Spiceworks
Spiceworks keeps writing about the security debt AI is exposing, not about its own product.
Comparison · Support
Formbricks vs Plain
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Formbricks and Plain — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Formbricks vs Plain: at a glance
What is Formbricks?
Formbricks opens 6.2 with data retention policies and show-conditions across surveys.
Formbricks' 6.0 cycle renamed Unify to Analyze, capped unlicensed self-hosted installs at one workspace and added MCP OAuth, and 6.1 added the v3 responses API. 6.2.0-rc.1 adds data retention policies with exemptions and history, a shared show-conditions schema, incremental extraction filters on feedback records, and ends OAuth app tokens that exceed narrowed consent. The feed still shows no 6.0 or 6.1 stable tag.
What is Plain?
Plain built an autonomous support agent, and has now built the controls to trust it.
Plain's changelog is dated entries with no titles, and nearly all of it concerns two AI surfaces: Ari, the customer-facing responder, and Sidekick, the internal agent. Sidekick spent July gaining reach — its own full-page home, reusable workspace skills, and connection to arbitrary MCP servers. The newest release turns to Ari and adds what was missing around it: a way to test it before customers see it, provenance behind each answer, configurable tone, and explicit escalation rules.
Formbricks vs Plain: editorial side-by-side
Formbricks
5.0SUPPORT
Formbricks opens 6.2 with data retention policies and show-conditions across surveys.
◆ Current state
Formbricks' 6.0 cycle renamed Unify to Analyze, capped unlicensed self-hosted installs at one workspace and added MCP OAuth, and 6.1 added the v3 responses API. 6.2.0-rc.1 adds data retention policies with exemptions and history, a shared show-conditions schema, incremental extraction filters on feedback records, and ends OAuth app tokens that exceed narrowed consent. The feed still shows no 6.0 or 6.1 stable tag.
◆ Where it's heading
Formbricks is building the controls larger customers ask for: retention rules, scoped OAuth and APIs for incremental data pulls. Release candidates keep arriving while the feed shows no stable tags.
◆ Prediction
Expect further 6.2 candidates with backports, and retention controls reaching the API and MCP surfaces.
Plain
8.8SUPPORT
Plain built an autonomous support agent, and has now built the controls to trust it.
◆ Current state
Plain's changelog is dated entries with no titles, and nearly all of it concerns two AI surfaces: Ari, the customer-facing responder, and Sidekick, the internal agent. Sidekick spent July gaining reach — its own full-page home, reusable workspace skills, and connection to arbitrary MCP servers. The newest release turns to Ari and adds what was missing around it: a way to test it before customers see it, provenance behind each answer, configurable tone, and explicit escalation rules.
◆ Where it's heading
The sequence reads as capability first, then governance. Plain rebuilt Ari into an agentic first responder, opened Sidekick to any MCP server, and let teams write skills the whole workspace shares — all of which widen what the agents can do and reach. The current release closes the loop the other way, making that autonomy inspectable and bounded before it is switched on. That is the order support-AI vendors have to complete in: teams will not put an agent in front of customers on capability claims alone.
◆ Prediction
With testing and provenance in place, the next step is likely measurement — resolution and escalation rates per skill, or per-answer quality review feeding back into the skills teams write. The entries are short summaries linking off-site, so per-release depth is limited.
Alternatives to Formbricks and Plain
Other Support products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Formbricks or Plain.
Xurrent
Xurrent's November update pushes its Sera agents into the inbox and CMDB reviews.
Chatway
Chatway gives every widget a hosted chat page you can share without installing it.
Gorgias
Gorgias compares AI productivity in support teams with the Magnificent 7.
Live Helper Chat
Live Helper Chat 4.99 lets bots answer email threads and react to mail closes.
Twilio
Twilio ships GA reconnect and mid-call config for Conversation Relay voice agents.
See all Formbricks alternatives → · See all Plain alternatives →
Recent activity from Formbricks and Plain
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 21h agoFormbricksFormbricks 6.2 RC1 adds data retention policies
- 21d agoFormbricks6.1 RC3: race-proof workspace cap and online-upgrade fixes
- 24d agoFormbricks6.1 RC2: v3 API validation, incremental extraction, upgrade fixes
- 27d agoFormbricks6.1 RC1: v3 responses API, MCP response access, webhook jobs
- 1mo agoFormbricks6.0.0 RC5: Helm Envoy safeguards
- 1mo agoFormbricks6.0.0 RC4: Gateway API v1.5 support
- 2mo agoPlainTest Ari before customers see it, with per-answer proof ⚡
- 3mo agoPlainImport past conversations from any tool, no built-in importer
- 3mo agoPlainSidekick connects to any MCP server ⚡
- 3mo agoPlainSidekick gains reusable, workspace-shared skills ⚡
- 3mo agoPlainShare published workflows by link
- 4mo agoPlainSidekick gets its own full-page home and tool controls
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Formbricks and Plain?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Plain is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 8.8 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Formbricks better than Plain?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Plain is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 8.8 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Support products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Formbricks?
Top Formbricks alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Formbricks alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/formbricks for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Plain?
Top Plain alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Plain alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/plain for the full list with editorial commentary on each.