Drift vs Hiver
Converge Team
Side-by-side comparison for 2026
| Feature | Drift | Hiver |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $2500/mo | From $35/seat/mo |
| Best For | Large enterprises with complex B2B sales processes | Organizations heavily invested in Gmail who primarily handle email support |
| Standout Feature | Advanced conversational AI and revenue acceleration | Native Gmail integration and shared mailbox management |
| Free Plan | ✗ | ✓ |
| G2 Rating | 4.4 | 4.6 |
Drift and Hiver represent opposite ends of the customer support spectrum. Drift is a premium conversational marketing platform designed for enterprise sales teams, while Hiver transforms Gmail into a collaborative customer support workspace.
The fundamental difference lies in their approach: Drift builds a separate platform for conversations, while Hiver enhances the email tool your team already uses daily.
Feature Comparison
Drift excels in AI-powered chatbots, lead qualification, and conversational marketing automation. It's designed for proactive customer engagement with sophisticated routing and CRM integration.
Hiver transforms Gmail into a shared inbox with collision detection, assignment rules, and SLA tracking. It offers email templates, analytics, and knowledge base features while maintaining Gmail's familiar interface.
Drift focuses on generating and qualifying leads through chat, while Hiver optimizes email-based support workflows without forcing teams to abandon Gmail.
Pricing Comparison
The pricing difference is extreme. Drift starts at $2,500/month with enterprise pricing often reaching $10,000+ monthly, targeting well-funded companies with dedicated sales teams.
Hiver offers per-user pricing from $15-$59/user/month. A 10-person team would pay $150-$590/month, making it 5-15x more affordable than Drift's minimum commitment.
Hiver's pricing scales naturally with team size, while Drift's high entry point excludes most small and medium businesses.
Drift
Pros
- ✓ Powerful conversational AI
- ✓ Strong B2B focus
- ✓ Advanced lead qualification
Cons
- ✗ Extremely expensive pricing
- ✗ Complex setup and learning curve
- ✗ Overkill for small businesses
Hiver
Pros
- ✓ Seamless Gmail integration
- ✓ Easy setup for Gmail users
- ✓ Good email management features
Cons
- ✗ Limited to Gmail ecosystem
- ✗ No modern messaging channels
- ✗ Expensive per-user pricing
Verdict
Choose Drift if you need enterprise-grade conversational marketing with substantial budget. Choose Hiver if you want to turn Gmail into a powerful support tool without learning new software.
Choose Drift if: You're an enterprise with significant budget focused on conversational sales and lead generation through advanced AI chat.
Choose Hiver if: Your team lives in Gmail and you want collaborative support features without abandoning familiar workflows.
Consider Converge at $49/month flat rate if you want modern customer support features without per-user costs or the complexity of enterprise sales tools.
Looking for more options? Browse all 750+ platform comparisons, or see all Drift comparisons and all Hiver comparisons.