assistance / assistants are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term. 👇
assistance: NA
assistants: (noun) a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose.
assistance: ah·s·IH·s·t·ah·n·s
assistants: ah·s·IH·s·t·ah·n·t·s
(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions drawn from WordNet.)