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Customer Support · head to head

Plain vs Scratchpad

Plain logo

Plain

Customer Support

AI support infrastructure built for B2B teams

From
$35/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Scratchpad logo

Scratchpad

CRM

Faster workspace over Salesforce for sales reps to update pipeline, take notes and manage deals

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Scratchpad has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Plain foundation plan limited to 2,000 credits per month may be restrictive for high-volume teams; Scratchpad scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • They diverge on capability: Plain covers Multi-channel consolidation, Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Plain and Scratchpad actually diverge.

Attributes where Plain and Scratchpad differ
AttributePlainScratchpad
Starting price$35/monthFree
Pricing modelTiered pricing per seat with credit systemPer user per month
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Chrome extension
CategoryCustomer SupportCRM

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Scratchpad

  • Spreadsheet pipeline views
  • Call recorder and notetaker
  • AI field updates
  • Deal and account agent
  • Hygiene monitor
  • Notes linked to records
  • Custom prompts
  • Kanban and forecast views

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 Scratchpad
  • Automating support workflows with AI agentsnot Scratchpad
  • Extracting insights and trends from customer conversationsnot Scratchpad
  • Building custom support solutions with API accessnot Scratchpad
  • Implementing AI-assisted customer support at scalenot Scratchpad

Scratchpad

  • A 60-rep Salesforce team whose forecast is unreliable because opportunity fields are updated once a week in a panic before the pipeline callnot Plain
  • A rep who wants to update twenty opportunities in a grid rather than opening twenty Salesforce recordsnot Plain
  • A sales manager wanting stale and incomplete pipeline records flagged automatically instead of chased by emailnot Plain
  • A revenue operations lead trialling AI notetaking that writes back to CRM fields before committing budget, using the free tiernot 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

Scratchpad

  • Scratchpad works with Salesforce and nothing else, with no HubSpot support, so it is off the shortlist entirely for any company on a different CRM regardless of how good the interface is.
  • AI credits are metered per user per month at 400 on Solo and 800 on Team, which means heavy notetaking use pushes teams towards Enterprise for capacity rather than for features.
  • There is no proper native mobile application, so representatives who wanted to update records from a car park between meetings are back in a mobile browser.
  • Sync with Salesforce and call processing can lag, and a pipeline view showing yesterday state during a forecast call undermines the exact meeting the tool was bought to improve.
  • It creates a second notes surface alongside native Salesforce notes, so organisations end up with deal history split across two places unless they explicitly ban one of them.

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

Scratchpad

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Workspace limited to 3 views
    • 10 hours a month of call recording and notetaking
    • AI field updates
  • Solo$19/month
    • Unlimited views with sheets and notes
    • Call recorder and notetaker
    • AI field updates
  • Team$49/month
    • Everything in Solo
    • 800 AI credits per user per month
    • Gong integration
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited AI credits
    • White-glove agent services included
    • Enterprise security and administration

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 Scratchpad if

  • You need spreadsheet pipeline views.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome extension.
  • You also want call recorder and notetaker.
Scratchpad review

Questions people ask

Is Plain or Scratchpad better?
Neither clearly leads. Plain starts at $35/month and Scratchpad at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Plain or Scratchpad?
Scratchpad has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $35/month for Plain and Free for Scratchpad.
Does Plain or Scratchpad run on more platforms?
Plain runs on Web, API. Scratchpad runs on Web, Chrome extension.
Can I use Scratchpad for free?
Yes. Scratchpad has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Plain starts at $35/month.
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 Scratchpad is typically brought in for.
What can Plain do that Scratchpad cannot?
Plain covers Multi-channel consolidation, AI agents, Workflow automation, Sidekick assistant. Scratchpad covers Spreadsheet pipeline views, Call recorder and notetaker, AI field updates, Deal and account agent.

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
Scratchpad: Does Scratchpad work with HubSpot?

No. It is Salesforce-only.

Plain: Can I use Plain with Microsoft Teams?

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

Source
Scratchpad: Is the free plan usable in production?

Yes for an individual: full workspace with three views, 10 hours of recording and 100 AI credits a month. Teams outgrow it on views and credits.

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
Scratchpad: Does it replace Salesforce licences?

No. Every user still needs their own Salesforce licence; Scratchpad is an interface on top.

Scratchpad: What are AI credits spent on?

Notetaking, summarisation, field update suggestions and agent queries. Enterprise removes the cap.

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