What happened to Drift
Drift is a Salesloft product, and Salesloft now operates together with Clari as Clari + Salesloft. On 6 March 2026, Clari + Salesloft named 1mind the exclusive AI successor to Drift, according to 1mind's announcement.
Salesloft's former Drift product page (salesloft.com/platform/drift) now redirects to its Chat Agents page. That page describes AI chat agents feeding buyer signals into Salesloft's Predictive Revenue System and says Salesloft has transitioned from Drift to partner with 1Mind. The Salesloft header still links to a Drift login for existing customers.
Neither page publishes a shutdown date or a Drift price list. If you use Drift today, ask your account team for your contract timeline and export your playbooks, transcripts and contact data before the renewal date.
How Intercom pricing works in 2026
Intercom's pricing page has two parts: seats and usage. Every plan (Essential, Advanced, Expert) includes Fin AI Agent. On 23 October 2026 the page showed Essential at $29 per seat a month with a 35% discount for new customers, Advanced at $85 and Expert at $132 per seat a month. The page's own structured data lists Advanced at $99 and Expert at $139, so check which billing option you are quoted before you buy.
Fin AI Agent costs $0.99 per outcome. An outcome counts when the customer confirms the issue is resolved, does not ask for more help after Fin answers, or Fin completes a workflow, including a handoff. Intercom charges once per conversation. Used on another helpdesk, Fin has a minimum monthly commitment (the page gives 50 outcomes as an example).
Other usage is billed separately: WhatsApp per conversation, SMS per message, email campaigns per bulk email and phone by usage. Optional add-ons include Copilot ($29 per agent a month billed annually, $35 monthly) and Pro ($100 a month). There is a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
Drift vs Intercom by job
- Booking sales meetings from website visitors: this was Drift's core job. Salesloft now points that job to 1Mind's AI chat agents.
- Answering support questions and resolving tickets: Intercom is the stronger fit, with Fin, a shared inbox, ticketing and a help center.
- Answering pre-sale questions on a small business website and capturing the lead: both are larger than the job. A website chatbot with lead capture and a booking link handoff covers it.
- Answering phone calls as well as chat: neither is primarily a phone receptionist. Apex Chatbot sells an AI Voice Receptionist as a separate product.
When Apex Chatbot is the better choice, and when it is not
Apex Chatbot fits a business that wants its website to answer questions from its own pages and documents, collect name, email or phone with context, and hand the visitor to a booking link, in eight languages. The free plan runs without a card; Starter at $59 a month removes the Apex branding and covers 1,000 conversations a month.
It is not the right choice if you need a support helpdesk with ticketing, a shared inbox, round-robin live chat or native CRM sync. In that case Intercom, or another helpdesk, is the honest recommendation.