for moneyEntry price, free plan limits, the jump to the first useful plan.20%
- Features and depthEmail tracking, mail merge, sequences, reporting.20%
- Customer support and assistanceDocs, responsiveness, help with extension bugs.20%
- Available integrationsGoogle Calendar, Drive, Contacts, third-party apps, API.20%
No affiliate link changes a score or a rank.
Streak
Streak is a Chrome extension that turns Gmail into a CRM. Deals become "boxes" sitting in pipelines, and any thread attaches to a box in one click. Stage, notes and conversation history all show up without leaving your inbox. Nothing else on this list keeps you in Gmail this completely.
Read the free plan carefully: it has no pipelines. What it does give you is open and click tracking, snippets and mail merge capped at 50 sends a day, which makes it a decent email tracker on its own. The CRM starts at Pro, $49 per user per month billed annually, with unlimited contacts and pipelines and 1,500 mail merge sends a day. Paying yearly saves 20%.
The catch sits one tier up. Automations and native integrations are locked to Pro+ at $69, so a team that wants Streak talking to other tools really pays $69 a head. Data lives on Google Cloud in the US, and Streak doesn't store your email bodies; it fetches them from Gmail when needed. Chrome Web Store reviewers praise how frictionless it feels; the complaints are about memory use and the odd display bug.
Why first with a 3.7 overall while others score 4.2? The overall score rates each tool as a general CRM, five criteria weighted equally; the rank answers this page's question, working inside Gmail. On that, Streak is the only one that never sends you out of your inbox.
- Pipelines right inside Gmail
- Up to 1,500 mail merge sends a day on Pro
- Email bodies never stored on Streak's side
- ✓Zero learning curve if you know Gmail
- ✓Free plan works as an email tracker
- ✓Pipelines fit hiring and partnerships too
- ✗Steep jump from free to $49
- ✗Automations and integrations only on Pro+ at $69
- ✗Data hosted in the US only
The pick if you genuinely want to stay in your inbox. Start free for tracking, move to Pro when you need a real pipeline, and only pay for Pro+ if you have to connect other tools.
HubSpot
HubSpot isn't a CRM inside Gmail. It's a full CRM connected to your inbox by the HubSpot Sales Chrome extension, which logs emails to the contact record, tracks opens and shows a sidebar with the contact's history while you read. The extension works on every plan, free included.
The free plan goes a long way: up to 2 users, contacts and deals, one-to-one email with HubSpot branding, 3 templates and 3 snippets. Starter is the first paid step. The real wall comes later: Sales Hub Professional runs $90 per seat billed annually, plus a mandatory $1,500 onboarding fee.
The extension has its moods. HubSpot's own help center lists extensions that conflict with it, including Streak, MailTrack, Boomerang, Yesware and ad blockers. It doesn't work in incognito mode, won't track plain-text emails, and users on HubSpot's community forum report Gmail reloading every 30 to 60 seconds or labels crawling with the extension on.
- Full free CRM for up to 2 users
- Sales extension on every plan
- Marketing and service tools to add later
- ✓Costs nothing for a small team
- ✓Rich contact sidebar in Gmail
- ✓Some of the best docs in the market
- ✗Declared conflicts with Streak and email trackers
- ✗Professional is pricey, with a $1,500 onboarding fee
- ✗The CRM itself lives in another tab
The best start on a zero budget. Install the extension, run the conflict checker in its menu, and don't add Streak on top: the two get in each other's way.
Salesflare
Salesflare sits in a Gmail sidebar, and its pitch is simple: you type almost nothing. It reads your email, pulls contact details from signatures, matches threads to the right contact and deal, and rebuilds the relationship history. Open an email and the record is already waiting on the right.
Growth starts at $29 per user per month billed annually, $39 monthly. Pro is $49 and Enterprise $99 with a 5-user minimum. No free plan, but a trial long enough to check whether the auto-capture works with the way you write.
Support is its strong suit, the best-rated on this list. The weak spot is the sidebar itself: like any Gmail add-in, it can clash with other add-ins, and users say so. If you already run an email tracker or another CRM in Gmail, keep one.
In practice, the sidebar opens next to any thread: you see the contact, their company, every past email and meeting, and the open opportunity, and you can move the deal to another stage or set a reminder without leaving Gmail. Email tracking tells you when a prospect opens your message or clicks a link, and that's on Growth, the entry plan. Contacts it spots in your inbox are suggested rather than forced in, so personal email stays out. Pro adds more automation for follow-up sequences, and Enterprise brings the 5-seat minimum. Because Salesflare also pulls from your calendar, a meeting booked from Gmail lands on the right deal on its own, which is where it saves the most typing compared with HubSpot's free plan.
- Contact records filled from signatures
- History rebuilt without typing
- Best-rated support on the list
- ✓Real time saved if you hate data entry
- ✓Clean Gmail sidebar
- ✓Quick to set up
- ✗No free plan
- ✗Can clash with other Gmail add-ins
- ✗Enterprise needs 5 users
The least effort for a rep who lives in email. Use the trial on your real threads to judge the capture quality before paying.
folk
folk is a simple CRM built like a shared address book. Its folkX extension runs in Gmail: pull a contact from an email, enrich it, add a note. Email sync works both ways and your message templates show up in Gmail. folk admits it openly: the CRM doesn't live fully in your inbox, it opens in its own tab.
There's no free plan. Standard is $24 per member per month billed annually, with one synced email account and 2,000 messages per member per month. Automated follow-up sequences only come with Premium at $48, which syncs up to 5 email accounts.
Two limits to know first. On Standard, a teammate only sees the last 30 shared interactions with a contact. And when the two-week trial ends, the account locks until you pick a plan, so export your contacts if you're still on the fence.
- folkX: one-click contact import from an email
- Two-way email sync
- Campaigns included on Standard
- ✓Very clean interface, set up in an hour
- ✓Great for investors, partners, a network
- ✓Transparent pricing
- ✗No free plan, account locks after trial
- ✗Sequences only on Premium
- ✗Shared history capped at 30 interactions on Standard
The right call if you manage relationships rather than a funnel. Take Standard yearly and move to Premium once you want automatic follow-ups.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive has one of the most readable pipelines on the market, but it doesn't live in Gmail. Its Chrome extension lets you view and update a deal from your inbox. It doesn't sync your emails or attach them to deals; for that you need email sync or Smart Bcc, an address you blind-copy to file a message.
Full Gmail sync and open tracking start on Growth, $39 per seat per month billed annually. That makes Lite at $14 a poor pick if Gmail is the reason you're shopping: you'd pay for a CRM that can't see your conversations.
Reviews of Pipedrive's Google Workspace add-on are rough, mostly from people who expected a CRM inside Gmail. The CRM itself scores high on ease of use. The integration disappoints, not the product.
- Clearest visual pipeline on the list
- Full Gmail sync from Growth
- Smart Bcc to file any email
- ✓Fast for a sales team to adopt
- ✓Open tracking from Growth
- ✓14-day trial
- ✗The extension doesn't sync emails
- ✗Lite is useless for Gmail sync
- ✗No free plan
Great for a team that thinks in stages, as long as you buy Growth. Judge Pipedrive on its email sync, never on its extension.
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM connects to Gmail through a free add-on, "Zoho CRM for Gmail". Open an email and it shows the sender's CRM record; create a lead, contact or deal without leaving the inbox. The add-on rates well on Google Workspace Marketplace and has hundreds of thousands of installs, and because it's an add-on, it also shows up in the Gmail mobile app.
Watch the fine print: the add-on is free, but the CRM's own Gmail integration is listed from Standard up, not on the free plan. Standard runs $14 per user per month billed annually, among the lowest prices for a CRM this deep.
The trade-off is the learning curve, the steepest in this ranking. Menus pile up and setup takes real time. If you want something running in ten minutes, look at Streak or folk instead.
- Free Gmail add-on that works on mobile
- Standard at $14, among the cheapest
- Free plan for up to 3 users
- ✓Huge feature set for the price
- ✓CRM record on every opened email
- ✓Rest of the Zoho suite if you need it
- ✗CRM's Gmail integration not on the free plan
- ✗Slowest to learn in this ranking
- ✗Busy interface
The cheapest serious CRM wired to Gmail. Go straight to Standard if the Gmail integration matters, and block half a day for setup.
Nutshell
Nutshell is a simple US CRM that connects to Gmail through email sync rather than an in-inbox view. Records and deals live in its app; your emails flow in automatically.
The draw is price: Foundation costs $13 per user per month billed annually, $19 monthly, the lowest entry point in this ranking. Know the ceiling: Foundation caps open leads at 100. Past that, you close deals or move to Growth, $25 billed annually, which lifts the cap.
It's the least Gmail-native tool here. It fits buyers who want a cheap CRM and are fine working beside the inbox.
Gmail and Google Calendar sync are included on every plan, Foundation through Enterprise. Each user syncs one Gmail account, and if your Google Workspace admin restricts new apps, they'll need to approve Nutshell first. There's also a desktop Chrome extension, Nutshell CRM for Gmail, but using Nutshell templates inside the Gmail composer requires the Business plan. Pipelines, reporting and the lead cap live in Nutshell's web app, so your day splits between the inbox for writing and Nutshell for follow-up. For a two- or three-person team that mostly needs to stop losing threads, that split is a fair price for the lowest bill on this list.
- Foundation at $13, lowest entry price
- Emails synced automatically
- Simple interface
- ✓Small budget
- ✓Well-liked support
- ✓Fast to learn
- ✗100 open leads max on Foundation
- ✗Nutshell templates in Gmail need the Business plan
- ✗Cap lifted only from Growth ($25)
A starter CRM at a starter price. The 100 open leads cap is what will push you to upgrade, so watch it.
Three more CRMs worth knowing
These tools meet the core requirement, but we don't have a full review of them yet, so they're covered without a score, with official US pricing.
Copper: the CRM built around Google Workspace
SidebarCopper markets itself as the Google Workspace CRM. Its Chrome extension adds a sidebar to Gmail and LinkedIn, and the CRM syncs with Gmail and Google Calendar. Basic is $23 per seat per month billed annually ($29 monthly) for 2,500 contacts; Professional $59 ($69) for 15,000 contacts with workflow automation, bulk email and reporting; Business $99 ($134) with email sequences. Free trial without a card, no free plan.
Chrome Web Store reviews split down the middle. Some teams call the extension non-negotiable; others describe Gmail's layout breaking or the panel failing to open on the first try. Copper's support advice is to clear the cache, reinstall and disable other extensions. Several reviewers also feel basic features sit behind higher tiers.
- Price
- Basic $23/seat (annual)
- Best for
- Teams of 3 to 20 on Google Workspace
- Limit
- Extension stability per reviews
NetHunt CRM: Gmail plus WhatsApp and Telegram
Inside the inboxNetHunt installs inside Gmail through its Chrome and Safari extensions, logs emails automatically and syncs with Google Contacts, Calendar and Drive. Basic is $24 per user per month billed annually ($30 monthly), Basic+ $34 ($42) with email campaigns, Business $60 monthly with sequences and custom SMTP. 14-day trial, no free plan, no refunds.
The overlooked trick: Business's custom SMTP gets your campaigns out from under Gmail's daily sending limits. Startups under 3 years old can get 75% off Business for 12 months.
- Price
- Basic $24/user (annual)
- Best for
- SMBs selling over email and messaging
- Limit
- No refunds
Salesforce Starter Suite: if you're planning to scale
Next to GmailSalesforce lists three suites on its US pricing page: Free Suite at $0 per user per month, Starter Suite at $25 per user per month billed monthly or annually, and Pro Suite at $100 per user per month billed annually. Email integration with Gmail or Outlook appears in its feature comparison, and Starter syncs emails, events and contacts automatically. It's a CRM next to your inbox, not inside it.
Worth a look if your team will grow fast and you'd rather skip a migration in two years: the jump from Starter to Pro keeps you on the same data. Too heavy for a solo operator who just wants to track deals from Gmail, and the Pro Suite's annual commitment is a real step for a small team.
- Price
- Starter Suite $25/user
- Best for
- Teams that will scale fast
- Limit
- Nothing inside Gmail itself
Inside Gmail, sidebar or next to it: what really changes
"Gmail integration" means three very different things depending on the vendor. Figure out which family a tool belongs to before you compare prices; it decides what your day looks like.
Inside the inbox: Streak, NetHunt
Sidebar: HubSpot, Salesflare, Copper, Zoho
Next to Gmail: Pipedrive, Nutshell, Salesforce, folk
- Check which plan includes email sync, not just the extension.
- See whether there's a Google Workspace add-on for the Gmail mobile app.
- List the extensions you already run and look for conflicts the vendor documents.
- Ask where data is hosted and whether email bodies are stored.
- Price the plan that unlocks automations, not the entry plan.
- Export contacts before a trial ends: some accounts lock.
Six tips to keep a CRM from breaking Gmail
Pulled from vendor docs and community forums. They cover the problems that show up most in the first weeks.
Run one CRM or tracker extension at a time
ConflictsHubSpot itself lists Streak, MailTrack, Boomerang and Yesware among extensions that interfere with its own. Symptoms: Gmail reloading, slow labels, a sidebar that never appears. The HubSpot extension menu has a conflict checker; run it first. With other CRMs, disable everything and turn extensions back on one by one.
- Symptom
- Gmail reloads or lags
- Fix
- Disable, then re-enable one by one
Send HTML, not plain text
TrackingOpen tracking relies on an invisible image added to the message. A plain-text email has none, so it's never tracked. Check that plain-text mode is off in Gmail's compose options. Tracking also fails from an incognito window.
- Trap
- Gmail plain-text mode
- Other trap
- Incognito windows
On mobile, add the Workspace add-on
MobileA Chrome extension never shows up in the Gmail phone app. Only a Google Workspace add-on does, usually a lighter version. If you read email mostly on your phone, install your CRM's add-on alongside the extension, or use its own app: Streak has one on iOS.
- Extension
- Desktop only
- Add-on
- Also in the Gmail app
Streak's free plan is a solid email tracker
SavingsNo pipelines on Streak's free plan, but you get open and click tracking, snippets and 50 mail merge sends a day. For a freelancer chasing a handful of clients, that often covers it before paying for a real CRM.
- Price
- $0
- Mail merge
- 50 sends a day
Always compare annual and monthly
SavingsThe gap is often 20%: Streak Pro goes from $59 to $49, folk Standard from $30 to $24. At Copper Business it's $134 down to $99. Pay monthly for the first month to validate the tool, then switch to annual.
- Streak Pro
- $49 instead of $59
- Copper Business
- $99 instead of $134
High volume: get past Gmail's sending caps
SendingGmail caps daily sends. Streak's mail merge goes up to 1,500 a day on Pro; NetHunt Business lets you plug in your own SMTP for campaigns. Beyond that, a dedicated email platform is safer for your sender reputation.
- Streak Pro
- 1,500 sends a day
- NetHunt Business
- Custom SMTP
CRM picked, now what
These pages go further, depending on what you need.
Head to head, criterion by criterion.
You want a deeper pipelinePipedrive vs StreakInside the inbox or next to it.
Streak isn't a fitStreak alternativesThe options, ranked.
You don't want to payBest free CRMThe real limits of each free plan.
You work soloBest CRM for freelancersSimple and cheap.
Gmail isn't the deciding factorBest CRM overallOur full ranking.
CRM for Gmail · FAQ
Does Gmail have a built-in CRM?
No. Gmail gives you labels, stars and Google Contacts, but no deal stages or shared customer history. Some people fake a CRM with one label per stage plus a spreadsheet; it holds for a dozen clients and falls apart once a teammate joins.Streak vs Copper: which is better?
Streak if you want to work inside Gmail and keep costs per seat simple; Copper if you want a sidebar CRM with contact caps per plan and sequences on Business. Copper's extension draws more stability complaints, so trial it with your other extensions switched on.Streak vs HubSpot for Gmail?
Streak if your team wants to live in Gmail, HubSpot if you want a full CRM that grows with you. The math flips at three people: HubSpot's free plan stops at 2 users, so three Starter seats run about $60 a month on monthly billing, versus $147 a month for three Streak Pro users billed annually. Don't install both: HubSpot lists Streak as a conflicting extension.Does a Gmail CRM work in the Gmail mobile app?
Only if it ships a Google Workspace add-on or its own app. Chrome extensions never appear on mobile. Zoho CRM has a Gmail add-on and Streak has an iOS app; check this before you buy if you handle email on the go.Is HubSpot free with Gmail?
Yes. The HubSpot Sales Chrome extension works on the free plan, which covers up to 2 users, email logging and open tracking, with HubSpot branding on emails and 3 templates. Paid plans remove the limits, and Professional adds a $1,500 onboarding fee.Can I run two CRM extensions in Gmail?
Avoid it. Two extensions changing the same part of Gmail clash: reloads, lag, a sidebar that vanishes. Keep one CRM and one email tracker, and pause ad blockers on Gmail if the layout acts up.Which CRM integrates best with Google Workspace?
Streak and NetHunt go deepest into Gmail itself, and both sync with Google tools. Copper is built around Workspace with Gmail and Calendar sync. If you also need a strong mobile experience, favor a tool with a Workspace add-on.Why isn't my email open tracking working?
Usually because the email went out as plain text, with no invisible image to track, or because you sent it from an incognito window. A conflicting extension can also block tracking; disable them one at a time to find the culprit.Can I use Gmail as a CRM for free?
Up to a point. Create one label per stage (new, proposal sent, won), star every follow-up you owe, and keep details in Google Contacts. Add Streak's free plan to see who opens your emails. That holds for about a dozen clients; once a teammate joins, HubSpot's free plan stops the duplicate replies and lost threads.