Built for sales, not support
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.
askVela vs Drift
Drift sells B2B pipeline.askVela closes your support cases.
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
Your shop address goes here — your customers ask the questions later.
See askVela with your own store dataLive
Temporary demo, for testing only. No data is stored permanently.
Direct comparison
askVela vs Drift
Two different tools: Drift serves B2B sales, askVela serves e-commerce support. Here’s an honest look at who can do what.
FeatureaskVelaDrift
Pricing modelaskVelaFair flat rateDriftEnterprise, pricing on request
Transparent pricing without a sales callaskVelaDrift
AI answers from your content — with sourcesaskVelaDrift
AI handles order status & cancellations on its ownaskVelaDrift
AI negotiates fair partial refunds (approved by you)askVelaDrift
Product recommendations in chat (upsell)askVelaDrift
Knowledge-gap queue → 1-click articlesaskVelaDrift
B2B lead routing & ABMaskVelaDrift
EU hosting / GDPR / DPAaskVelaDrift
Native German AIaskVelaDrift
Self-hosting availableaskVelaDrift
Free migrationaskVelaDrift
Suitable for small & mid-sized online shopsaskVelaDrift
When Drift misses the use case
A sales platform won’t solve shop support
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.
Enterprise pricing on request
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.
US platform instead of EU hosting
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.
Why askVela
An AI that closes support cases instead of forwarding leads
Where Drift hands conversations over to sales reps, askVela resolves the case directly — and sells when it makes sense.
Answers from your content
With source citations — no hallucinations. Finds knowledge gaps and suggests ready-to-publish articles.
Sells & protects your margin
Recommends relevant products in chat and negotiates a fair partial refund before money goes out.
EU-hosted, GDPR, DPA
Native German AI, self-hosting available. Your customer data stays in the EU.
Playground
No video. No mockup. The real dashboard.
One click creates your personal sandbox workspace – with real conversations, real AI and every setting. You click through exactly the product your customers get.
- No sign-up
- 60 minutes, all yours
- Deletes itself
€100 time guarantee
Switch with zero risk
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.
Frequently asked questions
01When is askVela the better choice than Drift?
Whenever 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.
02Is askVela GDPR-compliant?
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.
03Drift is powerful — so why switch at all?
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.
04How much does askVela cost?
A fair flat rate — unlimited agents and a fixed AI allowance of 1,000 to 12,000 replies a month. 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.
Ready to modernise your support?
Start for free, embed the widget, and let the AI work from the very first minute.
GDPR-compliant · your data stays protected