Drip vs Intercom
Side-by-side plans, pricing, and feature gates for Drip and Intercom, verified . Drip is primarily email marketing; Intercom is primarily live chat.
Plans side by side
Every published plan from each vendor, with the headline monthly anchor price. Some prices scale with subscriber count or seats; full detail lives on each tool's page.
Drip
- Standard
Most popular: $39/mo at 2.5k contacts
$39/mo
Intercom
- Essential
Messenger, shared inbox, ticketing, help center
$29/mo - Advanced
Workflow automation plus 20 free Lite seats
$85/mo - Expert
SSO, HIPAA, SLAs, multibrand, 50 free Lite seats
$132/mo - Fin AI Agent
Standalone AI agent (no seat fee)
Custom
Limits at the entry paid tier
Compares Standard (Drip) against Essential (Intercom). Both are the lowest-priced non-free, non-custom plan on each side.
| Limit | Drip | Intercom |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts | 2,500 contacts (entry tier; scales) | · |
| Team seats | · | 1 seat (per-seat pricing) |
| Workflows | 50 | · |
When Drip wins
- E-commerce stores on Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce running flows on customer behavior
- Small to mid stores graduating from Mailchimp's e-commerce features
Where Drip is the wrong fit
- B2B marketers (use ActiveCampaign or Customer.io)
- Creators running newsletters (use Kit or beehiiv)
- Buyers who need to know full pricing before signup
When Intercom wins
- SaaS support teams that need both human chat and high-quality AI deflection
- Enterprises wanting messenger, ticketing, and help center in one tool
- Companies deflecting tier-1 with Fin AI
Where Intercom is the wrong fit
- Small teams who can run on Crisp or Help Scout for far less
- Teams averse to per-AI-outcome pricing
- Cost-conscious buyers who don't need the messenger pedigree
Common questions
- Is Drip cheaper than Intercom?
- At the entry tier, Intercom starts at $29/mo versus Drip at $39/mo. Intercom is cheaper at the entry. Pricing scales differently above that, so check the full plan grid.
- Does Drip or Intercom have a free plan?
- Neither has a permanent free plan. Both offer free trials.
- Are Drip and Intercom in the same category?
- No. Drip is primarily a email marketing tool; Intercom is primarily a live chat tool. They overlap on use case but sit in different primary categories, so the comparison is between adjacent tools rather than direct competitors.
- Which has more plans, Drip or Intercom?
- Intercom ships 4 plans; Drip ships 1. Intercom's longer ladder gives more granular upgrade steps, which can mean smoother price escalation as your team scales.
- Where can I see alternatives to Drip or Intercom?
- Each tool has a dedicated alternatives page on TierGauge with ranked options and verified pricing: /alternatives/drip for Drip and /alternatives/intercom for Intercom. Alternatives are derived from each tool's editor-flagged competitors plus same-category tools we track.
Drip: https://www.drip.com/pricing · Intercom: https://www.intercom.com/pricing
Last verified . Pricing changes between refreshes; confirm at the vendor before purchasing.