No, this is not a simple "thoughts and prayers" thing. This is a national helpline that saves lives.

I have family members that have been Samaritans (UK helpline) that have helped people. It's a bit like fight club and the first rule is ...

Actually it is rather more important than fight club: I know that Sammies never, ever discuss anything they are told in confidence - that is a point of honour and practice.

Thoughts and prayers is literally doing nothing, though. Not comparable at all

I thought this for the longest time, and then when I actually went through the kind of thing people offer "thoughts and prayers" for and people offered them to me personally (as opposed to generically on the internet), it actually made a world of difference to know my struggle had even entered the mind of another human being.

So if you can tell someone personally that you're thinking about them, especially in the days/weeks/months/years after the fact, I recommend it.