DriftTidioDrift vs Tidio

Drift vs Tidio: $2,500 or $49 for five people

A conversational marketing platform against a live chat and AI for small business: Tidio is $2,451 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

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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 Tidio if you run a Shopify or WordPress store and want a bot answering FAQs by tonight. For five people, Tidio is $2,451 a month cheaper than Drift ($2,500 a month on Drift against $49 or more on Tidio), before AI. Sellio Mini, at $45 for the workspace, is $4 under Tidio. Drift and Tidio both include website chat in the price; only Tidio has email, WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Drift nor Tidio includes Telegram outright. Below, a third option for a team of two to ten that wants what Drift and Tidio sell here at one price.

At a glanceDriftDriftTidioTidio
Built aroundSales conversations · a marketing tool, not a help deskThe chat widget and Lyro · billed by conversations, not seats
Entry planFrom $2,500/mo · Premium, yearly contract$24.17/mo · Starter: 100 conversations
Chat in the priceFrom $2,500/mo · one contract for the whole teamFrom $49.17/mo · Growth: 250+ conversations
AI agentBy contract · part of the Salesloft platformLyro from $32.50/mo · 50 conversations
Copilot for agentsBy contractIncluded · reply assistant
Free planNone · sales-led, no trialYes · 50 conversations a month

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. Tidio has no ticket queue either.

    TidioTidio

    As a chat in the widget, often answered first by the Lyro bot; a busy month counts against the conversation cap. 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 $49 on Tidio.

    TidioTidio

    Ten seats are included; what you pay for is conversations, from 100 on Starter to 250 or more on Growth. $49 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. Tidio meters AI (Lyro from $32.50/mo) above the seats as well.

    TidioTidio

    Lyro is bought in packs: from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations, on top of the plan. Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats as well.

  4. 04

    Channels in the price

    DriftDrift

    Website chat, email sequences and meeting booking; no WhatsApp, Instagram or ticket queue. Tidio adds email, WhatsApp and Instagram, which Drift lacks.

    TidioTidio

    Website chat, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and email, with native Shopify and WordPress apps. email, WhatsApp and Instagram are here and not on Drift.

  5. 05

    Beyond the inbox

    DriftDrift

    Account-based marketing, playbooks, meeting booking and Salesloft's sales engagement suite. Tidio is a live chat and AI for small business instead.

    TidioTidio

    Flows, the visual bot builder, and email campaigns for small ecommerce teams. 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. Tidio is an hour.

    TidioTidio

    An hour: install the app on Shopify or WordPress and switch on Lyro. Drift is weeks.

Sources: Drift pricing · Tidio 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 Tidio inbox: the conversation list, the chat and Lyro's suggested answers
TidioTidio. The Tidio inbox: the conversation list, the chat and Lyro's suggested answers

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

Drift, Tidio 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.

FeatureDriftDriftTidioTidioSellio

Pricing

Pricing model
Annual platform contract from $2,500/mo.
By billable conversations; AI by conversation packs.
Per workspace; seats and channels are plan limits
Free plan
Sales-led only.
50 conversations a month, 10 seats.
2 seats, 1 channel, 1 AI agent, no trial clock

Channels

Website live chat
The core of the product, aimed at lead capture.
Yes.
One script tag; guides for HTML, React, Next.js and more
Email in the inbox
Sales email sequences; not a support inbox.
Paid plans.
From Mini: forward your support address; reply from the thread
WhatsApp
Not a channel.
Paid plans.
From Mini: WhatsApp Business API, several agents on one number
Instagram DMs
Not a channel.
Paid plans.
From Mini: Instagram DMs beside web chat
Telegram
Not a channel.
Not a channel.
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.
Lyro, trained on your site and FAQs.
Crawl your site, upload PDFs and FAQs; answers only from those
How AI is billed
By contract.
From $32.50/mo for 50 conversations.
Metered from an included credit, with caps you set
AI hands off to a person
Routes to reps.
Lyro hands to an operator.
On low confidence, a keyword, or a teammate taking over

Support operations

Tickets
No ticketing.
Ticketing on paid plans, email-style.
On Plus: raise from any chat; customer, back-office and tracker
Visual workflow automation
Playbooks for lead routing.
Flows, visitor-count limited.
From Mini: 11 triggers, 18 actions, no code
Analytics and CSAT
Pipeline and conversion reporting; no CSAT.
Analytics on Growth and up.
From Essentials: response times, resolution, CSAT; topics and email reports on Plus

Apps

Desktop app (Windows, macOS)
Browser and mobile.
Desktop apps available.
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 an hour on Tidio.
  • Its pricing model suits you better than Tidio'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 Tidio if

  • You run a Shopify or WordPress store and want a bot answering FAQs by tonight.
  • Conversation volume is small enough that paying by conversation is cheaper than seats.
  • Five people cost $2,451 a month less than on Drift ($49 against $2,500), before AI.
  • You need email, WhatsApp and Instagram in the price, which Drift does not include outright.

The third option: Sellio

  • You are two to ten people on Drift or Tidio who answer chat, messaging and email, and want to compare workspace pricing with $2,500 a month on Drift against $49 or more on Tidio for five people.
  • You want the AI bill known before the month starts: Drift meters AI (by contract) above the seats, Tidio meters AI (Lyro from $32.50/mo) above the seats; Sellio includes a credit and lets you cap it.
  • You need Telegram and tickets raised from a chat, which neither Drift nor Tidio 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. Tidio: $49+ a month for five (from $49.17 for 250 conversations; seats are not the limit); 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 $4 less than Tidio 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; Tidio is a live chat and AI for small business built around the chat widget and Lyro. Only Tidio has a free plan (50 conversations a month); Drift offers no trial. Drift and Tidio both include website chat in the price; only Tidio has email, WhatsApp and Instagram. Neither Drift nor Tidio includes Telegram outright. Drift (by contract) and Tidio (Lyro from $32.50/mo) both meter AI above the seats. Neither Drift nor Tidio has a ticket queue, and only Tidio ships desktop apps. Drift is weeks; Tidio is an hour.

What each price leaves out

Drift: AI features are part of the Salesloft platform and priced by contract. Tidio: Lyro AI from $32.50 a month for 50 conversations, sold separately or bundled. Beside Drift's by contract and Tidio's Lyro from $32.50/mo, 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 Tidio'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
    TidioTidioSee 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
    TidioTidio · 7-day trial
    Sellio · Free plan, no card

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

Continue your research

FAQ

Drift vs Tidio: the questions people ask

Drift is a conversational marketing platform built around sales conversations; Tidio is a live chat and AI for small business built around the chat widget and Lyro. Neither Drift nor Tidio has a ticket queue, and only Tidio ships desktop apps.

  • Entry plan: Drift From $2,500/mo (Premium, yearly contract); Tidio $24.17/mo (Starter: 100 conversations).
  • Chat in the price: Drift From $2,500/mo (one contract for the whole team); Tidio From $49.17/mo (Growth: 250+ conversations).
  • Sellio puts every channel in one inbox: Telegram, which neither Drift nor Tidio has outright, plus the rest of the five, on every paid plan.

Sellio's side of the Drift and Tidio 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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