The Best Perfex CRM Email, Notification & SMS Modules
Perfex CRM sends mail out of the box, but only just: one shared SMTP sender for the whole install, a small fixed list of SMS providers, and no real inbox - so the moment you want staff to read email inside the CRM, send from their own address, broadcast to a customer segment, or route texts through your own carrier, you need a module. The trap is that "email for Perfex" actually means four different jobs, and a module built for one of them will not do the others.
The distinction that matters is what you are trying to send and which way it flows. A webmail client brings each person's inbox into the CRM so they read and reply in context. A per-staff SMTP layer changes who outbound CRM mail is sent as, to fix deliverability and accountability. A notification module composes one-off and scheduled broadcasts across SMS, email and WhatsApp to your contacts. And a custom SMS gateway swaps Perfex's preset texting providers for any HTTP gateway you choose. Pick by the task - reading inbound mail, authenticating outbound mail, broadcasting campaigns, or routing SMS - and by whether your team needs an inbox, better sender reputation, or lower per-message cost.
The four modules below cover those jobs. All run on the CodeIgniter-based Perfex core and support PHP 7.4+ (the newer two also list PHP 8.x). They are ordered most-proven first - the webmail client has by far the largest install base of the set - down to the newest, most narrowly-scoped tool. Where two modules overlap on email, the notes say exactly which one to reach for.
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The most established module of this set (a 4.78 rating across 41 reviews), Mailbox connects each staff member's own IMAP/SMTP account so they read, send, draft, tag and search email inside Perfex in a clean Gmail-style interface - threaded conversations, a split preview pane, archive/snooze, three density modes, and read status synced back to the server over SSL/TLS IMAP. Gmail and Outlook connect password-free via OAuth2 (O365 improvements landed in the latest 2.2.2); where passwords are used they are AES-256-CBC encrypted. The standout is turning mail into CRM work: assign a message to a customer, or convert it to a task, ticket or lead, with the thread kept on the record. It also composes with templates, merge fields, Send Later scheduling and an email-rules/auto-reply engine. The honest limits: it needs an IMAP account (POP is not supported) and correctly configured Perfex cron jobs to fetch mail in the background.
Best for: Teams who want staff to live in their inbox inside Perfex and turn emails directly into customers, tasks, tickets and leads.
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Perfex sends every estimate, invoice, ticket reply and notification through one system-wide SMTP sender, so all outbound mail leaves from the same address no matter who triggered it. This module fixes that: give each non-admin staff member their own SMTP account, on their own mail server, so messages go out as the right person. It uses the transports Perfex already supports - PHPMailer or CodeIgniter engine; SMTP, Sendmail or PHP Mail; TLS, SSL or none - so one person can run a TLS relay while another uses plain Sendmail. A filterable, exportable Log Entries screen records who changed which sender settings and when. It is configuration-only, no code required. Be clear on scope, though: this is a sender-identity and deliverability layer, not an inbox or a campaign tool - it changes how Perfex's existing emails are sent, nothing more. It carries a perfect rating, on too small a sample to list a public review count.
Best for: Agencies, departments and resellers who need each person's CRM email sent from their own authenticated address for better deliverability and a clear audit trail.
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Where the others change how single CRM emails are read or sent, this module is the broadcaster: compose once and reach a customer or lead's contacts by SMS (Clickatell, MSG91 or Twilio), email (with dynamic subjects and merge fields like {contact_firstname} and {client_company}), or WhatsApp via the official Twilio Business API. Across roughly 20 reviews (4.4 rating) it has grown into a real messaging hub - shared or private template libraries with categories, reusable recipient groups, future-dated scheduling with a managed queue, a delivery preview, a live SMS segment counter to control cost, per-staff permissions, active-contact targeting, email attachments, and a full sent/failed/scheduled history with CSV export. The trade-offs: SMS is limited to those three providers (pair it with the Custom SMS Gateway module below if you need a different carrier), WhatsApp specifically requires Twilio's API, and it messages the contacts on a chosen customer or lead rather than acting as a marketing list manager.
Best for: Teams sending deliberate SMS, email or WhatsApp broadcasts and reminders to their Perfex customers and leads from one compose screen.
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Standard Perfex supports only a small set of preset SMS providers; this module removes that ceiling by letting you connect virtually any HTTP-based gateway that accepts messages over a POST or GET request. You map the provider's API yourself - endpoint URL, request method, the recipient and message parameter names, plus up to ten extra key/value parameters for credentials like API keys and sender IDs - then a built-in test sender confirms the mapping before you go live, all inside the Perfex settings UI with no custom development. The point is freedom to optimise for delivery rates, per-message cost or regional carrier coverage. Be realistic about what it is: plumbing that routes Perfex's existing SMS notifications through your chosen gateway - it does not add a compose-and-broadcast screen (that is the Notifications module's job), and as the newest entry here it is on version 1.0 with only a handful of reviews (4.67 from 3), the least battle-tested of the four.
Best for: Anyone who wants Perfex's SMS to flow through their own HTTP gateway for better rates, deliverability or local carrier coverage.
| Module | Platform | Standard | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailbox | CodeIgniter | $49 | ★ 4.78 | Teams who want staff to live in their inbox inside Perfex and turn emails directly into customers, tasks, tickets and leads. |
| Advanced Email System for Perfex CRM | CodeIgniter | $69 on CC | ★ 5.00 | Agencies, departments and resellers who need each person's CRM email sent from their own authenticated address for better deliverability and a clear audit trail. |
| Custom SMS & Email Notifications Automation for Perfex CRM | CodeIgniter | $39 | ★ 4.40 | Teams sending deliberate SMS, email or WhatsApp broadcasts and reminders to their Perfex customers and leads from one compose screen. |
| Custom SMS Gateway module for Perfex CRM | CodeIgniter | $39 | ★ 4.67 | Anyone who wants Perfex's SMS to flow through their own HTTP gateway for better rates, deliverability or local carrier coverage. |
The verdict
Pick by the job, not by the word "email". Mailbox is the one most teams feel first and the most proven here (4.78 across 41 reviews): it puts each person's inbox inside Perfex and lets them convert a message into a customer, task, ticket or lead, which a standalone webmail tab never can - just budget for the IMAP and cron prerequisites. The Advanced Email System solves a narrower but real pain, giving every staff member their own authenticated SMTP sender so CRM mail stops leaving from one shared address, with a change log to match. The Custom SMS & Email Notifications module is the broadcaster, composing SMS, email and WhatsApp to your contacts with templates, groups, scheduling and cost-aware segment counting. And the Custom SMS Gateway module is the plumbing under your texting, routing Perfex SMS through any HTTP gateway you choose for better rates and coverage - newest and least-tested of the four, but the only way past Perfex's preset providers. Inbox, sender, broadcaster, gateway: choose the one that matches what you actually need to send, and run them together where the jobs combine.
Questions, answered
Which module do I need - an inbox, better sending, or broadcasts?
Match it to the job. If staff should read and reply to email inside the CRM and turn messages into customers, tasks or tickets, that is Mailbox (the webmail client). If your problem is that all outbound CRM mail leaves from one shared address, the Advanced Email System gives each person their own SMTP sender. If you want to push SMS, email or WhatsApp broadcasts and reminders to your contacts, that is the Custom SMS & Email Notifications module. They solve different problems and are often run together.
Two of these touch email - what is the difference?
Mailbox is about inbound and replies: it brings each staff member's IMAP inbox into Perfex so they read, organise and respond, and links messages to CRM records. The Advanced Email System is about outbound identity: it changes the SMTP account that Perfex's automatic emails (invoices, ticket replies, notifications) are sent from, per staff member, for deliverability and accountability. One is an inbox; the other is a sender-configuration layer. They do not overlap and complement each other well.
Do I need the SMS Gateway module if I already have the Notifications module?
Only if your SMS provider is not one the Notifications module supports. That module sends SMS through Clickatell, MSG91 or Twilio. If your carrier is not among those, the Custom SMS Gateway module lets you map almost any HTTP-based gateway (POST or GET) so your texts route through it instead. The gateway module is the plumbing for your provider; the Notifications module is the compose-and-broadcast screen - together they let you broadcast through a custom carrier.
Do these modules require coding to set up?
No. The Advanced Email System, Notifications and Custom SMS Gateway modules are all configured from the Perfex settings UI and install in moments - you enter SMTP credentials, provider keys or gateway parameters, with no code. Mailbox is also UI-configured per staff member, but it has two infrastructure prerequisites worth noting: an IMAP-enabled account that accepts SSL/TLS (POP is not supported), and correctly configured Perfex cron jobs so mail is fetched in the background.
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