Drift

Overview

• Conversational Marketing
• Chatbot Automation
• Lead Qualification
• AI Chat Platform
• ABM Tools
• Pipeline Generation
• Website Engagement
• Sales Enablement

Drift is a conversational marketing platform designed for enterprise B2B sales and marketing teams, large organizations with 50+ marketing people, and SalesLoft customers building unified revenue orchestration stacks. It provides AI chatbots with Playbooks visual builder creating automated conversational flows for lead qualification, live chat functionality connecting website visitors to sales reps in real-time for demos and meetings, ABM personalization routing target accounts to dedicated reps with custom messaging based on firmographic data, conversational landing pages replacing traditional forms with chat-first experiences, CRM integration syncing qualified conversations to Salesforce, HubSpot, and SalesLoft with full engagement context, and SalesLoft ecosystem integration enabling unified revenue platform combining sales engagement and conversational marketing. People use Drift because it's purpose-built for B2B sales teams (not support), integrates seamlessly with SalesLoft revenue workflows, and automates buyer qualification booking meetings without forms, though it requires $30K+/year minimum investment ($2,500/month base plus user seat fees), moved upmarket after SalesLoft acquisition pricing out SMB, and focuses on sales use cases over customer support.

Drift shines in enterprise pipeline generation with chatbot-driven qualification, ABM campaigns for target accounts with personalized experiences, SalesLoft customer consolidation adding conversational marketing to unified platform, and real-time buyer engagement replacing form fills with conversations. Large organizations see value with automated lead qualification, higher demo booking rates, and SalesLoft integration for unified workflows, though SMBs under 20 reps find it prohibitively expensive at $30K+/year with Intercom offering similar features at $39/seat. It fits smoothly into SalesLoft-centric tech stacks and large marketing organizations using Salesforce, Marketo, and ABM platforms. Drift is not designed for SMBs, customer support teams (sales-focused, not omnichannel support), or organizations without $30K+ budgets but focuses on enterprise B2B sales enablement exclusively.

Drift is built for:

• Enterprise Sales & Marketing Teams: 50+ people requiring conversational pipeline generation
• SalesLoft Customers: Organizations using SalesLoft wanting unified revenue platform
• ABM-Focused Organizations: Target account campaigns requiring personalized chat experiences
• High-Touch Sales Teams: Complex B2B sales requiring qualification before rep engagement
• Pipeline-Obsessed Leaders: Marketing teams measured on pipeline contribution

Company Size:

• Enterprise only (typically $50M+ ARR, moved upmarket post-acquisition)

For $1-15M ARR teams, Drift is massive overkill at $30K+/year. Here's what works better:

Intercom ($39/seat vs $2,500/month Drift minimum)

• Omnichannel support with email, chat, SMS, social media
• AI-powered Fin chatbot handling support automatically
• Multi-channel coverage (score 8.8 vs Drift's 7.9)
• Setup in 1-2 weeks vs 3-4 weeks for Drift
• Best for: SMB teams 5-30 people needing sales + support chat

HubSpot Chat (FREE vs $30K/year Drift)

• Free live chat included in HubSpot CRM
• Chatbot builder with native CRM integration
• Email, meeting booking, and form replacement
• Setup in 1-3 days with no implementation fees
• Best for: HubSpot customers wanting conversational marketing at no additional cost

Tidio ($29-749/mo vs $2,500/month Drift)

• Affordable chatbots for SMB websites
• Live chat + email + Instagram + Messenger
• Visual chatbot builder with templates
• Setup in hours with drag-and-drop interface
• Best for: Budget-conscious SMBs under 10 people

Bottom Line: Unless you're SalesLoft customer with $50M+ ARR or enterprise sales team with $30K+ annual budget, choose Intercom ($39/seat) for full-featured conversational marketing or HubSpot (FREE) if already using HubSpot CRM - you'll get 70-80% of functionality at 1/10th-1/100th the cost.

• AI-powered Playbooks with visual builder for conversational flows
• Real-time buyer engagement qualifying leads and booking demos
• ABM personalization routing target accounts to dedicated reps
• Conversational landing pages replacing forms with chat-first experiences
• SalesLoft integration for unified revenue orchestration platform
• CRM sync to Salesforce, HubSpot with full engagement context

Drift pricing starts at $2,500/month ($30,000/year) for Premium plan with annual billing required, plus additional $80/seat/month for each user needing chat access ($960/year per user). Advanced and Enterprise plans available with custom pricing through SalesLoft sales team. Total first-year cost for 10-user team typically $40K+ ($30K base + $9,600 user seats + implementation). Pricing ranges $10K-150K annually depending on business size, features, and SalesLoft integration level. Post-acquisition, Drift moved upmarket from SMB-accessible script tag model to enterprise-only pricing requiring minimum commitments. Free trial available but annual contract required after evaluation.

Starting Price: $2,500/month ($30K/year minimum) Trial: Free trial available, annual contract required

Premium

$2,500 Per Month (Annual)

It includes:

• Live chat
• Custom chatbots
• Playbooks builder
• Conversational landing pages
• Real-time notifications
• Basic integrations
• 12/5 customer support

Advanced

Custom Pricing

It includes:

• All Premium features
• Advanced Playbooks
• ABM personalization
• Target account routing
• Custom integrations
• Enhanced analytics
• Priority support

Enterprise

Custom Pricing

It includes:

• All Advanced features
• SalesLoft integration
• Multi-business unit support
• Dedicated success manager
• Custom onboarding
• Advanced security
• API access
• SLAs

User Seat Fees

$80 Per User, Per Month

It includes:

• Chat access for each user
• Annual cost: $960/user
• Required for all users engaging visitors
• Adds significantly to base cost

Complexity: Advanced

Drift implementation requires advanced marketing operations resources and 3-4 weeks minimum for enterprise deployments, longer for SalesLoft integration. Full deployment includes add Drift script to website pages and landing pages (1-2 days), design Playbooks conversational flows with visual builder (1-2 weeks), configure ABM routing rules and target account personalization (1 week), integrate with Salesforce/HubSpot and configure field mapping (1-2 weeks), connect to SalesLoft for unified revenue orchestration if applicable (1-2 weeks), establish rep availability and meeting booking calendars (3-5 days), train marketing and sales teams on Playbooks management (1 week), and optimize chatbot performance and conversion rates (ongoing). Most organizations engage Drift professional services or SalesLoft consultants for implementation assistance.

• Qualify buyers automatically with AI-powered Playbooks conversational flows
• Book demos in real-time without forms replacing traditional lead capture
• Personalize ABM campaigns routing target accounts to dedicated reps
• Generate pipeline engaging high-intent website visitors at moment of interest
• Integrate with SalesLoft for unified revenue orchestration platform
• Sync qualified conversations to CRM enriching Salesforce and HubSpot workflows

Visit Website: https://drift.com

Social:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/drift/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/drift

From: $2,500/month ($30K/year minimum) Trial: Free trial available, annual contract

• Enterprise (SalesLoft customers, $50M+ ARR)

Complexity: Advanced

• Intercom - Best for SMB ($39/seat full-featured)
• HubSpot - FREE chat with CRM
• Tidio - Affordable ($29-749/mo)
• Qualified - Salesforce-native ABM
• Conversica - AI sales assistants

Sources:

• Drift Pricing 2025 | G2
• Drift Pricing Guide | Breakout
• Drift vs Intercom Comparison | eesel AI
• Drift vs Intercom Features | Tidio
• SalesLoft Acquires Drift | Official
• SalesLoft-Drift Acquisition Analysis | Warmly
• Drift Acquisition Impact | Forrester