Dex and Streak both connect deeply to Gmail, but they solve different problems. Dex is built around reminders, follow-ups, and keeping track of past interactions across your whole network. Streak turns your Gmail inbox into a sales pipeline with deal stages, mail merge, and team collaboration.
This comparison is for people managing their personal relationships, not sales teams running pipelines.
Dex and Streak as a Gmail personal CRM
Dex - $12 per month, paid annually
Dex is for people who want to stay in touch consistently. It remembers when and how to follow up, with interaction history pulled from connected tools like email, calendars, and social media accounts.
In 2026, Dex's AI got better at understanding your relationships. It surfaces context from emails, calendars, and notes automatically, summarizes past interactions, and suggests ways to reach out.
Streak - $49 per user/month, paid annually (Pro)
Streak lives inside Gmail as a Chrome extension: pipelines, contacts, and deal data sit in a sidebar next to your inbox, so you never switch windows. The catch for individuals is that Streak has retired its solo-friendly CRM tiers. The free plan now covers only email power tools — open tracking, snippets, Streak Share, thread splitting, and 50 mail merges a day — rather than a usable CRM. The entry point for actual CRM features is Pro at $49/user/month billed annually ($59 monthly).
Dex vs Streak: key differences and best use cases
Dex is a better fit if you:
Want a personal CRM at a personal price: $12/month vs $49/user/month
Need your network beyond Gmail (LinkedIn, WhatsApp, iMessage, calendar)
Want keep-in-touch reminders and pre-meeting briefs rather than deal stages
Use both mobile and desktop regularly
Streak is a better fit if you:
Run an actual sales pipeline and refuse to leave Gmail
Want email tracking, snippets, and thread-level pipeline management in your inbox
Work on a team that collaborates on shared pipelines inside Google Workspace
Feature comparison at a glance
Feature | Dex | Streak |
|---|---|---|
Built for | Individual relationship management | Sales pipelines inside Gmail |
Entry price (CRM) | $12/mo (annual) | $49/user/mo (annual), $59 monthly |
Free option | 7-day trial | Free email tools only (tracking, snippets) |
LinkedIn sync | Yes (up to 9,000) | No |
Gmail integration | Yes (full history sync) | Yes (lives inside Gmail) |
Outlook support | Yes (Professional) | No, Gmail only |
WhatsApp / iMessage sync | Yes | No |
Keep-in-touch reminders | Yes (kanban board) | No (pipeline stages instead) |
Pre-meeting briefs | Yes | No |
Job change alerts | Yes | No |
Deal pipelines | No | Yes (core feature) |
Mail merge | Yes (Professional, 200 contacts) | Yes (1,500/day on Pro) |
AI features | Copilot, AI Assist, MCP | AI Co-Pilot (20 credits/user/mo on Pro) |
Mobile app | iOS + Android | iOS + Android (companion to Gmail) |
Which offers more value?
Dex Premium is $12/month billed annually. That covers unlimited contacts, LinkedIn sync, Gmail and calendar integrations, reminders, and AI. Professional at $20/month adds Outlook, mail merge, expanded LinkedIn sync, and API/Zapier.
Streak Pro is $49/user/month billed annually ($59 monthly), Pro+ is $69 ($89 monthly), and Enterprise is $129 with annual billing and a 10-seat minimum. The free tier's email power tools are useful, but they're not a CRM. For one person managing relationships rather than deals, $49/month buys pipeline machinery you'll never turn on.
A year of Dex costs less than three months of Streak Pro.
Choosing between Dex and Streak
Choose Dex if your main problem is remembering to follow up with people across LinkedIn, email, and messaging. Choose Streak if your main problem is managing a sales pipeline without leaving Gmail.
There's a keyword trap here. Search "Gmail CRM" and you'll find Streak. But if what you actually want is a personal CRM that syncs Gmail, Streak's pricing and pipeline model aren't built for you.
How Dex and Streak handle personal CRM workflows
After setting up
Dex: Connect Gmail, LinkedIn, and calendar; contacts and full email history sync in automatically. Most people are running within 10 minutes.
Streak: Install the Chrome extension, build pipelines, define stages, and organize email threads into boxes. Fast if you know CRMs, but it's still a sales structure you have to design yourself.
After meeting someone new
Dex: Add the contact, jot a note, set a follow-up reminder. When it surfaces, the full timeline of emails, meetings, and notes is right there.
Streak: Add them to a pipeline box and assign a stage. Fine for a lead. Awkward for "great conversation at a conference, want to stay in touch."
Tracking long-term relationships
Dex: Keep-in-touch reminders surface people on your cadence, and job change alerts and pre-meeting briefs keep context fresh over years.
Streak: Pipelines move forward and close. There's no native "you haven't talked to Sarah in three months" nudge, so relationships without deals fall through the cracks.
What's new in Dex (2026)
A few recent updates (as of July 2026) worth knowing about if you're evaluating Dex against Streak right now:
Connect Dex to Claude and ChatGPT. Dex now supports MCP (Model Context Protocol), so AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT can plug straight into your contacts and relationship data. Search contacts, log notes, set reminders, and organize your network through natural conversation. The Dex Skill adds meeting prep, follow-up suggestions, and duplicate cleanup on top.
Mail Merge. Send personalized bulk emails to up to 200 contacts in one workflow, each with dynamic fields you can customize, plus optional AI-drafted copy. Works with Gmail and Outlook (web only, Dex Professional).
Custom fields on the contacts view. Surface fields like hometown, company, spouse, or important dates right from the main contacts view.
Quick add from one place. Add new contacts, notes, reminders, and interactions from a single interface.
Check our latest updates on the changelog page.
Where Streak stands out
Nothing else matches Streak's Gmail-native design. If your team lives in Gmail, there's zero learning curve, and updating a deal from inside an email thread takes seconds. Its free email power tools (open tracking, snippets, mail merge) are useful even without the paid CRM. For sales teams committed to Google Workspace, Streak earns its price.
Why Dex is the better personal CRM for most people
Both Dex and Streak connect to Gmail, but Dex is built for relationships rather than deals. Keep-in-touch reminders, LinkedIn sync, messaging integrations, and a $12/month flat price make it the tool for staying close to your network instead of closing it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Streak good for personal use?
It can work, but it's built and priced for sales teams. With solo-friendly CRM tiers retired, actual CRM features start at $49/user/month, which is steep for one person managing relationships. Streak's free tier covers email tracking and snippets, not relationship management.
What's the best Gmail CRM for individuals?
For personal relationship management, Dex. It syncs full Gmail history plus LinkedIn, WhatsApp, iMessage, and calendar, with keep-in-touch reminders, from $12/month. Streak is the stronger pick if you need a sales pipeline embedded in your inbox.
Does Streak work with Outlook?
No. Streak is a Gmail/Google Workspace Chrome extension only. Dex supports both Gmail and Outlook.
Can I use Dex and Streak together?
Some people do: Streak for an active sales pipeline, Dex for the wider network. But if you're only managing relationships, Dex alone covers it at a fraction of the cost.
How much cheaper is Dex than Streak?
Dex Premium is $144/year. Streak Pro is $588/year per user. Dex costs about 75% less for individual use.
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