Supportbench
Supportbench's tracked feed is a daily content series on helpdesk migration, not product releases.
Comparison · Support
Plain vs Hatz AI
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Plain and Hatz AI — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Plain vs Hatz AI: at a glance
| Feature | Plain | Hatz AI |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Support | Support |
| Velocity score | 5.0 | 6.3 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 1 |
| Top themes | customer-support, ai-agents, agentic-search, slack | msp, multi-model, tenant-governance, mcp |
| Last editorial update | 3h ago | 2d ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
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.
What is Hatz AI?
Hatz is building MSP-grade governance over a broad model roster, now jolted by a forced Fable 5 shutdown.
Hatz AI is an MSP-oriented multi-model platform layering admin controls over Anthropic, Gemini, and other models. Recent work centers on tenant governance, integration and custom-MCP enable/disable controls, tenant workspace templates that preset models and features, model-credit multipliers, and on agentic workflows and phone agents (post-call automation, multi-department routing). It just disabled Claude Fable 5 in compliance with a US government directive, days after adding it.
Plain vs Hatz AI: editorial side-by-side
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.
Hatz AI
6.3SUPPORT
Hatz is building MSP-grade governance over a broad model roster, now jolted by a forced Fable 5 shutdown.
◆ Current state
Hatz AI is an MSP-oriented multi-model platform layering admin controls over Anthropic, Gemini, and other models. Recent work centers on tenant governance, integration and custom-MCP enable/disable controls, tenant workspace templates that preset models and features, model-credit multipliers, and on agentic workflows and phone agents (post-call automation, multi-department routing). It just disabled Claude Fable 5 in compliance with a US government directive, days after adding it.
◆ Where it's heading
The arc is toward MSPs managing AI for many client tenants: standardized provisioning, per-tenant control over which models, integrations, and MCP servers are available, and workflow/phone automation that runs the actual support work. The Fable 5 add-then-disable sequence shows the platform absorbing model-availability shocks that aggregators are uniquely exposed to.
◆ Prediction
Expect deeper tenant-level governance and model-policy controls, and more agentic workflow and phone-agent capability; the platform's multi-model design lets MSPs reroute around the disabled Fable 5 to other Anthropic and Gemini options.
Alternatives to Plain and Hatz AI
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 Plain or Hatz AI.
Assembled
Assembled is turning workforce management into an agentic control layer for AI-run support.
Service Fusion
Service Fusion ships Offline Mode amid a feed otherwise full of SEO pricing guides.
Spiceworks
Spiceworks' feed is IT-news editorial, not a product changelog
Desk365
Desk365 ships one real bi-monthly product update buried in a stream of support-topic blog posts.
Twilio
Twilio expands EU data residency and cross-channel messaging while building an AI-agent layer
See all Plain alternatives → · See all Hatz AI alternatives →
Recent activity from Plain and Hatz AI
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoPlainAPI: createThreadLink can attach existing Linear issues
- 6d agoHatz AIMulti-Department Phone Routing and Built-in Tool Controls
- 7d agoPlainSidekick AI now answers in Slack via @mention
- 8d agoPlainSix improvements to Ari's response judgment
- 12d agoHatz AIClaude Fable 5 Disabled ⚡
- 13d agoHatz AIPhone Agents Post-Call Workflows, Role-Based Integration and Custom MCP Control, Re-run Workflow from Any Step, Integration and Custom MCP Default Settings for Tenant Templates, Outlook Attachment Support
- 15d agoHatz AIClaude Fable 5 Now Available
- 15d agoPlainSend a Slack message as a workflow action
- 20d agoHatz AIIntegration and Custom MCP Controls, Expanded Microsoft 365 Actions, ConnectWise & Autotask Improvements, Hatz Official Workshop Filter, New File Support Types
- 27d agoHatz AITenant Workspace Templates, New LLM Opus 4.8, LLM Gateway expanded to include Anthropic, Workshop Item Sharing
- 1mo agoPlainAri rebuilt as an agentic, search-first default responder ⚡
- 1mo agoPlainSidekick connects to your tools to pull live context ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Plain and Hatz AI?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Hatz AI is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), 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 Plain better than Hatz AI?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Hatz AI is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), 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 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.
What are the best alternatives to Hatz AI?
Top Hatz AI alternatives in Support are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Hatz AI alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/hatz-ai for the full list with editorial commentary on each.