Stytch is a developer platform for authentication, authorization, and fraud prevention, enabling you to build secure, highly-scalable apps with minimal code and complexity. With a dedicated support team, giving premium support is crucial to their success.

The challenge

As Stytch expanded, managing support requests through multiple channels – Slack, email, and Discourse  – became increasingly complex. Their previous setup involved using a combination of Zendesk and Channeled, which meant the team had to navigate between different tools, leading to inefficient support. 

Christopher O’Neill, Head of Developer Success at Stytch, noted, “We had to jump between internal and external Slack channels, then to Discourse, then over to Zendesk for email. It wasn’t seamless, and that lack of unification slowed us down.”

Evaluating Plain and Pylon side-by-side

Stytch chose Plain over Pylon after thoroughly testing both platforms in their public Slack environment. In the Stytch team's eyes – both platforms offered really strong features. Plain stood out for its developer-first approach and focused on building the best B2B support platform, rather than replicating Zendesk. As Christopher O’Neill, Head of Developer Success, explained, “Plain feels like it was designed for technical teams like ours. We don’t need a Zendesk replacement; we need the best B2B support tool for developers, and Plain fits that perfectly.”

A few key factors drove Stytch’s decision. Plain’s developer-focused design aligned seamlessly with their technical needs, and its robust Slack integration centralized support requests from their public Slack community, as well as many Slack Connect channels with larger customers, into one platform. The API-driven approach enabled Stytch to embed customer and product data directly into tickets, while the tool’s focus on technical workflows provided a tailored solution for B2B teams.

In addition, Stytch found Plain’s intuitive workflow and efficient keyboard shortcuts to be a game-changer. These features made managing support far faster and more natural – benefits that became clear when the team started using Plain full time in production. Christopher summed it up: “Plain feels like it was built for teams like ours – technical, developer-focused, and fast-moving.”

The solution

Implementing Plain led to several key improvements:

1. Unified support management: All queries – from Slack and email (and Discourse very soon) – are now centralized in Plain, eliminating the need to switch between tools.

2. Enhanced internal collaboration: Team members can log internal notes and link discussions, Slack threads, and Linear tickets seamlessly within Plain.

3. Streamlined handoffs: Transitioning enterprise customers from solution engineering to ongoing support is now effortless, thanks to centralized ticket management in Plain.

4. Improved visibility: Customer context, like historical conversations and linked tickets, is embedded in every support interaction, ensuring no detail is overlooked.

Christopher highlighted, “With Plain, we’ve become far more consistent about leaving internal notes, linking Slack discussions to tickets, and closing the loop with customers – this is the boring but incredibly necessary work as you scale a team to provide a stellar support experience.”

How Stytch has transformed its support operations

• Simplified workflows: Plain’s centralized platform has replaced Zendesk and Channeled, making it easier for the team to manage all support requests from one place. 

• Faster response times: Unified workflows and better visibility into customer data allow the team to prioritize and resolve issues more efficiently.

• Scalable support: The ability to integrate new channels, like Discord and Teams, ensures that Stytch’s support setup can grow with their business.

• Improved customer experience: By linking customer threads to Linear issues, Stytch closes the loop on issues, ensuring they never forget to update a customer when an issue is fixed. 

• Increased focus with team views: Stytch uses saved views to split incoming requests based on the team handling them, ensuring Support focuses on existing customers while Solutions Engineering manages pre-sales conversations.

Christopher emphasized, “The unification of workflows in Plain isn’t just a convenience – it’s critical for scaling our team and ensuring we provide the best possible experience to our customers.”

Looking ahead

As Stytch continues to grow, they plan to leverage Plain’s extensibility further by integrating additional customer data into their support processes with customer cards. With a streamlined and scalable system in place, the team is well-positioned to support their expanding customer base.