The Tines Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Tines in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Tines
The Insider’s Guide
Workflow automation and AI agents for security and IT teams
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among automation tools, read from Tines’s own pages.
Made by Tines · checked Oct 5, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Tines’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Tines’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 5, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.6
GPA, above 24 of the 40 other automation tools we grade
Tines is a workflow platform that started in security operations and is now sold to IT and other teams too. It comes as two products: Tines Stories, a drag-and-drop storyboard for building workflows from actions such as webhooks, HTTP requests and AI agents, and Tines 3B, a newer code-first environment where workflows, apps and agents are built from prompts and run in isolated steps. Both have a free edition, and paid plans are priced by quote.
To get you started, here are 8 things to know about Tines, taken from its own pages and our grades.
No rating on record, and you start by choosing between two products that work differently.
- 1
Best for security and IT teams automating alerts and tickets
Paid prices aren't published, so you'll be asking for a quote, and AI model costs go to your own provider on top.
- 2
There is a free plan
Explore edition of Tines 3B: unlimited users, spaces and connectors, 3 live workflows, 5,000 Tines units a month and a one-time $50 AI allowance. Tines Stories has its own free Community Edition.
- 3
It runs on Web
Web.
- 4
Storyboard
In Tines Stories, workflows are assembled by placing and connecting actions on a canvas: Webhook, HTTP request, Receive email, Send email, Event Transform, Condition and AI Agent.
- 5
Prompt-to-code building in Tines 3B
You describe a process in plain language and 3B writes the workflow as code, proposing tests as it goes. Git integration and branching are standard, and coding assistants such as Claude Code can connect.
- 6
Isolated runs and hidden credentials
Each step of a 3B workflow runs in its own sandbox, and credentials are injected through a proxy so that secrets are never shown to the builder or the AI, or stored in the code.
- 7
A 2.6 GPA, above 24 of 40
That is against the other automation tools we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 8
Keep it
To replace Tines you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
Tines at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Tines, since 2018
- Category
- Automation
- Our grade
- 2.6 GPA, good
The report card
Best for security and IT teams automating alerts and tickets
Tines automates security and IT work, taking in alerts, triaging them and kicking off the fix, on a drag-and-drop storyboard in Tines Stories or as code that Tines 3B writes from a description. Both have a free edition, but Explore stops at 3 live workflows and 5,000 Tines units a month. Paid prices aren't published, so you'll be asking for a quote, and AI model costs go to your own provider on top.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | There's no price to judge. The pricing page offers a quote request and nothing else, and what you'd be buying is a platform licence sized in Tines units, 100K a month on Core. Model costs go to your own AI provider on top of whatever the licence comes to. |
| Free plan and trial | C | Unlimited users, spaces and connectors sounds open-handed until you read the next line: 3 live workflows. That's a wall you meet in an afternoon. Then 5,000 Tines units a month, a one-time $50 AI allowance, and no public website URLs allowed. |
| Features | A | Two full products, and 3B does things the rest of this category doesn't: every step of a workflow runs in its own sandbox, credentials go in through a proxy so neither the builder nor the AI ever sees them, and generated workflows come with tests and Git branching. Cases handles incidents. |
| Ease of use | C | No rating on record, and you start by choosing between two products that work differently. Then connectors to wire up, Tines units to make sense of, and a platform written for security and IT people rather than for anyone who wanders in. |
| Platforms and integrations | B | Web only, with no phone or desktop app on the listing. It makes up for it in what it talks to: Slack, Teams, Jira, Okta, CrowdStrike, ServiceNow, GitHub and Splunk, an API, and coding assistants like Claude Code plugging into 3B. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who Tines is for
- Fits if your security team wants alert intake, triage and remediation automated
- Works for organizations that need a self-hosted, on-prem or hybrid deployment
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want to see a price before talking to sales, because paid plans are by quote
- Tight if you're staying free, with 3 live workflows, 5,000 Tines units a month and no public website URLs
- Watch out: paid plans have you bring your own AI model, so token costs go to your provider on top of the license
- Watch out: units used past your allowance are billed as overage, after a one-month grace period for new customers
- Not for you if you only need a couple of personal automations, since paid plans are platform licenses
Good to know
Good for
- Security teams automating alert intake, triage and remediation
- IT teams that must govern workflows other departments build with AI
- Organizations that need a self-hosted, on-prem or hybrid deployment
Worth knowing
- Paid prices are not published: the pricing page only offers a quote request, and plans are sold as platform licenses.
- The free Explore edition stops at 3 live workflows and 5,000 Tines units a month, and does not allow public website URLs.
- Paid plans use a bring-your-own-model approach, so LLM token costs are paid to your own AI provider.
- Tines units used beyond the plan allowance are billed as overage, after a one-month grace period for new customers.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
4
plans to choose from
Tines has a free plan.
Model costs go to your own AI provider on top of whatever the licence comes to.
Explore
$0
Free edition of Tines 3B: unlimited users, spaces and connectors, 3 live workflows, 5,000 Tines units a month and a one-time $50 AI allowance.
Core
Custom
Paid Tines 3B license on a multi-tenant stack with 100K Tines units a month, unlimited workflows and your own AI model.
Scale
Custom
A dedicated stack for larger deployments, with 300K Tines units a month.
Power
Custom
A premium dedicated stack for the highest volumes, with 900K Tines units a month.
The free plan
Explore edition of Tines 3B: unlimited users, spaces and connectors, 3 live workflows, 5,000 Tines units a month and a one-time $50 AI allowance. Tines Stories has its own free Community Edition.
Read from tines.com on Oct 5, 2026.
Ways to pay less
Startups
Startup Program for Tines Stories
Tines offers a heavily discounted, fully featured Tines Stories tenant to startups with under 100 employees, under 5 years old and under $50M raised. Services companies are excluded.
Stated on tines.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Workflow automation and AI agents for security and IT teams. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: self-hostable, public API, AI features, templates, workflow automation, AI agents.
Web only, with no phone or desktop app on the listing.
- Storyboard
- In Tines Stories, workflows are assembled by placing and connecting actions on a canvas: Webhook, HTTP request, Receive email, Send email, Event Transform, Condition and AI Agent.
- Prompt-to-code building in Tines 3B
- You describe a process in plain language and 3B writes the workflow as code, proposing tests as it goes. Git integration and branching are standard, and coding assistants such as Claude Code can connect.
- Isolated runs and hidden credentials
- Each step of a 3B workflow runs in its own sandbox, and credentials are injected through a proxy so that secrets are never shown to the builder or the AI, or stored in the code.
- Cases and Workbench
- Tines Stories includes Cases for case and incident management and Workbench, an AI copilot. The free Community Edition allows up to 20 Workbench messages a day across the tenant.
- Autofix and Autotune
- Autofix suggests repairs for anomalies and likely breaks in a workflow. Autotune proposes reliability, performance and clarity improvements on a branch you review before it goes live.
- Monitoring and AI spend
- Dashboards show workflow performance, spend across LLM providers and models, who has access to which connectors and spaces, duplicate workflows and estimated savings.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
- Jira
- CrowdStrike
- Okta
- ServiceNow
- GitHub
- Splunk
Tines is made by Tines, and has been around since 2018.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
24/40
Other automation tools it is graded above
Tines's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 24 of the 40 other automation tools we grade, and level with 7.
It stands best on features (A, above 38 of 40) and worst on free plan and trial (C, above 2).
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 41 automation tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Tines’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 10 of 40
- CFree plan and trialAbove 2 of 40
- AFeaturesAbove 38 of 40
- CEase of useAbove 3 of 40
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 10 of 40
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace Tines you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
What you could make
- Templates: an app builder makes this well.
What you could not
- Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
- The depth: we grade its features A, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Tines’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
n8n, Zapier, Microsoft Power Automate and Windmill
The 4 tools Tines is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.4GPA
n8n
Free plan · from €20/mo
Workflow automation and AI agents you can self-host.
- Tines also covers templates and AI agents.
- 2.6GPA
Zapier
Free plan · from $19.99/mo
Workflow automation across 9,000+ apps, with AI agents.
- Only Zapier lists a browser extension.
- Tines is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Tines also covers templates and AI agents.
- 2.8GPA
Microsoft Power Automate
Free plan · from $15/mo
Cloud workflows and desktop RPA in the Microsoft Power Platform.
- Only Microsoft Power Automate lists a Windows app.
- Tines is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Tines also covers AI agents.
- 2.6GPA
Windmill
Free plan · from $10/mo
Open-source platform for scripts, workflows and internal apps.
- Windmill is open source, according to its own site.
- Tines also covers templates.
- Windmill also covers app builder.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
14
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is Tines free?
Tines has a free plan. Explore edition of Tines 3B: unlimited users, spaces and connectors, 3 live workflows, 5,000 Tines units a month and a one-time $50 AI allowance.
How much does Tines cost?
Tines lists 4 plans. Explore: $0.
What platforms does Tines work on?
Tines is available on Web.
Does Tines offer any discounts?
Tines publicly lists the following: Startup Program for Tines Stories.
Does Tines have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. Tines is listed for Web.
Does Tines have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. Tines is listed for Web.
Is Tines open source?
Tines is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 5, 2026.
Can Tines be self-hosted?
Yes. Tines's own site says it can be run on a server of your own.
Does Tines have an API?
Yes. Tines offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Tines integrate with?
Tines's listing names Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, CrowdStrike, Okta, ServiceNow, GitHub and Splunk.
Who makes Tines?
Tines is made by a company of the same name. It dates from 2018.
What are the alternatives to Tines?
The closest alternatives to Tines in our directory are n8n, Zapier, Microsoft Power Automate and Windmill.
How does Tines compare with other automation tools?
Tines's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 24 of the 40 other automation tools we grade, and level with 7.
Could I make my own version of Tines?
To replace Tines you would be making connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Tines’s own pages on Oct 5, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Tines's own pages on 5 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-09-04.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Tines. Prices change, so check tines.com before you buy.
- tines.com
- tines.com/pricing/
- docs.3b.tines.com/en/articles/15872428-tines-3b-pricing-and-packaging-overview
- docs.3b.tines.com/en/articles/15871664-what-is-tines-3b
- tines.com/3b/
- tines.com/stories/
- tines.com/stories/storyboard/
- tines.com/stories/docs/quickstart/
- tines.com/get-started-with-tines-community-edition/
- tines.com/about/
- tines.com/blog/announcing-the-tines-startup-program/
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Tines, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/tines
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Tines: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 5, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/tines
Know someone choosing between automation tools?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/tines/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded automation tools after Tines, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Automation Insider's GuideEvery one of the 41 automation tools we grade, compared
- IFTTT Insider's GuideSimple trigger-and-action automations for apps and smart devices3.0 GPA
- Node-RED Insider's GuideOpen-source, flow-based programming tool for event-driven apps3.0 GPA
- Ui.Vision Insider's GuideOpen-source browser and desktop automation with computer vision3.0 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Tines’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Tines is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Tines. Prices and plans change: check tines.com before you buy.