Tines
Tines is a governed workspace where every team builds AI agents, apps, and automations while IT and security keep visibility and control.
Tines is worth the quote conversation if shadow AI-built tooling is a real risk in your org and nobody can currently answer "who built this and what does it touch?" The free edition is a real test drive: unlimited users, spaces, and connectors, three live workflows, and a one-time $50 AI allowance. In 2026 it also put named frontier models behind an AI gateway — Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5, plus GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna — so an AI strategy change doesn't force a rebuild. If your automations are two apps and a trigger, Zapier or Make is cheaper; if you need a giant out-of-the-box SOAR playbook library, look at a dedicated SOAR.
Verified 3d ago · liveness 88/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/tines
- Security teams running an AI SOC with analyst escalation
- IT teams governing MCP and AI client deployments
- Enterprises where finance, people, and ops build AI workflows and IT needs visibility
- Organizations consolidating point automation tools into one vendor-agnostic layer
- Teams that want a dedicated SOAR with a large library of pre-built playbooks out of the box
- Small teams whose automations are two apps and a trigger — Zapier or Make is cheaper
- Developers who prefer code-first orchestration over a visual workflow builder
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Skip Tines if your automations are two apps and a trigger — the free edition's three-workflow cap will arrive quickly and the paid edition is a sales-quoted enterprise commitment, not a self-serve subscription.
The Free edition's AI allowance is a one-time $50, so any agent-heavy build burns through it and then needs a paid plan before you can evaluate at scale
The free edition costs $0 and is a genuine test drive: unlimited users, spaces, and connectors, three live workflows, and a one-time $50 AI allowance. Paid editions are quoted by sales, so compare them against a per-task tool like Zapier or Make only once the quote is in hand — Tines sells governance and auditability, which those tools do not price at all. The Startup Program offers a discounted Stories tenant excluding services companies.
In short
Tines — Tines is a governed workspace where every team builds AI agents, apps, and automations while IT and security keep visibility and control. Best for Security teams running an AI SOC with analyst escalation, IT teams governing MCP and AI client deployments, Enterprises where finance, people, and ops build AI workflows and IT needs visibility. Free to use.
No head-to-head comparison for Tines yet — the alternatives below are the closest matches we list.
What's new in Tines
Checked 3 days agoAcross the latest 5 updates: 5 feature updates.
Tines 43.7.0: Claude Sonnet 5.5, Records via MCP, SSO group restrictions, Records API v2
Create, update, and delete Records via the Tines MCP, Claude Sonnet 5.5 is now in Tines, apps can be restricted to specific SSO groups, and Records API v2 reads with fewer calls.
Tines 43.6.0: download all files in a case block, Records via MCP, 3B workflows as case actions
Adds bulk file download in case blocks, discover/read/search of Records via the Tines MCP server, and the ability to add Tines 3B workflows as case actions in Cases.
Tines 43.5.0: GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna, Claude Opus 5.5, self-hosted database overview
Introduces GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna, brings Claude Opus 5.5 into Tines, and adds a self-hosted database overview page.
Tines 43.4.0: new dimensions in the AI usage API, markdown conversion functions
Adds new dimensions to the AI usage API, new functions for converting content to markdown, and keeps cases and dashboards up to date in background tabs.
Tines 43.3.0: case change control, formula support for case details, storyboard case creation
Cases can be tracked with change control in the storyboard, case details support formulas, and cases can be created visually from the storyboard.
What people actually say about Tines — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
17 mentions across 4 sources (Hacker News, YouTube, Product Hunt, Lemmy), 62 more we could not attribute · researched Oct 13, 2026.
Weighted by the 79 posts each of 4 sources contributed.
- +Balances no-code simplicity with real technical depth — handles loops and complex logic without spaghetti
- +Story Copilot lets non-technical users prompt their way into working workflows in minutes
- +Governed workspace keeps IT and security in the loop without blocking builders
- +Human-in-the-loop routing for AI agents addresses the biggest security team objection
- +Free edition covers unlimited users and spaces, making team evaluation genuinely free
- −Paid pricing is quote-only, so there's no way to self-qualify budget without a sales call
- −Free tier's three live workflows and $50 AI allowance run out fast for serious testing
- −Most glowing reviews come from launch-day contexts, not months of production use
- −No public reliability data or uptime post-mortems to validate enterprise-scale claims
- −Learning curve is real — 'intermediate' skill level is accurate despite no-code framing
- • AI allowance consumes real LLM API costs in production once the $50 free credit is gone
- • Self-hosted deployment and LDAP configuration likely land in higher enterprise tiers
- • Case management features are gated behind paid editions, so free tier can't evaluate the full workflow story
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is Tines? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: October 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Visual Storyboard no-code builder for deterministic Stories
- Workbench copilot turns plain language into working workflows
- Agents for AI-driven tasks with human-in-the-loop routing
- AI gateway to govern MCP and AI client deployments
- Bring your own AI model and switch providers as strategy changes
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Opus 5.5 available in-platform (43.7.0, 43.5.0)
- GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna available in-platform (43.5.0)
- Cases with change control tracked in the Storyboard (43.3.0)
- Create cases visually from the Storyboard (43.3.0)
- Formula support for case details (43.3.0)
- Case priority labels on the case list (43.2.0)
- Case field updates via the API (43.2.0)
- Case tools in the Tines MCP server (43.2.0)
- Configurable audit log retention periods (43.2.0)
- Manage agent skills programmatically through the API (43.1.0)
About Tines
Tines is a no-code automation and AI agent platform that doubles as a governance layer for everything your departments build. The 3B release pitches a familiar problem: finance building dashboards in Claude Code, marketing shipping an app on a personal Vercel account, an API key committed to GitHub. Tines gives those builders a sanctioned workspace and gives IT the answer to "what exists, who built it, and what does it touch?" Builders work from three primitives. Stories are deterministic workflows laid out on a visual Storyboard. Agents handle AI-driven tasks with human-in-the-loop routing when a decision needs a person. Cases add structured tracking, and the 43.x series shipped fast: change control for cases in the Storyboard, formula support for case details, priority labels, case field updates via the API, case tools in the Tines MCP server, and a Workbench copilot for Cases. Apps let teams build request portals and dashboards; Records and dashboards were extended in 43.6.0 and 43.7.0. The model layer is deliberately flexible. The October 2026 releases added Claude Sonnet 5.5, Claude Opus 5.5, and GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna, alongside bring-your-own-model support and an AI gateway that governs MCP and AI client deployments. Self-hosted deployments get an LDAP configuration UI, configurable audit log retention, and an OCI-based image registry. Named customers include Coinbase, Databricks, Reddit, Snowflake, Dropbox, Pinterest, MongoDB, Sophos, Canva, and McKesson. Against Zapier and Make, Tines competes on governance and auditability rather than price per task.
Behind the Verdict
Tines has repositioned from "no-code SOAR that security teams love" to "the secure environment for AI agents, apps, and automation" — branded Tines 3B on the homepage. The read is correct for the moment: when every department can prompt its way into a working tool, the scarce resource isn't building, it's knowing what got built and what it can reach. Strengths. The governance surface is unusually complete for a no-code tool. The AI gateway governs MCP and AI client deployments, so you decide where, when, and which LLMs get used. Bring-your-own-model plus provider switching means you aren't re-platformed when your AI committee changes its mind. Audit log retention is configurable (43.2.0), and self-hosted customers get an LDAP configuration UI (42.6.0). The Cases line shipped hard through 43.x: change control in the Storyboard (43.3.0), formula support for case details (43.3.0), priority labels and case field updates via the API (43.2.0), and case tools inside the Tines MCP server (43.2.0). Model coverage is explicit and current — Claude Sonnet 5.5 (43.7.0), Claude Opus 5.5 and GPT-6 Astra, Sol and Luna (43.5.0) — which is more than most competitors publish. Records API v2 (43.7.0) and AI usage API dimensions (43.4.0) give the data and cost plumbing real ops teams ask for. Where it stings. The free edition is an evaluation tier — three live workflows and a one-time $50 AI allowance — and the paid edition is quoted by sales, so budget planning requires a conversation rather than a list price. Self-host operators carry real maintenance: PostgreSQL 14 hits end of life on November 12, 2026 (migrate to 18), and the Tines registry and Docker Hub decommissioning means new images move to oci.tines.com from January 15, 2027, with old registries cut off March 1, 2027. If your team is code-first, the visual Storyboard will feel like a leash; if your team wants a SOAR with hundreds of pre-built playbooks, Tines gives you a Library and templates rather than a finished catalog. Where it fits. Security teams running an AI SOC (alert intake, triage, remediation, analyst escalation), IT teams governing MCP and AI clients, and enterprises where finance, people, and ops build their own workflows and IT needs visibility without becoming a bottleneck. Named customers — Coinbase, Databricks, Reddit, Snowflake, Dropbox, Pinterest, MongoDB, Sophos, Canva, McKesson — skew large and regulated, and the pricing model reflects that. Small teams should try the free edition first and only talk to sales when the third live workflow becomes the thing stopping them.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Tines actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You wire CrowdStrike alerts into a Story that enriches detection data, opens a Case, and routes to an analyst when the model's confidence is low. The AI gateway pins which model handles triage, so a provider change does not touch the playbook.
Outcome: Analysts see a prioritized case list with change control on every edit, and you can show auditors exactly which automated actions touched which systems.
Departments ask for Claude Code and MCP clients. You register each deployment behind the AI gateway and use SSO group restrictions (43.7.0) to decide who can build what. An access-request portal is built in Apps.
Outcome: Teams self-serve without shadow tooling, and you hold a single view of AI clients plus configurable audit log retention for review.
You point the Workbench copilot at a request intake problem, then track every request as a Case with priority labels and formula-driven details. A dashboard fed by email and internal tooling shows what is open.
Outcome: Requests stop living in inboxes, and each one carries an audit trail plus an owner without engineering help.
Use Cases
- Automate incident response by enriching CrowdStrike alerts and creating tickets for an analyst to review
- Route password resets through Okta and Slack with AI-assisted identity verification from Workbench
- Sync user provisioning across multiple SaaS tools when an employee joins or leaves
- Enrich threat intelligence from VirusTotal and URLScan.io into tracked cases
- Trigger vulnerability management workflows from Tenable scans and create the follow-up tickets
- Build a custom access-request approval portal with Apps
- Give finance a request dashboard fed by email and internal tooling
- Run hiring end to end, from finance approval through to offer, as a tracked case
Models Under the Hood
as of 2026-10-16
Limitations
- The Free edition is capped at 3 live workflows and a one-time $50 AI allowance, so it is an evaluation tier rather than a production one.
- Paid editions lift the workflow limit to unlimited and add flexible deployment options and bring-your-own-model, but the pricing page quotes them through sales.
- Self-hosted operators carry real upgrade work: PostgreSQL 14 reaches end of life on November 12, 2026 (migrate to 18), and new Tines images move to oci.tines.com from January 15, 2027, with registry.tines.com and Docker Hub access ending March 1, 2027.
- The visual Storyboard is the primary builder, which will frustrate code-first teams.
- Specific model availability is not fixed: Tines lets you choose and switch LLM providers.
as of 2026-10-19
Verification history
We have re-verified Tines 22 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Showing the 6 most recent of 22 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published Tines tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free edition
$0/mo
Ideal for
A security or IT team that wants to prove a governed workflow on real data before asking for enterprise budget
What this tier adds
Starting tier: unlimited users, spaces, and connectors, but only 3 live workflows and a one-time $50 AI allowance
Paid edition
Custom
Ideal for
Enterprises running governed automation across security, IT, finance, and people with audit and self-hosting requirements
What this tier adds
Adds unlimited workflows, flexible deployment options, and bring-your-own AI model; pricing is quoted by the sales team
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Tines's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
The free edition costs $0 and is a genuine test drive: unlimited users, spaces, and connectors, three live workflows, and a one-time $50 AI allowance. Paid editions are quoted by sales, so compare them against a per-task tool like Zapier or Make only once the quote is in hand — Tines sells governance and auditability, which those tools do not price at all. The Startup Program offers a discounted Stories tenant excluding services companies.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Tines — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Free-edition signup is immediate and the Storyboard plus templates Library gets a first live Story running in under an hour. Security teams wiring CrowdStrike or Splunk should budget a day for credentials and case design. Self-hosted installs take longer: registry, PostgreSQL, and LDAP configuration add a real infrastructure task before the first workflow runs.
Switching to or from Tines
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From Zapier or Make: rebuild the highest-value multi-step Zaps as Stories on the Storyboard, then use the AI gateway to add model steps those tools could not govern
- →From a legacy SOAR: import existing playbook logic as Stories and move alert tracking into Cases with change control in the Storyboard
- →From ad-hoc scripts and personal accounts: consolidate into Tines Apps and Stories so IT regains visibility of what each department built
- →From a self-managed deployment: follow the release notes compatibility path and move images to oci.tines.com before March 1, 2027
- ↗To Zapier or Make: keep the simplest two-app triggers there and leave governed, multi-step work in Tines
- ↗To a code-first orchestrator: export Story logic and re-implement, accepting you lose the built-in audit trail and case management
Integrations
Resources & Guides
- Documentationtines.com
Quickstart | Docs
Get to know the features and concepts of Tines, in detail.
- Resourcetines.com
Learn how to build with Tines University
Build your Tines skills through learning paths designed for every experience level. Earn professional badges you can share on LinkedIn and across your network.
- Resourcetines.com
Tines Blog
Update from Tines; the smart, secure workflow builder for your whole team.
- Resourcetines.com
Tines Bootcamp Series
Build and orchestrate intelligent workflows and agents, on the platform security and IT teams love.
- API Referencetines.com
Welcome | API
Browse the capabilities and endpoints of our comprehensive REST API.
- Resourcetines.com
What’s New
Real product velocity. See what we’ve shipped—this week and every week at Tines, the intelligent workflow platform.
- Resourcetines.com
Release notes | Docs
Get to know the features and concepts of Tines, in detail.
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “Tines”, and we withheld 6: 6 could not be judged, because “Tines” is a single word that other videos use for other things. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about Tines.
Official links
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