The Drift alternative that sells with citations
Drift qualifies leads for sales teams. HelpShelf is an AI support and sales agent born from your codebase — it answers buyer questions with cited claims, escalates to you in one tap, and makes your product legible to the AI agents buyers research with.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | HelpShelf | Drift |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | Free — 50 credits/mo (Pro from $49/mo) | Enterprise pricing (talk to sales) |
| AI Agent Pricing | Credits included in every plan | Enterprise packages |
| Citations on Answers | Every confident answer cites sources | |
| Human Escalation | One tap via Telegram, Slack, or email — free | Routed to sales reps |
| Legible to AI Agents | llms.txt, llms-full.txt + public MCP endpoint | |
| Born from Your Codebase | npx helpshelf scans your repo | |
| Self-Serve Signup | ||
| Best For | Product teams, SaaS, indie builders | Enterprise B2B sales teams |
Why teams choose HelpShelf over Drift
Sales answers with sources, not just lead capture
Drift starts conversations to qualify leads. HelpShelf answers buyer questions in a fixed shape — answer, teach, position, cite, next step. A claim without a source is a claim the agent does not make.
Support and sales in one agent
HelpShelf detects intent: support questions get cited answers, buyer questions get sales-mode responses grounded in your real docs and pricing. One agent, both registers, no enterprise implementation project.
Transparent pricing, self-serve start
Drift doesn't publish pricing — you talk to sales first. HelpShelf starts free with 50 credits a month, Pro is $49/month for 500 credits, and you can be live today without a call.
Legible to the AI agents your buyers use
Buyers increasingly research through ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. HelpShelf publishes llms.txt, llms-full.txt, and a public MCP endpoint so those agents can read — and recommend — your product with verifiable claims.
Pricing comparison
Transparent credits versus enterprise quotes
Getting started is easy
From Drift to HelpShelf in three simple steps
Gather your content
Collect your FAQs, pricing, and help documentation from any source.
Add your sources
Run npx helpshelf to scan your codebase, or paste URLs. Everything lands in one knowledge base.
Go live
Add one line of code to your site. Your agent answers with citations from day one.
Frequently asked questions
Not exactly. Drift is built to capture and qualify leads for sales teams. HelpShelf is an AI agent that answers both support and sales questions with citations — and when a buyer question carries real intent, it positions your product and points to a next step. It sells by being verifiably useful.
Yes. When a question carries buyer intent, the agent switches into sales mode: answer, teach why it matters, position your product, cite sources, and suggest a next step. And because HelpShelf publishes llms.txt and an MCP endpoint, your product is also legible to the AI assistants buyers use to research.
When a conversation needs a human, the agent escalates to you on Telegram, Slack, or email with a drafted reply — one tap to approve and send, or take over. Escalations are free and never consume credits.
Yes — the Free plan includes 50 credits per month, citations on every answer, and one-tap human escalation. No credit card required, and no sales call needed.