Streak
A weekend of work, and real gaps remain.
A CRM built entirely inside Gmail: pipelines appear as a view over your inbox, so a deal is a set of threads rather than a record in another application.
Build a pipeline over Gmail labels. THE IDEA - A stage is a Gmail label. A deal is a thread. Everything else is a view over that STACK - Node worker, SQLite, Gmail API, a Workspace add-on for the sidebar SYNC - Poll the Gmail history API with a stored history id - Threads carrying a pipeline label become deals; the label is the stage - Store thread id, subject, participants and timestamps — never the body MOVING A DEAL - Changing stage means swapping the label through the API, so Gmail stays the source of truth - Label changes made in Gmail directly are picked up on the next pass THE BOARD - A web page with a column per stage, ordered by last message - Click a card to open the thread in Gmail MAIL MERGE - Send through the Gmail API as the user, capped well under the daily quota, with a per-recipient log Include the poller, the label mapping and the board.
What you lose
- A pipeline rendered inside Gmail, which needs deep integration with an interface Google keeps changing
- Mail merge, tracking and snippets in the same place you write
- Threads as the unit of work, so nothing needs to be copied into a record
If you would rather not build
- A Google Sheet driven by Apps Script
- Twenty, if you would rather leave the inbox
The escape hatch
open source · no votes, no paid placement
Why this verdict
our own opinion · changed only by a person
58/100
Verdict kinda at 58. Using labels as stages is a genuinely good shortcut; the add-on and Gmail quotas are what makes it a weekend rather than an evening.
History
tracked since 10 Aug 2026 · nothing is ever overwritten
Questions about Streak
answered from the record above
Is Streak free?
No — the plan we track is $59 a month. Pro at $59 per user per month billed monthly, $49 annually; a free tier covers personal use.
Can you replace Streak by building your own?
ALMOST. A weekend of work, and real gaps remain. Replacement score 58 out of 100, build time a weekend. Read what you lose before you decide.
How much does Streak cost?
$59 a month on Pro — $708 a year. Recorded 10 Aug 2026.
What do you lose by replacing Streak?
A pipeline rendered inside Gmail, which needs deep integration with an interface Google keeps changing; Mail merge, tracking and snippets in the same place you write; Threads as the unit of work, so nothing needs to be copied into a record. If any of those carry weight for you, keep paying.
Is there an open-source alternative to Streak?
Yes: EspoCRM, Monica. The prompt on this page is for when you want it your way instead.
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