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Comparison · Support
iTop vs Plain
A side-by-side editorial comparison of iTop and Plain — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
iTop vs Plain: at a glance
What is iTop?
iTop's 3.3 beta stretches the CMDB to containers, then goes quiet for a month on cleanup
The substantive entry remains the 3.3.0 beta, which adds an optional Container Management module introducing a Cloud class plus container image, application, cluster and host classes, a Data Flow module modelling flows between functional CIs, and sample data installable in French and German alongside English. Sample users are created automatically but arrive disabled with expired passwords. A month later beta3 carries a single commit migrating the last usages of deprecated JavaScript libraries.
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.
iTop vs Plain: editorial side-by-side
iTop
2.5SUPPORT
iTop's 3.3 beta stretches the CMDB to containers, then goes quiet for a month on cleanup
◆ Current state
The substantive entry remains the 3.3.0 beta, which adds an optional Container Management module introducing a Cloud class plus container image, application, cluster and host classes, a Data Flow module modelling flows between functional CIs, and sample data installable in French and German alongside English. Sample users are created automatically but arrive disabled with expired passwords. A month later beta3 carries a single commit migrating the last usages of deprecated JavaScript libraries.
◆ Where it's heading
The container and data-flow work is iTop extending its configuration model to infrastructure its users have been running for years without a place to record it. Pairing that with localised sample data and pre-built test users points at reducing time-to-first-value during evaluation. The beta train has since narrowed to cleanup — a one-commit third beta four weeks after the first suggests the feature set is settled and the remaining work is dependency hygiene.
◆ Prediction
Expect 3.3.0 to reach final with the container and data-flow modules as shipped, since the betas have stopped adding to them. Whether the optional modules ship enabled by default isn't stated in these entries.
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 iTop 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 iTop or Plain.
LiveAgent
LiveAgent launches Svelte 5 frontend migration and multi-model AI simultaneously.
Xurrent
Xurrent is weaving Sera AI deeper into its ITSM automation layer while opening iPaaS connectivity to third-party builders.
Formbricks
Formbricks 6.0 RC ships MCP OAuth and positions survey data as an agent-readable layer.
Service Fusion
Service Fusion is running an SEO blitz on competitor comparisons while quietly shipping AI field-ops features.
DoneDone
DoneDone ships custom fields — expanding from simple task tracker to configurable work platform.
Recent activity from iTop and Plain
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 20d agoiTop3.3 beta3 migrates off the last deprecated JS libraries
- 26d agoPlainTest Ari before customers see it, with per-answer proof ⚡
- 1mo agoPlainImport past conversations from any tool, no built-in importer
- 1mo agoPlainSidekick connects to any MCP server ⚡
- 1mo agoPlainSidekick gains reusable, workspace-shared skills ⚡
- 1mo agoiTopiTop 3.3 beta adds container CMDB classes and localised sample data
- 1mo agoPlainShare published workflows by link
- 2mo agoPlainSidekick gets its own full-page home and tool controls
- 10mo agoiTopDesigner build: licence handling with legacy extensions
- 11mo agoiTopDesigner build: XML redefine injection fix
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between iTop and Plain?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Plain is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 8.8 vs 2.5), with 1 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 iTop 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 2.5), with 1 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 iTop?
Top iTop alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "iTop alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/itop 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.