Best Tines alternatives in 2026

Best Tines alternatives for AI-native security teams

Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) platforms connect security tools and automate work such as alert triage, enrichment, and response. Tines Stories remains its visual workflow product for security and IT. Tines also offers 3B, a code-first environment for apps, agents, and automations outside security, including sales, marketing, and finance. The table below compares ten alternatives across capabilities, licensing, and deployment.

Team fit is an assessment of intended audience based on product scope, not evidence of existing customers.

This article compares ten Tines alternatives in three groups: agentic security platforms, enterprise SOAR, and open source and general automation. We evaluated each platform on its agent model, cases and tables, Git and automation-as-code, deployment model, source license, and pricing transparency.

Why security teams look for Tines alternatives

Tines Stories remains a visual workflow builder for security and IT operations, and Tines says it continues to invest in it. But Tines calls 3B its next generation, expanding the company's product direction to code-first apps, agents, and automations outside security. For example, Tines highlights sales forecast dashboards, brand asset repositories, and finance workflows built with 3B. For a team buying its next security automation platform, that cross-department direction is a poor substitute for a product centered on alert queues, shared cases, and incident response. Compare what Stories already provides with the security work your team would build and validate in 3B.

3B addresses what Tines calls "wild code" across departments. Tines also published a prompt-built AI security operations center (SOC) example with mock data, seeded alerts, and a red-team simulation. That shows prototype speed, not production alert throughput. 3B steps can use Python, TypeScript, shell, or agent templates, and each runs in an isolated container. Security teams still need to validate generated transformations, I/O, parallelism, retries, and queue latency under their alert load. Tracecat integrates durable workflows, agents, and cases for modern agent-driven security operations. For a performance decision, ask both vendors to show sustained throughput, end-to-end latency, backlog drain, and recovery under the same representative workload.

The differences below matter too.

• Cases and AI credits are sold as separate add-ons. Tines' documentation says "Cases are an add-on feature for paid plans." Records and dashboards come with that purchase.
• No native Git sync from the platform. Tines Stories has no native Git sync from the platform. Storing stories in Git means adopting a Terraform provider that Tines labels Enterprise.
• Agents are metered by credits. Tines meters its Stories agent action by credits. Agents in 3B are general-purpose.
• Full self-hosting means the control plane, not only runners. Tines limits Stories self-hosting to its Business and Enterprise editions. Tines' only air-gapped installation guide is for the single-server 3B install. Several vendors covered below host the control plane themselves and offer private runners for execution. Teams with data residency or air-gapped requirements need to know which one they are getting.

How we evaluated these alternatives

• Agent model. Whether the platform ships an agent builder, how agents get tools and skills, and whether one agent definition works across workflows, cases, and chat or is scoped to a single workflow.
• Cases and tables. Whether case management and structured tables ship with the platform and in what edition. Whether agents can read case context and table rows during an investigation.
• Git and automation-as-code. Whether workflows, agents, and case configuration sync to a repository the customer owns, in both directions, and whether custom integrations come from code.
• Deployment. Whether the customer can run the full control plane or only execution runners. What deployment targets are documented, and whether air-gapped deployment is documented.
• Open source. Whether the code is available under an OSI-approved license, source-available under a restricted license, or closed.
• Pricing transparency. Whether prices are public, what the free tier includes, and whether workflows, cases, or tables are metered or sold separately.

Agentic security platforms

1. Tracecat: agentic automation platform for security teams

Tracecat is the agentic automation platform for security teams. Agents, workflows, cases, tables, 500+ integrations, and 50+ hosted MCP servers ship in one platform that teams use as a SOAR replacement.

• Agents that work your cases. A Tracecat agent is a reusable preset with versioned skills, tools, and MCP servers. The same preset runs in workflows, chat, and cases. Tines, by comparison, meters its Stories agent action by credits.
• Driven from your coding assistant. Tracecat MCP exposes more than 100 tools. Your team drives the entire platform through prompts in Claude Code or ChatGPT Codex. Tines Stories MCP focuses on Story authoring and also supports Cases and Records. Its documented scope is narrower than Tracecat MCP's tools for workflows, agents, cases, tables, and integrations.
• Automation as code. Tracecat Enterprise syncs workflows, agent presets, skills, table schemas, and case configuration with a repository your team owns. Tines Stories has no native Git sync from the platform.
• Custom registry. Integrations are Python packages or YAML templates in your own Git repository, pinned to a commit with promote and rollback. Tines runs Python inside a Run Script action with a 110 second maximum.
• Durable execution. Every workflow and agent run is persisted step by step on Temporal, with mixed queues and KEDA autoscaling. Tines Stories is a Rails application that queues tasks in Redis for Sidekiq workers.
• Self-hosted, air-gapped, or Cloud. The air-gapped deployment guide covers production Kubernetes, and every Tracecat feature works air-gapped. Tines' only air-gapped guide is for the single-server 3B install.
• Case management included. Open source includes cases, plus SSO, built-in roles, and audit logs. Enterprise adds multi-tenant workspaces, SCIM, and a forward deployed security engineer. Tines sells Cases as an add-on. For a row-by-row comparison, see Tracecat vs Tines.

Best for: Enterprise and AI-native security teams that want to build their own security agents, workflows, and custom cases at production scale, with automation as code in a Git repository they own, in the cloud or on-prem, including air-gapped.

2. Torq: out-of-the-box AI SOC operated by the vendor

Torq positions itself as an AI SOC platform. Multi-agent investigation, case handling, and response are built inside the product, with native case management that runs from investigation through remediation. Self-hosted Step Runners on Docker, Kubernetes, or Podman keep private-step execution inside your network. In our assessment, Torq is an opinionated, out-of-the-box AI SOC for teams that want to adopt the vendor's way of running investigation, cases, and response.

The tradeoff is ownership. Torq is less suited to engineering-minded teams that want to build their own security agents, workflows, and custom cases. The control plane, automation logic, and agent definitions stay inside Torq. Runners can self-host, but no customer-hosted control plane is documented. There is no verified model for customer-owned Git, and pricing is not public.

Best for: Teams that want an out-of-the-box AI SOC operated by the vendor, with self-hosted runners for private execution.

Enterprise SOAR

3. Swimlane: low-code security automation

Swimlane Turbine is a low-code security automation platform with integrated case management. Hero AI adds a companion, an agent builder for custom expert agents, and AI SOC workflows inside Turbine. Deployment is cloud or on-premises. That makes Swimlane one of the few commercial vendors here that will run the full platform in a customer data center.

Swimlane documents a Git integration for versioning low-code components. The logic stays in Swimlane's format rather than in code. Pricing is not public.

Best for: Enterprise SOCs standardized on low-code playbooks that want on-premises deployment from a commercial vendor.

4. Cortex XSOAR: content packs and the AgentiX upgrade path

Cortex XSOAR is the established enterprise SOAR from Palo Alto Networks. It offers a large content pack library, Python and JavaScript automations, integrated incident management, and remote content repositories in Git for dev and prod setups. Deployment is cloud or on-premises.

Palo Alto now positions Cortex AgentiX as the successor to XSOAR, with system and custom agents delivered through AgentiX. The upgrade path, the proprietary format, and pricing all run through Palo Alto Networks sales. For a SOC that has already standardized on the Cortex portfolio that is convenient. For anyone else it means buying into the Palo Alto Networks portfolio.

Best for: Large SOCs already standardized on Palo Alto Networks that want the content pack library and the AgentiX upgrade path.

5. Google Security Operations: SIEM and SOAR from Google

Google Security Operations bundles SIEM, threat intelligence, cases, and response automation on a Google-managed platform. Gemini assists analysts. Google's Triage and Investigation Agent investigates alerts automatically or on demand and adds findings to cases, using Google-provided tools rather than customer-defined skills. A managed remote MCP server and a pre-GA Detection Engineering Agent extend access. Case management supports alert grouping, queues, tasks, collaboration, and audit history. Playbooks are visual with reusable blocks, plus a Python IDE for custom integrations. Google documents built-in versioning, export, and rollback.

The control plane runs on Google Cloud. Remote Agents execute integrations and jobs near private systems, but they provide private-network execution rather than control-plane ownership. No customer-defined agent builder or skills registry appears in the reviewed materials. GitSync pushes and pulls playbooks, integrations, and case settings, but its jobs commit directly and do not open pull requests. Packages are priced by ingestion volume through sales.

Best for: Enterprises already on Google Security Operations or Google Cloud that want SIEM, cases, and response automation from one Google-managed platform.

6. Splunk SOAR: orchestration for the Splunk ecosystem

Splunk SOAR, formerly Phantom, provides the Visual Playbook Editor, Python playbooks, Git repositories for source control, and integrated case management. It deploys in the cloud, on-premises, or hybrid. For Splunk Enterprise Security customers it is the natural way to add orchestration and cases from the vendor they already run.

There is no standalone agent builder. AI features come from the broader Splunk security platform, which is built to pair with Splunk as your SIEM. Pricing runs through Splunk sales.

Best for: Splunk Enterprise Security customers that want orchestration and cases from the vendor they already run.

7. BlinkOps: no-code agentic security operations

BlinkOps combines a no-code agent builder with workflows and cases from one hosted vendor. Teams can assemble reusable and custom micro-agents, use the Analyst Copilot, and put approval gates in front of sensitive steps. Cases come with tables and dashboards. Runners deploy in the cloud or self-hosted in Docker or Kubernetes for private-network execution.

Like Torq, BlinkOps hosts the control plane itself. There is no public pricing and no verified model for customer-owned Git. The no-code definitions live inside the platform.

Best for: Teams that only want a no-code builder and accept automation that stays inside a vendor-hosted platform.

Open source and general automation

8. n8n: source-available workflow automation

n8n is a visual, node-based workflow automation tool that teams often describe as a self-hosted Zapier. Its agents are general-purpose: AI agent nodes inside workflows and a standalone Agent Builder in preview since September 2026. The platform self-hosts or runs on n8n Cloud. Security work fits when it is one workload among many: an alert arrives from a ticketing tool, gets enriched by an API, and lands in Slack.

Without native security case management, cases live in another tool that your team integrates and maintains. The code is source-available under the Sustainable Use License rather than an OSI-approved open source license. Git source control is a feature of qualifying paid plans. The Tracecat vs n8n comparison covers the differences in detail.

Best for: Teams automating across departments where security is one workload among many and cases live elsewhere.

9. Shuffle: legacy open source visual SOAR

Shuffle is an open source visual SOAR with an AGPL-3.0 backend and MIT-licensed apps, workflows, and App SDK. Apps come from OpenAPI specs or Python. It self-hosts on Docker Compose, scales through Docker Swarm or Kubernetes, and also runs as Shuffle Cloud with a hybrid mode. An AI Agent action arrived in 2025 and lets agents call Shuffle apps as MCP tools with action approvals.

The architecture predates agents. Every execution starts a Worker container, and every app action spawns another Docker container. Shuffle's own sizing example is 110 containers per second at ten concurrent workflows. Scaling needs Docker Swarm or Kubernetes plus Memcached. The scale-optimized worker image is paid. In our assessment, this is slow and hard to operate at volume. Shuffle Core is a no-code visual workflow builder with no case management of its own. Cases live in another tool. Shuffle Security is a separate beta repository with 11 stars. Workflows back up to GitHub one way, with no two-way sync from a repository you own. The open source edition is free, and Cloud plans are priced by app runs, with Business and Enterprise through sales.

Best for: Teams that need a free visual SOAR and accept maintaining a pre-agent platform themselves.

10. DFIR-IRIS: open source incident response case management

DFIR-IRIS is a free, LGPL-3.0 case and evidence system for incident response. Cases hold assets, IOCs, a timeline, evidence, notes, tasks, and alerts, with real-time war rooms for collaboration. Python modules extend the core through pipeline and processor hooks, and a REST API with a Python client supports integration. It self-hosts on Docker Compose, with Helm and Kustomize starting points for Kubernetes.

DFIR-IRIS is not a SOAR. There is no workflow engine and no agent feature in the documentation. Modules run as asynchronous RabbitMQ jobs, and you build the automation glue around it. There is no commercial edition or hosted plan.

Best for: Teams that want a free, self-hosted case and evidence system and already run automation elsewhere.

Tines alternatives at a glance

Choosing the right Tines alternative

For AI-driven incident response

Choose Tracecat. A Tracecat agent is a reusable preset with versioned skills, tools, and MCP servers. The same preset runs in workflows, chat, and cases. You set each tool to run automatically or to wait for a person's approval. Every workflow and agent run is persisted step by step. Work that is already scheduled survives bursts, crashes, and restarts, then resumes where it stopped. Tracecat Enterprise syncs workflows, agent presets, and skills to a Git repository your team owns. If your team prefers an out-of-the-box AI SOC with built-in agents over building its own, Torq is the hosted alternative.

For full self-hosting

Choose Tracecat if you need to run the entire control plane, not only execution runners. Tracecat is built on-prem first, with the same features and architecture in every deployment. The open source edition self-hosts on Docker Compose or AWS Fargate. Enterprise adds a Kubernetes Helm chart, KEDA autoscaling, and Git sync to a repository your team owns. Every Tracecat feature works air-gapped. The air-gapped deployment guide covers production Kubernetes with no runtime internet access. Tracecat runs on-prem and air-gapped at commercial and federal organizations. Among the proprietary options, Swimlane documents on-premises deployment. Torq, Google Security Operations, and BlinkOps keep the control plane with the vendor and offer runners or Remote Agents for private execution.

For MSSPs

Choose Tracecat Enterprise. Multi-tenant workspaces separate clients, teams, and environments with their own access and operations. Workspace Git sync keeps each tenant's workflows, agent presets, skills, table schemas, and case configuration under review in a repository your team owns. Custom roles, scopes, service accounts, and SCIM add the access controls an MSSP needs. Tracecat has all-in-one enterprise pricing. Agents, workflows, tables, cases, and security features are built and priced as one coherent agentic product.

For open source

Tracecat, DFIR-IRIS, and Shuffle are open source under OSI-approved licenses. n8n is source-available under the Sustainable Use License. Tracecat is the only one of the three with agents, workflows, and cases in one platform. The free edition has unlimited workflows, agents, and cases, plus SSO, built-in roles, and organization audit logs. Tracecat Enterprise syncs workflows, agent presets, skills, table schemas, and case configuration to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket, in a repository your team owns. DFIR-IRIS covers cases without automation. Shuffle Core has no case management. It pairs a container-per-action engine with one-way GitHub backup. The open source SOAR ranking compares them in depth.

For teams already on Tines Stories

Stories still runs. Tines says it will keep investing in it. The question is where your automation goes next. Tines' next product is a general-purpose app builder for every team. If your team wants a platform purpose-built for security operations, read Tines vs Tracecat. To move a story over, export its file and have Claude Code or ChatGPT Codex rebuild the logic as Tracecat workflows, skills, and agent presets through Tracecat MCP.