Key takeaways
- Copper adds CRM context alongside your Gmail inbox and connects to Calendar, Drive, and Sheets, while Streak builds your pipeline directly into Gmail.
- Streak works best for solo users and small teams running a simple, email-first sales process. Copper is built for professional services teams that manage the full client journey, from first conversation to project delivery.
- Copper plans start at $23 per seat per month (billed annually). Streak's CRM features start at $49 per user per month on its Pro plan (billed annually).
- Copper is the only CRM that's a Recommended for Google Workspace app.
Both Streak and Copper live inside Gmail, but they solve different problems. Streak is a lightweight pipeline tool built into your inbox, ideal if your workflow starts and ends in email. Copper is a full CRM that connects across all of Google Workspace, including Gmail, Calendar, and Drive, so you can manage contacts, deals, and projects without switching tabs.
If you're a consulting firm, agency, or professional services team looking for a CRM that covers the entire client journey (not just email threads), Copper is built for the way you already work.
Now let's break down how these two tools actually compare.
5 key differences between Streak vs Copper CRM
1. Thoughtful Gmail and Google Workspace integrations
Both Copper and Streak are exclusively focused on providing customer relationship management tools to Google Workspace users. But our philosophies on how best to integrate with Google tools differ greatly.
Streak uses their Chrome extension to build their entire CRM into Gmail itself. When you implement Streak, it completely transforms your Gmail to become a CRM-email hybrid, where all of your emails are categorized into sales pipelines. While this could help you focus on the emails that matter, it can also slow down your Gmail as your pipelines grow in size.
Copper solutions partner and former Streak user, Alex Bass, explained how slow his Gmail became with Streak as he built out his pipelines:
“Gmail would take 2-4 seconds to load normally, and then Streak would take 20-30 seconds to load on top of that. So when I wanted to quickly do something even in Gmail, it was being bogged down by Streak.”
Copper is more thoughtful when it comes to our Gmail integration because we know you love Gmail for how intuitive it is, and we would never want to mess with that. Instead of completely changing the structure of Gmail, Copper’s Chrome extension layers in additional productivity tools to help you prioritize. We display context about your deals on the right side of your inbox, allowing you to create follow-up tasks and access email templates naturally as you’re replying to customers and prospects.
Beyond Gmail, Copper offers deep integrations with your other Google Workspace tools, including:
- Syncing calendar events with contact records in your CRM
- Syncing files from Google Drive
- Exporting data into Google Sheets or Looker Studio
And when it comes to customizability, there’s no contest between Streak vs. Copper CRM. To go deeper into more complex workflow automations, build custom reporting, or clearly visualize your pipelines, you can simply hop into Copper’s full CRM in our standalone web application.
At Copper, we appreciate how much you love Gmail and Google Workspace, and our goal is to work harmoniously with the tools you already use every day. And Google agrees: Copper was selected as a Recommended for Google Workspace app, and is the only CRM that made the list.
Related: 4 Streak CRM Alternatives
2. Built for relationship-based organizations.
Copper vs. Streak’s differences aren’t just about Google Workspace; we also think about customer relationships in very different ways.
Streak’s tools were built on the assumption that all businesses use a linear sales process. Which is why your entire Gmail is transformed with Streak to categorize your emails within pipelines. While this works for transactional sales organizations, it simply doesn’t work for all businesses. Creative agencies, real estate firms, technology companies, construction businesses and nonprofits, among other relationship-intensive businesses, don’t have a linear sales process, meaning their customer journeys are a bit more complex.
If your view of customer relationships looks more like the journey on the right, chances are you’ll struggle with Streak’s linear approach, which could lead you to lose track of key customer relationships in your inbox.
Since we built Copper for organizations that value relationships, our CRM offers immense flexibility to help your business form connections with leads, customers and other stakeholders.
3. Designed to scale with your business.
Smaller businesses often struggle to find a CRM that fits them right now, but is also capable of scaling as their organization grows. At Copper, we’ve set out to change that by designing a platform that easily grows as your team does. Streak, on the other hand, really functions best for individuals.
Streak’s Pro plan costs $49 per user per month (billed annually) for what is essentially a leveled-up version of spreadsheets, built inside Gmail. This can be helpful to ensure solopreneurs or individual salespeople are focusing on what’s important to meet goals, but as your team grows and you add more members, Streak quickly gets complicated. At that price point, you might be better off using a full CRM from day one. With Streak’s Pro features, you’ll likely find that you’re not much further along than if you used a regular spreadsheet.
Meanwhile, Copper's plans start at $23 per seat per month (billed annually) for Basic, which includes pipelines, project management, and task automation.
4. Copper gives you reporting you can actually use
Reviewers often point to reporting as one of Streak's weaker areas, and its reports and automations are reserved for the Pro+ plan. If you need to understand win rates or see how your pipeline has trended over the last quarter, you'll want reporting that's built in, not bolted on.
Copper gives you reports that help you make smarter decisions:
- Pipeline and activity reports (Professional plan and up), so you can see where deals stand and what your team's working on.
- Custom reports on the Business plan, built from scratch across all your Copper data.
- Google Sheets and Looker Studio integrations, so you can dig deeper in tools you already use.
For a consulting firm or agency tracking revenue across multiple clients and projects, this kind of visibility helps you forecast more accurately and see where to focus your time.
5. Both tools have mobile apps, but Copper's is built for logging client work on the go
Streak and Copper both offer apps for iOS and Android, so you can check your pipeline away from your desk either way. Streak's app lets you view and update your pipelines and records, and its iOS version includes a built-in mail client.
Copper's mobile app is designed to capture client activity the moment it happens:
- Log calls, texts, emails, and voice notes from the field so your team stays in sync.
- Snap a photo of a business card, and Copper creates the contact for you.
- Use speech-to-text to add notes without typing.
- Manage pipelines, projects, and tasks, and get notified about new assignments and @mentions.
If you're a consultant heading between client meetings or an agency lead at an event, your records are up to date before you're back at your laptop.
Here's how Streak and Copper pricing compares
Both tools charge per user and offer a free trial, but they draw the line between free and paid in different places. Streak's free plan covers email tools like tracking, snippets, and a limited mail merge. For shared pipelines and full CRM features, you'll need the Pro plan at $49 per user per month (billed annually), and reporting and automations sit on Pro+ at $69.
Copper doesn't have a free plan, but you can try it for 14 days free with no credit card. Plans start at $23 per seat per month (billed annually) for Basic, which includes pipelines, project management, and task automation. Reporting and workflow automation come with Professional at $59, and custom reports with Business at $99.
Switching from Streak to Copper is easier than you might think
If you've outgrown Streak, moving to Copper doesn't have to be a big project. Export your Streak data to a spreadsheet, then import your contacts, companies, and deals into Copper. Because Copper syncs with Gmail and Google Calendar, your email conversations and meetings show up alongside your contacts from day one.
Start scaling your business with Copper
Sure, both Streak and Copper may be designed for businesses that use Google Workspace, but the similarities end there. Copper offers a full CRM plus an intuitive Chrome extension that sits to the right of your Gmail inbox. With Copper, you can have the best of both worlds: a simplified CRM inside Gmail and a fully customizable CRM for the heavier lifting. If you aren’t a Copper customer yet, try it free for 14 days, no credit card needed.
