Drift sits in the Support & Chat category. Most SMB accounts overpay by 40% to 70% on this one tool alone. Here's the realistic price, the common overspend traps, and the cheaper alternatives we recommend at Cancel Costs.
Drift starts at A$2,500/mo and the typical mid-market deployment is A$5,000 to A$10,000/mo. Most accounts use 10% to 20% of the features they're paying for. The Conversational AI tier is rarely worth the markup over Crisp + ChatGPT custom GPT.
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| Alternative | Monthly (A$) | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Crisp | A$25 | Chat, knowledge base, shared inbox, similar quality at 1% of the cost |
| HubSpot Chat (free) | A$0 | If you already have HubSpot Starter, the chat module is included |
| Olark | A$19 | Lightweight chat for service businesses, easy to set up |
Drift was acquired by Salesloft in 2024 and is going through a feature consolidation phase. Mention specific Drift features you don't use to push for a tier downgrade. Vendor Letter Pack Letter 9 (new pricing model) often gets a grandfathered rate.
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