Drift is built for lead routing and ABM for sales teams — not for orders, returns, and product questions. askVela is the AI for e-commerce support that resolves cases and sells on the side.
Fair flat rate · EU-hosted & GDPR · Free migration · €100 time guarantee
Drift is strong when it comes to B2B pipeline. But for an online shop answering order and return questions every day, it brings the wrong tools at the wrong price.
Drift routes website visitors to sales reps and qualifies leads. Order status, cancellations, and returns — the daily reality of your shop — are not its core focus.
Premium starts in the high four-figure range per month, while Advanced and Enterprise are only available after talking to sales. Overbuilt and too expensive for most DACH shops.
Drift belongs to Salesloft and is operated in the US. For GDPR-conscious shops handling customer data in the EU, that’s an avoidable risk.
Two different tools: Drift serves B2B sales, askVela serves e-commerce support. Here’s an honest look at who can do what.
| Feature | askVela | Drift |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Fair flat rate | Enterprise, pricing on request |
| Transparent pricing without a sales call | ||
| AI answers from your content — with sources | ||
| AI handles order status & cancellations on its own | ||
| AI negotiates fair partial refunds (approved by you) | ||
| Product recommendations in chat (upsell) | ||
| Knowledge-gap queue → 1-click articles | ||
| B2B lead routing & ABM | ||
| EU hosting / GDPR / DPA | ||
| Native German AI | ||
| Self-hosting available | ||
| Free migration | ||
| Suitable for small & mid-sized online shops |
Where Drift hands conversations over to sales reps, askVela resolves the case directly — and sells when it makes sense.
With source citations — no hallucinations. Finds knowledge gaps and suggests ready-to-publish articles.
Recommends relevant products in chat and negotiates a fair partial refund before money goes out.
Native German AI, self-hosting available. Your customer data stays in the EU.
We migrate your entire Help Center for free and build you a ready-to-use demo. Don’t like it at all? We’ll send you €100 for your time.
Switch nowWhenever you run an online shop and want to automate customer support — order status, cancellations, returns, product questions. Drift is built for B2B sales pipelines and hands conversations over to sales reps. askVela closes the support case itself while recommending relevant products. Switching is easy: we migrate your Help Center for free and give you a ready-to-use demo.
Yes. askVela is hosted in the EU, a data processing agreement (DPA) is included, and the AI understands and replies natively in German. Self-hosting is also available on request. Your customer data does not leave the EU — unlike US platforms such as Drift, which belongs to Salesloft and is operated in the US.
True, Drift is a strong tool for B2B lead routing, ABM, and sales pipeline. But that’s exactly what it’s built for — not e-commerce support. For a shop answering returns and order questions every day, Drift misses the use case, is overbuilt, and with enterprise pricing on request, simply too expensive. askVela is the support AI built for exactly that day-to-day reality.
A fair flat rate — unlimited agents and unlimited AI answers. We don’t charge per seat, per ticket, per conversation, or per AI resolution, and you don’t need to contact sales just to get a price. With Drift, Premium plans start in the high four-figure range per month, while Advanced and Enterprise are only available on request. With askVela, you know what you’ll pay upfront.