Intercom vs Drift: Features, Pricing and Verdict

Drift is being wound down by Salesloft while Intercom keeps shipping. Compare pricing, features and the sunset timeline before you choose either.

By Galactic News Editorial · Published 2026-11-10T19:35:18+00:00 · Updated 2026-11-10T19:35:18+00:00

Intercom vs Drift: Features, Pricing and Verdict

Intercom and Drift once defined two sides of website chat. Intercom built live chat and support around its Fin AI agent. Drift built conversational marketing that turned visitors into sales meetings. The comparison has changed. Salesloft, which acquired Drift in February 2024, announced the gradual sunset of Drift in March 2026 and named 1mind as its successor. Drift has no public pricing and no free trial for new buyers. Intercom is the only one of the two you can still buy. This comparison covers current Intercom pricing, what Drift costs historically, and what the sunset means for anyone choosing between them.

Intercom vs Drift at a Glance

Intercom Pricing and Features

Intercom sells three seat-based plans, and every plan includes the Fin AI Agent. Essential costs $29 per seat a month billed yearly, or $39 billed monthly. The pricing page currently shows $19 for new customers, with $29 struck through, a 35 percent saving on annual billing. Essential includes Messenger live chat, a shared inbox and ticketing, pre-built reports, a public help center and basic automation. Advanced costs $85 per seat a month billed yearly, or $99 monthly. It adds a workflow automation builder, multiple team inboxes, round robin assignment, a private and multilingual help center, and 20 free Lite seats. Expert costs $132 per seat a month billed yearly, or $139 monthly. It adds SSO and identity management, HIPAA support, service level agreements, multibrand Messenger and help center, and 50 free Lite seats. Fin AI Agent is billed separately on every plan at $0.99 per successful outcome. An outcome counts when the customer confirms resolution, asks for no more help, or Fin completes a workflow. You are charged at most once per conversation, and failed attempts cost nothing. Fin can also be used with your current helpdesk, with no seat costs and a minimum monthly commitment of 50 outcomes. Optional add-ons include Copilot at $29 per agent a month billed yearly, Pro at $100 a month, and Proactive Support Plus at $99 a month. Early-stage startups can apply for up to 93 percent off in the first year. The 14-day free trial needs no credit card and includes all features, Fin and add-ons. One change to watch: in June 2026 Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fin, the company formerly known as Intercom, for about $3.6 billion, according to an independent pricing guide. The deal was signed but not yet closed as of July 2026.

Drift Pricing and the Sunset

Drift no longer publishes prices. Its pricing page redirects to Salesloft, and the Salesloft chat agents page lists no Drift plans, trial or checkout path. New buyers cannot sign up for Drift. Existing customers continue under their signed agreements. Multiple independent guides report that Drift's entry point was Premium at $2,500 a month, or $30,000 a year, billed yearly. Advanced and Enterprise tiers were custom-quoted and reported to run from roughly $40,000 to over $150,000 a year, plus extra seat and implementation fees. Those figures are historical. They are not a quote you can buy today. The timeline matters more than the old prices. Salesloft acquired Drift in February 2024. On March 6, 2026, Clari and Salesloft announced the gradual sunset of Drift's conversational marketing product and named 1mind as its exclusive AI successor. One pricing guide reports Drift will be retired on January 31, 2027, with contracts honored through their end date or the sunset date, whichever comes first. Other guides note that no hard end-of-life date has been published. Active development has ended either way. Drift still appears on the Salesloft status page, and the product pages remain live, but Salesloft offers no signup, trial or price to new buyers. The honest reading is that Drift is a legacy product in wind-down, not a live option for a new purchase.

Which One Should You Choose

Choose Intercom if you need a live chat and support platform you can buy today. It fits small teams on Essential, growing support teams on Advanced, and large teams with security needs on Expert. The Fin outcome pricing is transparent, and the trial lets you test everything for 14 days. Watch the total bill, not just the seat price. Seats, Fin outcomes, messaging channels and add-ons stack. A small team with heavy AI usage can pay far more than the seat price suggests. Use the pricing calculator on Intercom's site before you commit. Do not choose Drift for a new deployment. There is no public price, no trial and no signup path, and the product is being wound down in favor of 1mind. If you already run Drift, plan the migration now. Ask Salesloft in writing for your contract end date and the migration path to 1mind or another platform. Do not sign a renewal that runs past the sunset without that answer. If Drift's job was booking sales meetings from website traffic, the closest live replacements are Intercom's Fin and live chat, Qualified, or 1mind itself, which Salesloft named as the successor.

Bottom Line

Intercom vs Drift is no longer a close contest. Intercom is actively sold, with published prices from $19 per seat a month for new customers and Fin at $0.99 per outcome. Drift is being sunset by Salesloft, with no public price, no trial and no path for new buyers. The verdict is simple. Buy Intercom if you want this category of tool. Migrate off Drift if you already have it. The only real decision left is which Intercom plan fits your team, and whether Fin's outcome pricing beats a flat-rate rival for your volume.