Drift vs Intercom
Drift is the conversational-marketing pioneer, now owned by Salesloft, which announced its gradual sunset on 5 March 2026 and refers existing customers to 1mind. Intercom is a messaging platform with published per-seat tiers and the Fin AI agent. Sales-led teams routing target accounts look at Drift; product companies supporting users in-app choose Intercom.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
Choose Drift ifyou are an existing Drift customer planning your move; new buyers should not start on a product that is being sunset.
Choose Intercom ifyou support users inside a software product, want published per-seat pricing with a 14-day trial, and are comfortable paying $0.99 for each outcome Fin delivers.
Drift and Intercom side by side
| Drift | Intercom | |
|---|---|---|
| Our chatbot software rank | #11 of 11 | #9 of 11 |
| Established in | United States | United States |
| Pricing | Not published; Drift is being sunset and Clari + Salesloft refers existing customers to 1mind | Essential $19/seat/month; Advanced $85/seat/month; Expert $132/seat/month (billed annually); Fin AI Agent billed separately at $0.99 per outcome on every plan; SMS, WhatsApp, phone and email campaigns billed on usage; 14-day free trial |
| Free tier | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
Both are reviewed in full in our chatbot software ranking: Drift and Intercom.
Where they differ
Drift 0 · Intercom 2 · open 2- 01
Price you can see before a sales call
Intercom publishes per-seat tiers from $19 per seat per month billed annually, plus Fin at $0.99 per outcome, and offers a 14-day free trial. Drift publishes nothing: it is quoted per organisation through Salesloft. Anyone who wants to compare numbers before talking to a salesperson can only do so with Intercom.
Edge: Intercom
- 02
Knowing which AI agent you get
Intercom's Fin is a defined product with a stated price per outcome on every tier. Drift is being sunset: Salesloft announced its gradual retirement on 5 March 2026, drift.com redirects to Salesloft, and existing customers are referred to 1mind.
Edge: Intercom
- 03
Sales conversations or product support
Drift created the conversational-marketing category and is tagged for ABM-style routing, which points it at sales teams engaging target accounts. Intercom is at its best supporting users inside a product, with its messenger and product tours. These are different owners and different goals, so the better fit follows from whether marketing or support runs the widget.
Depends on the buyer
- 04
Predicting what you will pay
Intercom's bill combines seats, reachable contacts and AI resolutions, and is hard to forecast before a quarter of real use, even though each rate is public. Drift's cost is a single quoted figure per organisation, unknown until negotiated. One is transparent but variable, the other opaque; our data cannot say which ends lower.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
A small team wanting a lead-qualification bot at a cost it can work out alone is poorly served by both. Landbot was designed for qualification and conversion and meters chats, while Crisp charges per workspace, so colleagues who answer occasionally cost nothing.
Drift or Intercom: questions
3 answersIs Drift still a standalone product next to Intercom?
No. Salesloft announced the gradual sunset of Drift on 5 March 2026 and refers existing customers to 1mind; drift.com redirects to Salesloft. Intercom remains a messaging platform sold under its own published tiers.
How does Drift pricing compare with Intercom pricing?
A direct comparison is not possible from public figures. Drift is quoted per organisation with nothing published.
Intercom lists per-seat tiers from $19 per seat per month billed annually and bills its Fin AI agent at $0.99 per outcome, so at least its components can be estimated.
Which is better for qualifying leads, Drift or Intercom?
Drift was built for conversational marketing and account-based routing, whereas Intercom is strongest at supporting users inside a product, so a marketing team buying Intercom partly pays for support tooling. Drift is being sunset, so a new buyer qualifying leads should choose another tool.