Drift Reviews

I like that i can access new conversations not only form my desktop but smartphones so i can communicate a much a possible with website visitors. And also the option for someone to put in the email and name without asking

I do not like that the free version is limited as it pertains to automated messages. I guess thats similar for other chat apps.

The ease of getting started and implementation

If you want to enjoy most of the features, you need big pockets because it's pricey

The advanced features are interesting but they lack some of the basics

The main issue is not the software, but the way drift does business. I am taking the time to write this review because there should be consequences to a firm reputation when they are misleading people.

1. Drift refused any free trial and only accepted to provide a tech demo where we were told everything would be fine

2. After sign up, we got ZERO access to the implementation team, which service was included in the price, and support did not answer emails, refused to do anything but chat, could not provide any clear tech guidance. Really poor.

3. We were overcharged and had to send emails all over the organization to get that point resolved after weeks. I got other things to do.

4. During the implementation, it turned out that the critical feature we had been told was included (routing).... was only available if we agreed to pay 3x more than the cost we had been quoted. And Drift is expensive in the first place when compared to pretty much any other chat solution.

5. So after losing a month+ in the process, Drift accepted to cancel the subscription BUT still charged us and refused to refund the initial month

6. We are talking about small money here (1k or something), and Drift can keep the change if their team feels they need to.

- The design of the chat widget is gorgeous. It works on any browser and every mobile phone, I've tried, like a charm. With other chat widgets, I had lots of issues that it hasn't been displayed always correctly.
- Advanced bot and automation capabilities based on tags and other attributes
- Live view of prospects on your website with direct contact via web chat functionality
- Outbound marketing (sending sequences and tracking of emails) with their drift Gmail extension.

- Drift is quite expensive for what they offer. I'm one of the happy customers, which has gotten a startup license of the pro plan for a fraction of the normal price. Even with the pro plan, you have unnecessary restrictions like customization of the chat widget with CSS and using the smaller version. Most of the enterprise features as account-based marketing are great for any startup. Why isn't just the support by Drift and the quantity of usage restricted? Why do I have to see the restrictions within your account always and cannot just hide them if I cannot afford? Are they in need of that kind of marketing?
- The calendar cannot be completely translated into the language of your choice and you can't use a custom domain.
- Help center is branded with drift, even if your plan support branding free chat widget.
- I've received lots of emails from Drift about their Hypergrowth Conference (at least 10 in the last few months), which is quite annoying, no matter how personal and funny they have been written.
- I receive quite some emails regarding extensions of the core product like Drift Signature and Drift Help Center, but I've never gotten an update what has changed in the core product. After a while looking into the bot creation section, I've been flabbergasted that the whole design of the visual builder has changed, without me receiving any message about the advantages the new design and process brings with it.

I really like that we can have private conversations between staff members in order to confirm we are giving up-to-date information. It is also very helpful for us to see the location of the customer in order to better / properly assist them.

We use the free version of the software and I cannot think of a single issue we have not been able to easily resolve ourselves.

Live chat and Playbook work well, and widgets are easy to install.

There are no problems with functionality, but in my opinion, the customization options are still not enough. I would like more widget customization options, such as the ability to add a background image to the Live Chat widget.

Drift is an easy way to bring chat to your site - especially when people are less and less willing to browse your site for answers and don't trust you'll ever respond to your "contact us" form. We've enjoyed using Drift and really like how seamlessly it integrates in with HubSpot.

The only complaint I have about drift is some of the functionality that's behind a paywall. I understand they need to make money, but some functionality that seems like a basic requirement to me is behind a paywall and eliminates itself from the conversation of some smaller businesses that don't always have someone able to answer immediately at all times. That being said, even Drift's paywall is easily justifiable for the benefit it provides.

I implemented Drift in my website. The reason is not just I want to connect with my customers. but to show them that behind that e-commerce store there is a real person.
Nowadays, people loves connecting by others by typing what they need or what questions they have.
I use Drift app on my smartphone so I can answer fast to my customers.

My suggestion is to offer an option to choice louder or another sound notification when there is a user on the other side. Very often I can't hear that someone has just sent me a question. And then I miss the opportunity to answer.

Drift is easy to implement and a extremely powerful tool for increasing conversion on your website by directly engaging visitors.

If you're looking to engage your entire Salesforce in using this tool, it can be quite expensive to purchase the seats. Also, it's not all that flexible if you're not trying to use it in a relatively specific way.

This useful tool has third party integrations that allow me to access data in a more useful way in order to get beneficial outcomes from it with less time spent. Another feature that is of my interest is the unique playbook feature of this amazing product that helps me to lessen the workload from my shoulders and enables me to have a concentration on all the important tasks.

By getting all the unique features and functionalities I can not think of anything offensive in it that could worsen my experience on it. I failed to find anything to complain about it.

There's a lot one could write here but having some experience with similar products, I can confidently say my favorite Drift feature is its data export capability. Drift's internal dashboard reporting is useful for day to day high-level metrics, but being able to export the data and dig through it to find meaningful metrics that drive decisions on messaging strategy has made Drift stand out among its competitors. The bot builder is unparalleled and their enterprise integrations are very robust.

I use the product just about every day, but I would my least favorite thing is their pricing structure. The pricing page on their site can be pretty confusing to someone comparison shopping.

Overall the concept of this platform is great and I had high hopes because of all the good reviews. The bot got more engagement than a just a basic chat box I had before that. Having the ability to use other popups etc was good too but pretty limited flexibility around the design of those.

I think some things may have changed since all the positive reviews regarding the software. I think this happens sometimes when companies go into growth mode. The support wasn't good, they tried but seemed too busy, often didn't take the time to read the detailed steps to reproduce I included in all my support tickets. Before anything was actioned we had to bounce a bunch of emails back and forth answering questions with info I already included in my original tickets which meant days past before we even started to get some actual help. Then often the problems were just bugs with their platform. There seemed to be quite a few things that just didn't work as described.

Seems quite expensive compared to something like Intercom that has a much broader feature set. I'm a Solo founder though with a niche platform, so pricing won't be an issue if you are a bigger business I suppose.

Also just a tip, they have a 30 day notice period and no trial so if you don't like it within the first month you'll still need to pay for a full two months of the software so make sure you budget for that. I didn't. My fault for not reading the terms.

Even when they break the news to you that you'll be charged another amount for something you don't want to use. At least they still end their emails by saying "have a fantastic day" even when breaking bad news. I'll try!

Software is reliable in that the system does not crash at all. They are consistently making updates, and branching in to more areas of communication outside of just chat. The support team is very nice and willing to help.

Reporting functionality is very lacking. Unable to see how long each conversation is taking for each of my agents to work through. Have had multiple complaints on lag in the chat service loading within our software. Have contacted support on this multiple times without resolution.

I love the conversational nature of our Drift bots. It allows us to incorporate our brand tone of voice into interactions with web visitors, and the ability to book meetings directly within the chat really speeds up the followup process.

It can be clunky at times to set up the playbooks, but once they're in place they're great. I've also seen a ton of incremental improvements happen throughout the time I've used it so I can see Drift is listening to customer feedback and continually evolving.

The simplicity of scheduling phone calls. Drift also makes the chat's very personalized and fun to interact with. That feelings gives our prospects and sense of comfort when they visit our site.

There are a few bugs such as syncing issues with our crm, or syncing issues with BDR calendars. The majority of the time, the internal team is able to fix these issues. But there have been some cases not as urgent that I've had to put aside for now.

Easy to set up and inject directly into your homepage. Can set up routes and automated conversations (albeit this process can be streamlined/cleaned up a bit)

Software can get a little clunky - leading to significant amount of resources rendering and setting up the chat button/bubble upon website load.

Drift allows me to connect with prospects easily and quickly. The bot is helpful when we are away, but I can personal messages when need be.

The drift app does not have the same features it does on the desktop and the format can be unusual. Much prefer to use on a laptop.

I found that drift has a very nice flow and design. It was very easy to set up, and I've seen a great increase in customer interaction from our website when i am able to engage them.

Paid tiers are expensive. It looks like you get some great features through their paid services, but compared to other companies, they seem very expensive

Drift is intuitive and adds value to almost any site. The application is currently running on several of my clients' sites (under my management) with great success. Case in point. A Realtor client began an interaction with a site visitor browsing for information on his market in general. Via Drift several conversations led to the sale of a home. No email contact form can match that!

The iPhone app is not always as responsive as I'd like - better notifications would help - but on the whole, my experience with Drift so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

It's ability to post internal notes that only your team members can see. It really helps during troubleshooting.

The mobile app is a little confusing at times and it takes time in refreshing, it doesn't auto refresh and doesn't display the recent chats on it's own.

Drift is an intelligent way to get the most out of every visitor on your website. This leads to more sales and insights passed to our Sales and Customer Success team.

Sometimes it thinks you are someone you are not. Most of the time everything works seamlessly though.

Drift was easy to set up and is a nice and simple way to monitor live chat conversations.

There have been some issues with push notifications, chats occasionally being missed.

Drift seems to have endless options and possibilities to enhance this bot and the underlying (marketing) actions. Their pro-active approach is helpful and really appreciated.

Because of the many options and features, please make sure you to schedule enough time and focus for your dedicated Drift colleagues who implement, maintain and follow up on the additional tasks.

Sales means being first to the plate- so being able to quickly engage and interact with prospects as they browse our website is huge.
Also quick hit tech support questions are a big win when learning a new software.

The Salesforce Integration isn't great- however the UI of the product is.

I like the user interface for Drift. It is really easy to install on many types of websites. The platform helps people maintain their customer service with website visitors and prospects. They help you manage the contacts and leads you gain from their platform. I like how it can integrate with other platforms as well.

I wish they had chatbot features or auto reply features based on applicable use or respective industry. This would help automate some of the interactions and workflow that could benefit users.