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Appian RPA vs IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) 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

Automation Anywhere
Sponsored
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
661
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (2nd), Process Mining (1st), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (1st), Agentic Automation (1st), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (2nd), AI Legal & Compliance (1st), AI Finance & Accounting (2nd), AI Procurement & Supply Chain (1st)
Appian RPA
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
11th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Process Automation (20th)
IBM Robotic Process Automat...
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automation Anywhere is 5.2%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Appian RPA is 1.3%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is 1.9%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Automation Anywhere5.2%
IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)1.9%
Appian RPA1.3%
Other91.6%
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
 

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Management Consultant at Accenture
Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions
Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.
Ashish-Chopra - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Architect at Westpac Bank
Automation has reduced manual errors and now needs better high-volume data handling
In my opinion, Appian RPA can be improved. We are planning to conduct a proof of concept on volume because we are still not entirely certain about how well the record type feature performs on Appian with high volumes of data. After conducting client calls with HSBC, Santander, and a few of the Big Four, we learned about use cases where Appian has been used for high volumes of data. We are planning to conduct a proof of concept to test that hypothesis. Additional features that could enhance Appian RPA in the future would include AI on Azure. Currently, their AI is only AWS-based, and we are in discussions with the company about this because we are an Azure shop. I believe this would be a good area for them to concentrate on.
MA
Business Solutions Manager at valleysoft
Has improved analytics and reporting but needs better integration and support
To improve IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for the next release, there should be more integration with external systems, and more integration with IBM's data and AI platforms is needed. There is an AI part in IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for Machine Learning, but IBM has another platform specifically for data and AI, which is integrated right now. More features are hoped for in the future.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"From a technical perspective, developers can easily create bots and get things done with this tool."
"I don't think one feature is more valuable than any other. In my opinion, the value is in the totality of the platform. It is easy to use for our developers with a well laid out UI and many canned tools. The Control Room is very easy to navigate and mostly intuitive to use."
"Automation Anywhere is the first RPA solution we have taken and suggested implementing it to our customers, and it has helped tremendously in assisting our customers in achieving their goals."
"The time savings from using Document Automation are substantial, as previously a team of about five to ten people managed specific processes end-to-end, such as processing fourteen thousand entries in a month, but after automation, that entire process is streamlined, saving us a lot of FTEs."
"It is really helpful that this solution is deployed in the cloud."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of use. It's very user-friendly."
"The integrations with the OCR engines in Automation Anywhere are quite powerful, and they have helped us in many projects."
"It is very user-friendly. Nobody has to sit down and work on coding. We have a drag and drop option where anybody can understand it."
"The best feature of Appian RPA is that it is highly integrated into the Appian platform itself and is very easy to configure in the end-to-end Appian automation solution."
"I find the pricing of Appian RPA reasonable because it is user-based, and we can experiment with it."
"Appian RPA is super easy to use, offering low code, no code capabilities."
"Deployment is done in a small amount of time."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"I like the integration with Watson and the possibility to have an intelligent reading of all the customers' documents."
"No other solution I have seen can provide this level of flexibility."
"IBM Robotic Process Automation has greatly improved the organization by improving the speed of performance, as the speed of the robot is estimated to be 20 times faster than the human being."
"We can connect with different database types, and they have included a different package for a terminal connection to, for example, AS400. When it comes to UI development, it's not using the drivers or anything. It's not a selector-based development like UiPath."
"It is easy to use. We have enabled our resources who don't have a background in automation to be certified and trained, then implement this product within a very short period of time, as it is very user-friendly."
"Integrating the tool with SAP, EBS, or other ERPs is easy."
 

Cons

"Verbose logging of bot compiling and deployment from the control room. Events occurring during compiling, pre-processing the bots should be logged in the control room or bot launcher logs."
"One area that Automation Anywhere can improve is the debugging experience."
"The scheduling is a little difficult at times. Rather than setting up individual instances, it would be really nice if we had the ability to set repetitive jobs easily. Right now, if you want a job to run every 15 minutes, you have to schedule it a lot of times. I'd rather have the ability to just say 'run every 15 minutes.'"
"The Excel part needs improvement because we use it as a database. Right now, we are using UiPath for this feature, as that RPA tool allows us to sort, search, and filter in Excel databases."
"Over the time that I've worked with Automation Anywhere, I have experienced downtime, crashes, or performance issues."
"The implementation process is complex, as there is integration with other applications."
"Some of the biggest improvements they can make are with the interface. It can be improved in terms of usability or searching for something. For example, icons are hard to find. Typically, you jump into the search box, but being able to go in and find things quickly with the eye could be very valuable."
"Moving away from client-server architecture to web-based deployment compromised developer experience of app reliability offered by 11.3.X flavors. Desktop app experience >>> Web experience, developers are not pleased."
"In my opinion, Appian RPA can be improved."
"There are many competitive products in the market right now, for example, UiPath and Automation Anywhere. These competitive products are now coming up with features which Appian RPA currently does not have."
"There are not any areas that need improvement off the top of my head."
"IBM RPA is an unstable solution."
"Needs better integration with artificial intelligence or with machine-learning."
"I would like to have more flexibility in connecting the platform with third-party systems."
"IBM Robotic Process Automation should be more stable."
"IBM’s support should improve response time."
"Extensibility is the key, especially in terms of the Recorders feature that we have. That should be browser independent. Enhance it because some people have Chrome, some have Internet Explorer, etc. Also, integration with PDFs: Not just the ability to read information from PDFs but the ability to write information from PDFs, make it secure, sign it, etc. Finally, if they can allow a token exchange inside the tool itself, that would help."
"We are looking to see how it can connect with various interfaces seamlessly, through APIs."
"I would like it to do pretty much everything out-of-the-box without any need for any customization. However, that is not the case right now. We absolutely have to do some amount of customization with the solution in order to use it out-of-the-box as-is."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am using that Automation Anywhere Master Certification for version 11. Recently, this has been updated in Automation Anywhere University. Until this month, it's free to use. There are no charges. That's why I would like to complete it this month."
"The pricing is reasonable and one can achieve ROI faster when compared to other tools."
"The price is very reasonable."
"The Automation Anywhere license is affordable and not complex."
"It's justified because we have saved quite a bit of money at the company and many manual hours. Overall, it justifies the cost."
"Pricing is affordable and I would recommend beginning with the Starter Package."
"Automation Anywhere is expensive, making it more suitable for enterprise organizations."
"Time-wise: We have saved hundreds of thousands of hours."
Information not available
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The product is reasonably priced compared to other tools."
"The product has a yearly licensing fee."
"There is a free trial for one month, so you can use it to run your payloads or proof of concept. After that, you can pay for the license on a monthly or annual basis."
"IBM RPA is cheaper than other tools."
"IBM licensing is annual and based on Virtual Processor Cores (VPC). This provides flexibility as part of the containerization environment."
"The pricing is reasonable for this solution."
"The license is paid annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Insurance Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business161
Midsize Enterprise82
Large Enterprise558
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.
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?
In my opinion, Appian RPA can be improved. We are planning to conduct a proof of concept on volume because we are sti...
What is your primary use case for Appian RPA?
We have been working with Appian RPA along with the entire workflow case management suite. Recently, Appian released ...
What needs improvement with IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
To improve IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for the next release, there should be more integration with external ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
My customers' main use cases for IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are especially in the banking industry, particu...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
I recommend starting with the Academy to check the features and compare them with other competitors to choose the bes...
 

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)
Jidoka RPA
IBM RPA
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics
empark, talan, liverpool, ayesa, aeromexico, teknei
The Hanover Insurance Group
Find out what your peers are saying about Appian RPA vs. IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.