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Appian RPA vs Blue Prism comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Automate
Sponsored
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Appian RPA
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
15th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
Process Automation (26th)
Blue Prism
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
89
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automate is 1.8%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Appian RPA is 0.6%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Blue Prism is 9.1%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
 

Featured Reviews

Anabel Marco - PeerSpot reviewer
Automates processes efficiently with cost-effective scaling and robust customer support
Web scraping is quite good since it offers a lot of possibilities. Another important feature for me is its compatibility with MBI, the Power that is ISEQUADO Centers. I appreciate the ability to scale and increase the number of bots or studios without additional expense. Automate's non-reliance on additional orchestrators makes it quite cost-effective.
MikahSellers - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient automation with substantial ROI and innovative UI enhancements
We were automating customer experience workflows for the contact center, including systems like CRM, service desk solutions, CCaaS solutions, and pulling data from ERPs It allowed us to reduce the level of effort to complete contact processes from one hundred fifty seconds to ninety seconds,…
WayneFillis - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective automation boosts efficiency but requires improved co-management
There is a need for a co-management product to manage multiple developers using Blue Prism. Features like version control and supporting multiple developers at the same time should be improved. Furthermore, Blue Prism should invest in marketing their other products. I also find it concerning that they require purchasing support calls.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I actually quite liked the no-coding functionality."
"The most valuable features of Fortra's Automate include its FTP functionality and file manipulation capabilities."
"This product is quite easy to install, learn, and use, with our new employees being able to start using it in projects for clients after only two weeks of internal training."
"Fortra's Automate performs the job effectively and has the capability to alert us of any issues."
"I like the interface; it makes managing automation easy. We can set different schedules and templates for each task."
"A great feature that you seldom see in these kind of systems is the ability to use a database as trigger to launch a task. This is something I asked for a few years ago and that was added."
"The interface is simple, user-friendly, and very intuitive."
"The best feature of Automate is its ease of use, which is a major selling point."
"Appian RPA is super easy to use, offering low code, no code capabilities."
"I use the basic features that are very useful."
"The multi-bot architecture is very flexible."
"Its ability to talk to different systems that we have is a valuable feature. We use Pega, which is like a credit card processing system. We also use a Debit Process Manager, which is like the Visa debit application. In the bank, we have credit card and debit card sections, and we need to kind of investigate some of the transactions when customers are complaining about the charges. Blue Prism can log in to a different system to perform the exact actions that the agents are doing. This feature has been very helpful. Its ability to engage with external systems and websites is also very valuable. Each of our RPA projects could go across different systems. We have an in-house banking system. We also use the Visa network, and we have to go to different sites to do a lot of data scraping to ensure the data in our system matches the data in the Visa systems, and we just deal with some of the charges."
"On a scale of 1-10, I rate Blue Prism a 10."
"The object design way of implementing things actually brings a lot of reusability for us because you can design your objects once and leverage them in multiple automations."
"It is good for transactions that are very straightforward. It works very nicely with the structured data. It is user-friendly. It is easy to implement and easy to understand."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to do surface automation, allowing interaction with legacy systems where terminal emulation is still in use."
"The support is good."
 

Cons

"There is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning."
"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."
"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."
"I would prefer not having to log in to update a ticket; being able to respond via email would be beneficial."
"Some challenges include the system being too loaded or delayed in taking instructions and responding quickly as needed."
"The solution has a very weak knowledge base."
"We really need a free development environment for customers. Building and testing automation on production isn't ideal."
"The interface could be more user-friendly and easier to navigate."
"There are not any areas that need improvement off the top of my head."
"The control room is still the desktop version, which restricts access. You can't really access it from anywhere."
"Technical support is in need of improvement."
"They can add a reporting feature."
"The UI is more complicated than other tools."
"The upgrades could be managed better. I would also like to see more true AI development and machine learning."
"The control room is its worst feature. It can be laggy, and it is not as user-friendly. We're with staying Blue Prism, but we're moving it from on-premises to Microsoft cloud for cost savings. We looked into Blue Prism cloud. It has a lot of features, but it comes with a lot of costs. Right now, we have six spots, and we're only at 13% utilization. The cost didn't really weigh out for us for moving to Blue Prism cloud, but on-premises, it is working for what we need."
"I would like to see bespoke dashboards allow the front-end to display what is required."
"The scalability has to do with the latency of what you're connecting to. And so if you're connecting to something that isn't particularly scalable, it doesn't matter how many robots you scale out. You're constrained by the latency and the size of the application or solution or service that the robot is using."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is quite reasonable. We can run the process with one bot. The limitation is at the server level because they have some resources, and sometimes that is enough. It isn't too expensive, so you can get a good return off of one, and you can also have a pack of five bots that is quite competitive."
"The cost is a bit high for a small business like ours, but we manage with Fortra's Automate."
"Once you buy the software, you just pay for the support for backend help."
"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."
"It has gone up in price. The price of Fortra's Automate has increased since we first started using it. It does a lot but also costs a lot. It was a lot more affordable before Fortra owned the software."
"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 like the way this solution is priced because you can buy a license, or you can buy the software outright."
"From a distributor's perspective, one of the biggest selling points of Automate is its price point."
Information not available
"The licensing fees are low compared to other tools."
"The price is on par with other products in the market."
"It is expensive for us. It should be cheaper for a market like ours. We are based in India."
"With Blue Prism, there are no additional fees"
"Its price should be lower."
"The tool’s licensing is on a monthly basis."
"The solution is expensive."
"In the Philippines, fewer companies are using Blue Prism because of its cost. I don't know the price, but I know that its price is higher than UiPath."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
5%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Insurance Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HelpSystems AutoMate?
We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.
What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?
The main purpose is for automation. That has been the purpose why I have been using it so far.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra Automate?
Regarding pricing, it is very friendly. I would not say that it is really cheap or very expensive, but it fits within...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Appian RPA?
I didn't handle payments or costs. We recommended infrastructure stacks to our clients, who implemented them, and we ...
What needs improvement with Appian RPA?
There are not any areas that need improvement off the top of my head. It has been 18 months since I worked with the e...
What is your primary use case for Appian RPA?
We were automating customer experience workflows for the contact center, including systems like CRM, service desk sol...
Should I choose Blue Prism or Microsoft Power Automate?
Hello Netanya, it depends on your needs and your expertise. In my humble opinion you can start a big RPA project imp...
I am evaluating Blue Prism and UiPath for RPA for my company. Which one do you recommend?
I'm very familiar with UiPath and the RPA industry: was hired by Daniel Dines in 2015 when there were 35 employees an...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate
Jidoka RPA
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
empark, talan, liverpool, ayesa, aeromexico, teknei
Coca-Cola, Walgreens, American Express, Royal Bank of Canada, Pfizer, Shop Direct, O2, Siemens, Ascension Healthcare, Jaguar Land Rover
Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Microsoft and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.