HelpDesk vs Plain (2026): which should you pick?

Pick HelpDesk if

• Fits if you answer customers by email, chat, Messenger and SMS from one inbox
• Works for a small team that wants tickets and an AI agent from $19 a user

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you lean on the AI: 10 resolutions a month on Essential, 200 on Growth, and extra 50-packs cost $49.50
• Pricey if you outgrow Essential, as Growth is $79 a user billed yearly ($99 monthly)
• Skip it if you want a free plan or phone apps, since it has neither
• Watch out: multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and HIPAA are on the custom-priced Enterprise plan

Pick Plain if

• Fits if your customers are software companies that talk to you in Slack
• Works for a team of 5 or fewer on Foundation

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you grow: Foundation caps at 5 seats and Horizon needs 3 to 10 at $99 each
• Skip it if you need SLAs or Microsoft Teams without Horizon
• Tight if you lean on AI: 1,000 credits a month on Foundation, with extra at $10 per 1,000
• Watch out: SSO, SCIM and HIPAA need the sales-only Frontier plan

HelpDesk

• AI resolutions are capped: 10 a month on Essential and 200 on Growth. Extra packs of 50 resolutions cost $49.50.
• There is no free plan; the 14-day trial is the only free access.
• Per-user pricing means Growth costs $79 per user / month when billed yearly, $99 billed monthly.
• The pages describe a browser-based product and list no desktop or phone apps; the chat widget can be embedded in your own mobile app.

Plain

• Foundation is capped at 5 member seats and Horizon needs at least 3, up to 10; larger teams go to the sales-only Frontier plan.
• AI credits are limited per month (1,000 on Foundation, 2,500 on Horizon); extra credits are $10 per 1,000 up to $100 per 10,000.
• SLAs, escalation paths and Microsoft Teams need Horizon at $99 per user / month; SSO, SCIM and HIPAA need Frontier.
• Plain lists a startup program with a $6,000 flat fee for Horizon, 10 seats and 12 months, for early-stage teams of ten or fewer.

HelpDesk

One inbox for four channels

Email, website chat, Messenger and SMS land in the same inbox as tickets, with statuses, priorities and automated assignment.

AI Agent

An AI Agent runs conversations using the knowledge, tone and skills you give it. One resolution is counted when it directly solves a customer question.

AI Copilot for agents

Reply suggestions and AI text edits for human agents, plus ticket summaries, tag suggestions and similar-ticket suggestions on higher plans.

Selling through Shopify

Every plan lists selling through Shopify, and the pricing page describes an AI sales skill with a live Shopify catalog and cart recovery campaigns.

Rules and routing

Ticketing rules and automated assignment sort incoming tickets, with 3 rules on Essential and 10 on Growth.

Teams and reports

Growth adds up to 10 teams, chat supervision and takeover, agent activity and performance reports.

Plain

Customer Agent

An AI agent that answers customers directly. It uses 100 credits per resolution on every plan.

Sidekick Agent

An AI agent for the support team that uses 15 to 300 or more credits a task depending on effort.

Slack and email channels

Support threads come in from Slack channels, email addresses, in-app forms and live chat, with Microsoft Teams and Discord on higher plans.

Customer cards

Unlimited customer cards show account data next to a thread, with a stated data freshness of 15 seconds.

Workflows

Unlimited workflows, auto-labelling, urgency detection and thread summaries are on every plan.

Developer platform

The comparison table lists an API, webhooks, events, MCP and custom channels.

HelpDesk

• Essential$19

  per user / month, billed yearly ($25 billed monthly)

  Inbox and tickets, 3 ticketing rules, 1 AI Agent with 10 AI resolutions a month, and AI Copilot with 5 reply suggestions per user a month.

• Growth$79

  per user / month, billed yearly ($99 billed monthly)

  20 custom fields, 10 ticketing rules, up to 10 teams, 10 AI Agents with 200 AI resolutions a month, ticket summaries, chat supervision and 30 proactive campaigns.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom AI Agents, multiple brands, custom roles, SSO and audit logs, HIPAA compliance and a dedicated account manager. Sold through sales.

Plain

• Foundation$45

  per user / month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly)

  Up to 5 member seats, unlimited viewers, 1,000 AI credits a month, Slack, email and in-app channels, Linear, Jira and a help center. 7 days of reporting.

• Horizon$99

  per user / month, billed annually

  3 to 10 member seats, 2,500 AI credits a month, Microsoft Teams, SLAs, business hours, escalation paths, CRM integrations and all-time reporting history.

• FrontierCustom

  Custom credits and seats, multiple workspaces, SSO and SCIM, HIPAA, custom contracting and a dedicated customer success manager. Billed annually.

HelpDesk

• Annual discount

  Save up to 24% by billing yearly

  The pricing page shows yearly billing at $19 and $79 per user against $25 and $99 billed monthly, and says paying yearly saves up to 24%.

Plain

• Startups

  50% off Horizon for early-stage startups

  A $6,000 flat fee covers 12 months and 10 seats of Horizon. Eligibility is VC-backed up to $5 million in funding, 10 or fewer on the support team, and not already a customer.

• Annual discount

  20% off Foundation with annual billing

  The pricing page shows Foundation at $45 per user a month billed annually against $55 billed monthly, labelled a 20% saving.