Acumen is in open beta
Apply nowDrift sells conversational marketing. Acumen ships conversation revenue.
Drift is being sunset, and the recommended path (1mind) does less than what you pay for today — no visitor de-anonymization, no intent data. If you are inside the migration window, here is the honest side-by-side.
Choose Acumen if you want
- Per-message intent classification with confidence + reasoning
- Rich CRM payload (score, tier, topics, pain points, summary, transcript)
- Self-serve onboarding — live in 10 minutes
- Free during beta with preferred lifetime pricing
Choose Drift if you want
- •A large incumbent with a deep ABM motion already in place
- •Heavy enterprise integrations and AE-led playbooks
- •A budget that comfortably absorbs $30k+/year contracts
| Capability | Acumen | Drift |
|---|---|---|
| Intent classification | Per-message classification across 4 tiers (informational / evaluative / transactional / escalation) with confidence and reasoning. | Playbook-and-keyword routing; assumes a flow author already knows the visitor types in advance. |
| Lead qualification | Real-time score (0–100) from intent + engagement + sentiment + page context + enrichment. | Form-and-routing with rule-based scoring. |
| CRM record handed to sales | Score · tier · topics · pain points · AI summary · recommended action · full transcript link. | Contact + chat transcript; deeper insights via integrations. |
| Onboarding | Self-serve wizard. Live in 10 minutes. No flowcharts to author. | Onboarding consultant + flow design phase typical for paid plans. |
| Returning-visitor memory | Progressive visitor profiles with cross-session interests, pain points, and lifecycle stage. | Cookie-based identification and Drift Intel. |
| Native scheduling | Calendly · Cal.com · Google Calendar; tool-driven inside the chat. | Native meeting booking with Salesforce sync. |
| Voice | Speech-to-speech APIs shipped (Deepgram + ElevenLabs); widget UI in beta. | Drift Video, not voice in the same way. |
| Pricing transparency | Public pricing posture; preferred lifetime pricing for beta users. | Quote-based for most tiers. |
Pricing snapshot
Drift
Premium tier reportedly starts in the low five figures per year, with annual contracts and enterprise add-ons.
Acumen
Free during beta. Paid plans will start at $149/mo after beta — beta users get preferred lifetime pricing.
When buyers pick Acumen
Buyers move from Drift to Acumen when the budget conversation gets real — and, right now, when the sunset forces the conversation. With Drift reportedly winding down under Salesloft/Clari and the recommended path (1mind) dropping visitor de-anonymization and intent data, teams on a 60–90 day migration clock need somewhere that keeps the qualification motion intact, not a narrower replacement. The wedge isn't 'Drift but cheaper' — it's that the CRM record Acumen hands to sales is the thing reps actually want, and it ships out of the box without a flow-design engagement. If you're migrating off Drift, Acumen is built to be the landing spot: run it alongside your Drift wind-down, then cut over.
Acumen vs Drift: common questions
Is Drift being shut down?
Drift is being wound down under Salesloft/Clari, and existing customers have been pointed toward a migration path. If you run Drift today, you have likely already received notice with a timeline. Acumen is built to be the landing spot: run it alongside your Drift wind-down, then cut over before your contract lapses.
What is the best Drift alternative for B2B lead qualification?
For teams whose job is qualifying inbound and handing sales a scored, contextual record, Acumen is the closest replacement — it reads visitor intent on every message, scores the lead in real time, and writes a rich record to your CRM. The commonly recommended successor (1mind) does less than Drift did: no visitor de-anonymization and no intent data.
How is Acumen different from Drift?
Drift routes visitors through playbooks a flow author designs in advance. Acumen reads what each visitor actually wants and scores them as the conversation happens — no flowcharts to author. The difference shows up in the CRM record sales receives: score, tier, topics, pain points, an AI summary, a recommended action, and the full transcript.
How much does Acumen cost compared to Drift?
Drift’s paid tiers reportedly start in the low five figures per year on annual contracts. Acumen is free during beta, with paid plans planned from $149/mo afterward and preferred lifetime pricing locked in for beta users.
How long does it take to switch from Drift to Acumen?
Acumen is self-serve and typically live in about 10 minutes — there is no flow-design engagement or onboarding consultant required. Most teams run it in parallel with their Drift wind-down and cut over once they are confident in the qualification quality.
Drift: enterprise conversational marketing platform, sales-led. Information accurate to public-facing materials at time of writing; verify on the Drift website.