Email is still one of the most convenient ways to communicate, especially for businesses. Not only can businesses use email to communicate with various departments and vendors, but it’s also a powerful marketing tool. However, to make the most of your email communications, it’s important to know if and how the recipient interacted with your email. To do this, you need a mail tracking tool. Keep reading to find out how mail trackers work.
What Are Mail Tracking Tools?
Mail tracking tools can show you when people opened your emails and to what extent they interacted with your message. These tools provide you with real-time insights into your potential prospects. The best mail tracking tool will be able to show you if an email was opened, how long the user spent on the email, their location, and even if they interacted with any links within the email.
This can be very useful for businesses. For example, say your HR department needs to send out an important notification to all staff. You can use an email tracker to monitor who has opened the email and send reminders to those that haven’t read it yet.
These tools can also be used by marketing teams to monitor email campaigns. You can see how well your emails are doing and make adjustments if you notice a particular campaign isn’t doing well.
Benefits of Using Mail Tracking Tools
There are numerous benefits to using email trackers; these include the following:
- Saving you time from following up on emails manually
- Providing valuable insights into your email interactions
- Discovering what type of content works for your audience
- Making it easier to stay in contact with your audience
- Opening avenues for lead generation
9 Best Email Trackers
Let’s take a look at the best mail-tracking tool for 2023.
Free Email Tracker for Gmail by PandaDoc
This email tracker is the best free mail tracking tool you’ll come across if you’re looking for a simple tracker for Gmail. This tool is a browser extension and works directly in your Gmail account.
With the extension, you can select which emails you want to track as you type the email. Then, once they’ve been sent, you can monitor how many people have opened them conveniently from within your sent box.
This is a great tool if you’re looking for a simple way to keep track of your emails. It’s also completely free, doesn’t feature any ads, and you can track an unlimited number of emails.
Pros and Cons of Free Email Tracker for Gmail by PandaDoc
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of using the Free Email Tracker for Gmail by PandaDoc.
Pros:
- 100% free
- Unlimited email tracking
- No ads
- Very easy to use
- Works directly in Gmail
Cons:
- May be too simplistic for some
- Only available on Chrome and Chromium browsers
Mixmax
Mixmax is a great email tracker that allows you to monitor your sent emails. You can see who opened your email with a read receipt, and you can instantly schedule emails to be sent at a specific time. Mixmax also enables users to save emails as a template.
Mixmax has a free plan that includes instant scheduling and unlimited email tracking. However, any emails sent with the Mixmax free plan will include a ‘Sent with Mixmax’ signature. For more features such as mail merge, Sidechat, reporting and analytics, and more, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan. The paid plans start at $24/month.
Once you have a Mixmax account, you can also download the handy Chrome extension. This way, you can add Mixmax directly to your Gmail. The availability of an extension makes it one of the best email trackers for Gmail.
Pros and Cons of Mixmax
Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of Mixmax.
Pros:
- Unlimited email tracking on the free plan
- Include mail scheduling features
- Browser extension available
- Includes additional features such as automation, reporting, and admin controls
Cons:
- Additional features only available on certain paid plans
- Emails from the free plan will include a ‘Sent with Mixmax’ signature
Right Inbox
Right Inbox is a good email tracker that allows users to track who’s opened their mail and who hasn’t. However, the tool also enables users to schedule emails and send reminders automatically.
Right Inbox has a limited free plan available. However, unlike the other options on the list, it’s restricted to tracking five emails per month. To gain access to unlimited email tracking as well as other features such as recurring emails, mail merge, CRM integration, and more, you’ll need to upgrade your plan. Right Inbox’s plans start from $7.95/month billed annually.
Right Inbox also comes with a Gmail extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers. The availability of this extension makes Right Inbox one of the best Gmail tracking software available.
Pros and Cons of Right Inbox
Let’s look at the pros and cons of Right Inbox.
Pros:
- Includes mail merge and CRM integration on paid plans
- Ability to make private notes and templates
- Ability to create and add different signatures
- Unlimited embedded GIFs
Cons:
- The free plan is limited
- Plans are only billed annually
SalesHandy
SalesHandy offers a free email tracker for Gmail that includes unlimited email tracking and scheduling. This tool provides useful email data to increase your email productivity. The tool allows users to set desktop notifications to monitor when emails have been opened or a link has been clicked. It’s also easy to create and save message templates through the app.
SalesHandy has an unlimited free plan for Gmail users. However, if you use Outlook, or need features beyond basic tracking, you’ll need to sign up for their paid plans. These plans start at $34/month and include a 7-day free trial.
Pros and Cons of SalesHandy
Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of SalesHandy.
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Offers many customization fields
- Good analytics for small sales teams
- Easy to create templates
Cons:
- Customer service is somewhat lacking
- Integrations are limited
Mailtrack
Mailtrack is another Gmail extension that makes tracking emails directly from within the app possible. It has many useful features, making it one of the most robust email tracking extensions available. It gives users at-a-glance engagement information, as well as a separate dashboard to view all details of your tracked emails.
Mailtrack offers a free plan that includes unlimited email tracking along with a daily report, notifications, and alerts. However, if you’re looking for more features such as analytics, tracking history, and monitoring link clicks, you’ll need a paid plan. The paid plans start at $1.99/user/month for the Pro plan.
Pros and Cons of Mailtrack
Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of Mailtrack.
Pros:
- User-friendly
- Reliable email tracking
- Daily reports available
- Notifications when emails haven’t been opened 24, 48, or 72 hours after sending
Cons:
- Limited to Gmail
- Mobile notifications don’t always work
MailTag
MailTag is a robust email tracker that provides a high-level look at your open and link-click rates, amongst other useful tracking details. This tracker includes a handy ping feature that allows a level of automation to be added. For example, you can set an automatic response to be sent when emails go unopened.
MailTag only has a single pricing plan, and it’s $12.99/month. They also offer a 14-day free trial, along with a 30-day money-back guarantee to back up their promises.
Pros and Cons of MailTag
Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of MailTag
Pros:
- Integrates well with Gmail
- Offers CRM integration
- Offers automated routines
Cons:
- Expensive for features offered
- Limited pricing plans
- Customer support is slow to respond
MailTracker by Hunter
MailTracker is a simple, yet effective tracker that helps you monitor when your messages have been opened, or when a link has been clicked. The tool also offers unique security features when tracking and monitoring PDFs. They offer download protection and expiry dates when sending and tracking PDFs.
MailTracker has a free version available that offers unlimited email tracking. However, the other features such as tracking history, alerts, and PDF tracking are limited. The paid plans start from $9.00/month.
Pros and Cons of MailTracker by Hunter
Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of MailTracker by Hunter.
Pros:
- Integrates easily with Gmail
- Summaries of all emails sent
- Tracks how many times emails were forwarded
- Insights and details are useful
Cons:
- Settings can be confusing
- Tracking options are rather limited
- Time records of opening emails only on paid versions (free version only first email)
Vocus.io
Vocus.io is a Gmail tracking tool that offers all the basic features such as monitoring opened emails and link clicks. The tool also enables users to create a sequence of soft reminders and automated responses to help them follow up when emails aren’t opened. One thing that sets Vocus.io apart from some of the other options on this list is that it also functions as a good email lookup tool.
Vocus.io offers tiered plans that start at $5.00/month. They also offer a 30-day free trial to help users get a feel for the program before paying to use the tool.
Pros and Cons of Vocus.io
Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of Vocus.io.
Pros:
- Syncs with CRM
- Automation features
- GDPR Compliant
- Team collaboration features
Cons:
- Compatibility is limited
- Metrics can be confusing
- Lacks integrations and attachment tracking
- Bugs
Yesware
Yesware integrates with either Gmail or Outlook and is able to provide valuable insights into what happens to your emails after you send them. It’s available as a browser extension, making it possible to use it directly from within your email client. It offers many reports such as emails opened, links clicked, attachments downloaded, and monitoring engaged users.
Yesware has a free forever plan available that includes all the basic email tracking features. If you’re looking for more features, such as recipient engagement or personal activity reports, you’ll need to sign up for one of the paid plans. These start at $19.00/month for the Pro plan.
Pros and Cons of Yesware
Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of Yesware.
Pros:
- Sequencing and automation features in paid plans
- Offers mail merges and templates
- Attachment and link tracking
- Email forwarded tracking
Cons:
- Campaigns can be influenced by auto-replies
- Colleague tracking is vague
- Limits on monitoring bulk emails
Email Tracking Software 2023 – Which Is the Best Option?
When it comes to choosing the best email tracker, there are many options to consider. If you’re looking for a simple tool that won’t cost anything, we recommend PandaDoc’s Free Email Tracker. This tool includes all the basic features you require but is completely free to use, with no ads or limitations.
However, if you’re looking for more advanced features such as reporting, mail merge, and more, then Right Inbox is probably the best choice. Their starter plan is only $7.95/month, which is affordable and it includes more useful features.
If you can’t afford to pay the annual billing of Right Inbox in one go but still need more features than what PandaDoc’s Free Email Tracker offers, you can consider Mixmax. Their monthly fee for the starter plans is more than the other two, but it’s only billed monthly and includes more useful features.
Final Thoughts
Email trackers are useful tools to monitor the effectiveness of your email campaigns and to ensure important communications get read. Using the best mail tracking tool for 2023 will ensure you know who’s read your emails and where you need to follow up.
Do you want to start using a mail tracker? Try out the PandaDoc’s Email Tracker extension for Chrome now.
