Plain vs Pylon (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Plain and Pylon share a 2.0 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Pylon starts cheaper, at $7.42 a month when paid by the year for each person against $45 a month for each person.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Plain grades higher on the free plan. Pylon grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Plain
Support platform for B2B teams, built around Slack and AI agents
Pylon
B2B support platform that works across Slack, Teams and email
Which one is for you
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
Pick Pylon if
- Fits if your customers reach you in Slack or Teams and you sell to other businesses
- Works for support and customer success teams that want one queue
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're small: $89 per seat on an annual contract, before AI credits
- Skip it if you want to sign up alone, as trials go through sales
- Watch out: Account Intelligence is $10 per account a month and Phone is $35 per seat a month on top
- Watch out: SAML SSO is an add-on on Advanced and included only on Enterprise
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAPlainFair | 2.0GPAPylonFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$45 per user a month billed annually is above the dearer quarter ($39), Foundation stops at 5 seats, and SLAs and escalation paths need Horizon at $99, past the dearest tenth ($89). | D$89 per seat on an annual contract is where the category's dearest tenth begins. Account Intelligence ($10 per account a month), Phone ($35 per seat) and AI credits are on top. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 7-day trial with no credit card. There is no free plan. | DFree trials are set up with a sales representative, so there is no way to sign up alone. |
| Features | CSlack, email and in-app channels, customer cards, workflows, a help center and AI agents. The listing's gap: SLAs, Teams and CRM links are Horizon only. | BTicketing, analytics, automations, an API and AI agents across Slack, Teams, email, WhatsApp and chat. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work, but AI and phone cost extra. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and workflows, channels and AI agents need setting up. | CNo store rating on record, and the sales team estimates how many AI credits you need. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with 8 listed integrations including Linear, Jira and Slack. No phone or desktop app on record. | BWeb only, with 8 listed integrations and an API. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | B2B support that lives in Slack | B2B support in Slack and Teams |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Plain and Pylon. How we grade
Price against what you get
Plain starts at $45 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Pylon starts at $7.42 a month when paid by the year for each person and scores 2.7.
Pylon scores higher and starts $37.58 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 19 score higher than Plain for less, and 1 scores higher than Pylon for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Plain also covers workflow automation.
- Pylon also covers whatsApp messaging.
At a glance
| Plain | Pylon | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $45 per user / month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly) | $89 per seat, on an annual contract |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial, no credit card required | Free trials for prospects, set up with a sales representative |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Not Just Tickets Ltd | Pylon Labs, Inc. |
| Price read from | plain.com | usepylon.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Pylon
- Pricing is by seat plus AI credits; the page says credits are bought for a year or as you go and the sales team estimates how many you need.
- Account Intelligence is $10 per customer account a month and Phone is $35 per seat a month, both on top of seat prices.
- Seat prices are quoted on an annual contract, and the page does not show a monthly-billed price.
- SAML SSO is an add-on on Advanced and included only on Enterprise.
Key features
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.
Pylon
- Support Agent and Assist Agent
- Pylon's agents answer customers and help human agents draft and investigate. They are not separate add-ons but use credits.
- Slack, Teams and email in one queue
- Support email, a chat widget, SMS, Slack Connect, WhatsApp, Discord and Telegram are on every tier, with Microsoft Teams and Google Chat on Advanced and above.
- Automations and skills
- Triggers, macros, written skills, MCP connectors and custom API actions are on every tier, so teams can shape what the agents do.
- Account Intelligence
- A paid add-on for customer success with account notebooks, health scores, scorecards and an account activity timeline.
- Knowledge base and surveys
- Every plan includes a knowledge base plus NPS and CSAT surveys, with analytics out of the box.
- Phone add-on
- Calls and texts from inside Pylon, with recordings, transcripts, summaries, call transfers and IVR, are sold as an add-on.
Plans
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.
Pylon
Professional$89
per seat, on an annual contract; billing interval not shown
Core ticketing, analytics, automations, skills, broadcasts, MCP, API and integrations. AI features run on purchased credits. Sold through a demo.
Advanced$139
per seat, on an annual contract; billing interval not shown
Everything in Professional plus RBAC, a customer portal, custom reporting, a data warehouse, Microsoft Teams support and SAML SSO as an add-on. Sold through a demo.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Advanced plus an MSA, SAML SSO, a sandbox environment and priority support SLAs. Custom quote.
Ways to pay less
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.
Pylon
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Plain or Pylon?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pylon is cheaper to start with: $7.42 a month when paid by the year for each person, against $45 a month for each person for Plain. Plain starts at $45 per user / month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly), and Pylon starts at $89 per seat, on an annual contract.
Which has a free plan, Plain or Pylon?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Plain nor Pylon has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.