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Automation Integration · head to head

Nango vs Tines

Nango logo

Nango

Automation Integration

Open source unified API and OAuth infrastructure for product integrations, licensed under Elastic License 2.0

From
Free
Rated
-
Tines logo

Tines

Automation Integration

No-code automation for security teams

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Nango the licence is Elastic License 2.0, which is source available rather than OSI open source, and it forbids offering Nango to third parties as a managed service, so anyone planning to resell or embed it in a platform for their own customers has a genuine legal problem.; Tines no-code, UI-driven approach is restrictive for complex logic and version control integration with SDLC
  • They diverge on capability: Nango covers Managed OAuth, Tines covers Story builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nango and Tines actually diverge.

Attributes where Nango and Tines differ
AttributeNangoTines
Pricing modelPer connection per monthUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Linux, DockerWeb
FoundedUnknown2018

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Automation Integration).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Nango

  • Managed OAuth
  • Pre-built integrations
  • Custom syncs and actions
  • Incremental sync
  • Rate limit and retry handling
  • Webhooks
  • Self-hosting
  • Unified models

Only in Tines

  • Story builder
  • Drag-and-drop workflows
  • Event triggers
  • Incident response automation
  • Threat intelligence
  • Case management
  • Alert triage
  • Slack

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Nango

  • A SaaS product that needs to ship twenty customer-facing integrations without hiring a team to maintain OAuth and token refresh for eachnot Tines
  • A team that needs a niche or internal API integrated, which closed unified API vendors will not build for themnot Tines
  • A company with data residency or security constraints that must self-host the integration layer rather than send customer tokens to a vendornot Tines
  • An engineering team replacing a homegrown integration service whose main cost is silent token expiry and rate limit failures in productionnot Tines

Tines

  • Workflow Automationnot Nango
  • Data Integrationnot Nango
  • Process Automationnot Nango
  • App Integrationnot Nango
  • API Connectivitynot Nango

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Nango

  • The licence is Elastic License 2.0, which is source available rather than OSI open source, and it forbids offering Nango to third parties as a managed service, so anyone planning to resell or embed it in a platform for their own customers has a genuine legal problem.
  • Pricing is per connection where a connection is one authorised end-user account, so cost scales linearly with your customer base and a product where each user links several services multiplies quickly beyond what a headline plan price suggests.
  • Pre-built integrations vary in depth, and a connection that exists is not the same as a connection that covers the endpoints and objects your feature needs, so each one must be verified before it is designed into a roadmap.
  • Custom syncs are written in TypeScript and run in Nango model, which means integration logic lives in a vendor runtime and migrating away later requires rewriting it rather than lifting it out.
  • Self-hosting removes the vendor from the data path but transfers operational responsibility for a component that holds customer OAuth tokens, and few teams appreciate the security burden that comes with running that themselves.

Tines

  • No-code, UI-driven approach is restrictive for complex logic and version control integration with SDLC
  • No native log intelligence layer to validate data completeness
  • Limited scope to security workloads, cannot handle general business automation
  • Governance features lag behind EU AI Act compliance requirements

Pricing, plan by plan

Nango

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 10 connections
    • Pre-built integrations
    • Managed OAuth
  • Starter$50/month
    • 20 connections included
    • 1 USD per additional connection
    • Custom syncs and actions
  • Growth$500/month
    • 100 connections included
    • 1 USD per additional connection
    • Higher limits
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Quoted
    • Custom connection volumes
    • Security review and SLA

Tines

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Tines review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Nango if

  • You need managed oauth.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker.
  • You also want pre-built integrations.

Choose Tines if

  • You need story builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want drag-and-drop workflows.

Questions people ask

Is Nango or Tines better?
Neither clearly leads. Nango starts at Free and Tines at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nango or Tines?
Nango starts at Free and Tines at Free.
Does Nango or Tines run on more platforms?
Nango runs on Web, Linux, Docker. Tines runs on Web.
Can I use Nango for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Nango best used for?
Nango is most often used for a saas product that needs to ship twenty customer-facing integrations without hiring a team to maintain oauth and token refresh for each, a team that needs a niche or internal api integrated, which closed unified api vendors will not build for them, a company with data residency or security constraints that must self-host the integration layer rather than send customer tokens to a vendor, an engineering team replacing a homegrown integration service whose main cost is silent token expiry and rate limit failures in production. Of those, a saas product that needs to ship twenty customer-facing integrations without hiring a team to maintain oauth and token refresh for each and a team that needs a niche or internal api integrated, which closed unified api vendors will not build for them are not what Tines is typically brought in for.
What can Nango do that Tines cannot?
Nango covers Managed OAuth, Pre-built integrations, Custom syncs and actions, Incremental sync. Tines covers Story builder, Drag-and-drop workflows, Event triggers, Incident response automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Nango: Is Nango open source?

It is source available under Elastic License 2.0. You can read, modify and self-host it, but you cannot offer it to third parties as a managed service. That is not the same as an OSI approved open source licence.

Tines: What are Tines' pricing tiers?

Tines offers a free Community Edition for evaluation, Starter Edition at $500/month with annual billing, and Business/Enterprise tiers starting around $50,000/year for small security teams and scaling to $200,000+ for large SOCs.

Source
Nango: How is it priced?

Per connection per month, where a connection is one authorised end-user account. Free to 10 connections, 50 dollars a month for Starter with 20, 500 for Growth with 100, and one dollar per additional connection.

Tines: What is the Community Edition limited to?

As of July 2026, the free Community Edition is scoped to 1 builder and 3 flows as an evaluation tool to test Tines' capabilities.

Source
Nango: Can we integrate an API Nango does not support?

Yes. Custom syncs and actions in TypeScript cover any API including internal ones, which is the main advantage over closed unified API products.

Tines: Is Tines limited to security automation?

Yes, Tines is purpose-built for security automation. Teams needing non-security automation on the same orchestration layer would need to evaluate alternatives.

Source
Nango: Can we self-host it?

Yes, under the Elastic License 2.0 terms, which permit self-hosting for your own use but not resale as a service.

Tines: Does Tines have native log intelligence capabilities?

No, Tines lacks a native log intelligence layer, meaning it cannot determine whether the data feeding your detection tools is complete. Teams must build automation against whatever alerts their existing infrastructure provides.

Source
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