Migrating from another support tool

Plain has one-click importers for Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom and Help Scout, plus an open API for everything else. Most teams migrate in four phases, and customers notice nothing during the first two.

What gets imported

• Conversation history, with messages and internal notes.
• Original timestamps on every thread and message.
• Customers, with their email and name.
• Tags and labels, where the source tool's model maps onto Plain labels.

  CSAT scores, survey responses and comments do not come across, and neither do custom fields. Export both before you close the old account, and use labels or Tiers to carry what custom fields meant.

  To move your help center articles, see How to migrate help center articles from another platform to Plain.

What you rebuild in Plain

• Workflows and automations: they rarely translate cleanly, and Plain workflows are usually simpler, so rebuilding is a chance to delete rules you no longer need.
• Macros and saved replies, as snippets.
• SLAs and business hours, per Tier.
• Knowledge base articles, as a knowledge source for Ari.
• Teams and groups: Plain routes with labels, Tiers and workflows rather than a team hierarchy, so map your groups onto those.
• User accounts: invite teammates fresh and assign Plain's roles.

Phase 1: Set up Plain in parallel

Connect your channels with a test email address or a non-customer Slack channel, not production traffic. Define Tiers, business hours and SLAs, create your first labels and snippets, and invite a small pilot crew.

Phase 2: Run a pilot

Route a low-risk slice of traffic, such as one Tier, channel or customer segment, to Plain for one to two weeks while everyone else stays in the old tool. Check that workflows behave as expected, tune auto-triage labels and routing, and decide which integrations you need on day one rather than week four.

Phase 3: Import history

Run the importer for Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom or Help Scout. Imports are non-destructive: your old tool keeps its data, and Plain stores imported threads alongside live ones, attributed to the correct Customer and Company. A large history takes time to come across.

Importing does not trigger SLAs, auto-responses or workflows. Nothing goes out to customers, and no SLA clocks start on old tickets. Plain AI does use imported threads as context: past replies inform suggested responses and similar threads.

For other tools, see Building your own import on the Plain API.

Phase 4: Cut over

A hard cutover picks a date, points all production traffic at Plain, and freezes the old tool to read-only. Best when volume is low enough to absorb a learning curve in one week. A gradual cutover moves one channel or Tier at a time over two to four weeks. Best for high volume or when you cannot afford a noisy week.

For email, forwarding rules and MX records can move without customer-visible downtime, but coordinate the DNS handover with whoever owns your domain.

Things to watch for

• Do not replicate your old setup one to one. Tiers, Threads and Tenants do not map like for like with other platforms, so use the migration to simplify.
• Many teams arrive with more than 20 statuses, more than 50 tags and a sprawling macro library. Plain has seven statuses on purpose.
• Tell customers if anything changes externally, such as a new reply-from address, Help Center URL or chat widget.

  If you would like help scoping a custom import or planning the cutover, email help@plain.com.