Top 7 Alternatives to Drift for Marketing Agencies

Intercom is a comprehensive customer communication platform that blends live chat, help desk, and marketing automation into a single interface. Designed for growth‑stage companies and agencies, Intercom allows you to engage website visitors with real‑time chat, automate repetitive support tasks with bots, and nurture leads through targeted in‑app and email campaigns. Its visual builder lets marketers craft custom chat flows without code, and the platform’s contextual AI can answer common questions, route conversations to the right team members, or trigger follow‑up actions based on user behavior. Intercom’s robust analytics and reporting tools provide insight into conversation volume, response times, and campaign performance, helping agencies fine‑tune their engagement strategies. Intercom’s strengths lie in its deep integration ecosystem—supporting Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, and thousands of other tools—making it easy to sync customer data and trigger actions across platforms. The platform also offers a powerful product tour feature that guides new users through key product features, boosting adoption rates. However, Intercom’s pricing model can become steep for agencies managing multiple clients, as each client requires a separate instance. Additionally, while the chat widget is highly customizable, it still requires some CSS tweaks for advanced styling, and the platform’s free tier is limited to a single agent, which may not meet the needs of larger agencies. Overall, Intercom is ideal for agencies looking for an all‑in‑one customer engagement suite that combines chat, help desk, and marketing automation, provided they can manage the cost structure and are comfortable with its slightly steeper learning curve.

HubSpot Chat, part of the HubSpot CRM ecosystem, offers a seamless way for agencies to engage website visitors through live chat, chatbots, and automated messaging. The platform leverages HubSpot’s powerful CRM data to deliver personalized conversations, automatically recognizing logged‑in users, and pulling in contact details, recent interactions, and company information. This context‑aware approach allows chat agents to offer tailored product recommendations, schedule demos, or transfer to a sales representative without manual intervention. HubSpot Chat’s visual flow designer enables non‑technical users to build conversational paths using drag‑and‑drop logic, while the chatbot can handle common queries, collect contact information, and trigger marketing sequences. The chat widget is fully responsive and can be embedded on any website with a simple script. HubSpot also provides a free tier that includes basic live chat and chatbot features, making it an attractive starting point for agencies on tight budgets. However, the free tier limits the number of active chats and does not include advanced AI or sentiment analysis, and the pricing for higher tiers increases with the number of contacts in the CRM. Agencies that already rely on HubSpot for marketing, sales, or service can benefit from native chat integration, as it eliminates data silos and streamlines lead capture. For teams that need a fully integrated solution without additional third‑party tools, HubSpot Chat offers a compelling, if somewhat cost‑prohibitive, option. Overall, HubSpot Chat is best suited for agencies deeply invested in the HubSpot ecosystem who require a chat solution tightly coupled with their CRM data.

Freshchat, part of the Freshworks suite, is a modern messaging platform that blends live chat, bots, and in‑app messaging into a single conversational hub. Built for startups and SMBs, Freshchat provides a lightweight, easy‑to‑deploy chat widget that can be embedded on any website with a single line of JavaScript. The platform’s visual bot builder allows marketers to craft automated flows without coding, while the AI chat assistant can answer FAQs, gather leads, and route conversations to the appropriate support agents. Freshchat supports a range of integrations, including Freshsales, Mailchimp, Zapier, and Shopify, allowing agencies to sync customer data, trigger email campaigns, and pull product information directly into conversations. The platform also offers real‑time analytics, sentiment analysis, and a knowledge base connector, enabling agents to surface relevant help articles during chats. Freshchat’s pricing is tiered, with a free plan that includes up to 10 live chat agents and basic bot functionality, making it an attractive choice for agencies just starting out. However, while Freshchat excels at providing a clean, user‑friendly interface, its AI capabilities are relatively basic compared to more advanced platforms, and the knowledge base integration requires manual setup. Additionally, the free tier’s agent limit may be restrictive for larger agencies or those managing multiple clients. Overall, Freshchat is an excellent option for agencies that need a straightforward, cost‑effective chat solution with solid integration options and a focus on customer experience.

ManyChat is a leading chatbot platform that specializes in building conversational experiences across Facebook Messenger, Instagram, SMS, and web chat. Although it originated as a social media bot builder, ManyChat has expanded to support web chat widgets, making it a versatile tool for agencies that want to engage visitors across multiple channels. The platform’s visual flow builder lets marketers design complex conversation paths using a drag‑and‑drop interface, with built‑in logic, actions, and integrations. ManyChat offers a range of automation features such as broadcast messages, drip campaigns, and conditional branching, allowing agencies to nurture leads and deliver personalized content at scale. The platform also supports e‑commerce integration with Shopify, enabling product recommendations, cart recovery, and order status updates directly within the chat. ManyChat’s pricing model includes a free plan that provides access to core features, with paid tiers adding additional contacts, advanced integrations, and priority support. While ManyChat excels in social media bot creation and drip marketing, its web chat widget is less polished than some competitors, and the platform’s AI capabilities are primarily rule‑based rather than generative. Agencies that rely heavily on AI‑generated responses or advanced knowledge bases may find ManyChat’s feature set limiting. Overall, ManyChat is ideal for agencies that need a cost‑effective, multi‑channel chatbot solution with a strong focus on social media engagement and marketing automation.

Tidio is a user‑friendly chat platform that blends live chat, chatbots, and email integration into a single interface. Designed for small businesses and agencies, Tidio offers a lightweight widget that can be embedded on any website with a few lines of code. The platform’s visual bot builder lets users create automated response flows without writing code, and Tidio’s AI assistant can answer common questions and collect contact information. Tidio supports a variety of integrations, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Zapier, and WordPress, allowing agencies to pull product data, update CRM records, and trigger marketing automations. The platform also offers a ticketing system to manage support requests, real‑time notifications, and a knowledge base connector for quick article suggestions. Pricing starts with a free plan that includes one chatbot and basic live chat, while paid plans add additional agents, advanced chatbot features, and priority support. While Tidio is praised for its ease of use and clean interface, it lacks some of the advanced AI capabilities found in higher‑end platforms, such as generative text or sophisticated knowledge retrieval. Additionally, the free tier is limited to a single chatbot and a small number of live chat agents, which may constrain larger agencies. Overall, Tidio is a solid choice for agencies that need a quick, cost‑effective way to add live chat and simple chatbot automation to their websites.

Chatfuel is a popular chatbot builder primarily focused on Facebook Messenger and Instagram, but it also offers a web chat widget for sites. The platform is designed for non‑technical users, providing a visual interface to create conversational flows with buttons, quick replies, and conditional logic. Chatfuel’s bot templates cover a range of use cases, from lead generation to e‑commerce support, and the platform integrates with e‑commerce platforms like Shopify to provide product recommendations and order status updates. Chatfuel’s strengths lie in its ease of use and strong social media focus. Users can launch a bot quickly using pre‑built templates, and the platform offers an analytics dashboard that tracks conversation volume, user engagement, and conversion metrics. The free plan includes basic bot features, while paid plans unlock advanced integrations, broadcast messaging, and priority support. However, the web chat widget is less feature‑rich than some competitors, and Chatfuel’s AI capabilities are largely rule‑based, lacking generative text or advanced knowledge retrieval. Additionally, the platform does not natively support long‑term memory or multi‑language translations, and users must rely on third‑party services for advanced analytics or CRM integration. Chatfuel remains a solid option for agencies that prioritize quick social media bot deployment and simple web chat integration, especially when budget constraints are a concern.