Looking for a Drift alternative? You're not alone. After Salesloft acquired Drift and bundled it into their enterprise Revenue Orchestration Platform, many mid-market B2B companies are searching for simpler, more accessible options.

This guide compares the best Drift alternatives for 2026, with a focus on what mid-market teams actually need: transparent pricing, quick deployment, and AI that works without months of implementation.

Quick Comparison: TheSkinnyAI vs Drift (Salesloft)

Feature	TheSkinnyAI	Drift (Salesloft)
Availability	Standalone product	Part of Salesloft platform only
Pricing	Transparent, on website	"Contact Sales" required
Setup Time	Minutes (one line of code)	Weeks (Professional Services)
Target Market	Mid-market B2B, MedTech	Enterprise (Stripe, IBM, 3M)
Contract	Monthly plans available	Annual enterprise contracts
AI Training	Auto-learns from your website	Requires playbook configuration
CRM Required?	No	Yes (bi-directional sync)
Self-Service Signup	Yes	No

What Happened to Drift?

Drift was once the darling of B2B marketing teams. They coined the term "conversational marketing" and built one of the first platforms for engaging website visitors in real-time. As FoundHQ noted, the acquisition was really more of a merger that reshaped both companies.

But after being acquired by Salesloft, Drift is no longer available as a standalone product. It's now one module within Salesloft's "Revenue Orchestration Platform," which includes:

• Cadence: Sales engagement automation
• Rhythm: AI-powered workflow prioritization
• Conversations: Call recording and coaching
• Deals: Opportunity management
• Forecast: Revenue prediction
• Analytics: Performance dashboards
• Drift: Website chat (what you actually wanted)

To use Drift in 2026, you need to buy into the entire Salesloft ecosystem. The pricing page now simply says: "For Drift or other pricing questions, please contact us." Third-party analyses from CloudTalk and user reviews on G2 and Capterra suggest annual contracts in the $50K+ range.

Why Teams Are Seeking Drift Alternatives

The Salesloft acquisition changed everything for mid-market companies. Security concerns have also emerged, with The Hacker News reporting on service disruptions and SOCRadar documenting breach-related issues. Additionally, Salesforce temporarily disabled Drift integrations following security incidents. Here's why teams are actively looking for alternatives:

1. Enterprise Pricing Out of Reach

Salesloft targets enterprise customers like Stripe, IBM, Shopify, and 3M. According to Software Advice reviews, annual contracts typically start at $50K+ for the full platform. For a mid-market company that just needs website chat, this is overkill.

2. Platform Complexity

Salesloft's Revenue Orchestration Platform includes seven major modules. If you just want AI chat for your website, you're paying for forecasting, deal management, and sales cadences you may never use.

3. Long Implementation Cycles

Salesloft offers "Professional Services" for implementation, including onboarding, optimization, and customized support. This signals weeks or months before you're fully operational, not the minutes-to-value that modern B2B teams expect.

4. CRM Dependency

The platform requires "bi-directional CRM sync," meaning you need Salesforce or HubSpot properly configured before Drift will work effectively. For companies without enterprise CRM setups or simply want leads pushed to their CRM, this creates friction.

5. No Self-Service Option

You cannot sign up for Drift online. Every prospect must "Talk to Sales" and go through an enterprise sales process.

TheSkinnyAI: A Focused Drift Alternative

TheSkinnyAI perfectly fills the gap Drift left behind: mid-market B2B companies that need intelligent website chat without enterprise complexity.

How TheSkinnyAI Works

1. Sign up (takes 2 minutes, no credit card required for trial)
2. Add your website URL and let the AI crawl your content
3. Chat with your Skinny on the TheSkinnyAI's website and you'll be amazed how it instantly knows your business
4. Paste one line of code into your site
5. Go live. The AI starts engaging visitors immediately, using your actual website content to answer questions and qualify leads.

No CRM integration required. No playbook configuration. No Professional Services engagement. Just an AI assistant that knows your business and captures leads 24/7.

Feature Comparison: TheSkinnyAI vs Drift

Capability	TheSkinnyAI	Drift (Salesloft)
AI Chat Agent	✅	✅
Lead Qualification	✅	✅
24/7 Availability	✅	✅
Auto-Learning from Website	✅	❌ (manual playbooks)
Visitor De-anonymization	❌	✅
Meeting Booking	Coming soon	✅
CRM Integration	Coming soon	✅ (required)
Sales Cadences	❌	✅
Forecasting	❌	✅
Conversation Intelligence	❌	✅
Self-Service Signup	✅	❌
Transparent Pricing	✅	❌
Monthly Plans	✅	❌ (annual only)

The bottom line: If you need a full revenue orchestration suite with forecasting, deal management, and sales cadences, Salesloft/Drift may be worth the investment. But if you need focused AI chat that qualifies leads without the enterprise overhead, TheSkinnyAI delivers more value per dollar.

When to Choose Drift (Salesloft)

Drift, as part of Salesloft, is still a powerful platform. It makes sense if:

• You're an enterprise company with 50+ sales reps
• You already use Salesloft for sales engagement
• You need full revenue orchestration (forecasting, deal management, cadences)
• You have a dedicated RevOps team for implementation
• Your budget supports $50K+/year for sales technology
• You require visitor de-anonymization (knowing which companies are on your site)

Salesloft's customer logos include Stripe, IBM, Shopify, 3M, and Instacart. If you operate at that scale, the platform investment may pay off. For a broader view of the sales engagement landscape, see this RevOptics guide to sales engagement platforms. Community discussions on Reddit's r/cybersecurity also provide real-world perspectives from current users.

When to Choose TheSkinnyAI

TheSkinnyAI is the better choice if:

• You're a mid-market B2B company (10-500 employees)
• You want a focused chat solution, and don't need a full platform
• You want to deploy quickly without a site redesign (minutes, not months)
• You prefer transparent, predictable pricing
• You work in a complex industry like MedTech
• You don't have (or want) enterprise CRM complexity
• You value self-service over sales-led processes

Other Drift Alternatives to Consider

Beyond TheSkinnyAI, here are other options depending on your needs:

Intercom

A solid all-in-one platform for support and sales. Their Fin AI agent handles customer inquiries well. Best for companies that need combined support + sales chat. Pricing starts around $74/month but scales with usage. References: Hiver and Featurebase.

Qualified

Enterprise-focused like Drift, with strong ABM (Account-Based Marketing) capabilities. If you need visitor identification and enterprise features but don't want Salesloft, Qualified is worth evaluating. Pricing is enterprise-level. References: Spara's comparison and G2's comparison tool.

Tidio

Budget-friendly option popular with SMBs and ecommerce. Good for basic chat needs but less sophisticated for B2B lead qualification.

HubSpot Chat

If you're already deep in the HubSpot ecosystem, their chat tool integrates seamlessly into their CRM. However, it's dependent on HubSpot CRM and may lack the AI sophistication of dedicated tools.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

Drift's acquisition by Salesloft fundamentally changed the competitive landscape for B2B website chat. What was once an accessible tool for marketing teams is now part of an enterprise platform with enterprise pricing and enterprise complexity. Businesses are now actively looking for the best Salesloft alternative.

For mid-market B2B companies, this creates an opportunity. Tools like TheSkinnyAI deliver the core value proposition of Drift, AI-powered conversations that qualify leads 24/7, without the platform lock-in, opaque pricing, or months-long implementation cycles.

The best Drift alternative depends on your specific needs:

• Enterprise with RevOps team? Stick with Salesloft/Drift or evaluate Qualified
• Mid-market B2B needing simplicity? Try TheSkinnyAI
• Support-first with some sales? Consider Intercom
• Budget-conscious SMB? Look at Tidio or HubSpot Chat

Key Takeaways

• Drift is no longer standalone: It's now part of Salesloft's enterprise Revenue Orchestration Platform
• No transparent pricing: You must "Contact Sales" to get Drift pricing
• Enterprise focus: Salesloft targets large companies with complex sales operations
• TheSkinnyAI alternative: Deploys in minutes, transparent pricing, built for mid-market B2B
• Other options: Intercom (support + sales), Qualified (enterprise ABM), Tidio (SMB)

---

Last updated: January 2026