Pong Chat vs Drift: a lighter alternative.
Drift is B2B conversational marketing chat (Salesloft/Clari). In March 2026 a gradual sunset was announced, with 1mind named as the successor. Pong Chat is a fast live chat with AI, video calls, screen sharing and a live visitors map — free for one agent, €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly on Premium.
Price
Pong: free for one agent; Premium €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly.
Drift: Not published (historically about $2,500/month for Premium).AI
Pong: included in Premium, no per-resolution fees.
Drift: Not published.Only in Pong here
Screen sharing, Live visitors map, Internal team chat.
Feature by feature
Checked on Drift’s own pricing and feature pages in November 2026. Plans change — see Drift’s pricing for the latest.
- Yes
- No
- Paid add-on or higher plan
- Limited
- Not confirmed
| Feature | Pong Chat | Drift |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes — 1 agent: widget, team inbox, visitors map, triggers, export | No |
| Price | Premium €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly; 14-day free trial | Not published (historically about $2,500/month for Premium) |
| AI pricing | Included in Premium: auto replies, triage and drafts on Cloudflare Workers AI, no per-resolution fees | Not published |
| On your page | ||
| Widget weight, first page view | 40 KB2 requests · 4 requests, 45 KB with the 3D ball style | Not measured |
| AI | ||
| AI answers visitors automatically | LimitedFrom your rules, AI-matched | Yes |
| AI reply drafts for agents | YesFrom past answers + knowledge base | Unknown |
| AI included without per-resolution fees | Yes | Unknown |
| Urgency / sentiment detection | Yes | Unknown |
| Chat and team | ||
| Shared team inbox | Yes | Yes |
| Saved replies | Yes | Yes |
| Typing preview (see drafts live) | Yes | Unknown |
| File and image sharing | Yes | Unknown |
| Replies by email when the visitor left | Yes | Unknown |
| Internal team chat | Yes | No |
| Visual chatbot / flow builder | No | Yes |
| Calls and visitors | ||
| Video calls in chat | YesIn the browser, on Premium | Unknown |
| Screen sharing | Yes | No |
| See the visitor’s page | LimitedScreenshots + page commands | No |
| Call transcripts | Yes | Unknown |
| Real-time visitor list | Yes | Yes |
| Live visitors map | Yes | No |
| Page history, referrer, UTM | Yes | Yes |
| Channels and support | ||
| WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, Telegram | No | No |
| Ticketing | No | No |
| Public help center | No | No |
| Native mobile apps for agents | NoDesk works in mobile browsers | Yes |
| Reports and analytics | LimitedUsage only | Yes |
| CSAT surveys / chat ratings | No | Unknown |
| Developers | ||
| REST API | Yes | Yes |
| Webhooks | YesHMAC-signed | Yes |
| JavaScript widget API | Yes | Yes |
| Identity verification | Yes | Yes |
| Chat export | YesHTML, CSV, JSON, NDJSON | Unknown |
“Paid” means a paid add-on or a plan above the cheapest one. “Not confirmed” means we could not verify it on Drift’s public pages. Widget weight: what the chat widget transfers on a first page view — compressed, in a fresh desktop Chrome with an empty cache, 25 seconds after load, nothing clicked — measured with each vendor’s own workspace on 15 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we fix it.
Why teams look for a Drift alternative
What reviewers on G2, Capterra and similar sites mention most often:
- Very expensive for small teams
- Built for sales rather than support
- Being sunset, so teams need a new home
Where Drift is stronger
- Account-based marketing and meeting booking for sales teams
- Playbooks for lead qualification
Which one should you pick?
Drift customers need a new chat. If you used Drift for B2B sales, Pong gives you a visitor map, page history and UTM to spot hot accounts, video calls to close them, and webhooks into your CRM — free to start.
- Create a workspaceGoogle, Apple or email — free for one agent.
- Swap the snippetReplace the Drift code with Pong’s, on every page.
- Bring your teamInvite agents, add saved replies and AI rules, connect webhooks.
Questions, answered.
How does Pong Chat pricing compare with Drift?
Pong Chat is free for one agent. Premium — AI, video calls, the email inbox, integrations and the API — is €9 per agent/month, or €7 billed yearly, with no per-resolution AI fees. Drift: Not published (historically about $2,500/month for Premium).
How do I switch from Drift to Pong Chat?
Create a workspace, replace the Drift snippet with the Pong snippet, and recreate your saved replies. Webhooks and the REST API take over any integrations. It takes about ten minutes.
What does Drift do that Pong Chat doesn’t?
Account-based marketing and meeting booking for sales teams. Playbooks for lead qualification.
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