DriftFacebook ChatDrift vs Facebook Chat

Drift vs Facebook Chat: $2,500 against $0 a month

A conversational marketing platform against a Meta Business Suite inbox: Facebook Chat is $2,500 a month cheaper for five people. Where Drift and Facebook Chat split, and a third option for small teams.

By Khalid Nouri, founder of SellioPricing check dates are listed with each vendor below

Try the third optionSellio pricing

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The short answer

Pick Drift if you want a sales chatbot that qualifies visitors and books meetings, not a support inbox. Pick Facebook Chat if customers only write on Messenger and Instagram and you have no budget. For five people, Facebook Chat is $2,500 a month cheaper than Drift ($2,500 a month on Drift against $0 on Facebook Chat), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, which only Facebook Chat's figure comes under. Drift and Facebook Chat share no channel in the base price; only Drift has website chat; only Facebook Chat has Instagram. Neither Drift nor Facebook Chat includes email, WhatsApp and Telegram outright. For a team of two to ten weighing Drift against Facebook Chat, the third option below puts chat and tickets at one workspace price.

At a glanceDriftDriftFacebook ChatFacebook Chat
Built aroundSales conversations · a marketing tool, not a help deskMessenger and Instagram DMs · free with a Page
Entry planFrom $2,500/mo · Premium, yearly contract$0 · with a Facebook Page
Chat in the priceFrom $2,500/mo · one contract for the whole teamNone · the website Chat Plugin was retired in 2024
AI agentBy contract · part of the Salesloft platformNone to buy · instant replies and FAQs
Copilot for agentsBy contractMeta AI drafts · for some businesses
Free planNone · sales-led, no trialYes · the whole inbox is free

The six differences that decide it

Everything else on this page follows from these.

  1. 01

    Where a conversation starts

    DriftDrift

    As a chat with a website visitor that Drift tries to qualify and route to a sales rep or a meeting. Facebook Chat has no ticket queue either.

    Facebook ChatFacebook Chat

    As a Messenger or Instagram message in the Business Suite inbox, with the customer's profile beside it. Drift has no ticket queue either.

  2. 02

    What the seat buys

    DriftDrift

    There are no support seats: one annual contract from $2,500 a month covers the revenue team. $2,500 for five people, against $0 on Facebook Chat.

    Facebook ChatFacebook Chat

    There are no seats and no price; anyone with a Page role can answer. $0 for five people, against $2,500 on Drift.

  3. 03

    How the AI is billed

    DriftDrift

    AI chat and qualification are part of the Salesloft platform and priced in the contract. Facebook Chat has no AI to bill (none to buy) instead.

    Facebook ChatFacebook Chat

    No AI agent to buy. Instant replies, away messages and FAQs are rules; Meta AI drafts replies for some businesses. Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats instead.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    DriftDrift

    Website chat, email sequences and meeting booking; no WhatsApp, Instagram or ticket queue. website chat is here and not on Facebook Chat.

    Facebook ChatFacebook Chat

    Messenger, Instagram DMs and comments; WhatsApp lives in its own app, and the website plugin is gone. Instagram is here and not on Drift.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    DriftDrift

    Account-based marketing, playbooks, meeting booking and Salesloft's sales engagement suite. Facebook Chat is a Meta Business Suite inbox instead.

    Facebook ChatFacebook Chat

    Posting, scheduling and ads for the Page; nothing beyond Meta's own channels. Drift is a conversational marketing platform instead.

  6. 06

    Time to the first reply

    DriftDrift

    Weeks: a sales-led onboarding with playbooks and routing, and Salesloft has said the product is winding down. Facebook Chat is none.

    Facebook ChatFacebook Chat

    None: it is already there when you have a Page. Drift is weeks.

Sources: Drift pricing · Facebook Chat pricing. Each vendor’s own comparison of the other is linked so you can weigh both sides against ours.

What each one looks like

A look at the agent workspace. Interfaces can vary by plan and product version.

The Drift conversation view: a visitor chat with routing to a rep and a meeting booker
DriftDrift. The Drift conversation view: a visitor chat with routing to a rep and a meeting booker
The Meta Business Suite inbox: Messenger and Instagram threads in one list
Facebook ChatFacebook Chat. The Meta Business Suite inbox: Messenger and Instagram threads in one list

Pricing references: Drift pricing page (recorded 2026-09-06; needs verification); Facebook Chat pricing page (recorded 2026-09-13). Prices change; confirm current terms with each vendor.

Drift, Facebook Chat and Sellio, side by side

Fifteen things a support team checks. A dash means the product does part of it or charges extra for it.

FeatureDriftDriftFacebook ChatFacebook ChatSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Annual platform contract from $2,500/mo.
Free
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
Sales-led only.
The whole product
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
The core of the product, aimed at lead capture.
Website Chat Plugin retired in 2024
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Sales email sequences; not a support inbox.
Not offered
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Not a channel.
Separate WhatsApp Business app
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Not a channel.
DMs and comments
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not a channel.
Not offered
From Mini: paste a bot token; the webhook is set for you
Slack, Discord, Teams (two-way)
Slack notifications for sales alerts.
Not offered
From Mini: two-way threads; a reply there reaches the customer

AI

AI agent trained on your docs
AI for qualification and booking rather than support answers.
Rules, not an AI agent
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
By contract.
No AI to bill
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Routes to reps.
No AI to hand off from
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
No ticketing.
Labels and done state only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Playbooks for lead routing.
Instant replies, away messages, FAQs
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Pipeline and conversion reporting; no CSAT.
Page insights
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile.
Browser and mobile
Native Windows and macOS apps

Which one, for whom

Pick Drift if

  • You want a sales chatbot that qualifies visitors and books meetings, not a support inbox.
  • You already run Salesloft and want chat inside the same platform.
  • You need website chat in the price, which Facebook Chat does not include outright.
  • You want an AI agent at all; Facebook Chat has none to buy.

Pick Facebook Chat if

  • Customers only write on Messenger and Instagram and you have no budget.
  • One or two people answer and you do not need assignment or tickets.
  • Five people cost $2,500 a month less than on Drift ($0 against $2,500), before AI.
  • You need Instagram in the price, which Drift does not include outright.

The third option: Sellio

  • Your team is two to ten people on chat, messaging and email. Weigh workspace pricing against $2,500 a month on Drift against $0 on Facebook Chat for five people; the billing units and included features differ.
  • You want a ceiling on AI spend: Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats, Facebook Chat has no AI to bill (none to buy), and Sellio stops at the cap you set.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Drift nor Facebook Chat includes.

What two, five and ten people pay

Drift: $2,500 a month for five (one annual contract, from $2,500 a month); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Facebook Chat: $0 a month for five (free for anyone with a Page role); it does not print a per-seat rate to extend to two or ten. Sellio: Free for two seats; Mini at $45 for five, $2,455 less than Drift and more than Facebook Chat's $0 for five people; Essentials at $95 for ten, the AI credit included.

Where the two agree, and where they split

Drift is a conversational marketing platform built around sales conversations; Facebook Chat is a Meta Business Suite inbox built around Messenger and Instagram DMs. Only Facebook Chat has a free plan (the whole inbox is free); Drift offers no trial. Drift and Facebook Chat share no channel in the base price; only Drift has website chat; only Facebook Chat has Instagram. Neither Drift nor Facebook Chat includes email, WhatsApp and Telegram outright. Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats; Facebook Chat has no AI to bill (none to buy). Neither Drift nor Facebook Chat has a ticket queue, and neither Drift nor Facebook Chat ships a desktop app. Drift is weeks; Facebook Chat is none.

What each price leaves out

Drift: AI features are part of the Salesloft platform and priced by contract. Facebook Chat: No AI agent; instant replies and FAQs are rule-based. Beside Drift's by contract and Facebook Chat's none to buy, Sellio includes an AI credit with each paid plan. Usage consumes that credit; additional credits cost extra, and you can set a spending cap.

How these figures were read

Drift does not print the figures above in a form a fetch can read (Drift's pricing page redirects to Salesloft. Published figures come from third-party summaries and Salesloft's own materials; Salesloft has announced the product is being wound down.), so they are marked unverified here beside Facebook Chat's, and Drift's pricing page should be checked before you decide.

How to decide in an afternoon

  1. Step 1

    Count agents and channels

    Anyone who replies is a seat. List the channels customers actually use.

    5 people reply5 seats
    Website chat61%
    WhatsApp27%
    Email12%
  2. Step 2

    Price the AI you would use

    Estimate monthly conversations the AI could close, then apply each vendor's per-resolution or per-session rate.

    1,200 conversations × 40% AI closes480
    DriftDriftSee vendorNot quoted
    Facebook ChatFacebook ChatSee vendorNot quoted
    Sellio$0.05$19

    Illustrative AI-only estimate; vendor units differ. Pack billing is rounded up. Sellio assumes Mini’s $5 credit and $0.05 per conversation.

  3. Step 3

    Trial the shortlist

    Check each vendor’s trial, free plan or demo terms. Where access is available, test one real channel before committing.

    DriftDrift · None; sales-led contracts
    Facebook ChatFacebook Chat · Not applicable; free
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

    Confirm trial access and limits, then evaluate one real channel on each.

Continue your research

FAQ

Drift vs Facebook Chat: the questions people ask

Drift is a conversational marketing platform built around sales conversations; Facebook Chat is a Meta Business Suite inbox built around Messenger and Instagram DMs. Neither Drift nor Facebook Chat has a ticket queue, and neither Drift nor Facebook Chat ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Drift From $2,500/mo (Premium, yearly contract); Facebook Chat $0 (with a Facebook Page).
  • Chat in the price: Drift From $2,500/mo (one contract for the whole team); Facebook Chat None (the website Chat Plugin was retired in 2024).
  • Sellio: email, WhatsApp and Telegram, which neither Drift nor Facebook Chat has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Drift and Facebook Chat rows is on the shared inbox page.

Still have a question? Contact us or browse the docs.

Or the third option: one price, every channel.

Sellio puts website chat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram and email in one inbox with tickets and an AI agent, for $45 to $295 a month per workspace.

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