Customer.io vs Drip: Enterprise Behavioral vs E-commerce Drips
Comparing Customer.io and Drip for drip campaigns. Enterprise-grade behavioral automation vs e-commerce-focused drip marketing - which platform fits your needs?
Overview
Customer.io and Drip both offer sophisticated drip email automation but for different use cases. Customer.io provides enterprise-grade behavioral messaging with multi-channel support for product-led growth companies. Drip specializes in e-commerce automation with deep Shopify and WooCommerce integration.
| Feature | Customer.io | Drip |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | Product-led growth | E-commerce |
| Starting Price | $100/mo | $39/mo |
| Multi-channel | Email, SMS, push, in-app | Email, SMS |
| Behavioral Triggers | Enterprise-grade | E-commerce focused |
| E-commerce Integrations | Via API | Native |
| Product Recommendations | No | Yes |
Key Differences
Scale and Sophistication
Customer.io is built for complex user journeys with real-time event processing, sophisticated segmentation, and multi-channel orchestration. It's what funded startups use when they need enterprise-grade drip automation.
Drip is powerful for e-commerce but not as sophisticated for non-e-commerce scenarios. The behavioral triggers are optimized for shopping patterns rather than general product usage.
E-commerce Specificity
Drip excels at e-commerce with native Shopify/WooCommerce integrations, product recommendations, and purchase-based drip triggers. If you sell products, Drip understands your workflow.
Customer.io can handle e-commerce through its API but doesn't have the same native understanding of product catalogs and shopping behavior.
Who Should Choose What
Choose Customer.io if:
- You need enterprise-grade drip automation
- Multi-channel messaging (email, push, SMS, in-app) matters
- You're a product-led growth company
- You have engineering resources for implementation
- Budget allows for $100+/month
Choose Drip if:
- You run an e-commerce store
- Shopify or WooCommerce is your platform
- Product-based drip campaigns are your focus
- You want faster setup without engineering
- E-commerce revenue attribution matters
For SaaS at Lower Cost: Consider Sequenzy
If you need SaaS-focused drip automation without Customer.io's enterprise pricing, Sequenzy offers AI-generated drip sequences with native billing integration at $19/mo - a fraction of Customer.io's cost.
The Bottom Line
Customer.io wins for sophisticated product-led companies with budget and engineering resources. Drip is the clear choice for e-commerce businesses wanting specialized drip capabilities.