Mailtrack vs Zestmail: Comparing Two Gmail Email Trackers

Mailtrack is one of the best-known email trackers for Gmail. Zestmail is a newer, smaller alternative — and it's the one we build, so read this with that in mind. Here's how the two compare, and what to check so you can decide for yourself. Plans change, so confirm current details on each product's own site.

What both do

• Track when emails you send from Gmail are opened, using an invisible tracking pixel
• Notify you when an email is opened
• Offer a free plan with a daily limit and paid plans with more features
• Add a small branded link to emails sent on the free plan

How they differ

Where you see opens. Mailtrack marks tracked messages in Gmail with check marks — two when the email has been opened. Zestmail shows opens in its extension popup as an activity feed, with desktop notifications, approximate location and device for each open.

Filtering. Zestmail separates likely human opens from your own views of your sent mail, Gmail image-proxy prefetches and security scanners or bots, so the open count stays meaningful.

What the paid plan adds. Zestmail Pro adds unlimited tracking, mail merge from Google Sheets and send scheduling, and removes the Zestmail link. Mailtrack's paid plans remove its signature and add tracking features such as link tracking.

Data deletion. Zestmail lets you delete the data it keeps on its servers from the extension's Settings.

Zestmail pricing

• Free: 20 tracked emails per day
• Pro: $9/month, or $69/year ($5.75/month)
• Trial: every new install starts with 7 days of Pro, no credit card required

For Mailtrack's current plans and limits, see its pricing page.

Permissions: check them yourself

Both extensions run inside Gmail and ask you to sign in with Google. Rather than rely on anyone's comparison table — including ours — read the Google consent screen when you sign in, and review your Google Account's third-party connections afterwards.

Zestmail asks for your email address, permission to send email on your behalf (for mail merge and scheduling) and read-only access to Google Sheets (for mail merge recipients). It doesn't ask for permission to read your Gmail. Our permissions guide explains what each scope allows.

The verdict

If you want a widely used tracker with check marks right in Gmail, Mailtrack is a solid choice. If you want filtered open counts plus mail merge and scheduling in one low-priced plan, try Zestmail: the free plan covers 20 emails a day, and the Pro trial lets you test everything for a week.