7 Best Drift Alternatives for Restaurants

Intercom is a well‑established customer messaging platform that offers live chat, automated bots, and a robust knowledge base. Restaurants can use Intercom to answer menu inquiries, take reservations, and upsell specials through real‑time chat on their website. The platform’s bot builder supports a visual workflow interface, making it easy for non‑technical staff to create guided conversations that can collect guest details or redirect visitors to booking pages. Intercom also integrates with major reservation systems such as OpenTable and with e‑commerce platforms like Shopify, allowing restaurants to pull menu items and inventory data directly into chatbot conversations. One of Intercom’s strengths is its engagement analytics, which provides insights into conversation volume, response time, and user satisfaction. The tool’s AI features can auto‑suggest answers to common questions and even route more complex inquiries to human agents. For restaurants that need to scale, Intercom’s team‑based collaboration tools enable multiple staff members to collaborate on conversation scripts and respond to high‑volume periods such as lunch rushes. While Intercom is powerful, its pricing can be a barrier for smaller establishments; the base plan starts around $39/month but scales quickly as you add more contacts and advanced features. Additionally, Intercom’s AI is primarily focused on customer service rather than specialized restaurant workflows, so you may need to build custom integrations for reservation or loyalty program management.

Zendesk Chat (formerly Zopim) is a popular live‑chat solution that integrates seamlessly with Zendesk’s broader customer support suite. Restaurants can use Zendesk Chat to provide instant answers to menu questions, handle reservation requests, and offer upsells during the browsing experience. The platform offers a drag‑and‑drop chat widget editor, allowing users to match the chat window’s look and feel to their brand without coding. Zendesk Chat also supports triggers and macros so that common inquiries—such as opening hours or location—are answered automatically, freeing staff to focus on more complex tasks. An advantage of Zendesk Chat is its integration with the Zendesk ticketing system, which lets restaurants convert chat interactions into support tickets or follow‑up emails. For establishments with a customer service team, this creates a unified workflow from chat to resolution. The platform also offers basic AI capabilities through the Zendesk Answer Bot, which can surface knowledge base articles during conversations. However, Zendesk Chat’s AI features are relatively basic compared to specialized restaurant bots, and the platform lacks native e‑commerce or reservation system integrations. Pricing is tiered, with a free plan for small teams and paid plans starting around $19/month for more advanced features.

LiveChat is a versatile live‑chat and helpdesk platform that offers a range of features tailored for customer engagement. Restaurants can embed a chat widget on their website to answer menu questions, take reservations, or promote daily specials. LiveChat’s visual editor allows you to adjust colors, placement, and messaging without touching code, making it accessible for restaurant staff with limited technical skills. The platform also includes a built‑in ticketing system, so conversations can be tracked and escalated to the support team as needed. LiveChat provides powerful automation tools, such as predefined responses, chat routing, and triggers that can help staff handle high‑volume periods efficiently. Additionally, the platform integrates with popular CRM and marketing tools like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Shopify. For restaurants that sell merchandise online, this integration can pull product information into chat conversations, enabling real‑time order placement. While LiveChat offers a robust feature set, it does not provide specialized restaurant workflows out of the box—such as table‑booking logic or loyalty program management—so those functions would require custom development or third‑party integrations. Pricing starts at around $15/month for the basic plan, with higher tiers adding more agents and advanced features.

ChatBot.com offers a no‑code chatbot builder that emphasizes visual scripting and natural language understanding. Restaurants can create conversational flows that answer menu questions, suggest dishes, or take reservations. The platform’s drag‑and‑drop builder allows users to design branching conversations without coding, and the library of pre‑built templates can be customized to reflect a restaurant’s brand voice. ChatBot.com also supports integration with popular e‑commerce platforms like Shopify, enabling product data to be pulled into conversations. A notable feature of ChatBot.com is its ability to embed the bot across multiple channels—including the website, Facebook Messenger, and mobile apps—making it a versatile tool for reaching guests wherever they are. The platform also offers analytics dashboards that track conversation volume, completion rates, and user sentiment. For restaurants that need voice‑first interactions, ChatBot.com supports integration with voice assistants, although this is more commonly used for home‑assistant devices. Pricing for ChatBot.com is tiered, with a free version that supports up to 10,000 interactions per month and paid plans that unlock advanced AI, analytics, and channel integrations.

ManyChat is primarily known as a Facebook Messenger and SMS marketing platform, but it also offers a web chat widget that restaurants can use to interact with website visitors. The platform’s visual flow builder lets users create conversational paths that can answer FAQs, recommend menu items, and capture reservation details. ManyChat’s integration with e‑commerce platforms such as Shopify allows product information to be fetched directly into conversations, making it useful for restaurants that sell merchandise or gift cards online. One of ManyChat’s strengths is its marketing automation capabilities. Restaurants can set up sequences that send follow‑up emails or SMS messages to guests after a conversation, encouraging repeat visits or promoting special offers. The platform also provides basic analytics, including conversation volume and engagement rates. However, ManyChat’s focus on social media may limit its usefulness for restaurants that want a purely web‑based chatbot experience. Pricing for ManyChat starts at a free plan that supports up to 500 contacts, with paid plans beginning at $10/month for larger contact lists and additional automation features.

Botsify is a chatbot platform that emphasizes human‑in‑the‑loop support and AI‑powered conversations. Restaurants can use Botsify to create chatbots that answer menu questions, handle reservations, and provide order updates. The platform offers a visual builder that lets users design conversation flows without writing code, and it supports integration with popular messaging channels such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and the website. Botsify’s AI capabilities include intent recognition and entity extraction, which can help the bot understand user requests like “I want a vegan pizza” or “Book a table for two at 7 PM.” The platform also provides a human fallback feature, enabling a live agent to take over a conversation if the bot cannot resolve an issue. For restaurants that need real‑time order placement, Botsify can integrate with Shopify or WooCommerce to pull product data. Pricing for Botsify starts at $50/month for the basic plan, with higher tiers adding more agents, advanced AI features, and additional channel support.