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Drift vs Redis

Drift logo

Drift

Technology

The Conversation Cloud

From
$2500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Redis logo

Redis

Technology

The real-time data platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Redis 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; Redis licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage
  • They diverge on capability: Drift covers Live chat, Redis covers In-memory data store.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Drift and Redis actually diverge.

Attributes where Drift and Redis differ
AttributeDriftRedis
Starting price$2500/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows
Founded20152009

Identical on both: pricing model (Unknown), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Technology).

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 Redis

  • In-memory data store
  • Data structures
  • Pub/Sub messaging
  • Lua scripting
  • Transactions
  • Persistence options
  • Replication
  • Clustering

What people use each for

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

Drift

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

Redis

  • Cachingnot Drift
  • Session managementnot Drift
  • Real-time analyticsnot Drift
  • Message queuingnot Drift
  • Leaderboardsnot 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

Redis

  • Licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage
  • All data must fit in memory, limiting scalability to available RAM
  • No built-in support for multi-tenancy
  • Limited transaction support compared to traditional databases

Pricing, plan by plan

Drift

$2500/month

No published plan breakdown. See the Drift review.

Redis

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Redis review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Drift if

  • You need live chat.
  • You also want ai chatbots.
Drift review

Choose Redis if

  • You need in-memory data store.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want data structures.
Redis review

Questions people ask

Is Drift or Redis better?
Neither clearly leads. Drift starts at $2500/month and Redis at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Drift or Redis?
Redis has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2500/month for Drift and Free for Redis.
Does Drift or Redis run on more platforms?
Drift runs on Web. Redis runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Redis for free?
Yes. Redis 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 Redis is typically brought in for.
What can Drift do that Redis cannot?
Drift covers Live chat, AI chatbots, Meeting scheduling, Email sequences. Redis covers In-memory data store, Data structures, Pub/Sub messaging, Lua scripting.

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
Redis: Is Redis open source?

Redis was open source under the BSD license since its inception in 2009 and has remained open source. However, in 2024-2025, Redis Labs changed licensing to source-available and AGPL, prompting the creation of Valkey, a BSD-licensed open-source fork.

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
Redis: What is Redis used for?

Redis is an in-memory data structure store used primarily as a cache, database, and message broker. It provides high-speed data access for real-time applications, sessions, leaderboards, real-time analytics, and other use cases requiring fast data retrieval.

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
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
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