Does Alhena speak Arabic?

Alhena states 90+ languages for its support agent; the pages we checked do not name Arabic, dialects or Arabizi. Hephon Commerce is built for Saudi and Gulf Arabic, Lebanese Arabic and Arabizi.

Which is better for a Shopify store?

Both connect to Shopify. Alhena adds public plans, 200+ integrations and support automation for returns and exchanges. Hephon Commerce adds grocery features: branch prices, recipes with pack sizes, WhatsApp checkout and phone orders.

Which is more secure?

Alhena states SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR compliance and offers single-tenant hosting. Hephon Commerce has no SOC or ISO certification; our servers are in the European Union, credentials are encrypted, and no conversation is used to train a model.

How do the prices compare?

Alhena publishes plans from a free tier to $999 a month billed yearly. Hephon Commerce has no public price and sends each retailer a proposal.

Can I try Hephon Commerce without leaving Alhena?

Yes. Keep Alhena on your website and support desk, and pilot Hephon Commerce on WhatsApp or the phone line for Arabic-speaking shoppers. You can also talk to our demo store, Hephon Market, at commerce.hephon.ai/c/demo before booking a demo.

Hephon Commerce vs Alhena: Grocery AI Comparison (2026)

In short

Choose Alhena if you are an ecommerce brand on Shopify, WooCommerce or Salesforce Commerce Cloud and want sales and support in one agent, with public prices and SOC 2 Type 2. Choose Hephon Commerce if you are a Gulf supermarket or grocery chain and shoppers need Gulf Arabic and Arabizi, branch prices, WhatsApp checkout and phone orders. Alhena is broader and more proven with global brands; Hephon Commerce is narrower and built for grocery in the Gulf.

Updated 5 November 2026

Who should choose which

Choose Alhena if

You are a direct-to-consumer brand with a support team on Zendesk, Gorgias or similar.
You need SOC 2 Type 2 and single-tenant hosting options.
You want public plans and a free tier.
Returns, exchanges and order tracking are a big share of your tickets.

Choose Hephon Commerce if

You sell groceries from several branches.
Saudi and Gulf Arabic and Arabizi are your shoppers' languages.
Shoppers should confirm orders on WhatsApp or by phone.
You want recipes and pack sizes handled.

Feature by feature

Every row comes from Alhena's own pages, checked on the date above. "Not stated publicly" means we could not find it, not that it is missing.

Hephon Commerce and Alhena, compared on 15 points. Numbers in the last column refer to the sources below.
	Hephon Commerce	Alhena	Sources
Channels	Inside the retailer's iOS, Android and web apps (SDK, also React Native and Flutter) and website, its WhatsApp Business number, phone calls, and a hosted chat page.	Web chat, email, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, SMS, help desks, and voice on phone and SIP lines.	[1] [2]
Languages	Arabic, English and French, and mixes of them, answered in the language and script of the question. By voice, more than 30 languages.	90+ languages.	[3] [2]
Arabic dialects	Saudi and Gulf Arabic as people write and speak them, and Lebanese Arabic. Replies follow a phrasebook of approved phrases per dialect.	Not stated publicly.	[4] [2]
Arabizi (Arabic in Latin letters)	Yes, for example "7aleeb" for milk, answered in the same script.	Not stated publicly.	[3] [2]
Voice and phone ordering	Phone and WhatsApp calls: it builds the basket during the call, reads it back, and keypad 1 confirms. Replies in under a second; a caller can be handed to a person.	Voice agents on phone and SIP lines. Phone ordering of a basket is not stated publicly.	[5] [2]
WhatsApp ordering and checkout	On the retailer's own number: product cards, basket, and a checkout the shopper confirms with a tap. Voice notes and calls too.	Not stated publicly. WhatsApp is a listed channel.	[6] [2]
Catalog search, branch prices and stock	Keyword and meaning search over the live catalog, each result checked against the shopper's message before it is shown. Each branch's own prices and stock.	Product discovery, recommendations, comparisons and bundles from live catalog and inventory data. Per-branch prices and stock are not stated publicly.	[7] [2]
Recipes to basket	Yes. "Kabsa for 10" becomes ingredient amounts, the cheapest pack that covers each line and how many, and "add all".	Not stated publicly.	[8] [2]
Checkout and shopper confirmation	Nothing is ordered without the shopper's explicit confirmation: a tap, a signed checkout page, or keypad 1 after the read-back. Orders go to the retailer's platform or team.	Checkout and purchase guidance; order tracking, cancellations, returns and exchanges as actions.	[7] [2]
Halal and content rules	Alcohol, pork and tobacco can be hidden by the server before the assistant sees the catalog; products not yet checked stay hidden. On WhatsApp, alcohol and tobacco are always excluded.	Not stated publicly.	[9] [2]
Handover to people	One live inbox for chats, voice notes and calls with transcripts; a person can take over any chat. Handover to your help desk by integration.	Human handoff with complete context, and agent assist for your team.	[7] [2]
Integrations	Salla, Zid, Shopify, WooCommerce, product feeds, a REST API with signed webhooks, and custom connectors.	Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Zendesk, Gorgias, Freshdesk, Intercom, Gladly, Kustomer and more (200+).	[10] [2]
Pricing	A proposal per retailer, based on stores and channels. No public price; access by invitation.	Free (25 conversations); Essentials $199, Growth $499, Scale $999 a month billed yearly, each with a 14-day trial; Enterprise custom.	[11] [12]
Hosting, data and certifications	Servers in the European Union today. No conversation is used to train an AI model. No ISO or SOC certification.	SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR; single-tenant and dedicated hosting on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud.	[9] [2]
Primary market	Saudi Arabia and the UAE first, and Lebanon.	Ecommerce and consumer brands; named customers include Tatcha, Victoria Beckham, Dryrobe and Puffy.	[13] [2]

Sources

Where Alhena is stronger

Public prices: a free tier, then $199 to $999 a month billed yearly, and custom Enterprise.
200+ integrations, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Zendesk, Gorgias, Freshdesk, Intercom and Kustomer.
SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR, with single-tenant and dedicated hosting on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud.
Support automation: order tracking, cancellations, returns and exchanges, with agent assist for your team.
Named customer results from brands such as Tatcha, Victoria Beckham and Puffy, and 90+ languages.

Where Hephon Commerce is stronger

Saudi and Gulf Arabic, Lebanese Arabic and Arabizi, with an editable phrasebook.
Each branch's own prices and stock.
Recipes to basket with pack sizes.
WhatsApp checkout confirmed with a tap, and phone orders confirmed on the keypad.
Halal content rules enforced by the server.

Hephon Commerce also has limits: access is by invitation, through a demo, and there is no public price, since each retailer gets a proposal based on its stores and channels.

Try it without switching

Keep Alhena on your website and support desk, and pilot Hephon Commerce on WhatsApp or the phone line for Arabic-speaking shoppers.

Before any call, you can talk to our demo store, Hephon Market: about 15,000 products from a real quick-commerce catalog, priced in US dollars, that understands Gulf Arabic, Arabizi and English. Run the five tests from our buyer's guide on it, then run the same tests on Alhena.

Hephon Commerce or Alhena?

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Hephon Commerce vs Alhena