Pylon vs Thena (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pylon grades higher than Thena: 2.0 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Pylon grades higher on the free plan and features. Thena grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Pylon
B2B support platform that works across Slack, Teams and email
Which one is for you
Pick Pylon if
- Fits if your customers reach you in Slack or Teams and you sell to other businesses
- Works for support and customer success teams that want one queue
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're small: $89 per seat on an annual contract, before AI credits
- Skip it if you want to sign up alone, as trials go through sales
- Watch out: Account Intelligence is $10 per account a month and Phone is $35 per seat a month on top
- Watch out: SAML SSO is an add-on on Advanced and included only on Enterprise
Pick Thena if
- Fits if your customers talk to you in Slack and you sell to other businesses
- Works for a team of up to 5 on Starter
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you grow: Starter has 5 seats and 1,000 tickets a month, and the home page says 10 seats
- Pricey if you want AI chat, as Standard is $79 a user
- Skip it if you need Microsoft Teams, which is listed under Enterprise at $119
- Watch out: the home page mentions a free plan with no card, but the pricing page lists none
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAPylonFair | 1.8GPAThenaWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$89 per seat on an annual contract is where the category's dearest tenth begins. Account Intelligence ($10 per account a month), Phone ($35 per seat) and AI credits are on top. | C$29 per user a month billed annually is the category's middle ($29). Starter stops at 5 seats and 1,000 tickets, and AI web chat needs Standard at $79. |
| Free plan and trial | DFree trials are set up with a sales representative, so there is no way to sign up alone. | FThe pricing page lists no free plan or trial, though the home page mentions one with no card. |
| Features | BTicketing, analytics, automations, an API and AI agents across Slack, Teams, email, WhatsApp and chat. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work, but AI and phone cost extra. | CSlack, Teams, email and web chat become tickets by account, with SLAs, a knowledge base and AI. The listing's gaps: AI web chat and the agent studio start on Standard, and Teams on Enterprise. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record, and the sales team estimates how many AI credits you need. | CNo store rating on record, and much of it lives in Slack or Teams with a separate login for the workspace. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with 8 listed integrations and an API. No phone or desktop app on record. | BWeb only, with 8 listed integrations and an API on Standard. No phone or desktop app on record. |
| Best for | B2B support in Slack and Teams | B2B support in Slack, tracked by account |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Pylon and Thena. How we grade
Price against what you get
Pylon starts at $7.42 a month when paid by the year for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Thena starts at $29 a month for each person and scores 2.3.
Pylon scores higher and starts $21.58 a month lower. Of the other help desk and live chat tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Pylon for less, and 16 score higher than Thena for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Pylon also covers whatsApp messaging.
At a glance
| Pylon | Thena | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Paid |
| Starts at | $89 per seat, on an annual contract | $29 per user / month, billed annually |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trials for prospects, set up with a sales representative | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Pylon Labs, Inc. | Thena |
| Price read from | usepylon.com | thena.ai |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Pylon
- Pricing is by seat plus AI credits; the page says credits are bought for a year or as you go and the sales team estimates how many you need.
- Account Intelligence is $10 per customer account a month and Phone is $35 per seat a month, both on top of seat prices.
- Seat prices are quoted on an annual contract, and the page does not show a monthly-billed price.
- SAML SSO is an add-on on Advanced and included only on Enterprise.
Thena
- Starter is limited to 5 user seats and 1,000 tickets a month; the homepage lists 10 seats, so the vendor's two pages disagree.
- The homepage mentions "no credit card for free plan" but the pricing page lists no free plan or trial.
- AI web chat and AI agent studio need Standard at $79, and Microsoft Teams needs Enterprise at $119.
- Much of the product lives inside Slack, Microsoft Teams and email, with a separate login for the Thena workspace.
Key features
Pylon
- Support Agent and Assist Agent
- Pylon's agents answer customers and help human agents draft and investigate. They are not separate add-ons but use credits.
- Slack, Teams and email in one queue
- Support email, a chat widget, SMS, Slack Connect, WhatsApp, Discord and Telegram are on every tier, with Microsoft Teams and Google Chat on Advanced and above.
- Automations and skills
- Triggers, macros, written skills, MCP connectors and custom API actions are on every tier, so teams can shape what the agents do.
- Account Intelligence
- A paid add-on for customer success with account notebooks, health scores, scorecards and an account activity timeline.
- Knowledge base and surveys
- Every plan includes a knowledge base plus NPS and CSAT surveys, with analytics out of the box.
- Phone add-on
- Calls and texts from inside Pylon, with recordings, transcripts, summaries, call transfers and IVR, are sold as an add-on.
Thena
- Slack-native ticketing
- Tickets are detected and managed in Slack with account context. Email, web chat and Microsoft Teams messages also become tickets.
- Account-based tracking
- Tickets, tasks, notes and views are organized by customer company or account, with team boards, groups and routing.
- AI agents
- AI agents answer customers, apply fields, create tickets and escalate. Auto-responses start on Standard and custom deployments on Enterprise.
- SLAs and CSAT
- Service-level policies, auto-responders, internal threads and customer satisfaction collection are part of the ticketing platform.
- Broadcasts and knowledge base
- Product updates can go to Slack, Teams and email audiences, and help center articles support live collaboration.
Plans
Pylon
Professional$89
per seat, on an annual contract; billing interval not shown
Core ticketing, analytics, automations, skills, broadcasts, MCP, API and integrations. AI features run on purchased credits. Sold through a demo.
Advanced$139
per seat, on an annual contract; billing interval not shown
Everything in Professional plus RBAC, a customer portal, custom reporting, a data warehouse, Microsoft Teams support and SAML SSO as an add-on. Sold through a demo.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Advanced plus an MSA, SAML SSO, a sandbox environment and priority support SLAs. Custom quote.
Thena
Starter$29
per user / month, billed annually
Up to 5 user seats and 1,000 tickets a month, with Slack and email channels and AI ticket detection, summaries and tagging.
Standard$79
per user / month, billed annually
Adds AI web chat, AI agent studio, AI auto-responses and co-pilot, AI workflows, MCP and APIs.
Enterprise$119
per user / month, billed annually
Adds custom AI agent deployments, Microsoft Teams, Enterprise APIs, unlimited MCP and enterprise security features.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Pylon or Thena?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Pylon is cheaper to start with: $7.42 a month when paid by the year for each person, against $29 a month for each person for Thena. Pylon starts at $89 per seat, on an annual contract, and Thena starts at $29 per user / month, billed annually.
Which has a free plan, Pylon or Thena?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither Pylon nor Thena has a free plan. Pylon has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.