Is Plain or Groove better?

Neither clearly leads. Plain starts at $35/month and Groove at $12/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Plain or Groove?

Plain starts at $35/month and Groove at $12/month.

Does Plain or Groove run on more platforms?

Plain runs on Web, API. Groove runs on Web, Ios, Android.

What is Plain best used for?

Plain is most often used for consolidating support from multiple channels into one inbox, automating support workflows with ai agents, extracting insights and trends from customer conversations, building custom support solutions with api access. Of those, consolidating support from multiple channels into one inbox and automating support workflows with ai agents are not what Groove is typically brought in for.

What can Plain do that Groove cannot?

Plain covers Multi-channel consolidation, AI agents, Workflow automation, Sidekick assistant. Groove covers Shared inbox, Knowledge base, Live chat, Automation rules.

Customer Support · head to head

Plain vs Groove

Plain

Customer Support

AI support infrastructure built for B2B teams

From: $35/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

Groove

Customer Support

Simple, powerful support for growing businesses

From: $12/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Plain foundation plan limited to 2,000 credits per month may be restrictive for high-volume teams; Groove billed per ticket at $1 rather than per agent, so support cost scales with how many customers get in touch
They diverge on capability: Plain covers Multi-channel consolidation, Groove covers Shared inbox.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Plain and Groove actually diverge.

Attributes where Plain and Groove differ
Attribute	Plain	Groove
Starting price	$35/month	$12/month
Pricing model	Tiered pricing per seat with credit system	subscription
Platforms	Web, API	Web, Ios, Android
Founded	Unknown	2011

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Customer Support).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Plain

Multi-channel consolidation
AI agents
Workflow automation
Sidekick assistant
Insights engine
Linear and Jira integration
Help Center and Knowledge Base
API-first extensibility

Only in Groove

Shared inbox
Knowledge base
Live chat
Automation rules
Reporting
Collision detection
Slack
Salesforce

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Plain

Consolidating support from multiple channels into one inboxnot Groove
Automating support workflows with AI agentsnot Groove
Extracting insights and trends from customer conversationsnot Groove
Building custom support solutions with API accessnot Groove
Implementing AI-assisted customer support at scalenot Groove

Groove

Shared inbox and help desk ticketing for small support teamsnot Plain
Handling email, chat and messaging support in one queuenot Plain

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Plain

Foundation plan limited to 2,000 credits per month may be restrictive for high-volume teams
Pricing increases significantly from Foundation to Horizon ($35 to $299 per month)
No published pricing for Frontier (custom) plan
Additional seat costs ($99 per seat) add up for larger teams
Credit-based system requires monitoring usage to avoid overages

Groove

Billed per ticket at $1 rather than per agent, so support cost scales with how many customers get in touch
A minimum of 250 tickets a month applies, which is a $3,000 annual commitment before any usage
A quiet month still pays the 250 ticket floor
No mailbox limit is published

Pricing, plan by plan

Plain

$35/month

Foundation$35/month
- 2,000 credits per month
- Slack and email channels
- Ari AI agent
Horizon$299/month
- 15,000 credits per month
- All Foundation features
- Microsoft Teams integration
Frontier$null/custom
- Custom credit allowance
- All Horizon features
- Discord channels

Groove

$12/month

Standard$12/month
- 1 mailbox
- Knowledge base
- Live chat
Plus$20/month
- 5 mailboxes
- Full reporting
- Rules
Pro$35/month
- 25 mailboxes
- Salesforce
- Enterprise SSO

Which should you pick?

Choose Plain if

You need multi-channel consolidation.
You work on Web, API.
You also want ai agents.

Plain review

Choose Groove if

You need shared inbox.
You work on Web, Ios, Android.
You also want knowledge base.

Groove review

Questions people ask

Is Plain or Groove better?: Neither clearly leads. Plain starts at $35/month and Groove at $12/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Plain or Groove?: Plain starts at $35/month and Groove at $12/month.
Does Plain or Groove run on more platforms?: Plain runs on Web, API. Groove runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is Plain best used for?: Plain is most often used for consolidating support from multiple channels into one inbox, automating support workflows with ai agents, extracting insights and trends from customer conversations, building custom support solutions with api access. Of those, consolidating support from multiple channels into one inbox and automating support workflows with ai agents are not what Groove is typically brought in for.
What can Plain do that Groove cannot?: Plain covers Multi-channel consolidation, AI agents, Workflow automation, Sidekick assistant. Groove covers Shared inbox, Knowledge base, Live chat, Automation rules.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Plain: What is included in the Foundation plan?

The Foundation plan ($35/month per seat) includes 2,000 credits per month, support for Slack and email, Ari AI agent, Linear and Jira integrations, and Help Center access. Up to 5 seats are included.

Source

Groove: How is Helply priced?

Helply uses per-ticket pricing at 1 dollar per ticket. This single price covers all features including resolutions, drafts, churn alerts, upsell flags, feature requests, and documentation.

Source

Plain: Can I use Plain with Microsoft Teams?

Yes, Microsoft Teams integration is available on the Horizon plan ($299/month) and higher.

Source

Groove: Do I need to pay per team member for Helply?

No, Helply charges per ticket, not per seat. You can bring your entire team, AEs, PMs, and integrations without additional per-person charges.

Source

Plain: Is there a free trial for Plain?

Yes, Plain offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card required. You can also get 50% discount through their startup program.

Source

Groove: What's included in Helply's per-ticket price?

The per-ticket price of 1 dollar includes resolutions, drafts, churn alerts, upsell flags, feature requests, documentation, and all AI capabilities with no separate add-on charges.

Source

Groove: Is there a free trial for Helply?

Helply offers a free 12-minute demo walkthrough. Enterprise plans are also available for larger organizations.

Source

Plain vs Groove

Plain

Groove

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Plain

Only in Groove

What people use each for

Plain

Groove

Where each one falls short

Plain

Groove

Pricing, plan by plan

Plain

Groove

Which should you pick?

Choose Plain if

Choose Groove if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Plain

More on Groove

Keep looking

Other head to heads