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AutomationEdge vs IBM Datacap 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
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (5th)
AutomationEdge
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (22nd)
IBM Datacap
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (7th)
 

Featured Reviews

Ibukun Shweta - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation optimizes scheduling, but improvements needed in error reporting and script execution
In my particular use case, for session management, it would be better if I could get a more granular view into connectivity issues to servers. Sometimes, although your flows or tasks are running as scheduled, connecting to the servers can hit a snag without alerts or error logs to check. Some servers might need patching or could be affected by network issues or latency. The workflow sometimes gets stuck without clarity on the errors. An explicit error report would be helpful, especially when the connection fails unexpectedly. It's complex to analyze problems that might arise from firewall issues or other anomalies that could hinder the flow from executing as expected. The depth of these connection challenges would benefit from better debugging capabilities. As for improvements, if Automate wasn't designed primarily for script execution, that's understandable. However, for Linux, I would prefer to see less complexity in workflows to achieve a natural completion of scripts. There are features, such as 'wait for terminal output,' that should more intuitively detect completion based on the shell prompt. Improving those aspects would make Automate more efficient for my needs. Regarding error reporting, I think Automate should offer better error reporting when connecting to servers. Currently, there are many instances where I see empty logs, indicating that, while tasks are scheduled, commands are not executing successfully. This is a significant concern, especially with critical workloads where visibility into errors is essential.
Jajati Panda - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivers increased productivity and streamlines fraud processing in banking, though technical support could be faster
Before AutomationEdge, we had to hire coder-level experts with Java or Python knowledge. This approach took considerable time and required error handling to automate processes. With this tool, all processes are automatically handled with errors, and no-code automation is available. The cost for a developer is now significantly lower. Previously, we hired highly efficient developers with high salary packages. The license cost of 5 to 10 lakhs per year for one person to automate is equivalent to a person's annual salary. With the license and a developer hired at 3 to 5 lakhs, we can automate 40 to 50 processes.
DeekshithShetty - PeerSpot reviewer
High-accuracy document processing with easy integration and good image enhancement
The OCR extractions are very good, almost 100% accurate now. The integration with other tools is very easy, with inbuilt actions to configure and directly export to multiple depositories. It is also good at image enhancement, including the removal of lines, which is helpful in processing and automation and ensures very little user intervention, thus saving time.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."
"The most valuable feature is the drag-and-drop interface, which is very Windows-like."
"I find the ease of use from a programming perspective very valuable."
"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."
"We have found the pricing to be very reasonable."
"It gives us a central place to schedule tasks and run them distributed."
"The product effectively handles all the tasks we require."
"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."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...I rate the technical support of the solution a nine out of ten."
"The support from the vendor is very good."
"The product's most valuable feature is the executor."
"It is a valuable tool for developing efficient solutions, especially in finance and banking."
"The chatbot that they have is most valuable. It is one of the best features because they own it, and they don't need to integrate with other parties to have a chatbot. This is one of the main features. The rest of the features are common to all RPA tools or vendors available in the market."
"The ability to automate our processes with external plug-ins and zero code is the most valuable feature."
"If we want to change your processes, we can code it from scratch, making it a beneficial feature of the product."
"It helps us with cost optimization and easy implementation."
"The feedback from our clients that this solution has increased their efficiency and their turnaround time on opening any account for end users, thus attracting more customers."
"Very scalable and stable data capture and extraction solution that's very simple to install."
"I like Datacap's integration with FileNet because financial companies use that export. The second part is web services integration, which is effortless to implement."
"It is the best solution for scanning purposes."
"Datacap is good at processing unstructured data. You can build up some nice data flows, and it is simple to configure. The tool adopts a low-code approach, but you can do a lot of coding if you want to customize and automate your flows. Datacap also has the flexibility to integrate."
"While we are doing indexing, we tag the document type. It's programmed inside of Datacap to automatically detect the document based on a given template. It auto-indexes that document, which means that it automatically tags the correct document type to the scanned document."
"At the forefront of my thoughts, the standout feature of this intelligent product is its remarkable capability. This project we're currently engaged in revolves around streamlining workflows within both our company and the customer's company. It entails handling information from various documents with diverse formats and types, even when they contain the same data. The ability to connect this information with the appropriate database and recognize it irrespective of the format or source is an extremely valuable feature. Moreover, leveraging machine learning is crucial since our customer deals with an extensive archive of over five million documents. Machine learning can significantly alleviate the backlog by becoming well-versed in various scenarios they might encounter during their work once we've completed our application."
"The administration of the application following an error is most valuable. We are able to know easily when something is stuck in the system."
 

Cons

"They do not encrypt passwords, so this is an issue with HIPAA compliance."
"There is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning."
"The documentation for errors needs improvement as many of the error messages we receive are very vague."
"It's possible that they could use a stronger community for seeking guidance and help."
"The intelligent automation feature could be improved. It's interesting because it's simple, but the automation quality isn't always good. It's easy to use, but sometimes you need to make a slight improvement to the automation, and that's not so easy."
"I would like the updates to be easier to deploy. Integration with Amazon S3 is somewhat lacking."
"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 solution has a very weak knowledge base."
"With the solution, customizing software can be time-consuming."
"The ease of use is the main thing on which they really have to focus. If they want to go against the giants, it should be improved in ease of use, and it should be more user-friendly. It would be helpful because everyone should be empowered irrespective of whether they know how to code or not. They should enhance its user interface and make it more intuitive."
"There are some shortcomings in the product's stability that need improvement."
"When compared with other tools such as Automation Anywhere and UIPath, they are more stable than AutomationEdge."
"Regarding stability and reliability, AutomationEdge is mid-range. When compared with other tools such as Automation Anywhere and UIPath, they are more stable than AutomationEdge."
"The price of the solution could be improved."
"In the future, they should have a similar version for the cloud and on-premises, and the installation should be flawless within few minutes."
"With other automation solutions in the market, we can simulate the process in our notebooks where the solution creates the code for us, but with AutomationEdge we can't do this."
"I would like to see the product have the ability to process more documents in parallel. Right now, it is a single queue. Therefore, if you want to really test the load and stress test it, having multiple instances and the ability to scale it up would be great."
"There should be an increase in the capacity of the workflows. Datacap is a little limited in this aspect. So, you cannot really implement all the possibilities."
"One of the things that we wished for was to have an easier way to carry out the customizations. Currently, if you want to customize data, you need to have a developer with C# knowledge. If IBM could implement a no-code or low-code platform for Datacap, it would be easier to adjust it without needing a developer, which was always the most difficult part."
"I would like to see integration of Watson AI technology into Datacap."
"Speed of OCR is one issue. It's a challenge because we have customers that have millions and millions of pages that they want this solution to crank through. In order to do that you have to have a large infrastructure in place, and that directly impacts licensing based on the core count."
"Our main language in Egypt is Arabic, and IBM DataCap does not support it perfectly. All our documentation is in Arabic. It's not English or any other language. However, we have overcome this problem by using QR codes in the document to extract the data from it. They should have better support for Arabic."
"Datacap's technology seems a little behind the industry. It's still using the old .NET framework. They should move to .NET Core and start integrating some machine learning. You can do some integration yourself, but you expect a solution to include the latest machine-learning approaches if you're paying reasonable money for it."
"Its weaknesses are primarily tied to the lack of available resources and expertise in the market to effectively support and provide solutions and services to each customer for seamless implementation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 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."
"It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."
"The cost is a bit high for a small business like ours, but we manage with Fortra's Automate."
"Compared to other products, the pricing model for this solution is much more convenient, flexible, and adaptable to the Portuguese reality."
"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."
"The licensing for this solution should have a more competitive pricing model. The price is in the top five of similar products."
"The product is available at the lowest price."
"If you are looking for a budget solution, you can consider AE. It has all the features. Scaling it is way easier because of the cost itself."
"Pricing can be made better. Currently, I think the pricing is based on the market. The pricing also depends on the business partners that offer you the solution."
"I give the price of the solution a nine out of ten."
"It is expensive but its value can justify the cost."
"Price-wise, AutomationEdge is pretty affordable, making it not so expensive when you compare this with other tools in the market."
"In Egypt, we have exchange rates that change year to year, and currently, we're facing an increase in the exchange rate between our Egyptian pound and the dollar. Since we have been using IBM DataCap two years ago we had a good price, it was not expensive. However, I cannot say now if it is expensive or not because of the exchange rate. Additionally, I don't have the data of other competitors and I don't know the prices."
"Pricing depends on how much we use it. We pay per bulk quantity. We pay as you go. Therefore, it sort of depends on our usage of it."
"It varies, and it depends on the client's requirements and negotiations. Nowadays, Datacap is also included in the IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation."
"This solution offers seamless integration with other enterprise products, which is my area of responsibility, focusing on government sector projects. Larger enterprise projects don't pose problems. It might be suitable for small businesses as well."
"You save a lot of time and money, but the benefit is you have people who are able to run the systems, check to see if there are any errors at all, and there are a lot less errors than a human system."
"It is an expensive solution."
"IBM could offer more competitive pricing. This would allow them to attain more users. Some of our clients are considering moving to a different solution called Encapture which is similar but offers more competitive pricing."
"If you want IBM Datacap on cloud, which is a service run by IBM, the price can be quite expensive, but if you want to just purchase the licenses and own those yourself, then the price is very competitive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Performing Arts
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Healthcare Company
10%
Media Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
11%
Insurance Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise12
 

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 do you like most about AutomationEdge?
It helps us with cost optimization and easy implementation.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AutomationEdge?
I rate AutomationEdge's pricing as a six to seven. It is expensive but its value can justify the cost.
What needs improvement with AutomationEdge?
Areas of AutomationEdge that could be improved or enhanced in future releases include pricing considerations. While I...
What do you like most about IBM Datacap?
The installation of the solution is very simple.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Datacap?
Pricing is in the mid-range but could be more affordable, rated at four point five.
What needs improvement with IBM Datacap?
IBM needs to improve on scanning and reading accuracy for unstructured documents. Additionally, an important missing ...
 

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate
No data available
Datacap
 

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
Smart Dubai Government (SDG)
Turkcell, PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, Central Nacional Unimed, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about AutomationEdge vs. IBM Datacap and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.