DriftShopify InboxDrift vs Shopify Inbox

Drift vs Shopify Inbox: entry plans at $2,500 and $0

A conversational marketing platform against a free chat for Shopify stores: Shopify Inbox is $2,500 a month cheaper for five people. The six differences, what five people pay on each, and a third option.

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

Try the third optionSellio pricing

No credit card. Live in minutes.

The short answer

Pick Drift if you want a sales chatbot that qualifies visitors and books meetings, not a support inbox. Pick Shopify Inbox if you run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view. For five people, Shopify Inbox is $2,500 a month cheaper than Drift ($2,500 a month on Drift against $0 on Shopify Inbox), before AI. Sellio Mini is $45, which only Shopify Inbox's figure comes under. Drift and Shopify Inbox both include website chat in the price. Neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Drift and Shopify Inbox sell here at one price.

At a glanceDriftDriftShopify InboxShopify Inbox
Built aroundSales conversations · a marketing tool, not a help deskThe storefront chat · free with a Shopify plan
Entry planFrom $2,500/mo · Premium, yearly contract$0 · with any Shopify plan
Chat in the priceFrom $2,500/mo · one contract for the whole team$0 · storefront and Shop app
AI agentBy contract · part of the Salesloft platformIncluded · AI chat from the catalog and policies
Copilot for agentsBy contractIncluded · suggested replies
Free planNone · sales-led, no trialYes · the app 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. Shopify Inbox has no ticket queue either.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    As a chat on the storefront or in the Shop app, with the cart and orders 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 Shopify Inbox.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    There is no seat price; staff are limited by the Shopify plan's staff accounts. $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. Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan instead.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    The AI chat learns the catalog and policies and is included; there is nothing to meter. 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. The same set as Shopify Inbox.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Storefront chat and the Shop app; no email, WhatsApp, Instagram or Telegram in the inbox. The same set as Drift.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    DriftDrift

    Account-based marketing, playbooks, meeting booking and Salesloft's sales engagement suite. Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores instead.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Product recommendations, discount codes and order updates inside the chat. 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. Shopify Inbox is minutes.

    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox

    Minutes: install the app from the Shopify admin. Drift is weeks.

Sources: Drift pricing · Shopify Inbox 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 Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side
Shopify InboxShopify Inbox. The Shopify Inbox conversation: the chat with the customer's cart and orders on the side

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

Drift, Shopify Inbox 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.

FeatureDriftDriftShopify InboxShopify InboxSellio

Pricing

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

Channels

Website live chat
The core of the product, aimed at lead capture.
Storefront and Shop app
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.
Not offered
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Not a channel.
No longer connected
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.
Learns the catalog
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
By contract.
Included
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Routes to reps.
Hands to staff
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
No ticketing.
Chats only
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Playbooks for lead routing.
Instant answers, greetings
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Pipeline and conversion reporting; no CSAT.
Assisted orders
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile.
Admin 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.
  • Time to the first reply is weeks here and minutes on Shopify Inbox.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Shopify Inbox's: 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.

Pick Shopify Inbox if

  • You run a Shopify store and want free chat with the cart in view.
  • One channel is enough and you do not need tickets.
  • Five people cost $2,500 a month less than on Drift ($0 against $2,500), before AI.
  • You want a free plan to start on; Drift offers no trial.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Drift or Shopify Inbox who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $2,500 a month on Drift against $0 on Shopify Inbox for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats, Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and native Windows and macOS apps, which neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox 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. Shopify Inbox: $0 a month for five (free; five staff need the Shopify plan that allows them); 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 Shopify Inbox'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; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Only Shopify Inbox has a free plan (the app is free); Drift offers no trial. Drift and Shopify Inbox both include website chat in the price. Neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox includes email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram outright. Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats; Shopify Inbox folds AI (included) into the plan. Neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox has a ticket queue, and neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox ships a desktop app. Drift is weeks; Shopify Inbox is minutes.

What each price leaves out

Drift: AI features are part of the Salesloft platform and priced by contract. Shopify Inbox: AI chat and suggested replies included. Beside Drift's by contract and Shopify Inbox's included, 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 Shopify Inbox'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
    Shopify InboxShopify InboxSee 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
    Shopify InboxShopify Inbox · 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 Shopify Inbox: the questions people ask

Drift is a conversational marketing platform built around sales conversations; Shopify Inbox is a free chat for Shopify stores built around the storefront chat. Neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox has a ticket queue, and neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox ships a desktop app.

  • Entry plan: Drift From $2,500/mo (Premium, yearly contract); Shopify Inbox $0 (with any Shopify plan).
  • Chat in the price: Drift From $2,500/mo (one contract for the whole team); Shopify Inbox $0 (storefront and Shop app).
  • Sellio: email, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram, which neither Drift nor Shopify Inbox has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Drift and Shopify Inbox 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.

Get startedRead the docs

No credit card required