Drift is a conversational marketing platform built for B2B companies, especially SaaS businesses and enterprise sales teams. It helps engage website visitors through live chat, AI-powered chatbots, and conversational landing pages.
Now part of the Salesloft ecosystem, Drift is designed to accelerate revenue by qualifying leads and booking meetings in real time. In 2023 alone, the platform powered over 30 million conversations, highlighting its role in modernizing B2B engagement.
In this review, we’ll explore Drift’s core features, pricing, user experience, and how it compares to alternatives like Tidio.
Use Tidio to automate support in a natural language
Drift pros & cons
Drift is packed with features designed to streamline B2B sales and marketing efforts. Here’s a closer look at what it does well and where it might fall short.
Pros
- Conversation-driven experience: Drift is designed to accelerate lead conversion and sales team engagement through real-time, personalized interactions.
- Custom routing: the platform offers smart segmentation and lead routing tailored to team availability and account ownership, ensuring leads are directed to the right reps.
- Integrations: Drift boasts strong compatibility with CRM and marketing automation tools, including Salesforce, Marketo, and HubSpot.
- Conversational AI: Drift’s AI can engage and qualify leads without human intervention, providing a scalable solution for lead management.
Cons
- Steep learning curve: new users may find the platform complex, requiring time and training to fully leverage its capabilities.
- Higher pricing tiers: Drift’s advanced features come at a premium, which may be a consideration for smaller businesses with limited budgets.
- Limited default features: some functionalities that teams might expect by default are only available in higher-tier plans, potentially requiring additional investment.
Drift pricing and value for money
Drift doesn’t list specific pricing publicly, but it does outline two main packages: Advanced and Premier. Each is built for sales-led teams that rely on real-time engagement to move leads through the funnel and close deals faster.
The Advanced plan is focused on helping businesses convert more pipelines. It includes tools like structured workflows, rep insights, opportunity tracking, and AI-driven forecasting. As such, it’s built to support teams looking to drive consistent performance and visibility across the sales cycle.
The Premier plan goes a step further. It’s built for companies that need full-funnel support from pipeline creation to post-sale growth. It offers additional functionality across coaching, forecasting, and lifecycle workflows designed to generate revenue quarter after quarter.
While Drift doesn’t publish prices for these plans, demos are available on request. If you’re considering the platform, expect a custom quote based on your team size, goals, and tech stack.
For early-stage teams, Drift chat pricing may be out of reach budget-wise. But for enterprise sales orgs looking for a serious conversation and revenue engine, it’s built to deliver.
Drift features
Drift focuses on helping sales teams have better conversations with the right people. It’s designed to keep deals moving by turning website visits into live conversations and giving reps more control over how and when they engage with prospects.
Here’s how its core features work in practice.
Live chat & chatbots
Drift’s chatbots are built to keep conversations moving without making people wait. They recognize who’s on your site, react in real time, and bring sales reps in when it makes sense. Instead of relying on forms, Drift uses live chat to turn interest into action right away.
Did you know that…
Companies using Drift’s Bionic Chatbots saw 50% more opportunities with 45% fewer meetings, showing how AI can improve sales efficiency without more manual touchpoints.
Tidio tip:
Lyro AI Agent can also qualify leads, but with a focus on support-driven teams. It answers repetitive questions and offers help that feels human.
One example comes from Cove Smart, a growing home security company that used Lyro to manage high volumes of repetitive tickets. After switching, they reduced response times by 80% and saw a 70% boost in resolution rates. Lyro helped them scale across different product lines and languages, without needing to hire more agents.
Read more: Find out all about how Cove Smart benefited from using Lyro. Also, be sure to read all about Tidio’s Lyro AI agent and its features.
Use Lyro to resolve support questions in an instant
Lead routing & targeting
Drift puts a lot of focus on getting the right rep into the conversation at the right moment. Routing rules can be based on things like account ownership, team availability, or even website behavior. Once someone’s ready to talk, Drift can instantly book a meeting using calendar integrations, keeping the momentum going without bouncing the visitor around.
Tidio tip:
Tidio gives teams flexibility here, too. You can route chats based on who’s online, what department the visitor needs, or even which language they speak. Once a visitor is ready to engage, chatbots help pre-qualify leads and send them straight to the right person or queue.
For example, Integratec, a B2B SaaS company, used Tidio to automate lead filtering and track incoming requests. This streamlined setup led to a 25% increase in qualified leads through their website chat, while also helping the team handle inquiries more efficiently without adding extra pressure to support staff.
Conversational landing pages
Drift gives you the option to create standalone landing pages where the conversation starts right away. These pages use personalized chat prompts instead of static forms and are easy to share via custom links. Sales teams often use them in campaigns to connect with high-intent visitors in real time and book meetings on the spot.
Tidio tip:
Tidio lets you add chatbots to any landing page, so you can greet visitors with tailored messages and help them navigate time-sensitive offers. It’s a simple way to turn interest into action without sending users through extra steps.
Read more: Here are the best lead generation landing page examples to follow.
CRM & marketing automation integrations
Drift integrates with major CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot, as well as marketing automation platforms such as Marketo. These integrations allow for seamless syncing of leads and conversation data, enabling sales teams to track and nurture their pipeline more effectively.
Tidio tip:
Tidio easily connects with tools like Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Salesforce. This helps teams sync support insights with marketing strategies in real time, keeping customer data aligned across platforms.
Read more: Learn the difference between a CRM vs. ticketing system.
Analytics & reporting
Drift focuses its reporting around sales outcomes. You can monitor how many conversations lead to meetings, how long prospects stay engaged, and what parts of your funnel perform best. Teams use these insights to adjust outreach and follow-ups in real time.
Tidio tip:
Tidio gives support teams visibility into how conversations perform from start to finish. In its analytics panel, you can easily check resolution rates and track customer satisfaction. In fact, one client, The Muzzle Movement, handled over 1,200 tickets monthly and saw a 74% resolution rate after deploying Lyro AI.
Read more: Check out the full Muzzle Movement case study for more details.
Platform experience and technical performance
From getting started to day-to-day use, Drift focuses on keeping sales reps productive and prospects moving. Below are the key areas where the platform either clicks or could use a bit more polish.
User experience & interface
Drift’s UI is sleek and focused, especially when used by revenue teams who spend most of their time in the inbox. The platform keeps things clean—conversations, analytics, and meeting links are easy to find. For new users, it’s not entirely plug-and-play, but once workflows are set up, the day-to-day feels smooth.
G2 reviewers frequently highlight how intuitive the chat inbox is for sales reps, though some mention that bot setup can take a bit of trial and error without proper onboarding.
Read more: Explore the best chatbot UI design examples.
Setup & customization
Drift doesn’t offer a free trial, and setup typically starts with a sales call. That said, onboarding is well-supported with Drift’s own team guiding new customers.
Drift provides a visual builder for designing bot playbooks. Users can create conversation flows by adding and arranging nodes such as questions, responses, and actions. The interface includes some drag-and-drop support, especially for reordering steps, but some reviewers say it isn’t as intuitive as those found in other platforms, particularly when building more complex workflows.
Overall, while Drift provides robust tools for conversational marketing and sales engagement, teams should be prepared for a setup process that may require time and technical resources. This is especially true in the case of customizing workflows and branding elements.
Integrations
Drift connects well with:
- Salesforce
- Marketo
- HubSpot
- Outreach
- Pardot
- Outlook calendars
- Slack
- Zapier
- Vidyard
Mobile support is available via a dedicated app, though some users note it’s not as full-featured as the desktop version. For custom use cases, Drift offers an open API and SDK, but those often require developer help to implement properly.
Performance & reliability
It’s safe to say that the platform performs well under pressure.
Chats load quickly, data syncs without major delays, and page speeds hold steady even during high-traffic campaigns. Among Drift reviews on G2, users mention occasional lag when previewing bot flows, but nothing that stops productivity.
Moreover, uptime is consistently high, targeting 99.8% availability per their official SLA. Also, Drift publishes incident updates on its status page. Bugs are rare, though updates to bots can take a moment to go live, which can delay testing.
Customer support & documentation
Drift’s support is tiered: priority help is available on higher plans, while users on entry-level packages rely mostly on email and the help center. Their knowledge base is packed with guides, including videos and playbooks.
That said, some reviewers say response times can be slow unless you’re on an advanced plan. The tone of support is helpful and human, but the actual speed may vary.
Alternatives & competitors
If Drift feels too enterprise-heavy or sales-centric for your team, here are a few other platforms worth considering:
Tidio
Tidio is a strong fit for small to mid-sized businesses. It combines live chat, AI-powered customer service automation, and multichannel messaging in one platform. Lyro, Tidio’s AI assistant, can handle up to 70% of customer inquiries using natural language processing and self-training from company resources. The platform also offers integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, and other ecommerce platforms, making it ideal for businesses looking to streamline customer support and boost sales.
Intercom
Intercom is another Drift alternative that excels in product-led support and customer retention strategies. It offers customizable live chat widgets and automated messages to enhance customer interactions. Intercom’s Product Tours add-on aids in onboarding and feature discovery, making it suitable for SaaS companies aiming to improve user engagement and retention.
Read more: Check out the best Drift alternatives and competitors.
LiveChat
LiveChat is a robust platform for traditional live support, offering real-time chat feature, message previews, chat archives, and file sharing. It supports multichannel communication, allowing businesses to connect with customers via email, Facebook Messenger, SMS, and more. With over 200 integrations, LiveChat is ideal for businesses seeking a comprehensive chat solution.
Drift review: final verdict
Drift is best suited for B2B sales and marketing teams that live in the pipeline. If your team’s priority is qualifying leads, booking demos, and building high-value customer journeys, Drift offers the tools to support that. These include anything from advanced lead routing to personalized playbooks and lifecycle workflows.
That said, the platform comes with a higher price tag and a more complex setup. Smaller teams or those looking for strong multichannel support and robust ticketing may find it more than they need.
For teams focused on sales acceleration and relationship-based growth, Drift delivers. For support-first or resource-tight teams, it’s worth weighing other options before jumping in.
If your team prioritizes ease of use and strong support capabilities, then Tidio offers a flexible alternative. With features like chatbot automation and an integrated ticketing system, it’s well-suited for growing businesses that need reliable lead capture and customer service without the heavy lift.
Try Tidio as soon as today, free of charge, and see if it fits your requirements.
Use Tidio to automate support in a natural language
FAQ
Tidio is a customer experience platform that blends live chat, chatbots, and AI agents like Lyro. It’s designed to help businesses automate support, engage visitors in real time, and streamline conversations, especially in ecommerce and service-focused environments.
Tidio is tailored for support teams and ecommerce businesses that need a simple, scalable way to manage customer communication. Drift is centered on B2B sales workflows and lead conversion, offering advanced tools like playbooks, lead routing, and lifecycle automation. While both offer automation, Drift’s tools are more sales-centric, whereas Tidio leans more into support and accessibility.
It depends on the use case. Drift offers powerful sales tools, but pricing is quote-based and generally favors mid-sized to enterprise-level teams. Smaller businesses may find it costly unless sales acceleration is a core priority and they have the resources to implement it effectively.
Yes, Drift offers conversational AI, but it’s geared toward sales enablement—qualifying leads, booking meetings, and engaging visitors during the buying process. Tidio’s Lyro, on the other hand, is built to handle customer service interactions, complete with FAQ-based knowledge and human-like conversation flow.
You can, but it’s not designed for support-first teams. Drift lacks advanced ticketing or inbox management features found in tools like Tidio or Intercom. If your team handles a high volume of support tickets, Tidio may be a more practical fit.
