Is Drift or LiveChat better?

Neither clearly leads. Drift starts at $2500/month and LiveChat at $20/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Drift or LiveChat?

Drift starts at $2500/month and LiveChat at $20/month.

Does Drift or LiveChat run on more platforms?

Drift runs on Web. LiveChat runs on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.

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 LiveChat is typically brought in for.

What can Drift do that LiveChat cannot?

Drift covers AI chatbots, Meeting scheduling, Email sequences, Visitor intelligence. LiveChat covers Ticketing, Chat routing, Analytics, Canned responses. Both handle Live chat, Salesforce, HubSpot, GDPR.

Technology · head to head

Drift vs LiveChat

Drift

Technology

The Conversation Cloud

From: $2500/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

LiveChat

Live Chat

Customer service software that delights

From: $20/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Drift product is being sunset by Salesloft with successor service (1mind) recommended; LiveChat the Starter plan retains only 60 days of chat history, so an audit trail requires the Team plan at $49 per person per month
They diverge on capability: Drift covers AI chatbots, LiveChat covers Ticketing.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Drift and LiveChat actually diverge.

Attributes where Drift and LiveChat differ
Attribute	Drift	LiveChat
Starting price	$2500/month	$20/month
Pricing model	Unknown	subscription
Platforms	Web	Web, Ios, Android, Desktop
Category	Technology	Live Chat
Founded	2015	2002

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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

AI chatbots
Meeting scheduling
Email sequences
Visitor intelligence
Conversation routing
Mobile app
Analytics dashboard
Marketo

Only in LiveChat

Ticketing
Chat routing
Analytics
Canned responses
File sharing
Shopify
WordPress
Zapier

Both cover

Live chat
Salesforce
HubSpot
GDPR

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Drift

Lead qualificationnot LiveChat
Meeting bookingnot LiveChat
Customer supportnot LiveChat
Account-based marketingnot LiveChat
Sales accelerationnot LiveChat

LiveChat

Live chat support on a website with agent routingnot Drift
Handling customer conversations across chat, SMS and messaging channelsnot 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

LiveChat

The Starter plan retains only 60 days of chat history, so an audit trail requires the Team plan at $49 per person per month
Pricing is per agent, so support cost scales with headcount rather than with conversation volume
AI reply suggestions are capped by plan, at 3 knowledge sources on Starter and 10 above it
Surveys and eye catchers are predefined rather than customisable below the Enterprise plan
SSO, white labelling and HIPAA compliance are Enterprise only

Pricing, plan by plan

Drift

$2500/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Drift review.

LiveChat

$20/month

Starter$20/month
- 60-day chat history
- Basic customization
- Ticketing system
Team$41/month
- Unlimited history
- Advanced reporting
- Branding removal
Business$59/month
- Staffing prediction
- Work scheduler
- Apple Business Chat
Enterprise$undefined/month
- Dedicated account manager
- Product training
- SSO

Which should you pick?

Choose Drift if

You need ai chatbots.
You also want meeting scheduling.

Drift review

Choose LiveChat if

You need ticketing.
You work on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
You also want chat routing.

LiveChat review

Questions people ask

Is Drift or LiveChat better?: Neither clearly leads. Drift starts at $2500/month and LiveChat at $20/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Drift or LiveChat?: Drift starts at $2500/month and LiveChat at $20/month.
Does Drift or LiveChat run on more platforms?: Drift runs on Web. LiveChat runs on Web, Ios, Android, Desktop.
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 LiveChat is typically brought in for.
What can Drift do that LiveChat cannot?: Drift covers AI chatbots, Meeting scheduling, Email sequences, Visitor intelligence. LiveChat covers Ticketing, Chat routing, Analytics, Canned responses. Both handle Live chat, Salesforce, HubSpot, GDPR.

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.

Source

LiveChat: How much does LiveChat cost?

LiveChat pricing starts at $19/month for the Starter plan (annual billing). The Team plan is $49/person/month and includes unlimited users. The Business plan is $79/person/month with advanced features. Enterprise plans require a custom quote.

Source

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.

Source

LiveChat: Does LiveChat offer a free trial?

Yes, LiveChat provides a 14-day free trial with AI-driven features and no credit card required.

Source

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.

Source

LiveChat: What is the difference between LiveChat's Team and Business plans?

The Team plan ($49/person/month) tracks 400 visitors and includes unlimited campaigns and chat history. The Business plan ($79/person/month) tracks 1,000 visitors and adds work scheduler, advanced reporting, SMS, and Apple Messages support.

Source

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.

Source

Drift vs LiveChat

Drift

LiveChat

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Drift

Only in LiveChat

Both cover

What people use each for

Drift

LiveChat

Where each one falls short

Drift

LiveChat

Pricing, plan by plan

Drift

LiveChat

Which should you pick?

Choose Drift if

Choose LiveChat if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Drift

More on LiveChat

Keep looking

Other head to heads