Fortra's Automate vs Microsoft Power Automate comparison

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1,959 views|998 comparisons
94% willing to recommend
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41,102 views|22,547 comparisons
87% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortra's Automate and Microsoft Power Automate based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed Fortra's Automate vs. Microsoft Power Automate Report (Updated: May 2024).
772,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The licensing of the product is very good. You only need to license it once and then you have it forever.""I find it very user-friendly. Our IT department and other departments can seamlessly collaborate without requiring extensive training. As a business department, we particularly value this aspect, as our team doesn't consist of many IT users. However, we couldn't solely rely on a drag-and-drop approach to implement and utilize the solution within our departments.""It's very easy to use. That's a big selling point for it. It has got a drag-and-drop interface, so you can quickly deploy bots.""I actually quite liked the no-coding functionality.""I like the interface; it makes managing automation easy. We can set different schedules and templates for each task.""The interface is simple, user-friendly, and very intuitive.""We have found the pricing to be very reasonable.""The ability to connect to websites and pull data is the solution's most valuable feature."

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"It makes work easier.""I like that Power Automate gives us a connector to be able to connect different data sources or different software.""Microsoft Power Automate offers over 200 connectors that enhance the user experience.""Instead of manually triggering payments through the website, everything was done through robotic process automation (RPA), saving us a lot of time.""Its usability is very valuable because it has a quite simple flow. It is very user-friendly. It provides you templates. I started learning with the help of Teams templates, and then I started providing them. It is always good to start with a template so that you understand how it works. Its branches are quite user-friendly. You can put expressions in it. It allows you to link and test the flow so that you can check whether everything is running properly. From a business standpoint, Power Automate is quite good for a non-tech person. It is not like Java, HTML, or C++, which are very developer-driven. Power Automate is a more business-oriented kind of tool.""You can automate almost everything in your organization by simply dragging and dropping and selecting a few options, whether it's an Excel spreadsheet or other on-premise data.""The interface is user-friendly.""It is a very useful solution. You don't need to create an infrastructure in your environment just for triggers or executions. You don't need to invest in the infrastructure. With Power Automate, we can call or trigger custom web services and routines. We are also using the flow for gathering data from Microsoft Dynamics."

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Cons
"They do not encrypt passwords, so this is an issue with HIPAA compliance.""The workflow for variables could be better. The input and output of task-level variables could be made a little clearer in terms of passing those around from one task to another upon success, etc. Things like that could be a little easier potentially.""The OCR for Hebrew text needs to be improved.""There is room for improvement regarding cloud functionality; there are a few missing features, and the logging could be better, especially air logging. We can go into logging events and create our own task, but it would be nice if this were more detailed.""Sometimes when we communicate with the ERP system and there is an issue, we are not always aware of the specifics of Automate and the source of the problem.""The documentation is not that great.""We really need a free development environment for customers. Building and testing automation on production isn't ideal.""The solution has a very weak knowledge base."

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"I was working on it for around three days and then took a break of about two days. When I went back to it, all of the Excel, and all the Excel functions, just disappeared. Completely vanished. When I looked up the help, it said that sometimes that happens when you're not connected to the internet.""Microsoft Power Automate is limited if we want to create a complex flow because we have to split the log into two flows.""It's not as user-friendly as a solution such as UiPath, which is really easy to use.""They can provide a deeper level of feedback about running processes. When I compare it to Blue Prism, the control room has slightly less information about the running processes and possible errors. I'm not a pro, so I am not entirely sure if this is a core feature of the product or if it is because of the way our partners have developed it or set it up.""The OCR part or scanning of documents is missing.""It would be good to have some kind of on-premises solution for BPMN users, but I don't think Microsoft will ever go back to the on-premises solution. They all train their clients to use their online services. It is easy, but it doesn't follow the industry-wide standards. I can only use the processes that Microsoft gives us. I can't map a business process by using other standards or notations, such as Business Process Management (BPM). I have to use whatever Microsoft gives us. I would like to have support for some standards because if we decide to use another BPM tomorrow, we will have to remap everything in notation to transfer from this solution. This is the only block or obstacle that I see in using this solution. It is closed in its infrastructure.""It is challenging to scale the solution across multiple branches.""I would like to see better data integration with different sources."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Compared to other products, the pricing model for this solution is much more convenient, flexible, and adaptable to the Portuguese reality."
  • "I like the way this solution is priced because you can buy a license, or you can buy the software outright."
  • "It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."
  • "While solutions like UiPath and Blue Prism cost around $11,000-$12,000 for each license, this product costs around $7,000 and you can keep it forever."
  • "I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."
  • "From a distributor's perspective, one of the biggest selling points of Automate is its price point."
  • "The cost is a bit high for a small business like ours, but we manage with Fortra's Automate."
  • "From a distributor's side, one of the biggest selling points is its price point. Without going into any numbers, compared to UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism, we're significantly cheaper. The main difference is that other competitors usually charge you per process. However, in Automate's case, it's priced per bot. So, a bot can run multiple processes at the same time, but you are only priced for a single bot."
  • More Fortra's Automate Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "This solution is bundled with our Office 365, so there is no additional licensing fee."
  • "You pay for use and if you want a premium connector or adapter, but a lot of things are available for free."
  • "Power Automate is a much less expensive product than the competition."
  • "This solution is reasonably priced and offers a free trial period."
  • "There are many different ways to license it."
  • "There is flexibility in pricing."
  • "This solution can save money when used for simple tasks specifically using only Microsoft products."
  • "There is zero licensing cost. It comes with our Microsoft Office subscription."
  • More Microsoft Power Automate Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.
    Top Answer:I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost.
    Top Answer:There is room for improvement regarding cloud functionality; there are a few missing features, and the logging could be better, especially air logging. We can go into logging events and create our own… more »
    Top Answer:Yes, Attended Bots  which can run without centralized control Module. RPA Tools like Automation Anywhere, uiPath ,Power Automation they do support this.
    Top Answer:Microsoft‌ ‌Power‌ ‌Automate‌ ‌is‌ ‌intuitive‌ ‌and‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌integrate‌ ‌and‌ ‌use.‌ ‌I‌ ‌like‌ ‌that‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌no‌ ‌coding‌ ‌experience‌ ‌necessary,‌ ‌and‌ ‌appreciate‌ ‌the‌ ‌automated‌… more »
    Top Answer:‌Neither‌ ‌solution‌ ‌requires‌ ‌any‌ ‌coding‌ ‌experience,‌ ‌and‌ ‌both‌ ‌are‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌use‌ ‌and‌ ‌have‌ ‌great‌ ‌drag-and‌ ‌drop‌ ‌functionality.‌ ‌The‌ ‌training‌ ‌and‌ ‌resources‌ ‌for‌ ‌AA‌… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    1,959
    Comparisons
    998
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    1,398
    Rating
    8.5
    Views
    41,102
    Comparisons
    22,547
    Reviews
    33
    Average Words per Review
    457
    Rating
    8.3
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    HelpSystems Automate, Automate
    Power Automate, Microsoft Flow, MS Power Automate, WinAutomation by Softomotive, ProcessRobot by Softomotive
    Learn More
    Fortra
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    Overview

    Automate is an easy-to-use RPA software solution that boosts your productivity by transforming virtually any business or IT process. Get scalable automation capabilities whether you need a solution for one department, a small business, or an enterprise-wide Center of Excellence (CoE) initiative—Automate is built and priced right for employee-driven automation for any organization.

    Automate allows you to get up and running fast with no-code automation for both GUI and back-end functionalities. Form-based development lets you quickly build bots and leverage over 600 pre-built automation actions. Powerful out-of-the-box API and native integrations bring together the applications that keep your business running. And with the Automate Recorder, easily build, update, and deploy robust, UI-driven automation. Plus, bots can be deployed as attended or unattended with concurrent execution of tasks—no restrictions.

    A Key Part of Fortra (the new face of HelpSystems) Automate is proud to be part of Fortra’s comprehensive portfolio. Fortra simplifies today’s complex business landscape by bringing complementary products together to solve problems in innovative ways. These integrated, scalable solutions address the many challenges you face in streamlining your operations. With the help of Automate robotic process automation and other solutions, Fortra is your relentless ally, here for you every step of the way on your automation journey.

    Microsoft Power Automate is a powerful tool that streamlines and automates tasks within an organization. 

    It is used for workflow automation, data integration, and creating automated notifications and approvals. 

    Power Automate connects different applications and services, such as SharePoint, Excel, and Outlook, to automate data transfer and synchronization. 

    Sample Customers
    Aldergrove Financial Group, Preferred Health Professionals, Mindbeam Technologies, First Credit Union in British Columbia, Vestcom International, Prime Liberty Benefits, University of Tampa, CNLBancshares, World Precision Instruments, BJ's Restaurants, Globe Pequot Press, Accudata Technologies, Norton Healthcare, Pacific Toxicology Laboratories
    1. Coca-Cola 2. General Electric 3. Siemens 4. Accenture 5. Deloitte 6. Johnson & Johnson 7. Ford 8. Nestle 9. Procter & Gamble 10. IBM 11. Amazon 12. Google 13. Microsoft 14. Adobe 15. Cisco 16. Oracle 17. SAP 18. Intel 19. HP 20. Dell 21. Verizon 22. AT&T 23. T-Mobile 24. Walmart 25. Target 26. Home Depot 27. McDonald's 28. Starbucks 29. Nike 30. Apple 31. Facebook 32. Twitter
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Security Firm14%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Insurance Company14%
    Manufacturing Company14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company14%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Healthcare Company9%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company24%
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Manufacturing Company13%
    Government9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Government6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business55%
    Midsize Enterprise25%
    Large Enterprise20%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business28%
    Midsize Enterprise16%
    Large Enterprise55%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise49%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise67%
    Buyer's Guide
    Fortra's Automate vs. Microsoft Power Automate
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Automate vs. Microsoft Power Automate and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    772,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Fortra's Automate is ranked 5th in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 21 reviews while Microsoft Power Automate is ranked 2nd in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 123 reviews. Fortra's Automate is rated 8.2, while Microsoft Power Automate is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of Fortra's Automate writes "Can automate several processes with only one bot and is easy to implement, administer, and use". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Power Automate writes "Provides valuable integration with other Microsoft tools". Fortra's Automate is most compared with UiPath, MOVEit, Automation Anywhere (AA), Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Blue Prism, whereas Microsoft Power Automate is most compared with UiPath, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere (AA), IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and VisualCron. See our Fortra's Automate vs. Microsoft Power Automate report.

    See our list of best Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vendors.

    We monitor all Robotic Process Automation (RPA) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.