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E-Commerce · head to head

Drip vs Zoho Marketing Automation

Drip logo

Drip

E-Commerce

Ecommerce email marketing and automation priced purely on contact count

From
$39/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Marketing Automation logo

Zoho Marketing Automation

Marketing

Contact-count marketing automation priced well below the mainstream platforms, tightest with Zoho CRM

From
$19/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Drip drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was US-only when it was open, so the multichannel positioning that competitors offer is not actually available to a new customer.; Zoho Marketing Automation pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • They diverge on capability: Drip covers Ecommerce data sync, Zoho Marketing Automation covers Journey builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Drip and Zoho Marketing Automation actually diverge.

Attributes where Drip and Zoho Marketing Automation differ
AttributeDripZoho Marketing Automation
Starting price$39/month$19/month
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryE-CommerceMarketing

Identical on both: pricing model (Per month by contact count), 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 Drip

  • Ecommerce data sync
  • Visual workflow builder
  • Behavioural segmentation
  • Onsite forms and popups
  • Unlimited sends
  • No feature gating
  • Product recommendations
  • A/B testing

Only in Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Journey builder
  • Lead scoring
  • Unlimited email sends
  • Landing pages and forms
  • Web behaviour tracking
  • Social campaigns
  • SMS and WhatsApp
  • Lead attribution and X-RAY

What people use each for

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

Drip

  • A Shopify retailer wants abandoned cart, winback and post-purchase automation without the tier-by-tier feature gating that makes Mailchimp and ActiveCampaign quotes unpredictable.not Zoho Marketing Automation
  • A store with a mid-sized list finds Klaviyo expensive for the volume it sends and wants a comparable ecommerce data model at a lower monthly cost.not Zoho Marketing Automation
  • A marketer needs onsite capture forms and popups included rather than paying separately for a popup tool alongside the email platform.not Zoho Marketing Automation
  • A team sends high email volume to a modest list, such as daily deals or frequent restocks, where unlimited sends on a contact-based price is materially cheaper than send-metered plans.not Zoho Marketing Automation

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • A B2B team already on Zoho CRM that wants scoring and nurture without paying for a separate platform and an integrationnot Drip
  • A business emailing its list frequently, where unlimited sends beats a competitor metering both contacts and emailsnot Drip
  • An Indian or emerging-market marketing team that would otherwise pay a US-dollar list price plus card forex feesnot Drip
  • A small team upgrading from plain newsletter sending to behaviour-triggered journeys without a five-figure annual commitmentnot Drip

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Drip

  • Drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was US-only when it was open, so the multichannel positioning that competitors offer is not actually available to a new customer.
  • Pricing scales on total contacts regardless of engagement, so an unpruned list of lapsed subscribers costs the same as an active one and list hygiene becomes a direct budget item.
  • Analytics and revenue attribution are thinner than Klaviyo, with no predictive lifetime value or churn scoring, so a data-led ecommerce team hits the ceiling on measurement before it hits it on sending.
  • The integration catalogue is far smaller than Klaviyo or Mailchimp, and outside the main ecommerce platforms and Zapier you will often be writing against the API yourself.
  • It sits inside Leadpages rather than being an independent company, and as the smaller of the two products its roadmap is subject to a parent whose primary business is landing pages rather than ecommerce email.

Zoho Marketing Automation

  • Pricing is by contact count, so an inactive or unengaged list costs the same as an active one, and nobody in the business has an incentive to prune it until the next tier boundary arrives.
  • The Enterprise plan caps users at 25, which is a hard ceiling for larger marketing organisations rather than an upgrade path.
  • Its value depends heavily on running Zoho CRM; used alongside Salesforce or HubSpot the integration is shallower and much of the scoring and attribution advantage disappears.
  • Zoho sells Campaigns, Marketing Automation and MarketingPlus as separate products with overlapping function, and buyers regularly purchase the wrong one and then migrate lists between them.
  • Support and deliverability tooling are basic next to dedicated senders, so sender reputation problems on a large list get less expert help than a specialist provider would give.

Pricing, plan by plan

Drip

$39/month
  • Up to 2,500 contacts$39/month
    • Unlimited email sends
    • All workflows and segmentation
    • Onsite forms and popups
  • Up to 5,000 contacts$89/month
    • Identical feature set
    • Unlimited email sends
  • Up to 10,000 contacts$154/month
    • Identical feature set
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Price continues to scale with contact count above this

Zoho Marketing Automation

$19/month
  • Standard$19/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Unlimited email sends
    • Unlimited social campaigns and signup forms
  • Professional$29/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Contact scoring
    • Journey builder with reports
  • Enterprise$59/month
    • Priced for 1,000 contacts, billed annually
    • Lead attribution and X-RAY journey tracing
    • Landing page personalisation

Which should you pick?

Choose Drip if

  • You need ecommerce data sync.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want visual workflow builder.
Drip review

Choose Zoho Marketing Automation if

  • You need journey builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want lead scoring.
Zoho Marketing Automation review

Questions people ask

Is Drip or Zoho Marketing Automation better?
Neither clearly leads. Drip starts at $39/month and Zoho Marketing Automation at $19/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Drip or Zoho Marketing Automation?
Drip starts at $39/month and Zoho Marketing Automation at $19/month.
Does Drip or Zoho Marketing Automation run on more platforms?
Drip runs on Web, API. Zoho Marketing Automation runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Drip best used for?
Drip is most often used for a shopify retailer wants abandoned cart, winback and post-purchase automation without the tier-by-tier feature gating that makes mailchimp and activecampaign quotes unpredictable., a store with a mid-sized list finds klaviyo expensive for the volume it sends and wants a comparable ecommerce data model at a lower monthly cost., a marketer needs onsite capture forms and popups included rather than paying separately for a popup tool alongside the email platform., a team sends high email volume to a modest list, such as daily deals or frequent restocks, where unlimited sends on a contact-based price is materially cheaper than send-metered plans.. Of those, a shopify retailer wants abandoned cart, winback and post-purchase automation without the tier-by-tier feature gating that makes mailchimp and activecampaign quotes unpredictable. and a store with a mid-sized list finds klaviyo expensive for the volume it sends and wants a comparable ecommerce data model at a lower monthly cost. are not what Zoho Marketing Automation is typically brought in for.
What can Drip do that Zoho Marketing Automation cannot?
Drip covers Ecommerce data sync, Visual workflow builder, Behavioural segmentation, Onsite forms and popups. Zoho Marketing Automation covers Journey builder, Lead scoring, Unlimited email sends, Landing pages and forms.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Drip: Does Drip do SMS?

Not for new customers. Drip SMS is closed to new accounts and was only ever available in the United States, so treat Drip as an email and onsite platform.

Zoho Marketing Automation: How does it differ from Zoho Campaigns?

Campaigns is email sending and newsletters. Marketing Automation adds journeys, lead scoring, web tracking and CRM writeback. Buying Campaigns and outgrowing it is the common mistake.

Drip: How is Drip priced?

Entirely by contact count, from 39 US dollars a month for 2,500 contacts. Email sends are unlimited and no features are held back on lower tiers.

Zoho Marketing Automation: Are email sends limited?

No, sends are unlimited on all plans. Only contact count determines your tier, which is unusual at this price level.

Drip: Who owns Drip?

Leadpages, which acquired it in 2016. Drip retains its own name, site and product.

Zoho Marketing Automation: Is there a user limit?

Yes, up to 25 users on Enterprise, with lower limits below that. It is not designed for large marketing departments.

Drip: How does it compare to Klaviyo?

Cheaper at small and mid list sizes with a similar ecommerce data model, but weaker on analytics, predictive segmentation and the breadth of its app ecosystem.

Zoho Marketing Automation: Can I pay in local currency?

Yes, Zoho publishes real local pricing in several markets including India rather than converting the US dollar figure at checkout.

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