Plain vs Unthread (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Plain grades higher than Unthread: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Plain grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, 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
Unthread
AI helpdesk that tracks support requests in Slack and Teams
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 Unthread if
- Fits if your team and customers both live in Slack or Teams
- Works for a team of five or more that wants SLAs and a portal
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you're under 5 people, as Pro is sold in a minimum of 5 seats
- Skip it if you want a price for Business or Enterprise, as neither has one
- Watch out: Pro has conversation limits, and the monthly-billing price wasn't shown on the page
- Watch out: SSO, custom roles and the AI automation builder are on Business
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAPlainFair | 1.8GPAUnthreadWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| 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$85 per agent a month in a minimum of 5 seats makes the floor $425 a month, and $85 is right at the category's dearest tenth ($89). |
| Free plan and trial | CA 7-day trial with no credit card. There is no free plan. | DA 14-day trial on all plans, but the listing doesn't say whether it needs a card. There is no free plan. |
| 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. | CSlack and Teams requests, email, a portal, live chat, SLAs and AI agents. The listing's gap: the AI automation builder, SSO and custom roles are on Business, which has no price. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and workflows, channels and AI agents need setting up. | CNo store rating on record, and channels, SLAs and AI agents need setting up. |
| 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. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | B2B support that lives in Slack | a help desk that lives in Slack |
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 Unthread. 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. Unthread starts at $85 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Plain starts $40 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 25 score higher than Plain for less, and 30 score higher than Unthread 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
At a glance
| Plain | Unthread | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $45 per user / month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly) | $85 per agent / month, shown with the annual-billing toggle selected |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial on all plans |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Not Just Tickets Ltd | Get Turnout, Inc. |
| Price read from | plain.com | unthread.io |
| 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.
Unthread
- The Pro plan is sold in a minimum of 5 seats and has conversation limits, per the pricing page.
- The pricing page was read with the annual toggle selected; the monthly-billing price was not shown in the page text.
- SSO, the AI automation builder and custom roles are on Business, which has no published price.
- Business and Enterprise are sold through the vendor; the pricing page has no figure for either.
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.
Unthread
- Slack and Teams intake
- Tickets are tracked from Slack or Microsoft Teams channels, or users can message a support bot directly to open one privately.
- Other channels
- Support email, a customer portal and live chat feed the same ticket record.
- Agentic AI
- AI answers questions from your knowledge and resolves tickets. An automation builder for it is on the Business plan.
- Self-learning knowledge
- Documentation drafts are generated from resolved conversations, so the knowledge base updates from past tickets.
- SLAs, on-call and analytics
- Live SLA tracking, on-call rotations that route by availability, and reports on deflection, CSAT and recurring gaps.
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.
Unthread
Pro$85
per agent / month, annual toggle shown (monthly rate not read)
Minimum 5 seats, conversation limits apply. Includes SLAs, Slack inbox and broadcasts, customer portal, knowledge base sync, CSAT surveys and CRM integrations.
BusinessCustom
Adds an AI automation builder, self-learning documentation, a dedicated solutions engineer, custom roles, SSO, custom integrations and HRIS sync.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds dedicated hosting, data residency, LDAP integration, HIPAA and BAAs, and a custom MSA.
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.
Unthread
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Plain or Unthread?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Plain is cheaper to start with: $45 a month for each person, against $85 a month for each person for Unthread. Plain starts at $45 per user / month, billed annually ($55 billed monthly), and Unthread starts at $85 per agent / month, shown with the annual-billing toggle selected.
Which has a free plan, Plain or Unthread?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Plain nor Unthread 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.