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IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs akaBot 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
30
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
akaBot
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
19th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Agentic Automation (4th)
IBM Robotic Process Automat...
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
12th
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 October 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automate is 2.0%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of akaBot is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is 3.3%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Automate2.0%
IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)3.3%
akaBot0.2%
Other94.5%
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
 

Featured Reviews

Jane Rachma Kiniti - PeerSpot reviewer
Automate has streamlined workflows and increased efficiency with powerful automation
The best features of the solution are the flexible automation features, it is rich with beautiful connectors, and it is easy to use with little to no coding knowledge required to get started, so anybody can use the tool. The intuitive interface of Automate has an intuitive design, which makes it easy to learn and use even without a strong technical background, and it has a drag-and-drop interface, which makes everything so easy and straightforward. The error handling capabilities in complex automation tasks are powerful, as it handles all types of tasks, whether complex or simple. I've never faced any problems even when dealing with complex tasks, so everything is super smooth and highly reliable, even when dealing with big tasks, as it has never slowed down. Automate's compatibility with existing IT infrastructure has impacted our business operations positively by providing smooth integration with other software that we use, such as Gmail, Jira, and Microsoft 365 apps, which gives us a unified platform instead of having to keep switching from one software to another, saving a lot of time and streamlining the whole workflows. The automated analytics have helped improve our business processes since it has increased our efficiency by automating our everyday tasks, freeing up time for us to focus more on strategic activities such as analyzing data and developing new business strategies. It is also cost-saving. By minimizing manual labor, it decreases human errors that can lead to costly mistakes. By automating the tasks, it helps to save costs, and it also improves our accuracy by reducing these errors to ensure that tasks are done almost perfectly.
Duy Lương Minh - PeerSpot reviewer
User interface streamlines task automation and improves efficiency
akaBot made a noticeable difference at Wika because it is lightweight and easy to use, and moreover, akaBot has a forum to answer many questions. The ease of use stands out because the design of akaBot is very friendly. The best features that akaBot offers in my experience include the UI automation in the browser or in the Windows application. What I appreciate most about the UI automation in browsers or Windows applications is the auto-generate selector in a browser and Windows application. This feature makes a difference because it reduced most of the time developing the bot.
Saman Guruge - PeerSpot reviewer
We can connect to different databases and use inbuilt activities, but we can't include our own activities
We can use its inbuilt activities, and it's a complete package, but just like ElectroNeek, a limitation is that we have to depend on its inbuilt activities. We can't include our own activities or we can't introduce other activities. When it comes to deployment and scheduling bots, there are some conflicts. They are using Microsoft MQ to communicate with their bots, but it's not reliable. When we are scheduling time, if I need to schedule an interval of one minute, sometimes, the queue gets loaded with a lot of processes or bots, and they don't wait until the first one gets complete. So, that sort of disadvantage is there. I have found one bug in version 22 when sending or configuring mail. While using their orchestration environment, on IBM Server, you can configure an SMTP connection to send out the details you want. For example, when you create a user, they send out an email. That part didn't work, and I created a few tickets. The issue is that there's a typo in the endpoint API. They have probably corrected it in version 23.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find the ease of use from a programming perspective very valuable."
"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."
"The most valuable feature is the drag-and-drop interface, which is very Windows-like."
"The licensing of the product is very good. You only need to license it once and then you have it forever."
"Automate increases efficiency and eliminates errors during documentation and invoicing processes."
"The product effectively handles all the tasks we require."
"Compared to other vendors, it's the scheduling tool because a lot of vendors want to charge you extra for their enterprise-level license to have a scheduling tool built in to give you the ability to set up regular schedules to run and do certain data checks."
"We have found the pricing to be very reasonable."
"The cost is affordable, and it fits our requirements."
"akaBot made a noticeable difference at Wika because it is lightweight and easy to use, and moreover, akaBot has a forum to answer many questions."
"The solution’s performance is good."
"One of the most impactful features of IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been its one-time setup capability."
"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 a good tool for automation."
"IBM RPA helped us resolve a lot of difficult cases we could not resolve using other solutions."
"The initial setup is very easy."
"Integrating the tool with SAP, EBS, or other ERPs is easy."
"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."
 

Cons

"Currently, there are many instances where I see empty logs, indicating that, while tasks are scheduled, commands are not executing successfully."
"The user interface could be slightly enhanced to make it more modern."
"The technical support could be better. We suffer from language barriers, as we are in Argentina."
"The user interface could be slightly enhanced to make it more modern."
"I find that most important features are strong, however, there is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning."
"Fortra's Automate is not as reliable as I would like it to be."
"Error messages should be better. For error status, there should be better documentation because a lot of times, error messages that you get are quite vague. For example, you get a message saying that the workflow has run into an unknown status, which is vague. It just tells you that it failed, but you don't know how or why it failed. It makes debugging difficult."
"The user interface could be slightly enhanced to make it more modern."
"If they can provide more intelligent automation, it would be beneficial."
"I used UiPath before akaBot, and I think UiPath has more features than akaBot."
"Needs better integration with artificial intelligence or with machine-learning."
"We would like more focus on understanding AI and how it can be used to manage exception handling."
"The product's document readers must be improved to capture the data well."
"We would like a decreased need for customer support."
"We are looking to see how it can connect with various interfaces seamlessly, through APIs."
"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."
"I would like to improve the efficiency of this solution and the Surface Level Agreement."
"IBM should provide specific solutions for specific problems, like templates for invoicing processes, or general templates for creating efficient processes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe the price falls within a reasonable range, which significantly influenced our decision regarding the product. This aspect is crucial for any technological solution, especially in our country where enterprises might be hesitant to invest heavily in something untested or uncertain about its practicality and potential returns."
"I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."
"Once you buy the software, you just pay for the support for backend help."
"It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."
"Compared to other products, the pricing model for this solution is much more convenient, flexible, and adaptable to the Portuguese reality."
"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."
"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."
"I like the way this solution is priced because you can buy a license, or you can buy the software outright."
Information not available
"I rate the pricing ten out of ten. So, the pricing is very good for me."
"The product has a yearly licensing fee."
"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 product is reasonably priced compared to other tools."
"The license is paid annually."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Performing Arts
6%
No data available
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Insurance Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise4
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
 

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?
My main use case for Automate is to deliver enterprise-scale script execution jobs, which means we are using Automate...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra Automate?
Until now, I have not specified any other tech products except Microsoft Power Automate, N8N, and Make.com that I've ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for akaBot?
The pricing is low and the setup process is very easy.
What needs improvement with akaBot?
akaBot should integrate more artificial intelligence in their product.
What is your primary use case for akaBot?
As an RPA developer, my main use case for akaBot is to automate repetitive tasks in many industries such as banking a...
What do you like most about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
Integrating the tool with SAP, EBS, or other ERPs is easy.
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...
 

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate
No data available
IBM RPA
 

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
1. Aetna 2. Accenture 3. Adidas 4. AIG 5. Air France KLM  6. Allstate 7. Amazon 8. American Express 9. AmerisourceBergen 10. Aon 11. Apple 12. ATT 13. Autodesk 14. Bank of America 15. Barclays 16. Bayer 17. Berkshire Hathaway 18. Boeing 19. BNP Paribas 20. Citigroup 21. CocaCola 22. Comcast  23. ConocoPhillips   24. Cisco Systems  25. CocaCola  26. Dell 27. Disney
The Hanover Insurance Group
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. akaBot and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.