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Automation Integration · head to head

Orkes vs Tines

Orkes logo

Orkes

Automation Integration

Commercial Conductor, now the maintainer of the workflow engine Netflix archived

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tines logo

Tines

Automation Integration

No-code automation for security teams

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Orkes netflix archived the Conductor repository in December 2023 and Orkes took over maintenance, so the large-company backing that justified many original adoptions no longer exists.; Tines no-code, UI-driven approach is restrictive for complex logic and version control integration with SDLC
  • They diverge on capability: Orkes covers JSON workflow definitions, Tines covers Story builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Orkes and Tines actually diverge.

Attributes where Orkes and Tines differ
AttributeOrkesTines
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, CloudWeb
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 Orkes

  • JSON workflow definitions
  • Polyglot workers
  • Visual workflow builder
  • AI and LLM tasks
  • Human tasks
  • Event handlers
  • RBAC and secrets
  • Hosted or self-hosted

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.

Orkes

  • A microservices estate that needs orchestration across services written in different languages without a shared SDKnot Tines
  • A team already running Conductor OSS that wants a supported distribution now that Netflix has stopped maintaining itnot Tines
  • An AI platform composing agent steps, model calls and vector lookups as versioned workflow definitionsnot Tines
  • A business process needing human approval steps interleaved with automated service callsnot Tines

Tines

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

Where each one falls short

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

Orkes

  • Netflix archived the Conductor repository in December 2023 and Orkes took over maintenance, so the large-company backing that justified many original adoptions no longer exists.
  • Enterprise pricing is entirely unpublished, and the only free option is explicitly a prototyping sandbox whose limits can change at any time, so there is no supported low-cost entry point.
  • Self-hosting Conductor OSS in production means operating the engine plus its persistence and indexing dependencies, typically Postgres or Cassandra with Elasticsearch, which is a substantial platform commitment.
  • JSON workflow definitions are language agnostic but verbose and awkward to test, and teams accustomed to defining workflows in code find them a step backwards in developer experience.
  • Orkes is a small company whose commercial future is tied to a single open source project it also maintains, which concentrates both vendor and project risk in the same place.

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

Orkes

Free
  • Developer EditionFree
    • All Conductor OSS features plus enterprise capabilities
    • Sandbox for prototyping only
    • Rate limits and resources may change without notice
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Availability SLA up to 99.99%
    • Orkes-hosted or customer-hosted deployment
    • Dedicated technical account manager

Tines

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Tines review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Orkes if

  • You need json workflow definitions.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want polyglot workers.
Orkes review

Choose Tines if

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

Questions people ask

Is Orkes or Tines better?
Neither clearly leads. Orkes 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, Orkes or Tines?
Orkes starts at Free and Tines at Free.
Does Orkes or Tines run on more platforms?
Orkes runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud. Tines runs on Web.
Can I use Orkes for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Orkes best used for?
Orkes is most often used for a microservices estate that needs orchestration across services written in different languages without a shared sdk, a team already running conductor oss that wants a supported distribution now that netflix has stopped maintaining it, an ai platform composing agent steps, model calls and vector lookups as versioned workflow definitions, a business process needing human approval steps interleaved with automated service calls. Of those, a microservices estate that needs orchestration across services written in different languages without a shared sdk and a team already running conductor oss that wants a supported distribution now that netflix has stopped maintaining it are not what Tines is typically brought in for.
What can Orkes do that Tines cannot?
Orkes covers JSON workflow definitions, Polyglot workers, Visual workflow builder, AI and LLM tasks. Tines covers Story builder, Drag-and-drop workflows, Event triggers, Incident response automation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Orkes: Does Netflix still maintain Conductor?

No. Netflix archived its repository in December 2023. The open source project continues at conductor-oss under Apache 2.0, maintained by Orkes.

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
Orkes: Is there a free production tier?

No. The Developer Edition is a sandbox that the vendor states is unsuitable for production. Self-hosting Conductor OSS is the free production route.

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
Orkes: What does Enterprise cost?

Nothing is published; it is quoted by deployment and support requirements.

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
Orkes: How does it compare with Temporal?

Conductor uses declarative JSON workflow definitions and external workers; Temporal defines workflows in code. Temporal has the larger community.

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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