Drift shuts down on January 31, 2027, or earlier if your contract ends first. Salesloft refers Drift chat customers to 1mind. Export your data before access ends: anything you do not request is deleted on May 1, 2027.
Small team using Drift for chat, lead questions and booking? Test CRMsoftware.pro (one flat price) or HubSpot (if your contacts live there). Enterprise on Salesforce? Shortlist Qualified, 1mind or Chili Piper. Chat mostly support? Look at Intercom.
Updated October 31, 2026. Salesloft has now published a retirement date for Drift, so this guide adds a dated timeline, a pre-shutdown checklist and a migration checklist. We also added Chili Piper and Zoho SalesIQ, and re-checked every price.
All prices were checked on each vendor's own pricing page on October 31, 2026. They are list prices in US dollars, before tax, usage fees and add-ons. We do not give scores. Each tool gets what it costs, what it does well, what it lacks and who should pick it.
What happened to Drift
Drift belongs to Clari + Salesloft. On March 5, 2026, Clari + Salesloft announced "the gradual sunset of its Drift conversational marketing solution". Under an exclusive agreement, Salesloft refers existing Drift clients to 1mind as the successor.
That announcement had no end date. Salesloft's Drift Sunset FAQ (last published October 26, 2026) now gives one: "Salesloft is retiring Drift, its conversational marketing product, on January 31, 2027."
Many teams started to move earlier. Between August 8 and 18, 2025, an attacker used stolen Drift OAuth tokens to pull data from customers' Salesforce instances. Salesloft and Salesforce revoked all Drift tokens, BleepingComputer reported.
Drift sunset timeline
| Date | What happens | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 8–18, 2025 | Stolen Drift OAuth tokens used to take Salesforce data; all Drift tokens revoked | BleepingComputer |
| Mar 5, 2026 | Clari + Salesloft announce the gradual sunset of Drift and name 1mind as successor | Salesloft newsroom |
| Now until Jan 31, 2027 | Your contract stays in effect; data stays accessible; request exports through your Account Manager or Support | Drift Sunset FAQ |
| Jan 31, 2027 | Drift is retired. Access ends (or earlier, at your contract end). The website chat widget stops working | Drift Sunset FAQ |
| Apr 30, 2027 | If your contract ran past Jan 31, your data is kept offline until this date so you can still request an export | Drift Sunset FAQ |
| May 1, 2027 | Drift data without an export request is permanently deleted. Salesloft says "This deletion is final" | Drift Sunset FAQ |
What to do before your Drift contract ends
Your access ends on January 31, 2027 or on your contract end date, "whichever comes first". If your contract ends sooner, that earlier date is your real deadline. Salesloft says it will honor the rest of a contract that ends before January 31, with no billing changes.
If your contract runs past January 31, 2027, Salesloft says your account team will reach out to discuss options. Ask for that answer in writing. The FAQ does not mention refunds.
- Find your contract end date. Put it in the team calendar with a reminder 60 days before.
- Request a data export. Salesloft's instruction is to contact your Account Manager or Support. Ask which formats you get for contacts, conversations and transcripts.
- List the three things Salesloft says to replace: the website chat widget, Drift Email (Siftrock) and any custom integration built on the Drift API.
- Pick replacements per job. Salesloft recommends 1mind for chat and allGood for Drift Email. You are free to choose others.
- Remove the Drift script from every page and your tag manager once the new widget is live.
Which Drift job are you replacing?
Most teams used Drift for four jobs. No single tool is best at all four, so match the job first and the tool second.
| Drift job | What it means | Strongest picks |
|---|---|---|
| Website chat and AI answers | Greet visitors, answer product and pricing questions, capture the email | CRMsoftware.pro, Intercom, Crisp, Tidio |
| Lead qualification | Ask a few questions and decide who gets a sales conversation | CRMsoftware.pro, Qualified, 1mind |
| Meeting booking and routing | Put a qualified visitor on the right rep's calendar | Chili Piper, HubSpot, CRMsoftware.pro |
| CRM handoff | Create or update the contact and deal so nobody retypes the chat | HubSpot, CRMsoftware.pro, Qualified (Salesforce) |
A small team usually needs all four jobs in one place at a predictable price. An enterprise team usually needs qualification and routing tied to Salesforce and account data. That split decides your shortlist.
Drift alternatives compared
| Tool | Best for | Starting price (checked Oct 31, 2026) | How you pay | Free plan or trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRMsoftware.pro | Small teams that want chat, booking and CRM together | $19/mo billed yearly for up to 8 users | Flat per workspace, users included | Free plan: 3 users, 100 AI messages/mo |
| HubSpot | Teams already using HubSpot CRM | $7/seat/mo Starter billed yearly (new-customer offer; list $20) | Per seat + HubSpot Credits for AI | Free plan: up to 2 users |
| Intercom | Support-led chat with a strong AI agent | $19/seat/mo billed yearly (new customers) + $0.99 per Fin outcome | Per seat + per AI outcome | 14-day trial, no card |
| Qualified | Enterprise B2B on Salesforce | Not published (contact sales) | Plans by web sessions and email contacts | Demo |
| 1mind | Drift customers who want the official successor | Not published (demo only) | Sales-led | Demo |
| Chili Piper | Meeting routing and booking for B2B sales teams | $1,250/mo with 15 seats (yearly contract) | Platform fee + extra seats | Demo |
| Zoho SalesIQ | Low-cost sales chat with visitor tracking | $7/operator/mo billed yearly | Per operator | Free plan: 3 operators; 15-day trial |
| Tidio | Ecommerce and small sites on a tight budget | $24.17/mo billed yearly (100 conversations, 10 seats) | Per conversation volume + Lyro AI add-on | Free plan: 50 conversations |
| Crisp | Flat pricing for a shared chat inbox | $45/mo per workspace (4 seats) | Flat per workspace + AI credits | Free plan: 2 seats; 14-day trial |
| LiveChat (now Text) | Human-led sales chat with an AI agent included | $19/user/mo billed yearly | Per user; extra AI resolutions in packs | 14-day trial, no card |
What 5 people would pay per month
Here is the same team on each tool: five people who answer chats and take meetings. Prices are billed yearly, before usage fees. It shows why the pricing model matters more than the "from" price.
| Tool and plan | Monthly cost for 5 users | What is not included |
|---|---|---|
| CRMsoftware.pro Launch | $19 (covers up to 8 users) | 1,000 AI messages/mo; Growth is $49 for 3,000 and a shared team inbox |
| Tidio Starter | $24.17 (10 seats, 100 conversations) | More conversations need Growth; Lyro AI from $32.50/mo |
| HubSpot Starter | $35 on the current offer, $100 at list price | AI agents use credits; WhatsApp needs a Professional plan |
| Zoho SalesIQ Basic | $35 | Basic lists 1,000 operator chat sessions and 1 chatbot |
| Intercom Essential | $95 (new-customer price; $145 at $29 list) | Fin AI is $0.99 per outcome on top |
| Crisp Essentials (Mini has only 4 seats) | $95 (10 seats) | $25 of AI credits included, then pay as you go |
| Text (ex-LiveChat) Essential | $95 | 10 AI resolutions/mo; 50 more cost $49.50 |
| Chili Piper Growth | $1,250 (15 seats included) | Chat AI starts on Scale at $3,500/mo |
| Qualified, 1mind | Not published | Quote after a demo |
Put an AI agent on your site that answers questions, qualifies the lead and books the call on your calendar. Start free with CRMsoftware.pro (3 users, no card) or see pricing. To price your whole stack first, use the free SaaS cost savings calculator.
The 10 Drift alternatives
1. CRMsoftware.pro: best for small teams that want chat, booking and CRM in one place
CRMsoftware.pro is our product, so read this section with that in mind. It is an AI chat and voice agent for your website with a built-in CRM. The AI answers from your own content, captures the lead and hands the chat to a person.
From Launch, visitors can book a meeting with calendar sync, and deals sit in a pipeline next to the conversation.
- Price: Free (3 users, 100 AI messages, 1 bot, 1 website); Launch $19/mo billed yearly for 8 users and 1,000 AI messages; Growth $49 for 20 users; Scale $99 for 50 users. Monthly billing is $24, $59 and $119.
- Channels: website widget on every plan; WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Messenger and Slack from Launch.
- Pros: users are included in the price; bookings with calendar sync and Stripe payments from Launch; quotes, invoices and e-sign in the same workspace; AI voice minutes on every plan.
- Cons: no account-based de-anonymization or Salesforce-native ABM like Qualified; HubSpot and Salesforce sync, plus the REST API, start on Scale ($99); a younger product with a smaller integration catalog than HubSpot or Intercom.
- Best for: teams of 2–20 that want one tool to answer, qualify and book, without paying per seat.
2. HubSpot: best if your contacts already live in HubSpot
HubSpot's free tools include live chat and one personal meeting link. Starter removes HubSpot branding and adds team meeting links. On October 31, 2026, Starter was $7 per seat a month billed yearly, or $10 billed monthly, as a limited-time offer for new customers. The list price is $20.
AI agents run on HubSpot Credits. Starter includes 500 credits and Professional includes 3,000.
- Pros: chat, forms, meetings and deals on the same contact record; huge app marketplace; free plan for 2 users.
- Cons: costs climb fast on Professional (Sales Hub is $90 per seat billed yearly, plus a required $1,500 onboarding fee); WhatsApp needs a Professional plan (Service Hub or Marketing Hub); credits make AI spend harder to predict.
- Best for: teams already on HubSpot that want chat and booking without another vendor. If HubSpot's price is the problem, see our HubSpot alternatives.
3. Intercom: best for support-led chat with a strong AI agent
Intercom's company now calls itself Fin, and Salesforce completed its acquisition of Fin on September 10, 2026. The Intercom helpdesk is still sold on intercom.com.
Essential is $19 per seat a month billed yearly for new customers ($29 list), or $29 billed monthly (new-customer price; $39 list). The Fin AI Agent costs $0.99 per outcome, charged at most once per conversation. You pay nothing when the customer asks for a human.
- Pros: mature inbox, help center and reporting; outcome-based AI pricing; 93% off for startups with under $10M raised and 15 or fewer employees.
- Cons: built around support, not sales qualification; seat and outcome costs add up as volume grows; Copilot is $29 per teammate a month billed yearly.
- Best for: SaaS teams whose Drift chat was mostly customer questions, not lead routing. Compare more options in our Intercom alternatives guide.
4. Qualified: best for enterprise B2B on Salesforce
Qualified sells Piper, an AI SDR agent for website conversations, email and meeting booking, built around Salesforce. Its pricing page lists Premier, Enterprise and Ultimate plans. Premier includes 250K monthly web sessions and 2.5K monthly active email contacts. Every plan says "Contact us" instead of a price.
- Pros: account segmentation, routing and Salesforce integration on every plan; text, voice and video agent; built for inbound pipeline at scale.
- Cons: no public price; sized for companies with large web traffic and a Salesforce team.
- Best for: mid-market and enterprise teams that ran Drift with Salesforce and ABM.
5. 1mind: the official Drift successor
Salesloft refers Drift chat customers to 1mind. Its AI "Superhumans" work on websites, in products, in deal rooms and on video calls, according to the March 2026 announcement. Buyer data flows into Salesloft Cadences and the Clari forecast.
The same release says 1mind has more than 60 enterprise and mid-market customers. We found no public price list on its site on October 31, 2026; it offers demos only.
- Pros: the least disruptive path if you already run Salesloft and Clari; Salesloft's account team can help with the move.
- Cons: sales-led buying with no public price; aimed at enterprise and mid-market revenue teams.
- Best for: Salesloft customers who want continuity.
6. Chili Piper: best for meeting routing and booking
If Drift's main job was getting the right buyer onto the right rep's calendar, Chili Piper specializes in that. Growth starts at $1,250 a month with 15 seats included, then $45 per seat. That is $15,000 a year on a one-year contract.
Growth books meetings from forms, routes leads by rules and includes chat journeys or live chat with your team. Chat AI trained on your content starts on Scale, from $3,500 a month with 30 seats.
- Pros: strong routing rules kept in one table; booking from forms, emails and chat; ChiliCal scheduling links in every seat.
- Cons: high entry price for a small team; AI chat only on Scale; you still need a CRM.
- Best for: B2B teams with several reps where routing mistakes cost real pipeline.
7. Zoho SalesIQ: best low-cost sales chat with visitor tracking
Zoho SalesIQ prices per operator. Basic is $7 per operator a month billed yearly ($10 monthly), with 1,000 operator chat sessions, 1 chatbot and chat routing. Professional is $12.75 ($17 monthly) with unlimited operator chat sessions and 5 chatbots.
- Pros: free plan for 3 operators; visitor insights and lead scoring from Basic; low price per person.
- Cons: per-operator pricing grows with the team; plans cap tracked visitors and bot sessions; works best inside the Zoho stack.
- Best for: small sales teams that want to see who is on the site and chat with them cheaply. See also our Zoho SalesIQ alternatives.
8. Tidio: best budget pick for ecommerce and small sites
Tidio prices by "billable conversations". Starter is $24.17 a month billed yearly ($29 monthly) for 100 conversations and 10 seats. Growth starts at $49.17 for 250 conversations. The Lyro AI Agent is an add-on from $32.50 a month.
- Pros: free plan; quick setup; Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and email integrations on all plans.
- Cons: no real CRM pipeline; removing Tidio branding is a $16.67/mo add-on; costs move with conversation volume.
- Best for: online stores and small sites that need chat more than sales routing. Compare it in our Tidio alternatives.
9. Crisp: best flat-priced shared inbox
Crisp charges per workspace, not per seat. Mini is $45 a month for 4 seats and Essentials is $95 a month for 10 seats. AI runs on credits: Mini includes $5 and Essentials $25. Crisp's help center puts a full AI-handled conversation at about $0.05–$0.10.
- Pros: predictable price for a small team; routing rules and omnichannel inbox on Essentials; 14-day trial of every plan.
- Cons: light on sales pipeline and meeting routing; the free plan has no AI credits.
- Best for: small teams that want a shared chat inbox at a fixed monthly cost. More options in our Crisp alternatives.
10. LiveChat (now Text): best for human-led sales chat
LiveChat's pricing page now shows Text plans: "LiveChat pricing for new trials now lives here, as Text plans." Existing LiveChat customers keep their plan and price. Text is built by the same team.
Essential is $19 per user a month billed yearly ($25 monthly) and includes 1 AI Agent with 10 AI resolutions a month. Growth is $79 ($99 monthly) with 10 AI Agents and 200 resolutions. Extra packs of 50 resolutions cost $49.50.
- Pros: polished agent app; AI agent now included in the plan; WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS and email in one inbox.
- Cons: per-user pricing; few AI resolutions on Essential; no built-in CRM pipeline.
- Best for: sales teams with staff online during business hours. See our LiveChat alternatives.
How to choose in five minutes
| If you… | Start with |
|---|---|
| are 2–20 people and want chat, qualification, booking and a CRM pipeline for one price | CRMsoftware.pro |
| already keep contacts and deals in HubSpot | HubSpot |
| use Drift mostly for customer support questions | Intercom |
| run ABM on Salesforce with high traffic | Qualified or 1mind |
| already run Salesloft and Clari and want the least change | 1mind |
| mainly need inbound leads routed and booked with the right rep | Chili Piper |
| want cheap sales chat with visitor tracking | Zoho SalesIQ |
| run an online store and need cheap chat | Tidio |
| want a fixed monthly bill for a shared inbox | Crisp |
Migration checklist: playbooks, routing and meeting links
Do not assume every Drift setting can be exported. Screenshot or copy each item below before access ends, then rebuild it in the new tool.
| Drift item | What to record | Rebuild it as |
|---|---|---|
| Playbooks | Pages and audiences each one targets, welcome message, every question and answer button, fallback message | 3–5 qualification questions in the new bot, per page group |
| Routing rules | Who gets which lead (territory, company size, account owner), round-robin order, off-hours behavior | Assignment rules or teams in the new inbox or router |
| Meeting links | Each rep's meeting types, length, buffers, working hours and connected calendar | Booking pages with calendar sync; test one booking per rep |
| CRM mapping | Which chat fields create or update which contact, company and deal fields | Field mapping in the new tool's CRM sync |
| Drift Email (Siftrock) | Reply-handling rules and where they write data | allGood (Salesloft's pick) or your own inbox rules |
| API integrations | Every script or app that calls the Drift API | The new tool's API or webhooks |
- Export what you keep. Request contacts and conversation history through your Account Manager or Support, and store them in your CRM.
- Cut playbooks down. Keep only the questions that decide routing: company size, use case, timeline. Our free lead qualification script is a good starting list.
- Rebuild routing and booking. Connect each rep's calendar, set who gets which lead and book a test meeting end to end.
- Reconnect the CRM safely. If Drift was linked to Salesforce, disconnect that integration once you switch, and check which connected apps still hold access.
- Run both tools for a few days on different pages and compare captured leads. Then remove the Drift script from every page and your tag manager before January 31, 2027.
FAQ
Is Drift shutting down?
Yes. Salesloft's Drift Sunset FAQ says Drift will be retired on January 31, 2027. Your access ends then, or at the end of your contract if that comes first.
What happens to my Drift data?
It stays accessible until your contract ends or January 31, 2027, whichever is first. To export it, contact your Account Manager or Salesloft Support.
If your contract runs past January 31, data is kept offline until April 30, 2027. Anything not requested is permanently deleted on May 1, 2027.
Will the Drift chat widget keep working?
No. Salesloft says the widget stops working after January 31, 2027. Remove the Drift script from your site and replace it with your new tool's widget before then.
What is replacing Drift?
Salesloft names 1mind as Drift's exclusive successor for chat and recommends allGood for Drift Email. You are free to choose any other tool. Small teams often pick one product that combines chat, booking and a CRM.
What is the cheapest Drift alternative?
For a team of several people, flat-priced tools win. CRMsoftware.pro is $19 a month billed yearly for up to 8 users, and Crisp is $45 a month for 4 seats. Free plans exist from CRMsoftware.pro, HubSpot, Zoho SalesIQ, Tidio and Crisp, with limits.
Is there a free Drift alternative?
Yes. HubSpot's free tools include live chat for up to 2 users. Zoho SalesIQ is free for 3 operators and 100 operator chats, and Tidio's free plan covers 50 conversations. CRMsoftware.pro's free plan includes 3 users and 100 AI messages a month.
What is the best Drift alternative for Salesforce users?
Qualified is built around Salesforce and account-based selling. 1mind is the official successor and connects to Salesloft and Clari. Chili Piper handles routing and booking on top of your CRM. All three are sold through sales.
Was Drift hacked?
Yes. Between August 8 and 18, 2025, an attacker used stolen Drift OAuth tokens to steal data from customers' Salesforce instances. Salesloft and Salesforce revoked all Drift tokens, according to BleepingComputer.
How long does it take to switch from Drift?
For a small team using chat, a few qualification questions and meeting booking, plan about a week. That is one day to export, two days to rebuild questions and routing, and a few days of running both tools. Enterprise setups with many routing rules take longer.
Sources
- Salesloft Help: Drift Sunset FAQ, last published October 26, 2026, checked Oct 31, 2026.
- Clari + Salesloft newsroom: partnership with 1mind and Drift sunset, published March 5, 2026.
- Business Wire: Clari + Salesloft and 1mind partner, March 2026.
- Salesloft Chat Agents page, checked Oct 31, 2026.
- BleepingComputer: Salesloft breached to steal OAuth tokens, August 26, 2025.
- Salesforce: Salesforce Completes Acquisition of Fin, September 10, 2026.
- Pricing pages checked Oct 31, 2026: HubSpot, HubSpot Sales Hub, Intercom, Qualified, Chili Piper, Zoho SalesIQ, Tidio, Crisp, LiveChat / Text, CRMsoftware.pro.
- Crisp help center: How Hugo AI pricing and billing works, checked Oct 31, 2026.
Replace Drift before January 31, 2027
Answer visitors 24/7, qualify them with a few questions and book the meeting on your calendar. Free for 3 users; Launch is $19/month billed yearly for 8 users.
Start free See pricing
