Capsule CRM and Gmail: what syncs, what doesn't, and how to set it up
Capsule's Gmail add-on stores email threads, creates contacts, tasks and opportunities from your inbox, and runs on every plan. Automatic storing needs Growth or above.
- Connector
- Gmail add-on built by Capsule, installed from the add-on marketplace inside Gmail; the docs list no separate fee
- Sync direction
- Mostly Gmail → Capsule; Capsule contact details show in the Gmail sidebar, and a separate Google Contacts feed runs Capsule → Google
- Setup time
- Two short procedures per user (install, then connect to Capsule); the docs give no time estimate
- Availability
- Add-on on all Capsule plans (Free, Starter, Growth, Advanced, Ultimate); automatic email storing on Growth and above; any Gmail user can install
- Our rating
- 4 out of 5. Add-on stores threads and creates contacts, tasks and opportunities on every plan; automatic email storing needs Growth or above.
| What | Direction | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Contact lookup | Capsule → Gmail | When you open an email, the sidebar lists each person in the conversation as new or existing. Existing contacts show the details stored in Capsule. |
| New contacts and organizations | Gmail → Capsule | You add a sender as a Person or Organization from the sidebar. "Save & Store Conversation" creates the record and stores the thread in one step. |
| Matching a known contact to a new address | Gmail → Capsule | "Find in Capsule" searches by name. Matching saves the new email address on the existing contact. |
| Conversation storing | Gmail → Capsule | You store a thread on a contact, opportunity or project. Later messages in that thread, sent and received, are added to the record. |
| Automatic email storing | Gmail → Capsule | Growth, Advanced and Ultimate only. You enable it per contact, and Capsule stores emails where the contact is in To or From. An option also stores previous emails. |
| Tasks, opportunities and projects | Gmail → Capsule | You create each one from the open email, linked to the contact in the sidebar. |
| Google Contacts | Capsule → Gmail | A separate Capsule setting adds your Capsule contacts to Google Contacts, so they are available when you write in Gmail. It is one-way, and Google contacts do not come into Capsule. |
| Compose in Gmail | Capsule → Gmail | A preference in Capsule makes email addresses open a Gmail compose window instead of your default mail client. |
Setting it up
- In Gmail, click the + icon in the right sidebar, choose Get add-ons and search for Capsule.
- Install it. Click Individual Install for yourself. A Google Workspace admin clicks Domain Install to cover all users, then accepts the permissions and terms.
- Open any email and expand the Capsule icon in the sidebar. Grant the permissions the add-on asks for.
- Click Connect your account, confirm your Capsule subdomain and click Allow. If Gmail asks you to connect Capsule to Gmail, grant that permission too.
- Open a thread with a known contact and use Store on [Contact Name]. A green check mark confirms the store.
- On Growth and above, click Enable on a contact's auto-store prompt. Tick Store previous emails first if you want the history.
Where the integration stops
- Free and Starter store conversations by hand. You store each thread from the sidebar. Automatic storing needs Growth, Advanced or Ultimate.
- Automatic storing covers To and From only. It skips CC and BCC, stores individual emails rather than threads, and files them on the contact record. A thread already stored on an opportunity, project or another contact takes priority.
- The add-on works only on an open email. It does not appear in the list view or the compose window.
- Task dates are typed as text. Capsule's docs say Google offers no date or time picker widgets for add-ons.
- The Google Contacts feed is one-way and filtered. A Capsule contact needs at least one standard detail, such as an address, phone or email. A contact with only a name or custom fields does not reach Google.
- The docs do not say whether attachments are stored with emails, or whether colleagues can see an email you stored. Check both in a test account before rollout.
Capsule's Gmail add-on puts your Capsule contacts in the Gmail sidebar. From there you add contacts, store email threads and create tasks, opportunities and projects without leaving your inbox. It suits small teams that work from Gmail and want a record of customer email in Capsule.
Capsule builds the add-on. The docs list it on every plan, Free included. Any Gmail user can install it, and a Google Workspace admin can install it for the whole domain.
The fact that surprises teams is the plan split. On Free and Starter, storing is manual, one conversation at a time. Automatic storing starts on Growth. See Capsule pricing for what else those plans change.
Storing is manual until Growth
On every plan, you open a thread and choose Store on a contact, opportunity or project. Capsule then keeps adding messages from that thread, sent and received. You store a conversation once, not each reply.
Growth, Advanced and Ultimate add automatic storing. You enable it contact by contact, and Capsule stores emails where that contact is in To or From. It can also pull in earlier emails with that contact.
Automatic storing has narrower rules than conversation storing. It ignores CC and BCC, and it files emails on the contact record only. If a thread is already stored on an opportunity or project, that placement wins. You can move a conversation from a contact to a project or opportunity from the add-on.
The add-on works from an open email
The sidebar appears only when you view an existing email. It does not appear in the list view or when you compose. If you cannot see it, the sidebar may be hidden. Click the arrow at the bottom of the page to reopen it.
You can create records from the same view. A new sender becomes a Person or an Organization. An old contact who writes from a new address can be matched by name, and Capsule saves the address on the existing record. Tasks, opportunities and projects are created from the contact in the sidebar. Task dates and times are typed as text.
Capsule to Google is a separate, one-way feed
Capsule has a second Google integration, for contacts. It copies Capsule contacts into Google Contacts, either into your main list or into a dedicated Capsule Contacts group. It does not read Google contacts back into Capsule.
Only contacts with a standard detail, such as an address, phone or email, are copied. This feed is a separate setting from the add-on, so connecting one does not connect the other.
Teams that need other Gmail connectors can compare options on the Gmail integrations page. For Capsule's own details, see the Capsule vendor page.