Mailtrack is one of the most popular email tracking tools on the market today.
The app allows for a huge amount of automation around email outreach and follow-ups. It also provides real-time insights into your sent emails, allows you to set up custom alerts, and much more.
However, the app does come with some downsides. In particular, the free tier attaches a Mailtrack signature to every email and doesn’t provide a full tracking history for your mail.
If that’s a dealbreaker, don’t worry. In this article, we’ll cover some free mailtrack alternatives so that you can make an informed decision about which email tracking service best suits your needs.
Let’s get started!
Free Email Tracker for Gmail by PandaDoc
If you’re looking for a friendly and simple-to-use email tracking tool, the Free Email Tracker for Gmail from PandaDoc is a great extension to help you get up and running quickly.
This tool is great for everyone from individual users to sales teams who want to keep an eye on sent emails. Plus, the extension isn’t loaded for bear with excessive features or complicated workflows.
It’s fast, simple, and easy mail tracking done right — and that makes it one of the best alternatives to Mailtrack you’ll find in the Chrome Web Store.
Coolest features
- Uses familiar tools. If you’ve used Mailtrack or a similar tool in the past, this tracker relies on similar tools and workflows, including the classic double-checkmark system and instant email open notifications.
- Free & unlimited tracking. Unlike Mailtrack and some of the other options on our list, this email tracker doesn’t lock any functionality behind a plan. While you’ll need to sign up for a free PandaDoc plan as part of the app, all email tracking functionality is always free and unlimited.
Main limitations
- Limited in scope and scalability. The main drawback to this tracker is that its scalability is limited when compared to more dedicated apps. For small teams, this app performs well. If you plan to use email for mass emailing and tracking, you’ll probably need a more robust tool.
- Lacks functionality of more dedicated apps. If you’re looking for a tracking tool without extra complications, this extension is more than enough to track outreach and manage customer relationships, but other apps offer more sophisticated feature sets (often on paid plans!) that might be better suited to reps who live and die by the deals in their inbox.
Important details
- Cost: Free.
- Account required? Yes.
- Browser compatibility: Google Chrome.
Unlimited Email Tracker by Snov.io
Looking to make sure that your emails get opened and read? The Unlimited Email Tracker by Snov.io can help.
This app is a freebie extension supported by Snov.io, a sales automation platform designed to deliver more leads, sales, and revenue.
However, just because Snov.io is focused on sales and marketing teams doesn’t mean that the email tracker is solely a marketing tool. This app offers a wide selection of functionality to boost sales engagement and keep an eye on your inbox workspace.
Coolest features
- No account required. This app is the only one on our list that doesn’t require some kind of signup or account to use. If you’re looking for a plug-and-play solution without any kind of account setup, Snov.io’s tracker is a great place to start.
- Daily/weekly tracking reports. Reporting tools are something that you’ll often find locked behind paid plans, but Snov.io provides this functionality for free.
Main limitations
- No CRM integrations. Realistically, Snov.io offers a ton of functionality compared to most other Mailtrack alternatives that we saw. The app doesn’t offer more advanced features like CRM integrations, but it would be difficult to expect from other brands on anything lower than a premium plan.
Important details
- Cost: Free.
- Account required? No.
- Browser compatibility: Google Chrome.
Streak Email Tracking for Gmail
Streak is an all-in-one CRM for Gmail that offers email tracking as part of its perpetually free plan.
It’s a great alternative for users looking for sales and marketing automation tools that go beyond what Mailtrack and other single-function apps might provide.
While Streak does require an account at signup, the platform helps you better manage your email inbox by providing powerful features that help keep conversations organized and on track.
You’ll be able to track emails, create sales pipelines, send mail-merged emails, and integrate with G-Suite / Google Workspace all while using the free plan.
Coolest features
- Sales pipelines. Reps intending to track emails for sales and lead generation purposes, will feel right at home with Streak. This platform is ideal for freelancers and small businesses content to run their entire business suite out of Gmail. If you can do that, Streak brings a lot to the table.
- Onboard mail merge. Streak is one of the few platforms that offer mail merges and email tracking on the free plan. You can send up to 50 mail-merged emails per day, something that you won’t be able to do with Mailtrack unless you buy the advanced / premium tier.
Main limitations
- Best features are sales features. You can’t deny that Streak knows what it’s trying to do. In addition to email tracking, the tool brings added features to your fingertips — but all the best features are sales and CRM features.
- Way more than email tracking. Streak comes armed with an entire sales toolkit, but if you aren’t looking for pipelines and task management with your email tracking, this extension probably isn’t for you.
Important details
- Cost: Free.
- Account required? Yes.
- Browser compatibility: Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge.
MailTracker: Free email tracker for Gmail
If you need a privacy-focused email tracking extension, MailTracker by Hunter is one of the best alternatives to Mailtrack.io.
By itself, Hunter is a widely-used email tracking service. The platform offers email search and verification capabilities, email list management, email tracking and analytics, mail merge automation, and more as part of its email campaigns feature.
In many ways, MailTracker is a natural extension of everything you would expect from Hunter.io. The extension offers GDPR-compliant, no-signature tracking in a way that doesn’t read or capture any data related to your email.
That’s a vastly different and unique stance than what we typically see on data privacy, especially from an extension that specializes in tracking.
Coolest features
- Privacy focused. This extension is built from the ground up to offer secure and legal email tracking. Mailtrack doesn’t store email addresses or any data inside the email. Instead, it uses message and thread identification numbers to verify sent and received emails so that your information is never captured or stored.
- PDF tracking. Other apps offer PDF tracking at higher tiers, but MailTracker is the only one that we found offering it for free. You’ll also have the ability to password-protect PDFs sent using this extension, so an extra layer of security is available if you need it.
Main limitations
- No unopened alerts. Unlike most of the extensions on our list, MailTracker doesn’t offer alerts on unopened emails or non-responsive contacts on their free plan. While you can monitor the email record to know whether or not emails have been opened, the system won’t remind you automatically.
- No integrations (ever). While Hunter.io offers integrations with Salesforce, Gmail, Outlook, and thousands of other apps via Zapier, MailTracker doesn’t offer the same level of functionality. Using this extension allows MailTracker to integrate with Gmail, but the extension doesn’t offer anything else by way of integrations.
Important details
- Cost: Free.
- Account required? Yes.
- Browser compatibility: Google Chrome.
RightInbox: Email Reminders, Tracking, Notes
One of the best email tracking competitors to Mailtrack.io, RightInbox features everything from email scheduling and real-time notifications to integration with most SaaS-based CRM tools.
It’s also one of the only mail-tracking solutions that works with Firefox (rather than being restricted to Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or another Chromium browser).
However, despite its plethora of features and the fact that it offers a free plan, you should only install this extension if you have an eye (and the budget) for a paid plan. The free version is so restrictive that you’ll have a hard time testing this app beyond its basic limitations.
Coolest features
- Private notes. Among the other features on offer, RightInbox includes the ability to add private notes to emails. This unique capability gives users a way to mark up emails with quick reminders and additional details that would normally end up inside a CRM.
- GIF Search. RightInbox features the ability to quickly import animated GIFs into your email. You can simply search for a GIF and add it to your message in a matter of seconds. No other app we reviewed offers this feature.
Main limitations
- Limited free version. Of all the Mailtrack competitors on our list, RightInbox is the hardest to work with. The free plan allows you to send five emails per month. You can create five email templates and five signatures per month or add five private notes, but once you’ve hit that limit, you’re done until the next month.
- No reporting. This extension doesn’t offer any reporting tools. This is a feature regularly seen in almost every other mail tracking app, and it seems odd that RightInbox doesn’t offer it among so many other great features.
Important details
- Cost: Free.
- Account required? Yes.
Browser compatibility: Chrome, Firefox, Safari.
Switching from Mailtrack? Get Your Free Email Tracker from PandaDoc!
We might be a little biased, but before you start evaluating the Mailtrack pricing page or installing a bunch of random apps, we’d recommend trying out the PandaDoc email extension.
It’s fast, simple, simple to use, and more than enough for most individuals and sales teams. Plus, its streamlined feature set means that it won’t drastically alter how you use Gmail or overwhelm you with functionality and tools that would get in the way of tracking your email efficiently.
Before you jump in, don’t forget to create a free PandaDoc account! The extension will prompt you for this when you download it and connect it to Gmail, but you can create a free account in advance so that signing in is fast and easy.
Jump over to the PandaDoc signup screen to get started, or download the extension here to take it for a spin.
FAQ
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Gmail does not have a built-in email tracker, but there are many email tracking software programs and Chrome extensions that can be used with Gmail.
The extensions and plugins in the previous section provide great email tracking features to help you succeed when sending emails.
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There are several ways to track email, but the most common method is through the use of a tracking pixel.
A tracking pixel is an invisible image that has been placed into the body of the email.
When the recipient opens the email, the email client requests the image from the email server. The email server records the request, which includes information such as the time and date of the email opening, and other information.
This information is then passed on to the email tracking software, which uses it to generate a report showing when and where the email was opened.
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For this particular article, we tried to focus specifically on Mailtrack alternatives. There are other great email tracking tools out there (Mixmax, Saleshandy, Yesware, etc.), especially if you’re looking for integration with platforms.
If you want to take things a step farther and move off the Gmail platform or work with Gmail inside a separate interface, you’ll quickly run into things like HubSpot, or even larger platforms like MailChimp.
These tools integrate with Gmail API and can use Gmail to send your emails, but they represent a level of usage and capability that go beyond what you could reasonably expect from a browser extension.
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No, though they are similar.
Email tracking software is a tool that can be used to track whether an email has been opened or not, often through the use of a tracking pixel or similar invisible addition to the email. When the recipient opens the email, that interaction is tracked and automatically reported.
This is different from a read receipt, which only confirms that the email was received by the recipient and prompts the user to send the receipt (an action which can be declined in most scenarios).
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Email tracking software provides the ability to track email opens, clicks, and engagement.
This allows businesses to see which emails are being read and interacted with and make decisions accordingly.
Additionally, email tracking can provide valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. By understanding how customers interact with email content, businesses can optimize their email marketing campaigns for better results.
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If consent isn’t acquired first, email tracking can invade the privacy of the email recipient when the sender shares recipient details with 3rd party suppliers.
Any email marketing platform or browser extension may have access regarding the correspondence, including when the email was sent and received, and other interactions that took place, such as whether it was opened, forwarded, or replied to.
This information can be used to create a profile of the email sender and recipient, which could be sold to third parties or used for targeted advertising and can generate additional email spam.
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It’s possible. In some cases, email tracking software can cause emails to be flagged as spam.
This is particularly common in cases where email campaigns are unsolicited and have been sent to inboxes without first acquiring user consent. When enough users mark an email as spam, this can result in the email being blocked by the recipient’s email provider.
In other cases, email tracking software can cause emails to be delivered late or not at all. If you are using email tracking software, it is important to test it thoroughly to ensure that it does not adversely affect email deliverability.
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There is no surefire way to avoid email tracking software entirely. However, there are some methods you can use to make it more difficult for trackers to collect data on your activities.
These methods include using disposable email services like Temp Mail or Guerrilla Mail that provide temporary email addresses.
You could also use browser extensions like PixelBlock or Ugly Email in order to block would-be trackers.
While there are some security measures that you can also take, like encrypting your email using PGP or TLS protocols, most of this work is done automatically if you’re using Gmail or a similar email client.
