Twilio
Twilio fills out EU data residency, RBAC, and unified messaging APIs
Comparison · Support
Ivanti vs Plain
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Ivanti and Plain — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Ivanti vs Plain: at a glance
What is Ivanti?
Ivanti's Secure Access Client ships weekly mobile point releases — 22.7.4 through 22.8.7 — with documentation as the only visible signal.
The visible Ivanti feed is dominated by weekly Supported Platforms Guides for the Ivanti Secure Access Client (formerly Pulse Secure) on iOS, Android, and ChromeOS, spanning versions 22.7.4 through 22.8.7. A cumulative Android release notes index for 22.2.1–22.8.6 and accompanying admin and MDM deployment guides confirm steady mobile-client cadence. The captured content is documentation landing pages, not detailed change descriptions.
What is Plain?
Support platform betting hard on an agentic AI responder as the default first touch
Plain is a customer-support tool whose recent work is dominated by two AI agents: Ari (autonomous responder) and Sidekick (assistant). In this window Ari was rebuilt from a classify-and-handoff workflow into an agentic, search-first default first responder, suggested replies were moved onto the same engine, and Sidekick gained tool integrations and a Slack presence. Platform plumbing (Attio, Linear, workflows) continues alongside.
Ivanti vs Plain: editorial side-by-side
Ivanti
3.8SUPPORT
Ivanti's Secure Access Client ships weekly mobile point releases — 22.7.4 through 22.8.7 — with documentation as the only visible signal.
◆ Current state
The visible Ivanti feed is dominated by weekly Supported Platforms Guides for the Ivanti Secure Access Client (formerly Pulse Secure) on iOS, Android, and ChromeOS, spanning versions 22.7.4 through 22.8.7. A cumulative Android release notes index for 22.2.1–22.8.6 and accompanying admin and MDM deployment guides confirm steady mobile-client cadence. The captured content is documentation landing pages, not detailed change descriptions.
◆ Where it's heading
With only documentation pages observable, product trajectory is hard to read concretely. The frequent point releases suggest active maintenance of the mobile security client; the historical Pulse Secure → Ivanti rebrand and the Classic UI / New-UI dual maintenance both indicate gradual consolidation rather than a fresh directional move.
◆ Prediction
Expect continued weekly point releases on 22.8.x and a likely transition to 22.9.x or a 23.x line later in 2026. Substantive product moves probably exist in detailed release notes the crawler isn't reaching — a different ingestion path (the per-version release notes endpoints, not the SPG landing pages) would surface more useful signal.
Plain
5.0SUPPORT
Support platform betting hard on an agentic AI responder as the default first touch
◆ Current state
Plain is a customer-support tool whose recent work is dominated by two AI agents: Ari (autonomous responder) and Sidekick (assistant). In this window Ari was rebuilt from a classify-and-handoff workflow into an agentic, search-first default first responder, suggested replies were moved onto the same engine, and Sidekick gained tool integrations and a Slack presence. Platform plumbing (Attio, Linear, workflows) continues alongside.
◆ Where it's heading
The direction is unmistakably AI-native support: make the agent the default first responder, give it agentic search and tool access, and meet users where they work (Slack, the composer, workflows). The non-AI releases — CRM connectors, workflow actions, API additions — increasingly exist to feed context to that agent.
◆ Prediction
Expect Ari and Sidekick to keep absorbing the support workflow — more tool integrations, deeper autonomy, and tighter loops between suggested replies and autonomous sends — with platform/API work continuing to supply the context they rely on.
Alternatives to Ivanti 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 Ivanti or Plain.
Spiceworks
Spiceworks remains an IT-news desk, not a product — its feed is editorial
Supportbench
Supportbench's feed is a daily helpdesk-migration blog, not a changelog
Front
Front is rebuilding the shared inbox around AI agents and omnichannel reach.
Service Fusion
Service Fusion's feed is field-service marketing and partner content, not release notes.
Respond.io
Respond.io is pushing AI agents deeper into every stage of the customer conversation.
See all Ivanti alternatives → · See all Plain alternatives →
Recent activity from Ivanti and Plain
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 3d agoPlainAPI: createThreadLink can attach existing Linear issues
- 9d agoPlainSidekick AI now answers in Slack via @mention
- 10d agoPlainSix improvements to Ari's response judgment
- 17d agoPlainSend a Slack message as a workflow action
- 1mo agoPlainAri rebuilt as an agentic, search-first default responder ⚡
- 1mo agoPlainSidekick connects to your tools to pull live context ⚡
- 2mo agoIvantiISAC Mobile 22.8.7 Supported Platforms Guide
- 2mo agoIvantiISAC Android 22.2.1–22.8.6 cumulative release notes index
- 2mo agoIvantiISAC Android Administration Guide
- 2mo agoIvantiISAC Mobile 22.8.6 Supported Platforms Guide
- 3mo agoIvantiHTML – ISAC Mobile Client Deployment and Configuration Guide
- 3mo agoIvantiISAC Mobile 22.8.5 Supported Platforms Guide
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Ivanti and Plain?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Plain is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 3.8), 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 Ivanti better than Plain?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Plain is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 3.8), 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 Ivanti?
Top Ivanti alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Ivanti alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/ivanti 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.