Peekat Email and Checker Plus for Gmail compared
Both are browser extensions that check your Gmail accounts and tell you about new mail without Gmail open. Checker Plus has been around for many years and has far more options: mail read aloud, replies and AI writing in its popup, a real-time mode, sounds per label or person, and 41 languages. Peekat is new and does less, on purpose: it is quiet by default, has few settings, and is free with no paid features. If you rely on voice notifications or many settings, Checker Plus is the better fit.
What Checker Plus does well
- Depth. Its website lists dozens of options, from notification buttons and icon styles to signatures and swiping.
- Voice. It can read new mail aloud, with a choice of voices, and only when you are away from the keyboard if you like.
- Work in the popup. Read, reply, archive, delete and compose without opening Gmail, with an option to write a reply with AI.
- Speed and labels. A real-time mode, and notifications, sounds and voices per label.
- Reach. 41 languages, many years of updates (version 36.6), and an extensive FAQ with personal support.
Where Peekat is different
- Quiet by default. Only new mail in Primary, verification codes and sign-in links, and people you choose make a notification. Promotions, Social and the rest are counted and listed, silently.
- Codes that fill in. A code shows in the notification and in the list, ready to copy; copied from the toolbar popup, it also fills in on the sender’s own site, and only there.
- Few settings. One settings screen. Fewer choices to make, and fewer to change.
- Free. No paid plan, no account with us and no ads.
- Not yet: mail read aloud, your own sounds, replying inside Peekat, AI, Firefox and Safari.
Side by side
Every Checker Plus cell comes from its own listing, website or changelog, read on October 30, 2026; the marks link the source. The Peekat column describes version 0.1.1.
| Checker Plus for Gmail | Peekat Email | |
|---|---|---|
| Browsers | Chrome Web Store; Firefox Add-ons (version 36.6) S1 S3 | Chrome Web Store, Edge Add-ons; Firefox awaiting review |
| Users and rating | 1,000,000 users, 4.3 out of 5 from 12.7K ratings S1 | New in 2026 |
| Languages | 41 S1 | 10 |
| Price | Free; “Extra features unlocked with any contribution” S1 | Free, no paid plan |
| Several Gmail and Workspace accounts | Yes S1 | Yes, every account signed in to the browser, no limit |
| How accounts are added | Auto detect or OAuth S2 | Found from the accounts signed in to the browser |
| Checking | Real time, or every 30 seconds to 5 hours S2 | About once a minute while the browser is open |
| Read, archive, mark as read, delete from the popup | Yes S1 | Yes, and report spam; also in the side panel and a full page |
| Reply and compose | In its popup, with an option to write with AI S1 S2 | Opens Gmail to reply or write |
| Voice notifications (mail read aloud) | Yes S1 | No |
| Sounds | Sounds for labels or people; add your own sounds or voices S2 S1 | 8 sound packs or the system sound; no custom sounds |
| Do not disturb | Schedule per account, in full screen, during calendar events S2 | Pause, quiet hours, quiet all weekend |
| Verification codes | A Copy button for one-time codes; an option to delete the email after its code S4 S2 | Copy from the notification or the list; fills on the sender’s own site |
| Side panel | Chrome’s side panel S1 | Yes |
Sources
- S1 Checker Plus for Gmail™ on the Chrome Web Store, read October 30, 2026.
- S2 Checker Plus for Gmail on jasonsavard.com, read October 30, 2026.
- S3 Checker Plus for Gmail on Firefox Add-ons, read October 30, 2026.
- S4 Checker Plus for Gmail changelog, read October 30, 2026.
Listings change. If a cell is out of date or wrong, write to hi@peekat.email and we will correct it.
Using both
The two can run side by side while you decide. Each shows its own notification, so you will see two for one email; turn notifications off in one of them, and Gmail’s own desktop notifications too if they are on.
Trying Peekat
Peekat finds the Gmail accounts signed in to your browser by itself, so there is nothing to set up beyond allowing notifications. Removing it ends its access at once.
Checker Plus for Gmail is a product of its developer; names are used only to compare. Gmail is a trademark of Google LLC.
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Chrome Web Store and Edge Add-ons. Other browsers