Blue Prism vs Microsoft Power Automate comparison

SS&C Blue Prism and Microsoft are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. SS&C Blue Prism is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.3, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2. SS&C Blue Prism holds a 10.0% mindshare in RPA, compared to Microsoft’s 20.9% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of SS&C Blue Prism users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Blue Prism and Microsoft Power Automate are two powerful RPA tools competing in the automation category. Currently, Blue Prism seems to have the upper hand for handling complex, enterprise-level processes, while Microsoft Power Automate is advantageous for its ease of integration with Microsoft products and cost-effectiveness.

Features: Blue Prism offers enterprise-grade functionalities such as exception handling, control rooms, and stable unattended automation. It utilizes Visual Basic Objects for detailed customization and provides a rich library for flexibility. Microsoft Power Automate features seamless integration with Microsoft Office products like Outlook, Excel, and SharePoint. Its drag-and-drop interface is intuitive, enabling users to create workflows efficiently without coding.

Room for Improvement: Blue Prism needs advancement in artificial intelligence and better integration with technologies like AI and machine learning. Its user interface could be more user-friendly, and community support is limited. Microsoft Power Automate requires enhancement in handling complex automation and more comprehensive integration with non-Microsoft products, along with improved robustness for executing complex workflows.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Blue Prism is suitable for on-premises and hybrid cloud deployments; however, its support efficiency sometimes falls short, necessitating unofficial community assistance. In contrast, Microsoft Power Automate is designed for cloud-based deployments, making scaling easier with less technical overhead. It offers better support and accessible setup instructions.

Pricing and ROI: Blue Prism's higher costs cater to larger enterprises, requiring significant investment but providing substantial ROI in large-scale projects through efficiency and error reduction. Microsoft Power Automate offers competitive pricing, especially as part of Microsoft 365 packages, making it cost-effective for smaller scales and quick ROI within Microsoft-utilized environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Blue Prism vs. Microsoft Power Automate Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Blue Prism vs. Microsoft Power Automate

April 2025

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automate is 1.6%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Blue Prism is 10.0%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Power Automate is 20.9%, down from 21.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Q&A Highlights

Tarek Fanous

Unit Business Director (SAP) - FICO -PM at Abudawood

Mar 11, 2022

What are the main technical differences between Microsoft Power Automate and Blue Prism?

Adding to the answer here are the finer points: 1. Workflow technical features - a. ability to create a multi-level approval task. b. ability for the workflow engine to wait till the approval or rejection or any action is performed on the tasks. c. ability to delegate the task in the approval chain. e. Log of all activities within the workflow for the purpose of audit or tracing back the history. f. integration with third-party, internal or line-of-business applications for any data retrieval or data push to the system. g. drag and drop features (a kind of no-code solution) wherein the only configuration is required to create a workflow solution. h. user interface-driven or run as a back-end job to support the workflow process. 2. Robotics automation software features - a. a pure-play automation software that can detect images and other user interface elements on the application and interact with them. b. ability to mimic all human actions and steps while interacting with the software product. c. ability to interact with all types of software environments Citrix, Desktop, Server-based, Cloud, Web, Mobile, etc. d. ability to log activities performed on the application automated and perform all transactional activities and re-execute for any failed transactions. e. ability to interact with a standard application using either web services or another integration framework. g. OCR features to identify user interface elements, etc.

See all answers

Featured Reviews

Anabel Marco

Account Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

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.

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Mohamed Salah Baccouche

Robotic Process Automation Consultant at Ernst & Young

Way more efficient for debugging than other tools but the UI is complicated

The UI is more complicated than other tools. In Power Automate, it doesn't even feel like you are working because the tool does the job for you. But in the solution, there are studio, process, and object interfaces and you have to decode your own objects. The free objects that are predefined are not good compared to other tools. There is still a lot of work to do on the solution's intelligent automation part.

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MohammedIdais

Senior Operations and Group Information Technology Manager at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

Facilitate informed decision-making through data analytics and efficient process automation

The most valuable feature for me is the process mining capability. It helps show the optimal way to utilize a process by discovering, validating, and improving the process automation. For example, when building a process from start to end, I may not be sure if it is efficient or optimized. This feature provides validation and improvement of the process using process mining. Additionally, it has amazing integration capabilities with multiple systems, directly working with the database.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"I find the ease of use from a programming perspective very valuable."

"I like the interface; it makes managing automation easy. We can set different schedules and templates for each task."

"We have tried other RPA solutions like UiPath or Automation Anywhere. They are fantastic products but complex, and it's hard to understand everything. It would be best if you had a skilled developer or several. Automate is easy to implement, administer, and use. It's appropriate for us because our cases are simple and easy to automate. We don't need complicated tools with many features; We prefer to get a significant ROI quickly."

"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."

"We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us."

"It gives us a central place to schedule tasks and run them distributed."

"The most valuable features of Fortra's Automate include its FTP functionality and file manipulation capabilities."

More Automate pros

"It has a centrally managed infrastructure, and it is secure. Our client was using it because of its ease of use. They had already identified some workflows that were trained on Blue Prism RPAs. It was much more convenient for them to preselect Blue Prism as compared to other vendors."

"It is a very stable tool that allows very complex automations."

"The most valuable feature of Blue Prism is the control and development of the processes from one location."

"The way you design the flow and configure the activities for the bot is very useful if you are working with any of the BPM or local platforms."

"A feature I like about Blue Prism is the Control Room and how easy it is to find exceptions, to find common issues, and to troubleshoot your exceptions. Your Control Room person, without any development skills, can easily pick up what the problem is, with the exceptions, especially when there are a lot of exceptions related to one use case or process."

"It is a stable solution."

"For one, it's easy to set up, and once it gets running it can handle multiple processes in an efficient manner. It's a very robust system."

"The only feature that stands out in Blue Prism, as compared to other tools, is security. This is the only reason for still having Blue Prism in our bucket. It is very secure and reliable, and it has also been in the market for a very long time. We automated a lot of federal and government automation processes very recently with this solution."

More Blue Prism pros

"This product is a really easy-to-use solution for quickly developing prototypes."

"This product has an easy-to-use interface with nice detail in the features."

"The most valuable feature is that it is very easy to use."

"The tool is very good at implementing automation within processes. It's saved us from doing a lot of manual processes."

"This solution improved the reporting in our organization. The financial department was doing a lot of copy pasting from different sources to create financial reports. Through ProcessRobot, we were able to automate all those copy pasting and produce all those financial reports overnight."

"The product is very reliable and very easy to use."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the automation interface and the RPA automation."

"Its integration with the Office 365 ecosystem is most valuable. We use a lot of ready-to-use templates."

More Microsoft Power Automate pros

Cons

"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."

"The interface could be more user-friendly and easier to navigate."

"I currently have three bugs open with them that I don't know if they are addressed in the new release."

"I would prefer not having to log in to update a ticket; being able to respond via email would be beneficial."

"While this solution is continually improving, as it is now, the user interface could use improvement when I compare it to a product like UiPath."

"I would like the updates to be easier to deploy. Integration with Amazon S3 is somewhat lacking."

"The documentation is not that great."

"I would like the updates to be easier to deploy. Integration with Amazon S3 is somewhat lacking."

More Automate cons

"Lotus Notes automation should be easier to understand."

"There are some security issues in Blue Prism. The German vendor Servicetrace is way better. This is also reflected in the Gartner report where Servicetrace is mentioned as the tool of choice in high-security environments. So, security, particularly in terms of administration, needs to be improved. We must have the possibility to prevent the administration from taking a look at the ongoing process. When we have restricted data flow, the operations team should not be able to take a look at the data that is processed."

"The OCR capability, along with the connectivity with some of the legacy tools, needs to be improved."

"The control room is still the desktop version, which restricts access. You can't really access it from anywhere."

"We would like to see intelligent process automation that integrates RPA and machine learning."

"The reporting system, specifically the system admin reporting could be improved."

"There are a lot of things coming up, such as Discovery Bot and Process Discovery. A lot of other aspects are also maturing. We have definitely started using it for our clients, and it is maturing as a solution, but it is all about how you integrate the enterprise with all the automation projects, such as your chatbot, Conversational AI, and robotics. How they are integrated and talk to each other creates a very good business case with all three aspects. The next level should be about integrating it with other automation tools as well. It can have integration with other tools or automation projects, such as your chatbot, Conversational AI, and robotics."

"They should add more OCR engines to it."

More Blue Prism cons

"WinAutomation is scalable to a certain extent. I would rate it seven for the scalability, which could be better. Softomotive is better scalable than WinAutomation in this regard."

"Microsoft shouldn't charge extra for the database license if you want to store the data in the database during the trial. We wanted to have a historical trend of the data, and we started with the trial version of the tool. The database license is not included with the trial version, and you have to purchase it separately. Because we had a budget constraint, we had to pull all the information manually from the system, massage it, and push it to the dashboard. About two months ago, we have upgraded to the full-fledged version in which the database is integrated. The database license should be there in the trial version, but they have totally decoupled it. They should have provided a bundle, at least for the trial version, so that once a person or a firm gets a sense of it, they can start building. It might be because they wanted to sell additional licenses or premium licenses, and that's why they have added it in the premium version. It should have more cognitive features. Automation Anywhere and UiPath are different because they have cognitive functionality plus intelligent automation. The cognitive functionality is currently not there in Microsoft Power Automate. It is just for workflow automation and basic bot-level tasks. It should have more cognitive features, which probably will be launched in a couple of years."

"Not suitable for connecting other applications like browsers and third party applications."

"The solution could use some more advanced AI tools. It's one of the solution's only weaknesses."

"Sometimes it can be difficult to share flows for multiple users to edit."

"There needs to be more support documentation and videos that could be more helpful. However, having experience with coding is essential to fully utilize Power Automate."

"The tasks that can be automated are limited to Microsoft applications only."

"Their OCR capabilities are not as evolved as the other tools."

More Microsoft Power Automate cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Compared to other products, the pricing model for this solution is much more convenient, flexible, and adaptable to the Portuguese reality."

"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."

"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 comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."

"From a distributor's perspective, one of the biggest selling points of Automate is its price point."

More Automate pricing and cost advice

"Licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Other than your infrastructure, in terms of servers that you have to set up, I don't think that there are any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"Its pricing is okay. Its price is pretty similar to the price of other tools."

"I would rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."

"Its license is costlier than UiPath and AA. They should improve its price. We have a two-year contract with them."

"The price is on par with other products in the market."

"With Blue Prism, there are no additional fees"

"I give the price of the solution a seven out of ten."

More Blue Prism pricing and cost advice

"There is a per-user licensing model for individual users."

"Microsoft Power Automate is part of our Office 365 package, there are no additional licensing costs."

"With our Microsoft Office 365 license, we are able to use Microsoft Power Automate."

"There are many different ways to license it."

"The pricing of this solution is very good and for me, it's the best option there is."

"I give the cost a three out of ten."

"There is zero licensing cost. It comes with our Microsoft Office subscription."

"Its licensing is flexible."

More Microsoft Power Automate pricing and cost advice

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Answers from the Community

Tarek Fanous

Unit Business Director (SAP) - FICO -PM at Abudawood

Mar 11, 2022

What are the main technical differences between Microsoft Power Automate and Blue Prism?

2 out of 4 answers

Shiv Chandra

Senior Consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Mar 10, 2022

Hi @Tarek Fanous, Happy to talk you through what I have experienced in RPA. Feel free to reach out to me via DM or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sh...

Read full answer

Evgeny Belenky

Director of Community at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)

Mar 10, 2022

Hello @Okay Akdeniz, @Biswajit Mohanty, @KinjalDangeria, @Nancy_Sachdeva, @Shantanu Chande and @Mattia Mezzacapo, Can you please help @Tarek Fanous by sharing your insights?

Read full answer

See all 4 answers

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?

I am a consultant and I am making a lot of processes in human resources, payroll, certifications, trainings, web scra...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra Automate?

The pricing is quite good compared to its competitors. Competitors are often more expensive than Automate. I would ra...

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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...

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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...

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What do you like most about Blue Prism?

It is a stable solution.

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RPA that Bots can run without centralized control?

Yes, Attended Bots which can run without centralized control Module. RPA Tools like Automation Anywhere, uiPath ,Pow...

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How do I choose between UiPath and Microsoft Power Automate?

Microsoft‌ ‌Power‌ ‌Automate‌ ‌is‌ ‌intuitive‌ ‌and‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌integrate‌ ‌and‌ ‌use.‌ ‌I‌ ‌like‌ ‌that‌ ‌there‌ ‌...

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How is Automation Anywhere compared to Microsoft Power Automate?

‌Neither‌ ‌solution‌ ‌requires‌ ‌any‌ ‌coding‌ ‌experience,‌ ‌and‌ ‌both‌ ‌are‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌use‌ ‌and‌ ‌have‌ ‌great...

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Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Automate

Compared 35% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Automate

Compared 8% of the time

VisualCron vs Automate

Compared 6% of the time

MOVEit vs Automate

Compared 5% of the time

More Automate Competitors

UiPath Platform vs Blue Prism

Compared 31% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Blue Prism

Compared 12% of the time

Pega Robotic Process Automation vs Blue Prism

Compared 4% of the time

Python RPA vs Blue Prism

Compared 2% of the time

SAP Intelligent RPA vs Blue Prism

Compared 1% of the time

More Blue Prism Competitors

UiPath Platform vs Microsoft Power Automate

Compared 24% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Microsoft Power Automate

Compared 15% of the time

IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs Microsoft Power Automate

Compared 10% of the time

Pega Robotic Process Automation vs Microsoft Power Automate

Compared 7% of the time

ABBYY Vantage vs Microsoft Power Automate

Compared 2% of the time

More Microsoft Power Automate Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automate

May 2025

Download Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

Blue Prism

May 2025

Download Blue Prism product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Power Automate

May 2025

Download Microsoft Power Automate product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

No data available

Power Automate, Microsoft Flow, MS Power Automate, WinAutomation by Softomotive, ProcessRobot by Softomotive, Minit

Overview

Automate offers a user-friendly solution with a drag-and-drop interface for efficient task automation and integration with major platforms like SAP and Azure, making it ideal for quick deployment with minimal coding and training.

Automate provides powerful features for businesses seeking efficient automation, offering compatibility with databases, email integration, and cloud platforms. Its simple interface supports both beginners and experienced users, simplifying tasks like invoice processing, HR automation, and data transformation. Cost-effective pricing and flexible licensing enhance its appeal while integration capabilities and scheduling tools ensure smooth workflow automation.

What are Automate's Key Features?

Drag-and-Drop Interface: Simplifies automation with intuitive design.
Integration Capabilities: Connects with platforms like SAP and Azure for seamless data flow.
Database and FTP Triggers: Enhances automation potential through direct data interaction.
Efficient Scheduling: Automates tasks with precise timing and control.
Web Scraping: Automates data extraction for quick analysis and reporting.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Expect?

Rapid Deployment: Minimizes coding efforts for quick implementation.
Cost-Effectiveness: Offers flexible pricing models to suit budget constraints.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces manual workloads and enhances productivity.
Comprehensive Integration: Facilitates improved data management across systems.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs with ease.

In industries such as healthcare, banking, and logistics, Automate is used for tasks like invoice payment automation, data transformation, and task automation. This leads to streamlined processes and reduced manual workload, illustrating its value in enhancing operational efficiency through diversified workflows.

Fortra

Blue Prism is an intelligent, business-developed, no-code automation platform for SaaS deployments as well as for on-premises, public cloud, multi-cloud, and hybrid environments. Unlike other automation technology, Blue Prism combines robotic process automation with expanded artificial intelligence and cognitive capabilities. Blue Prism gives users instant access to the tools you need for building and delegating automations, as well as a digital workforce that is already AI-equipped.

With Blue Prism’s code-free RPA, deployed through use of their Robotic Operating Model, your business can scale efficiently, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and augment its talent to take on new responsibilities. Blue Prism helps to accelerate operational agility and efficiency by making it easy to automate the most important processes. Allocating everyday tasks to your Digital Workforce gives you immediate increased capacity and allows your teams to focus on their strategic goals. In addition, it delivers a return on investment, increases efficiency gains, and can even introduce new revenue streams.

“Workforce of the Future”

Blue Prism’s all-in-one intelligent automation platform consists of:

Design Studio with drag-and-drop process automation building, reusable “objects” across your business, and updates to objects and processes saved throughout the process library.
Control Room where you can assign processes to digital workers, scale digital worker and task volume ondemand, and gain real-time transparency of process proficiencies.
Digital Workforce of autonomous software robots that can learn and mimic business processes like humans and are equipped with six intelligent automation skills:
1. Knowledge and Insight - The ability to harvest, understand, and deliver insights from multiple disparate data sources.
2. Visual Perception - The ability to read, understand, and contextualize visual information.
3. Learning - The ability to derive contextual meaning and adapt to evolving process patterns.
4. Planning and Sequencing - The ability to optimize workloads and identify opportunities for better outcomes.
5. Problem-solving - The ability to autonomously solve system, logic, and business problems.
6. Collaboration - The ability to seamlessly work with both people and systems.

Reviews from Real Users

Blue Prism stands out for its enterprise-level functionality, which is why many companies choose it over its competitors. PeerSpot users note that the solution is easy to use, stable, and robust scalability-wise. The security is also top-notch. One user pointed out that "One of the most powerful features in Blue Prism is exception handling. It's one of the features that really differentiates it from other platforms." Blue Prism helps businesses with everything from compliance to quality control and error-avoidance.

SS&C Blue Prism

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.

Microsoft

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

Coca-Cola, Walgreens, American Express, Royal Bank of Canada, Pfizer, Shop Direct, O2, Siemens, Ascension Healthcare, Jaguar Land Rover

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

Buyer's Guide

Blue Prism vs. Microsoft Power Automate

April 2025

Free Report: Blue Prism vs. Microsoft Power Automate

Find out what your peers are saying about Blue Prism vs. Microsoft Power Automate and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

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