Technology · head to head
Drift vs Krayin
Krayin
CRM
Open source Laravel CRM for sales teams that want to own the code
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Krayin has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Drift product is being sunset by Salesloft with successor service (1mind) recommended; Krayin it is far less mature than EspoCRM, SuiteCRM or Vtiger, with thinner reporting, weaker forecasting and fewer built-in integrations, so evaluations that start from a feature checklist will not favour it.
- They diverge on capability: Drift covers Live chat, Krayin covers Lead pipelines.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Drift and Krayin actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Drift
- Live chat
- AI chatbots
- Meeting scheduling
- Email sequences
- Visitor intelligence
- Conversation routing
- Mobile app
- Analytics dashboard
Only in Krayin
- Lead pipelines
- Contacts and organisations
- Quotes
- Workflow automation
- Email integration
- Custom attributes
- Roles and permissions
- Laravel package architecture
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Drift
- Lead qualificationnot Krayin
- Meeting bookingnot Krayin
- Customer supportnot Krayin
- Account-based marketingnot Krayin
- Sales accelerationnot Krayin
Krayin
- A PHP or Laravel development shop wants a CRM it can fork and rebrand for clients without paying per seat or negotiating an OEM licence.not Drift
- An organisation under data residency rules needs the customer database physically on its own infrastructure, which rules out every hosted CRM.not Drift
- A small sales team wants an unlimited-user CRM where adding a tenth or fiftieth user costs nothing beyond server capacity.not Drift
- A Bagisto ecommerce store wants a CRM from the same vendor that shares its technology stack and conventions rather than a bridged integration.not Drift
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Drift
- Product is being sunset by Salesloft with successor service (1mind) recommended
- Mandatory bundling within Salesloft increases cost
- No free tier available
- Customer support and knowledge base have been deprioritized
- Limited to enterprise B2B pipeline generation focus
Krayin
- It is far less mature than EspoCRM, SuiteCRM or Vtiger, with thinner reporting, weaker forecasting and fewer built-in integrations, so evaluations that start from a feature checklist will not favour it.
- Practical functionality such as certain telephony, messaging and marketing connectors sits in paid marketplace extensions from Webkul, so the free CRM plus the extensions you actually need is not free.
- The roadmap is controlled by a single services company whose revenue depends on selling implementation and extensions, so there is a structural incentive against making the core complete.
- You are responsible for the whole operational burden: PHP and MySQL hosting, backups, security patching, mail deliverability and upgrades, and a botched upgrade of a customised install is your problem alone.
- The cloud hosting page does not publish prices, so the managed option that would remove that burden cannot be budgeted without contacting sales, which undercuts the transparency the open licence otherwise offers.
Pricing, plan by plan
Drift
$2500/monthNo published plan breakdown. See the Drift review.
Krayin
Free- Self-hostedFree
- Full MIT-licensed source
- Unlimited users
- No feature gating
- Cloud hosting and extensions$undefined/month
- Starter and Pro managed hosting packs from Webkul
- Premium extensions sold individually in the Krayin marketplace
- White label and custom development quoted separately
Which should you pick?
Choose Krayin if
- You need lead pipelines.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Self-hosted, Docker, Linux.
- You also want contacts and organisations.
Questions people ask
- Is Drift or Krayin better?
- Neither clearly leads. Drift starts at $2500/month and Krayin at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Drift or Krayin?
- Krayin has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2500/month for Drift and Free for Krayin.
- Does Drift or Krayin run on more platforms?
- Drift runs on Web. Krayin runs on Web, Self-hosted, Docker, Linux.
- Can I use Krayin for free?
- Yes. Krayin has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Drift starts at $2500/month.
- What is Drift best used for?
- Drift is most often used for lead qualification, meeting booking, customer support, account-based marketing. Of those, lead qualification and meeting booking are not what Krayin is typically brought in for.
- What can Drift do that Krayin cannot?
- Drift covers Live chat, AI chatbots, Meeting scheduling, Email sequences. Krayin covers Lead pipelines, Contacts and organisations, Quotes, Workflow automation.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Drift: What is the current status of Drift in 2026?
On March 6, 2026, Clari and Salesloft announced the gradual sunset of Drift's conversational marketing solution, with 1mind named as its exclusive AI successor. Drift remains available but its future is limited.
SourceKrayin: Is Krayin really free?
The CRM itself is MIT licensed with no user limit and no enterprise edition. Premium extensions, managed hosting and custom development from Webkul are paid.
Drift: How much does Drift cost?
Drift pricing starts around $2,500/month ($30,000/year) for Premium chat-only capabilities, with Enterprise plans exceeding $80,000/year. Drift is bundled within Salesloft and billed annually only.
SourceKrayin: Who maintains it?
Webkul Software of Noida, India, the same company behind the Bagisto open source ecommerce platform.
Drift: What features come with Drift Premium?
Premium plans include live chat widget, custom chatbot flows, meeting scheduling with calendar integration, basic playbooks, email sequences, and standard integrations.
SourceKrayin: What do I need to run it?
A standard LAMP or LEMP stack with PHP, Composer and MySQL or MariaDB. Any host that runs Laravel will run Krayin.
Drift: Does Drift offer a free plan?
No, Drift no longer publicly advertises a free plan as of 2026. All plans require annual billing through Salesloft.
SourceKrayin: How does it compare to EspoCRM?
EspoCRM is more mature with deeper reporting and a longer track record. Krayin is easier for a Laravel developer to extend and has a more permissive licence.
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