10 Best Drift Alternatives and Competitors in 2026 (by Use Case)

Key Takeaways

Drift is a chat tool for B2B sales teams: a website widget that qualifies visitors and routes the ones ready to buy to a sales rep. Its owner, Clari + Salesloft, is retiring it on 31 January 2027, so every Drift customer needs a replacement before then. We compared 10 alternatives on pricing, AI agents, CRM fit, and what each one costs once you add seats and usage, using each vendor’s pricing page and G2 profile as of October 2026. Tidio suits small and mid-sized e-commerce and support teams, not enterprise B2B pipeline teams, and the list says so.

What is happening to Drift?

Salesloft is retiring Drift, its conversational marketing product, on 31 January 2027. Clari + Salesloft announced a gradual sunset on 6 March 2026 and named 1mind as the successor. Salesloft’s own FAQ says access continues until your contract ends or 31 January 2027, whichever comes first.

Three things stop on that date, according to Salesloft’s Drift sunset FAQ (updated September 2026): the website chat widget, Drift Email, and any custom integration built on the Drift API. Your data stays online until your contract ends or 31 January 2027. After that, Salesloft stores it offline until 30 April 2027 and deletes what remains on 1 May 2027. You can ask your account manager for an export.

Drift alternatives at a glance

Here is every tool in one view. Prices are the entry paid plan on each vendor’s pricing page, with the billing basis in the cell.

Tool	Best for	Starting price	Free plan	AI agent	G2 rating
Tidio	Small and mid-sized e-commerce and support teams	$24.17/mo, annual	Yes, 50 billable conversations	Lyro	4.6 (1,962)
Intercom	AI-first customer support	$29/seat/mo, annual, plus $0.99 per Fin outcome	Trial only	Fin	4.5 (3,913)
HubSpot	Teams that live in the CRM	Free for 2 users; Service Hub Starter from $7/seat/mo	Yes	Customer Agent (credits)	4.4 (3,017)
Qualified	Salesforce B2B pipeline	Custom, after a demo	None listed	Piper AI SDR	4.9 (1,561)
1mind	AI sales agent replacement	Not published	None listed	1mind agents	4.9 (7)
LiveChat	Simple live chat per seat	$19/person/mo, annual	14-day trial	Text AI Agent	4.5 (813)
Crisp	Small teams, flat workspace price	$45/workspace/mo	Yes, 2 seats	Included credits	4.5 (204)
Freshchat	Free multi-agent chat	$19/agent/mo, annual	Yes, up to 10 agents	Freddy, $49 per 100 sessions	4.4 (502)
tawk.to	A free chat widget	Free; AI Assist from $29/mo	Yes	AI Assist	4.5 (203)
Knock AI	Inbound AI SDR workflows	From $2,000/mo	None listed	AI SDR	4.9 (30)

How we evaluated these alternatives

We kept tools that can replace Drift’s core job: put a chat or AI agent on your website, qualify the visitor, and hand the right conversations to a person. Five criteria decided the order:

• Fit for the job: B2B pipeline, support, or e-commerce.
• AI agent: whether the tool answers on its own, and what each answer costs.
• CRM fit: native sync with Salesforce, HubSpot, or others.
• Price on the public page: seats, usage, and add-ons, with the billing basis.
• Free plan or trial: how far you get before paying.

We used public documentation, pricing pages, and G2 profiles, and did not run a trial of every tool.

Why teams look for a Drift alternative

Drift routes high-intent visitors to sales reps and syncs chat data into a CRM, as Salesloft’s Drift page describes. It holds 4.4 out of 5 on G2 from 1,255 reviews. If your contract is still running, you can keep using it until it ends. These are the reasons teams move now:

1. It is retiring. Salesloft sets the end date at 31 January 2027, and the widget, Drift Email, and API integrations all stop that day.
2. The owner is moving away from script-based bots. Salesloft says the market is shifting from static, script-based bots to multimodal AI, and it points customers to 1mind for that.
3. Drift is built for B2B sales. Salesloft describes it as an AI chat agent for B2B sales. If you run a support desk or an online store, a sales workflow may be more than you use.
4. Your data has deadlines. Online access ends with your contract or on 31 January 2027, and unexported data is deleted on 1 May 2027.
5. Your contract may outlive the product. If it runs past 31 January 2027, Salesloft says it will discuss options case by case.

For a closer look at the product before it goes, read our Drift review or the Drift vs Intercom comparison.

The 10 best Drift alternatives in 2026

1. Tidio: Best for small and mid-sized e-commerce and support teams

Tidio puts live chat, tickets, email, and the Lyro AI agent in one inbox. It replaces Drift when your visitors ask support and buying questions rather than book enterprise demos. Flows let you qualify visitors, collect emails, and hand chats to an agent, with no developer.

Tidio is a fit for:

• Shopify stores that want live cart preview and order history in the inbox.
• Small and mid-sized teams that lean on automation and AI instead of a big sales or support team.
• Teams with a steady flow of repeat questions. Tidio says Lyro can resolve up to 75% of customer questions automatically.
• Companies in retail, SaaS, and services whose website visitors want fast answers.
• Teams that handle live chat, email, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp in one place.

Key features:

• Lyro AI agent: answers from your knowledge base and hands off to a person when needed.
• Flows: a visual builder for lead capture and qualification.
• Shopify tools: see what is in a customer’s cart and their order history from the inbox.
• Integrations: Tidio works with HubSpot and other tools.

Pros

• A free plan and a 7-day trial let you test the setup before you pay.
• Support tickets, chat, and AI share one inbox, so no one repeats information.
• Paid plans start at $24.17 a month and are priced by conversations, with 10 seats included up to Growth.

Cons

• Conversations, Lyro, and Flows are priced separately, so you pay only for what you use, but there are a few quotas to watch.
• Larger deployments get a quote from the sales team (Plus starts at $300 a month plus usage).
• If your pipeline runs through Salesloft or Salesforce workflows, a sales-first tool fits those more tightly.

Pricing: from Tidio’s pricing page, billed annually (monthly in brackets): Free $0 (50 billable conversations); Starter $24.17/mo ($29); Growth from $49.17/mo ($59); Plus from $300/mo plus usage; Premium on request. Lyro starts at $32.50/mo ($39) for 50 conversations, and your first 50 are free.

Rating: G2 4.6/5 (1,962 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain a free plan, e-commerce tools, support features, and a product that is staying on the market. You give up Drift’s sales-rep routing built around Salesloft.

2. Intercom: Best for AI-first customer support

Intercom suits teams that want a messenger, a shared inbox, and an AI agent in one product. Its Fin AI agent covers service, sales, and e-commerce conversations. The price has two parts, seats and usage.

Key features:

• Fin AI agent: answers questions and completes workflows across service and sales.
• Messenger and shared inbox: chat, tickets, and a public help center.
• Workflows builder: automation and round-robin assignment on Advanced.

Pros

• Fin covers service, sales, and e-commerce conversations.
• The seat plans scale from small teams to large ones.

Cons

• Fin charges $0.99 per outcome on top of seats, so the bill grows with conversation volume.
• One full seat is the minimum, and the workflow builder starts at Advanced.

Pricing: per seat per month, billed annually: Essential $29, Advanced $85, Expert $132. Fin costs $0.99 per outcome, counted once per conversation when the customer confirms the fix, stops asking for help, or Fin completes a workflow. Source: Intercom’s pricing page.

Rating: G2 4.5/5 (3,913 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain support tickets and the Fin AI agent. You give up Drift’s sales-first focus, since Intercom leans toward service. See our Intercom alternatives if the seat price looks high.

3. HubSpot: Best for teams that live in the CRM

HubSpot gives you live chat and a chatbot inside the CRM you may already use. Service Hub charges per seat, and AI features run on HubSpot Credits.

Key features:

• Live chat: included in the free tools.
• Customer Agent: an AI agent that answers questions, paid with credits.
• Ticketing and meeting scheduling: from the Starter plan.

Pros

• Free for up to 2 users, so you can test chat with no card.
• Chat history sits on the CRM record, so sales sees the context.

Cons

• Professional costs $90 per seat a month plus a one-time $1,500 onboarding fee.
• AI actions use credits, so spend depends on how often the agent works.

Pricing: Free for up to 2 users. Service Hub Starter shows $7 per seat a month, with $20 struck through on HubSpot’s pricing page. Professional is $90 and Enterprise $150 per seat a month, plus onboarding fees of $1,500 and $3,500.

Rating: G2 4.4/5 (3,017 reviews) for Service Hub, observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain a free entry point and CRM-native chat. You give up Drift’s focus on account routing, and AI spend moves to credits.

4. Qualified: Best for Salesforce B2B pipeline teams

Qualified is the nearest like-for-like replacement for a B2B team that lives in Salesforce. It sells Piper, an AI SDR agent that talks to buyers on your site, in email, and in meetings, and describes itself as coming from Salesforce. It is built for pipeline, not support.

Key features:

• Piper Conversations: real-time chat with buyers on your website.
• Piper Meetings and Email: books meetings and follows up with inbound leads.
• Salesforce data: uses CRM records to personalize conversations.

Pros

• Built for the same B2B inbound job Drift did.
• A 4.9 G2 rating from 1,561 reviews.

Cons

• There is no public price, so you need a demo to see a plan.
• It targets B2B pipeline teams, so a support desk or store would not use most of it.

Pricing: custom. Qualified says it builds a plan around your pipeline needs after a demo. See its pricing page.

Rating: G2 4.9/5 (1,561 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain an AI SDR agent and a Salesforce tie. You give up price transparency.

5. 1Mind: Best for an AI sales agent replacement

1mind is the replacement Salesloft recommends for Drift’s chatbot, under an exclusive referral agreement announced on 6 March 2026. It sells AI agents the company calls Superhumans that talk to buyers on video or voice, for website inbound, live sales calls, in-product guides, and customer success. It suits Drift customers who plan to stay in the Salesloft ecosystem.

Key features:

• Website inbound agent: talks to visitors in the moment of intent.
• Ride-along on live calls: joins live sales conversations.
• Product guide and customer success agents: extend the same agent past the website.

Pros

• Salesloft refers existing Drift clients to it under an exclusive agreement.
• The agent talks with voice and video, not only text.

Cons

• There is no public price.
• The G2 profile has 7 reviews, so there is little independent feedback yet.

Pricing: not published on 1mind’s website as of October 2026.

Rating: G2 4.9/5 (7 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain a voice and video AI agent. You give up a long review history.

6. LiveChat: Best for a simple live chat seat model

LiveChat is a live chat tool with a per-person price and a short feature list. It fits a team that wants chat and reporting with a 14-day trial. Tracked visitors and reporting depth rise with the plan, so check the tier.

Key features:

• Chat widget and agent app: chat history is limited on Starter and unlimited from Team.
• Visitor tracking: up to 100 visitors on Starter, 400 on Team, 1,000 on Business.
• Reporting: basic on Team, advanced on Business.

Pros

• A simple seat model with a free trial.
• 24/7 support is listed on every plan, Starter included.

Cons

• Starter has 1 user and 1 recurring campaign.
• Per-person pricing grows with your team.

Pricing: per person per month, billed annually: Starter $19, Team $49, Business $79; Enterprise is custom. The trial lasts 14 days with no credit card.

Rating: G2 4.5/5 (813 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain a lower seat price and a plain live chat tool. You give up Drift’s B2B sales routing. See our LiveChat alternatives.

7. Crisp: Best for small teams on a flat workspace price

Crisp prices per workspace, not per seat. AI is metered through included credits and automated conversations.

Key features:

• Shared inbox and chat widget: one place for chat and email.
• CRM and ticketing: contact data and a ticketing system among the features.
• AI credits: each paid plan includes credits and automated conversations.

Pros

• A free plan with 2 seats.
• A flat workspace price: Mini covers 4 seats and Essentials covers 10.

Cons

• Mini includes about 90 automated conversations and $5 of AI credits, so busy sites hit the cap.
• The free plan has no AI credits.

Pricing: per workspace per month, as listed on the pricing page: Free; Mini $45 (4 seats, about 90 automated conversations); Essentials $95 (10 seats, about 450). Every plan has a 14-day trial.

Rating: G2 4.5/5 (204 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain a flat price and a free tier. You give up CRM-driven sales routing. Our Tidio vs Crisp comparison has the detail.

8. Freshchat: Best for free multi-agent chat

Freshchat is the chat product from Freshworks. Its free plan covers up to 10 agents. AI is billed per session on top of seats, so the paid bill depends on how often the agent answers.

Key features:

• Chat widget and shared inbox: web and mobile app chat with roles and permissions.
• Freddy AI Agent: priced per 100 sessions.
• Messaging channels: social messengers and text messaging from Growth.

Pros

• A free plan for up to 10 agents.
• Seat pricing starts at $19 a month on annual billing.

Cons

• Freddy AI Agent costs $49 per 100 sessions on top of your seats.
• Social messengers, text messaging, and reporting start at Growth.

Pricing: per agent per month, billed annually: Free $0; Growth $19; Pro $49. Source: Freshworks’ pricing page.

Rating: G2 4.4/5 (502 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain a generous free plan. You give up sales routing and a B2B focus.

9. Tawk.to: Best for a free chat widget

tawk.to gives you a free live chat widget for life, with its own branding on it. AI and branding removal are paid extras.

Key features:

• Free chat widget: live chat on your site at no cost, per tawk.to.
• AI Assist: a chatbot that answers from your knowledge base.
• Hired live agents: optional human agents for $1 per hour.

Pros

• Free for life, with a paid option to remove branding.
• Optional hired agents cover hours your team is offline.

Cons

• Removing the “Powered by tawk.to” branding costs $29 a month.
• AI Assist is a separate paid add-on, from $29 a month.

Pricing: the chat widget is free. Branding removal costs $29 a month and AI Assist starts at $29 a month, per tawk.to’s pricing page.

Rating: G2 4.5/5 (203 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain a free plan. You give up CRM sync and qualification tools. See our tawk.to alternatives.

10. Knock AI: Best for inbound AI SDR workflows

Knock AI is an inbound AI SDR platform for B2B revenue teams. It identifies and enriches buyers, starts conversations across channels such as LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, and Telegram, and runs full qualification.

Key features:

• Automatic buyer identification and enrichment: adds company, role, intent, and CRM status.
• Slack chat links: buyers start a private Slack conversation from any marketing asset.
• AI SDR: runs discovery and routes buyers to the right rep.

Pros

• Reaches buyers off your website, in messaging channels.
• Public starting prices and a 4.9 G2 rating, though from 30 reviews.

Cons

• The two public plans start at $2,000 and $3,500 a month.
• It is built for B2B teams, not for support or small shops.

Pricing: Pipeline Foundation from $2,000/mo and Pipeline Acceleration from $3,500/mo, per its pricing page.

Rating: G2 4.9/5 (30 reviews), observed October 2026.

Versus Drift: you gain AI qualification and channels beyond the website. You give up a low entry price.

Tidio vs Drift: Side-by-Side

Drift is a B2B sales tool, and Tidio is a support and e-commerce chat tool. They overlap on website chat. This table shows where each is stronger.

	Tidio	Drift
Built for	Small and mid-sized e-commerce and support teams	B2B sales teams, per Salesloft
Status	Sold and developed	Retiring on 31 January 2027
AI agent	Lyro, which Tidio says resolves up to 75% of customer questions	Chat agent; Salesloft recommends 1mind as the AI replacement
Lead routing to sales reps	Flows qualify visitors and hand chats to agents	Stronger: routes high-intent visitors to reps
Revenue workflow	Integrates with HubSpot and other tools	Stronger: feeds signals into Salesloft workflows
Support and tickets	Live chat, tickets, and email in one inbox	Not the focus, per Salesloft’s description
E-commerce	Shopify cart preview and order history	Not listed on Salesloft’s Drift page
Channels	Live chat, email, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp	Website chat and Drift Email, until the sunset
Pricing	Free plan; paid from $24.17/mo, annual	Contract through your Salesloft account team
G2 rating	4.6 (1,962 reviews)	4.4 (1,255 reviews)

Need a replacement for a support desk or an online store? Start with Tidio’s plans. Need B2B pipeline inside Salesforce? Compare Qualified and 1mind first. For the full comparison, see our Tidio vs Drift page.

How to switch from Drift before 31 January 2027

Start with the deadline, then work backward. These steps fit most teams.

1. Check your end date. Your access ends at your contract date or 31 January 2027, whichever is first. Ask your Salesloft account team which applies.
2. Request your data export. Ask your account manager or Salesloft Support for an export before the data goes offline. Remaining data is deleted on 1 May 2027.
3. List what must be replaced. Salesloft names three: the chat widget, Drift Email, and custom API integrations. Add your playbooks, routing rules, and meeting links.
4. Rebuild your qualification questions. Copy your top five questions and routing rules into the new tool.
5. Test on a few pages. Install the new widget on a handful of pages and compare conversations for a week.
6. Remove the Drift script. After cutover, delete the Drift code from your site so two widgets never show.

How to choose a Drift alternative

Match the tool to the job:

• You run an online store or a support desk. Choose Tidio.
• You need AI-first support. Choose Intercom.
• Marketing and sales already share HubSpot. Choose HubSpot.
• You sell B2B on Salesforce. Choose Qualified.
• You use Salesloft and want the named replacement. Choose 1mind.
• You want simple per-seat live chat. Choose LiveChat.
• You have a team of three or four. Choose Crisp.
• You need free chat for many agents. Choose Freshchat.
• You need free chat and nothing else. Choose tawk.to.
• You want an AI SDR across channels and have budget. Choose Knock AI.

Bottom line

Drift stops on 31 January 2027, so the question is not whether to switch but where. If you sell B2B through Salesforce or Salesloft, shortlist Qualified and 1mind. If you run support or a store, Tidio gives you chat, tickets, and the Lyro AI agent from $24.17 a month, and a free plan to test first.

Related Guides

• Drift review
• Drift vs Intercom
• Intercom alternatives
• LiveChat alternatives
• tawk.to alternatives

Frequently Asked Questions