Train the pull-up pattern with help until you can fly solo.
More weight on the stack means more help, lower it over time to build real strength.
Assisted pull-ups let you train the real thing, dead hang, elbows driving down and back, chest toward the bar, without needing the strength to lift your entire bodyweight yet. The lats do the pulling with the biceps assisting, exactly as they will when the assistance is gone. It is the most direct road to a first strict pull-up because it rehearses the actual pattern, not a substitute.
Yes, because they are the same movement with a lighter version of you. The mistake is parking at the same assistance forever. Nudge the help down as reps get comfortable and the strength transfers directly.
The machine gives steady help through the whole rep, while bands help most at the bottom and vanish at the top, right where you are weakest. The machine is better for controlled progression, bands are fine when they are all you have.
Work in a moderate rep range where the last rep is hard but clean, across a few sets. If you are cruising to big numbers, the assistance is too generous, drop it rather than chasing more reps.
