SparkGPT vs Alhena AI (2026): Same 24 Hour Attribution Window, Different Bill

What Alhena does well

Alhena deserves a fair hearing, because it does a lot.

It is an omnichannel platform. Alhena says its AI works across web chat, email, social DMs including Instagram and WhatsApp, SMS and phone lines through Voice AI. It integrates with the helpdesks that larger stores already run, including Zendesk, Gorgias, Freshdesk and Intercom, and with Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and Salesforce Commerce Cloud.

It has a serious customer list. Its site names brands such as Tatcha, Victoria Beckham, Puffy and Dryrobe, and reports results such as 11.4% of Tatcha's site revenue influenced by the assistant. Those figures are self reported and use the word "influenced," so treat them as case studies, not audited results. Still, few tools in this category can show brands of that size.

It takes measurement seriously. Alhena publishes a detailed attribution method and offers a separate experiments layer with holdout tests and A/B splits, which is the right way to prove causation rather than correlation.

It does not charge for failure. Alhena's billing rules say failed answers, greetings, spam, immediate handoffs to a human, testing in its Playground and conversations already handled by staff cost zero credits.

And it now sells a second product that SparkGPT does not: AI Visibility, which tracks how your products appear in ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI answer engines.

If you need one AI layer across every channel your support team touches, Alhena is a strong candidate and you should evaluate it.

Alhena pricing as of October 2026

Alhena published its prices this year. The table shows monthly list prices and the annual equivalent shown on alhena.ai/pricing on October 11, 2026.

On the Shopify App Store the $239 plan appears under the name Pro, at the same price and the same 200 conversations. Paid plans also include AI Visibility allowances, such as 25 tracked AI questions on Essentials.

Four rules decide what you actually pay.

A conversation is a 30 minute window. Alhena's billing article says one credit equals one billable conversation window. On web chat, WhatsApp and Instagram, the first useful AI reply opens a 30 minute window, and follow ups inside it are free. On email, the whole ticket thread counts as one.

Only useful answers are billed. A credit is used when the AI resolves or assists an interaction. Failed answers and handoffs do not count. This is a fairer meter than per message billing.

You are never cut off. Alhena's pricing FAQ says that when credits run out "You're never cut off," and each extra conversation costs one overage credit at $1.20. You can set alerts, and credits reset each billing cycle without rolling over. That protects the shopper experience during a rush, but your bill grows with traffic.

Visibility actions share the meter. The FAQ says AI Visibility optimization actions cost 3 to 5 overage credits each once your allowance is used.

SparkGPT pricing

Growth runs on prepaid credits, where 1 credit equals $1. If the balance runs out, the agent pauses instead of billing you more. That is the opposite tradeoff to Alhena: you cannot get a surprise invoice, but you should keep an eye on the balance before a big sale.

Same window, different job

This is the part most comparisons miss. Alhena's attribution article says revenue is attributed only if the purchase happens "within 24 hours of the most recent qualifying Alhena touchpoint." SparkGPT's rule, published on our pricing page, FAQ and llms.txt, is the same length: a purchase within 24 hours of a chat is attributed to the agent and listed in the ROI dashboard.

So neither company has a looser window than the other. Two real differences remain.

What counts as a touch. Alhena's rule is stricter in one way: a conversation qualifies only if the AI found an answer. SparkGPT tags the session when the visitor chats with the agent. We say that plainly because our rule decides your bill, which is why every attributed order is listed one by one so you can check it.

What the number does. On Alhena, attributed revenue is a report. Your bill is set by conversations, whether those chats led to $0 or $50,000 in orders. On SparkGPT, attributed revenue is the invoice. If the dashboard shows no attributed orders, you pay the $2.99 base. That gives us a reason not to inflate the number, and it gives you one figure to audit instead of two.

If you are comparing attribution claims from any vendor, our guide on how to measure chatbot attributed revenue lists the five rules that move the number most.

The math, including where Alhena wins

The useful question is when each bill is lower. SparkGPT costs less whenever the month's attributed sales stay below the Alhena bill minus $2.99, divided by 0.05.

Three scenarios show how that plays out.

A new store testing AI. Alhena's free plan gives 25 conversations a month. SparkGPT's free plan lets you build and test an agent with no credit card, but it cannot go live until you choose Growth. If 25 live conversations are enough to learn from, Alhena's free tier is the better starting point.

A busy month that sells well. Say the agent handles 1,000 conversations and is credited with $40,000 in sales. On Alhena Scale you pay $1,199. On SparkGPT you pay $2.99 plus $2,000, which is $2,002.99. Alhena is cheaper here, and we will not pretend otherwise. You are paying more on SparkGPT only because $40,000 of orders came through the chat.

A busy month that does not sell. Same 1,000 conversations, but a slow season, and the agent is credited with $4,000. Alhena still bills $1,199 on Scale, or $1,199 on Essentials once overage is added. SparkGPT bills $202.99. Traffic without sales costs you almost nothing extra.

The pattern matches what we see across the category in our AI chatbot pricing comparison: metered plans win when the agent sells a lot per conversation, and pay per sale wins while the agent is busy but not yet selling. Our piece on the pay per sale model covers when that tradeoff makes sense for you.

Feature comparison

Which one should you pick?

Pick Alhena if you have a support team on Zendesk or Gorgias, you sell across email, Instagram, WhatsApp or phone, you want holdout tests built in, or your agent already turns a high share of conversations into orders. At high sales per conversation, a flat per conversation bill is the cheaper one.

Pick SparkGPT if you run a smaller ecommerce or Shopify store without a support team, your traffic is uneven, and you want a $2.99 starting point where the rest of the bill only moves when orders do. You also get unlimited conversations, so you never have to decide whether a shopper's fifth question is worth $1.20. If you are deciding between a website widget and messaging channels, see our WhatsApp vs website chat widget guide, since SparkGPT only does the widget.

If you are unsure, test both on your own catalog. Ask each the same ten real customer questions, including one about a product you do not stock and one asking for a discount you do not offer, and compare the answers before you compare the prices.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Alhena AI cost in 2026?

As of October 11, 2026, Alhena's pricing page lists Free with 25 conversations a month, Essentials at $239 per month for 200 conversations, Growth at $599 for 550 and Scale at $1,199 for 1,200, on monthly billing. Annual billing lowers these to $199, $499 and $999 per month. Conversations above the bundle cost $1.20 each, and Enterprise is custom.

Does Alhena use the same attribution window as SparkGPT?

Yes, both use 24 hours. Alhena attributes a purchase made within 24 hours of the most recent qualifying touch, where a touch qualifies only if the AI found an answer. SparkGPT attributes a purchase made within 24 hours of a chat with the agent. The difference is that SparkGPT bills 5% on those attributed sales, while Alhena reports them and bills by conversation.

What happens when Alhena credits run out?

Alhena's FAQ says you are never cut off. Each extra conversation costs one overage credit at $1.20, and you can set alerts. On SparkGPT, the agent pauses when your prepaid balance runs out, so there is no overage, but the agent stops answering until you top up.

What does Alhena count as a conversation?

One credit covers one conversation window. On chat channels, the first useful AI reply opens a 30 minute window and follow ups inside it are free. On email, the ticket thread counts once. Greetings, failed answers, immediate handoffs, spam and Playground testing cost nothing.

Is SparkGPT cheaper than Alhena?

It depends on sales, not just traffic. SparkGPT is cheaper whenever attributed sales stay below the Alhena bill minus $2.99, divided by 0.05. Against Essentials at $239 that is $4,720 a month, and against Scale at $1,199 it is $23,920. Above those levels Alhena costs less, and you pay more on SparkGPT only because the agent is credited with more orders.

Does SparkGPT support email, WhatsApp or voice like Alhena?

No. SparkGPT is a sales agent for your website, deployed with one line of code. If you need one AI across email, social, WhatsApp and phone, Alhena covers more channels.

Test it on your own store

Enter your store URL at SparkGPT and you will have a sales agent to test on your real catalog in about 10 minutes, free and with no credit card. When you go live, you pay $2.99 per month plus 5% of the sales it is credited with inside a 24 hour window, and nothing for conversations that do not lead to an order. See the pricing page, the FAQ, or compare another conversation metered tool in SparkGPT vs Tidio. Questions? Write to hello@sparkgpt.ai.