Which one is better? Drift vs Intercom
By Joren Wouters • Updated on
Drift and Intercom are the most popular chat solutions for enterprise B2B websites.
They both offer live chat and chatbot solutions for your website.
But which chat platform should you use? What are the differences between them? And which platform is better?
Let’s find out!
Full disclosure: I never got access to a Pro account of Drift, because Drift doesn’t allow free trials or testing out their platform. Therefore, I got access to several demos of their platform and based my review on these.
Comparison criteria
1. Interface
Drift
Drift provides a visual flow builder when you are going to create your chatbot flows (called Playbooks in Drift):
Every chatbot flows consists of several elements that you can easily add and edit. For example, you can create a question:
And determine the ways a user can respond to that question:
Also, you can test your chatbot flows before they actually go live.
With the visual flow builder of Drift, you can easily set up your own chatbot and the interface is also extremely easy to use.
- Visual Flow Builder
Create chatbot dialogs with a visual flow builder. - Test chatbotIs it possible to test the chatbot before putting your new flows or changes live?
- Interface easy to use?Is the chatbot platform easy-to-use?
- Easy to setup a chatbot?Is it easy to set up your chatbot with this chatbot platform?
Intercom
If you use Intercom, you can create two kinds of chatbots: the Task Bot and the Custom Bot.
The Task Bot is a chatbot that will only interact with you if no live chat agents are available and is often an automatic message like “We typically respond in two hours”:
When you want to create a custom Bot (a chatbot flow with elements), Intercom makes use of a Flow Builder:
Once you have determined the content of your Custom Bot, you can also determine on what pages you want to show this chatbot flow, by adding Rules:
And ultimately determine the goal of the chatbot flow (that you can use for analytics):
Moreover, you can also preview your chatbot flow, before it actually goes live.
At first, the interface makes it a bit hard to set up your chatbot, because Intercom is such a large product (with chatbots, setting up helpdesk and more). Also, the interface uses terms like “Outbound” and “Operator” that aren’t explained (unless you search for it). The same is true for the chatbot names – they use Task Bot, Custom Bot and Resolution Bot – and you first need to find out which one you need to use.
So in general, the interface is really easy to use, but it is a bit hard in the beginning to set up your chatbot.
- Visual Flow BuilderCreate chatbot dialogs with a visual flow builder.
- Test chatbotIs it possible to test the chatbot before putting your new flows or changes live?
- Interface easy to use?Is the chatbot platform easy-to-use?
- Easy to setup a chatbot?Is it easy to set up your chatbot with this chatbot platform?
The winner: Drift
The interface of Drift is much easier to use than the interface of Intercom.
With Drift, you can just simply start by creating your chatbot flows in a visual flow builder.
With Intercom, you first need to deep dive into all the different aspects of the product and the different kinds of your chatbot, which makes it harder to set up a chatbot.
2. Chatbot Elements
Drift
Drift provides enough chatbot elements that you can use in your chatbot flows.
First of all, you can send messages with your chatbot and ask questions. Then, you have Drift Skills, which allow you to:
- Capture email
- Get the phone number of the user
- Lookup articles in your helpdesk
- Automatically create tickets
- Route conversations to live chat
- Automatically send emails to the user (if you have their email)
- Schedule a meeting
- Or go to a different node in your Drift playbook
And by using conditions in Drift, you can create personalized chat experiences:
Also, what I really like about Drift is their “Schedule a meeting” element which automatically shows possibles dates and times for the user to schedule a meeting:
Unfortunately, Drift also doesn’t provide some chatbot elements, such as Audio, Video and Galleries. This is a bit of a drawback, because otherwise, you could create a richer media conversation.
- DelaysUse delays between messages in your chatbot
- ImagesCan you send images via your chatbot?
- VideoCan you send video via your chatbot?
- AudioCan you send audio via your chatbot?
- AttachmentsCan you send attachments via your chatbot?
- Gallery (Horizontal list)Show a gallery of cards inside your chatbot. A card consists of an image, title, subtitle and button.
- Vertical listShow a vertical list of items inside your chatbot
- EmojisCan you use emojis inside your chatbot?
- Persistent MenuCan you add a persistent menu to your chatbot?
- Quick RepliesCan you add quick replies to your chatbot where users can click on?
- ButtonsCan you add buttons to your chatbot where users can click on?
- Free text inputCan chatbot users freely type text to your chatbot whenever they want to?
- Location sharingCan users share their location inside the chatbot?
- Email validationWhen a chatbot user gives their email, can the platform validate it’s a correct email address?
- Phone number validationWhen a chatbot user gives their phone number, can the platform validate it’s a correct phone number?
- Date validationWhen a chatbot user gives a date, can the platform validate it’s a correct date?
Intercom
Intercom provides enough chatbot elements to create a good chatbot.
They lack some elements, such as Audio, Attachments and Galleries, but these are certainly not deal-breakers.
What I do like about the elements in Intercom, is that you can also display Helpdesk articles inside your chatbot:
- DelaysUse delays between messages in your chatbot
- ImagesCan you send images via your chatbot?
- VideoCan you send video via your chatbot?
- AudioCan you send audio via your chatbot?
- AttachmentsCan you send attachments via your chatbot?
- Gallery (Horizontal list)Show a gallery of cards inside your chatbot. A card consists of an image, title, subtitle and button.
- Vertical listShow a vertical list of items inside your chatbot
- EmojisCan you use emojis inside your chatbot?
- Persistent MenuCan you add a persistent menu to your chatbot?
- Quick RepliesCan you add quick replies to your chatbot where users can click on?
- ButtonsCan you add buttons to your chatbot where users can click on?
- Free text inputCan chatbot users freely type text to your chatbot whenever they want to?
- Location sharingCan users share their location inside the chatbot?
- Email validationWhen a chatbot user gives their email, can the platform validate it’s a correct email address?
- Phone number validationWhen a chatbot user gives their phone number, can the platform validate it’s a correct phone number?
- Date validationWhen a chatbot user gives a date, can the platform validate it’s a correct date?
The winner: Intercom
This is a small win for Intercom.
Intercom offers more chatbot elements you can use in your chatbot. But more importantly, they allow images and video, which allows you to create a richer chatbot experience (and this is not possible with Drift).
3. Users
Drift
In Drift, you can see a complete overview of all the user that talked to your chatbot:
And by filtering on the users that talked to your chatbot you can create your own user segment based on custom fields.
For every user, you can ask a certain question and store the answer to that question in a custom field (called Attributes in Drift).
Also, with Drift, you can assign tags to the user based on answers they provide to your chatbot.
Store information from your chatbot users inside fields. For example, you can ask for someone’s email and store it inside the “email” custom field.Add tags to users in your chatbot flows to organize and categorize contacts.Can you create user segments based on custom fields and tags?
Intercom
In Intercom, you can see a complete overview of everyone that talked with your chatbot:
When you click on of your users, you can see their custom fields, tags, recent pages on your website they viewed and more:
With Intercom, you can just ask a question to the user and store the answer in a custom field or assign a tag.
Additionally, you can create your own user segments by filtering on specific custom fields and tags.
Store information from your chatbot users inside fields. For example, you can ask for someone’s email and store it inside the “email” custom field.Add tags to users in your chatbot flows to organize and categorize contacts.Can you create user segments based on custom fields and tags?
No Winner
With both Drift and Intercom you can add custom fields and tags, and create user segments based on that.
So, no winner on this criterium!
4. Messages
Drift
With Drift, it is not possible to send broadcasts or sequences, but this is obvious, because you can only create a chatbot for your website with Drift.
Also, Drift supports multiple languages. However, it is not easy to handle multiple languages at the same time. You need to copy all your chatbot flows and translate them one-by-one. Also, if you want to support multiple languages on one website, you need to code this yourself.
So it is possible to handle multiple languages on one website, but it is not easy to do this.
- BroadcastsSend a message to all or a part of your chatbot users at a specific date and time
- SequencesSend messages on a pre-defined schedule with a certain time interval between those messages
- ConditionsMake checks in your chatbot flow based on if-then logic. For example, if the user has not given their email, ask for their email.
- Multiple languagesIs it possible to create a chatbot in multiple languages?
- Easy to translateCan you translate text to other languages without using a third-party platform and without creating duplicate flows?
Intercom
With Intercom, you can send a broadcast to your users, by using large Posts or Banners.
Unfortunately, you cannot create a sequence of messages, but it is possible to create Series, which we will cover later (in the Marketing section).
Luckily, you can have a chatbot in multiple languages, but it is not easy to translate your chatbot.
- BroadcastsSend a message to all or a part of your chatbot users at a specific date and time
- SequencesSend messages on a pre-defined schedule with a certain time interval between those messages
- ConditionsMake checks in your chatbot flow based on if-then logic. For example, if the user has not given their email, ask for their email.
- Multiple languagesIs it possible to create a chatbot in multiple languages?
- Easy to translateCan you translate text to other languages without using a third-party platform and without creating duplicate flows?
The winner: Intercom
This is a small win for Intercom.
With Intercom, you can send broadcasts while this is not possible with Drift.
5. AI & NLP
Drift
With Drift, you can create keywords so your chatbot automatically responds to them:
Unfortunately, that’s all there is regarding AI & NLP of Drift. It is not possible to understand the intent of the user or use entities.
And I think this is a huge drawback for a chatbot builder that position themselves as one of the best in the industry.
- KeywordsTrigger chatbot flow based on certain words or phrases a user says to the chatbot.
- IntentsTrigger a chatbot flow by understanding the intent of the user.
- EntitiesCapture specific information from sentences. For example, if a user says “veggie pizza”, the chatbot can understand it’s not a regular pizza, but a veggie pizza.
- Dialogflow integrationDoes the chatbot platform provide a direct integration with Google’s AI Platform?
Intercom
If you want to automatically reply to questions of your users, you need to use the Resolution Bot of Intercom.
With the Resolution Bot, you can train your chatbot on several questions, that will ultimately understand the intent of the user:
Unfortunately, it is not possible to use Entities with Intercom.
What I really like about Intercom, is that you can automatically import customer questions from Zendesk, which can give you a headstart on creating your first keywords:
- KeywordsTrigger chatbot flow based on certain words or phrases a user says to the chatbot.
- IntentsTrigger a chatbot flow by understanding the intent of the user.
- EntitiesCapture specific information from sentences. For example, if a user says “veggie pizza”, the chatbot can understand it’s not a regular pizza, but a veggie pizza.
- Dialogflow integrationDoes the chatbot platform provide a direct integration with Google’s AI Platform?
The winner: Intercom
With Intercom, you can understand the intent of the user, while this is not possible with Drift.
Therefore, Intercom is the winner on this subject!
6. Channels
Drift
With Drift, it is only possible to create a chatbot on your website and automatically send emails (once you capture the email of the user).
This is a bit of a drawback, because this doesn’t allow you to create an omnichannel chat experience with Drift.
- WebsiteCan you publish your chatbot on your website?
- FacebookCan you publish your chatbot on Facebook?
- InstagramCan you publish your chatbot on Instagram?
- WhatsappCan you publish your chatbot on WhatsApp?
- TelegramCan you publish your chatbot on Telegram?
- SMSCan you publish your chatbot on SMS?
- SlackCan you publish your chatbot on Slack?
- SkypeCan you publish your chatbot on Skype?
- EmailCan you publish your chatbot on email?
Intercom
Intercom provides three main channels to put your chatbot on:
- Website
- iOS app
- Android app
Moreover, with Intercom, you can automatically send email campaigns, such as a client onboarding campaign when someone becomes a new client.
Furthermore, Intercom provides additional channels that you can use with live chat, but you cannot use with your chatbot:
- SMS
And this is a drawback, because you cannot create an omnichannel chatbot experience for your users.
- WebsiteCan you publish your chatbot on your website?
- FacebookCan you publish your chatbot on Facebook?
- InstagramCan you publish your chatbot on Instagram?
- WhatsappCan you publish your chatbot on WhatsApp?
- TelegramCan you publish your chatbot on Telegram?
- SMSCan you publish your chatbot on SMS?
- SlackCan you publish your chatbot on Slack?
- SkypeCan you publish your chatbot on Skype?
- EmailCan you publish your chatbot on email?
The winner: Intercom
Intercom provides one channel more than Drift: Apps.
That’s why they win in this category.
7. Integrations
Drift
Drift performs really well regarding integrations.
First of all, they have a built-in live chat, which is the most important integration of any chatbot software:
And their live chat is also extremely easy to use and has some smart features. For example, you can save certain replies and your live chat and reuse them by just typing in “/savedreply”:
Also, a huge benefit of Drift is that they provide an iOS and Android app which allows you to respond to customer questions on the go.
Moreover, they provide 50 direct integrations with other software applications, like:
- Salesforce
- Marketo
- Slack
- Google Calendar
- Facebook Pixel Tracking
- Google Analytics
- Google Sheets
And much more.
If that’s not enough, you can integrate with almost any software application by using Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat).
Furthermore, you can get or send data by using API calls inside your playbooks and you can get webhooks from Drift when an event happens.
- LivechatDirect integration with live chat, either via a built-in live chat functionality or a third-party live chat platform.
- ZapierDirect integration with Zapier, one of the largest integration platforms in the world.
- Make (formerly Integromat)Direct integration with Make (formerly Integromat), one of the largest integration platforms in the world.
- Google SheetsDirect integration with Google Sheets, to store or retrieve data from sheets.
- WebhooksCan you call an API inside your chatbot flow to send or get data from other applications?
Intercom
Intercom has a built-in live chat, which is the most important integration of any chatbot software:
Moreover, they even have their own App Store with over 100 direct integrations with other software applications:
What is so great about their App Store, is that every developer can contribute to it. For example, Intercom itself doesn’t provide a Telegram integration. But, by using an App in their App store, you can create this integration yourself.
If that’s not enough, you can use Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat) to integrate with almost any software application on earth.
Moreover, you can also get or send data from other systems by creating an API call and you can receive webhooks when an event is happening inside Intercom.
Direct integration with live chat, either via a built-in live chat functionality or a third-party live chat platform.Direct integration with Zapier, one of the largest integration platforms in the world.Direct integration with Make (formerly Integromat), one of the largest integration platforms in the world.Direct integration with Google Sheets, to store or retrieve data from sheets.Can you call an API inside your chatbot flow to send or get data from other applications?
No winner
Both chatbot builders provide all the integrations you possibly want for your chatbot.
So, no winner on this subject.
8. Marketing
Drift
Drift gives two main ways of chatting with your customer: landing pages or their website widget.
Let’s cover the possibilities one-by-one:
Drift’s landing pages
First of all, Drift provides standard landing pages, showing a chat widget:
But you can also get more advanced and show a complete PDF besides your chat widget:
This is especially useful for delivering lead magnets to your audience and simultaneously getting their contact information.
Drift’s advanced website widget
With Drift, you can create a website widget that matches the branding of your website:
Moreover, you can show a specific widget depending on characteristics of the user (such as their location, new/returning users and the number of pages they visited):
Also, you can trigger a website widget from a button on your website, which makes the widget a good alternative to a contact form.
What is Drift Intel?
Drift Intel allows you to turn anonymous customers into known companies.
Based on the IP address of the user, Drift Intel automatically detects with which company you are talking. When you know their company, you can ask specific questions and infer other characteristics from them:
The drawback is that the detection of companies is based on IP addresses, which isn’t always reliable, because some people use VPN’s which show a different IP address than their real one.
- Facebook website widgetEmbed your chatbot as a Facebook Widget on your website.
- Native website widgetEmbed your chatbot as a native widget (your own branding & colors) on your website.
- Landing pagesCan you create a simple landing page to drive users to your chatbot?
- Facebook AdsStart a conversation with your chatbot when someone clicks on a Facebook Ad
- One-Time NotificationSend one-time notifications via Facebook Messenger for a topic that a chatbot user has opted-in for
- Facebook comments auto-replyAutomatically reply with your chatbot to users who comment on your Facebook Posts
- Button creatorAdd a button to your website to drive users to your chatbot
- Custom URLs for your chatbotGenerate a simple URL that can be shared anywhere to send users to your chatbot
Intercom
Intercom mainly provides seven marketing possibilities with their product:
- Website widget
- Chats
- Posts
- Product Tours
- Banners
- Mobile Push
- Mobile carousels
- Series
Intercom’s Website Widget
The website widget of Intercom is pretty advanced.
First of all, you can set up your widget so it matches the branding of your website:
Then, by using Chats, you can send personalized greeting messages to your users.
Intercom Chats
With Intercom Chats, you can send personalized greeting messages to your users:
By using Rules, you can set up different greeting messages per page and per type of user:
And these rules are pretty specific. You can even target people if they come from a specific ad (by using UTM parameters).
But that’s not it, you can also only show the greeting if the user has been on the page for a certain amount of seconds or when the last contact was.
Intercom Posts
Intercom Posts are pretty similar to Chats, but the difference is that the chat widget opens with a small post in it:
Also, you can create a large post that opens up as a pop-up:
Intercom Product Tours
This is one of the best marketing opportunities of Intercom, showing a tour of your product.
In my opinion, there is no better way of onboarding new customers than just showing them how to do it, step-by-step.
And it is also really simple to create a tour, you can just click on parts of your website and add instructions:
Intercom Banners
Intercom also provides Banners that you can put on your website.
Banners are highlighted sections on the top or bottom of your website that you can use to promote something, such as a discount:
Intercom Mobile Push
The Mobile Push of Intercom can only be used if you are using Intercom for your iOS or Android App.
With the Mobile Push, you can send a push notification to users who have the app on your phone:
Intercom Mobile Carousels
The Mobile Carousel of Intercom allows you to send a carousel of images when someone is opening your iOS or Android app.
For example, you can use the mobile carousel to display new features of your app:
Intercom Series
Series is a visual campaign builder that allows you to send emails, posts, chatbot flows and product tours if the user meets some conditions.
For example, you can use Series to create an onboarding campaign for new customers:
Embed your chatbot as a Facebook Widget on your website.Embed your chatbot as a native widget (your own branding & colors) on your website.Can you create a simple landing page to drive users to your chatbot?Start a conversation with your chatbot when someone clicks on a Facebook AdSend one-time notifications via Facebook Messenger for a topic that a chatbot user has opted-in forAutomatically reply with your chatbot to users who comment on your Facebook PostsAdd a button to your website to drive users to your chatbotGenerate a simple URL that can be shared anywhere to send users to your chatbot
The winner: Intercom
This is a clear win for Intercom.
Intercom provides way more marketing possibilities than Drift.
9. Pricing
Drift
Drift provides a free plan which gives you access to their live chat.
Their Pro plan starts at $2500 per month and gives you access to chatbots, Drift Intel, Real-Time Notifications and Conversational Landing Pages.
If that’s not enough you can also go with their Advanced or Enterprise plan, which comes with Fastlane, Audiences, A/B testing and more. The downside of these two last plans is that it is unclear how much these cost:
- Free trialDoes the chatbot platform provide a free trial?
- Free planDoes the chatbot platform provide a free plan?
- Price per monthWhat is the lowest price per month for creating a chatbot on this platform?2500
- Monthly pricing available?Is it possible to pay monthly?
- Money back guaranteeIs there a money-back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the platform?
Intercom
The pricing of Intercom is a bit complicated and unclear.
Intercom provides the Start plan, which is $39 per month and comes only with their live chat feature. The next plan is the Grow plan, which is $99 per month and comes with their live chat, 5 live chat agents, email integration, help desk articles, Mobile Carousels, Banners, an article suggestion chatbot and a lead qualification chatbot (not enough to build a complete chatbot):
When you want to create your own custom chatbot, you need to go with one of their Conversational packages, which starts at $499 per month and includes 10 live chat agents, all the different kinds of chatbots, all the different channels, analytics and more:
What is weird about these last plans is that they don’t provide you with all the features of the platform. For example, in the Conversational Marketing plan, you don’t have the Series feature, but in the Conversational Customer engagement plan, you do have that feature. So it is unclear what it would cost you to have all the features of the platform.
Also, what happens with the price if we want more than 10 live chat agents? How much would that cost? That is also not provided on their website.
Does the chatbot platform provide a free trial?Does the chatbot platform provide a free plan?What is the lowest price per month for creating a chatbot on this platform?Is it possible to pay monthly?Is there a money-back guarantee in case you are not satisfied with the platform?
The winner: Intercom
Intercom is 5 times less expensive than Drift, and is therefore the winner in this category.
10. Analytics
Drift
Drift provides three kinds of analytics. First of all, you can see an overview regarding the number of visitors, number of conversations and the different type of audiences:
Moreover, you can see how well your chatbot flows are performing in terms of money and ROI:
Ultimately, you can see analytics per chatbot flow, so you can analyze where people are dropping off:
These analytics give you good insights into how your chatbot is performing and where you could improve.
That being said, I think it is a bit of a drawback that you cannot analyze which user input wasn’t understood by the chatbot. If they would have this, you could easily improve the answers of your chatbot, which isn’t possible now.
- DashboardDashboard that provides general analytics of your chatbot.
- User inputGet the input from users that your chatbot didn’t understand.
- Sent messagesThe number of messages that were sent by your chatbot.
- Open rateThe percentage of chatbot users that opened a message inside your chatbot.
- Click rateThe percentage of chatbot users that click on a button inside your chatbot.
- Conversion rateThe percentage of users that converted through your chatbot. For example, the percentage of users that gave their email address
- Fall back rateThe percentage of interactions where the chatbot did not know an answer to a question.
- Custom dashboards/reportsCan you create your own dashboard or reports?
Intercom
The analytics of Intercom are pretty extensive.
First of all, when you’ve set up a goal for your chatbot flow, you can see how many people reached that goal:
Moreover, you can see an analytics dashboard for all of the conversations with Intercom:
Intercom provides even so much analytics that I hardly can cover them all in this comparison, but they provide a lot.
There is only one I also want to point out: user input that the chatbot didn’t understand. By using “Training for the Resolution Bot”, you can analyze common questions users asked and determine an answer for them:
So yeah, they do really well on this category.
Dashboard that provides general analytics of your chatbot.Get the input from users that your chatbot didn’t understand.The number of messages that were sent by your chatbot.The percentage of chatbot users that opened a message inside your chatbot.The percentage of chatbot users that click on a button inside your chatbot.The percentage of users that converted through your chatbot. For example, the percentage of users that gave their email addressThe percentage of interactions where the chatbot did not know an answer to a question.Can you create your own dashboard or reports?
The winner: Intercom
With Intercom, you have way more analytics than with Drift.
But the best part is that you can analyze the user input the chatbot did not understand. This allows you to easily improve the answers of your chatbot, which is not possible with Drift.
11. eCommerce
Drift
Unfortunately, Drift doesn’t provide any direct eCommerce integrations.
- PaymentsCollect payments inside your chatbot
- ShopifyDirect integration with Shopify to get products, order information and cart data.
- WooCommerceDirect integration with WooCommerce to get products, order information and cart data.
- Buy directly within the chatbotAbility for chatbot users to buy products or services directly from a chatbot
- Cart abandonmentTrigger messages in the chatbot when a user abandons their cart on a website or inside the chatbot
Intercom
Intercom provides a Shopify integration that you can use to:
- Let users automatically get the order status in the chat widget
- Create orders from live chat
- Search for customers and products in live chat
Moreover, Intercom has a WooCommerce integration (built by ektagon, $15 per month) that allows you to sync data between WooCommerce and Intercom.
Also, you can accept payments by using the Stripe integration of Intercom.
Collect payments inside your chatbotDirect integration with Shopify to get products, order information and cart data.Direct integration with WooCommerce to get products, order information and cart data.Ability for chatbot users to buy products or services directly from a chatbotTrigger messages in the chatbot when a user abandons their cart on a website or inside the chatbot
The Winner: Intercom
Intercom provides direct integrations with eCommerce software, while Drift doesn’t.
So Intercom is the winner on this subject.
12. Templates & Cloning
Drift
Drift provides templates, but it is unclear how much.
Furthermore, you cannot create these templates yourself and share them with others.
On the other hand, it is possible to duplicate your chatbot flows and chatbot elements, so you can easily reuse them.
- TemplatesHow many pre-built templates does the chatbot platform provide?5
- Make templateCan you make templates yourself?
- Share templateCan you share self-created templates with others?
- Duplicate chatbot flowsIs it possible to duplicate chatbot flows, so you can easily reuse them?
- Duplicate chatbot elementsIs it possible to duplicate chatbot elements, so you can easily reuse them?
Intercom
Intercom provides 7 templates to build your Custom Bot.
Unfortunately, you cannot create these templates yourself and share them with others.
On the other hand, it is possible to duplicate your chatbot flows and chatbot elements, so that you can easily reuse them.
How many pre-built templates does the chatbot platform provide?Can you make templates yourself?Can you share self-created templates with others?Is it possible to duplicate chatbot flows, so you can easily reuse them?Is it possible to duplicate chatbot elements, so you can easily reuse them?
No winner
Both chatbot builders provide templates and duplicating chatbot flows and elements.
So, no winner on this subject.
13. Optimization
Drift
With Drift, you can optimize your chatbot flows by using A/B testing.
- A/B TestingCan you optimize your chatbot flows by performing A/B tests?
Intercom
Unfortunately, you cannot use any optimization in your chatbot flows, such as A/B Testing.
Can you optimize your chatbot flows by performing A/B tests?
The winner: Drift
Drift allows you to optimize your chatbot flows by using A/B testing, while Intercom doesn’t.
So Drift is the winner.
14. Support
Drift
Drift provides extensive documentation and video tutorials through Drift Insider.
Besides that, Drift also provides a lot of videos and webinars regarding sales & marketing for companies, which could be useful.
Also, they provide support via email and live chat.
- TutorialsDoes the chatbot platform provide tutorials on how to use its platform?
- DocumentationDoes the chatbot platform provide documentation on how to use its platform?
- Customer supportDoes the chatbot platform provide customer support?
Intercom
Intercom provides lots of tutorials explaining their platform and they have a huge documentation.
Moreover, they also provide support through live chat and email.
Does the chatbot platform provide tutorials on how to use its platform?Does the chatbot platform provide documentation on how to use its platform?Does the chatbot platform provide customer support?
No Winner
No winner on this one.
They both have tutorials, documentation and good customer support.
Who is het winner?
So, let’s look at the winners per criterium:
| Criterium | Drift | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | ||
| Chatbot elements | ||
| Users | - | - |
| Messages | ||
| AI & NLP | ||
| Channels | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Marketing | - | - |
| Pricing | ||
| Analytics | ||
| eCommerce | ||
| Templates & Cloning | - | - |
| Optimization | ||
| Support | - | - |
While Drift is better with the Interface and Optimization, Intercom wins on Chatbot elements, Messages, AI & NLP, Channels, Pricing, Analytics and eCommerce, which makes Intercom the winner.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean that Drift is bad software. Drift is still good, Intercom is just a little bit better.
