Drift vs Help Scout

Drift and Help Scout represent two different philosophies in customer communication. Drift ($2,500-Custom pricing, G2 4.4/5) focuses on conversational marketing and sales automation, while Help Scout ($0-$75/user/month, G2 4.4/5) emphasizes traditional customer support excellence.

Both platforms have earned strong user ratings, but they serve distinctly different primary use cases - Drift for proactive sales engagement and Help Scout for reactive customer service.

Drift excels in conversational marketing with advanced chatbots, lead routing, and sales automation. Its AI-powered qualification and meeting booking features make it powerful for sales teams looking to convert website visitors into qualified leads.

Help Scout focuses on traditional support channels with exceptional email management, knowledge base functionality, and team collaboration tools. Its shared inbox approach and customer context features excel at providing personalized support experiences.

The fundamental difference lies in their primary purpose: Drift optimizes for lead generation and sales conversion, while Help Scout optimizes for customer satisfaction and support efficiency.

The pricing models reflect their different target markets. Drift starts at $2,500/month with custom enterprise pricing, positioning it as a premium sales and marketing tool for larger organizations with substantial budgets.

Help Scout offers much more accessible pricing from $0 (free plan) to $75/user/month, making it suitable for small to medium businesses. The per-user model scales predictably with team growth, while Drift's enterprise pricing requires custom negotiations.

For teams under 10 agents, Help Scout is significantly more cost-effective. Drift's ROI comes from sales conversion improvements rather than cost savings.

Choose Drift if you need advanced conversational marketing tools, lead qualification automation, and have the budget for enterprise-level pricing. Choose Help Scout if you prioritize affordable, straightforward customer support with excellent email management and team collaboration features.

Choose Drift if: You're a sales-focused organization needing advanced conversational marketing, have budget for enterprise tools, and want to optimize website visitor conversion rates.

Choose Help Scout if: You need reliable, affordable customer support software with excellent email management and team collaboration features.

For teams seeking a middle ground with up to 15 agents at a flat rate, consider Converge at $49/month - offering comprehensive customer communication without per-agent fees or enterprise-level complexity.