When it comes to AI-powered Agent Assist tools for Zendesk, both Macha AI and Stylo Assist aim to help support agents answer tickets faster. While both products serve a similar purpose, there are some key differentiators that can help you decide which one best suits your needs. This post provides a clear, (mostly) unbiased comparison of the two.
1. Experience Built for Agents
Macha AI has been designed after observing usage by hundreds of support agents. Our design is cleaner and easier to use, ensuring an intuitive experience. The AI drafts responses differently based on the context—whether replying to new ticket comments, creating a new ticket, or following up—everything is optimized for an amazing agent experience.
2. Use Help Center Article to Draft Answer
Macha AI takes knowledge sourcing to the next level. If the answer to a ticket exists in a knowledge base article, macros, or other sources, agents can search for that article and select it as a reference for AI to use. This ensures that responses are not only quick but also highly accurate.
Supported knowledge sources in Macha AI:
- Help Center articles
- Macros
- Additional articles uploaded to Macha
- External websites and documents (wider options compared to Stylo)
3. Select How AI Drafts Answers for Different Channels
You can set the kind of response draft the AI creates for different channels. For example, you can configure how the AI drafts responses for web form tickets—email format or chat format. This is particularly useful if you have a very custom Zendesk implementation for channels.
4. Pricing: flexible starter plan available
Both Macha AI and Stylo charge $15 per agent per month. However, Macha provides additional flexibility with the Starter Plan:
- Macha Starter Plan: $49 per month for 250 AI answers with unlimited agents. A great way to get started without committing to a per-agent pricing model. Awesome for small teams or organisations that want a deeper trial.
5. Adapts Writing Style of the Agent
Macha AI goes through previous messages in a ticket and adapts to the writing style of the agent in addition to the persona you’ve set. This makes the AI-generated response more natural and authentic, requiring minimal edits before sending.
6. Deeper Summary and Analysis
Macha AI provides a short summary, sentiment analysis, ticket category, customer highlights, and requested actions to help agents quickly get up to speed with a ticket.
7. Multiple Personas for Different Customer Interactions
Brands need different personas for various types of tickets. While everyone aims to be ‘friendly and helpful,’ sometimes an angry customer requires a different approach. Macha AI allows you to create multiple personas that agents can select directly from the widget when drafting responses.
8. Answer Rules: More Customization for AI Responses
Macha AI allows for very detailed answer rules, ensuring responses align with specific guidelines. Whether it’s drafting emails in a particular tone, adhering to brand language, or following specific formatting, Macha AI provides more control over how responses are generated.
9. Expanded Knowledge Sources: Beyond Just Help Center Articles
Not all knowledge resides in Help Center articles. Unlike Stylo, Macha AI allows you to add:
- External websites as knowledge sources
- Additional documents to your AI knowledge base on Macha dashboard
This means your AI responses can be informed by a wider variety of resources, ensuring more comprehensive answers.
10. Onboarding: Self-Serve or Assisted – Your Choice
While Macha is designed for easy self-onboarding, but we also offer assisted onboarding for all customers, including trial users. Our goal is to ensure every customer reaches their “aha! moment” as soon as possible.
11. Custom Signature Setting
Macha AI does not include a signature by default so that your default Zendesk signature gets added. However, there is also an option to add a signature for the AI to use while drafting responses, offering flexibility to teams.
12. Easy Post-Answer Refinement
Need to tweak the AI-generated response? With just one click, you can make it:
- Longer
- Shorter
- Friendlier
- More formal
This feature ensures AI-generated responses are immediately usable with minimal manual edits.
13. Free Trial: No Credit Card Required, Easily Extendable
Macha AI offers a 7-day free trial, but we understand that businesses sometimes need more time. That’s why we make it easy to extend to 14 days—no credit card required.
14. Default Widget Language
Macha AI allows you to choose the default language of the widget, which changes the language of AI summaries. This is particularly useful for our EU customers who prefer AI summaries in their native language.
15. Customer Support: Video Call Support
Support is one of Macha AI’s strongest differentiators. We take it seriously.
- Live video call support is available to all customers, including trial users.
- We ensure that every user has a great experience, from onboarding to troubleshooting.
Final Thoughts: Which One is Right for You?
Both Macha AI and Stylo provide AI-powered solutions for Zendesk agents, but Macha stands out with its clean UI, flexible pricing, wider knowledge sources, customizable answer rules, and dedicated support.
Still unsure? Try Macha AI for free and experience the difference.
📩 Questions? Reach out to us at support@getmacha.com.