AutomationEdge vs VisualCron comparison

AutomationEdge and SMA Technologies are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. AutomationEdge is ranked #10 with an average rating of 7.2, while SMA Technologies is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.0. AutomationEdge holds a 1.2% mindshare in RPA, compared to SMA Technologies’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of AutomationEdge users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SMA Technologies users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

AutomationEdge and VisualCron compete in the automation landscape. AutomationEdge takes the lead with its seamless integration with enterprise systems, crucial for handling complex processes efficiently.

Features: AutomationEdge offers advanced AI capabilities, enabling precise automation of complex processes. It integrates effortlessly with various enterprise systems and includes technology products like OCR and a reporting dashboard. VisualCron provides a highly configurable environment with custom scripting options, extensive scheduling features, and seamless integration with databases, emphasizing flexibility.

Room for Improvement: AutomationEdge could improve by enhancing user-friendliness and offering more comprehensive plugin support. A reduction in dependency on coding for complex tasks would benefit non-technical users. VisualCron would benefit from a streamlined setup process and expanding its documentation for more intuitive use. Better support for cloud-based deployments and enhanced integration with external systems would be beneficial.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AutomationEdge stands out with its smooth cloud-based deployment process complemented by comprehensive support, suitable for organizations with limited technical resources. VisualCron, requiring a more involved setup process using local resources, offers detailed documentation and reliable customer support, essential for tech-savvy teams.

Pricing and ROI: AutomationEdge provides competitive pricing with scalable plans, ensuring substantial ROI through efficient automation. VisualCron, while having higher initial setup costs, delivers significant ROI by allowing customization and reducing manual interventions. Its pricing strategy reflects its capacity for more complex automation needs.

To learn more, read our detailed AutomationEdge vs. VisualCron Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AutomationEdge vs. VisualCron

December 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

Fortra's Automate

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Automate is 2.5%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AutomationEdge is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VisualCron is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortra's Automate	2.5%
AutomationEdge	1.2%
VisualCron	1.0%
Other	95.3%

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Featured Reviews

Jane Rachma Kiniti

IT Project Manager at Labo des histoires

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.

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Jajati Panda

Software Engineer at Apmosys

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.

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Sourav-Dutta

Technical Lead - Database Administrator at SMART ENERGY SYSTEMS LLC

It's user-friendly, and I didn't need long to understand the process

We use VisualCron for all our automation needs, like connecting to FileZilla, calling APIs, generating PGP keys, creating encryption files with the PGP key login to Azure, etc. It can automatically log in to SQL Server and execute SQL script jobs in bulk. We had 2,000-3,000 users at my previous…

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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

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

"The pricing is excellent. I would give them perfect marks in that regard."

"We have done the setup in the last eight months, my team of approximately ten to twelve team members were doing manual jobs, and Fortra's Automate is doing that with three or four bots we have set up, doing this job without any errors and really reducing my manual work and the human errors which were done by my team so I don't need to re-verify data or invest time in this."

"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."

"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."

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

"We are still in the process of rolling it to production and tweaking it (our AD groups are a mess), but the improvements are priceless. Having users ID's created the same way every time without human error is the best part. We don't need to worry about why groups were not added, user rights not set to folders or missing a private folder being created, typos or just even knowing when things are done and logged."

"I would recommend Automate because it has made my work much easier."

More Fortra's Automate pros

"The studio design is fine compared to other similar products. There is nothing extraordinary about it, but at the same time, there are not any negatives."

"The most valuable feature of AutomationEdge is creating accounts."

"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."

"It helps us with cost optimization and easy implementation."

"If we want to change your processes, we can code it from scratch, making it a beneficial feature of the product."

"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...I rate the technical support of the solution a nine out of ten."

"AutomationEdge has shown the most productive impact, and the productivity was excellent before, and now it can increase by 20 to 30% more with AI implementation."

"The product's most valuable feature is the executor."

More AutomationEdge pros

"It helped us reduce manual steps."

"We don't have to do any coding. We just plug and play and it works."

"What I like about VisualCron is that like its name, it's a very visual tool. In my previous company, there were a lot of scripts for all kinds of services, and through VisualCron, you get to group all flows and get a nice visual overview. VisualCron also has an alerting feature, so you receive alerts from it. VisualCron makes everything clearer and easier to maintain. Every other solution that I was looking for almost always needed a programmer, but with VisualCron, you can do what you need to do without programming skills, so this is another valuable feature of the tool."

"The most valuable feature of VisualCron is its ability to schedule interactive jobs so that you can have interdependencies within the job and interdependencies of a job on another job, and so on."

"I love VisualCron because we previously spent a lot of time writing Power switches to connect to SQL Server. VisualCron makes it easier to execute services or connect to FileZilla by only adding the credentials to the master credentials stored in the solution."

"What I found most beneficial from VisualCron is that you can directly connect it with different databases, user accounts, and credentials. You can run queries from one machine to another using the credentials, unlike PowerShell, that's run by the machine itself. With VisualCron, you can directly ask other machines and run requests through user credentials. Suppose you have an AWS or Azure environment. In that case, you can maintain the connection between on-premises and cloud-based machines, which is the type of setup in the organization I'm working for. You can directly call some of the services via VisualCron on your local on-premises machine, and I found that an excellent feature of the tool."

"VisualCron is a very powerful program to automate different steps in your business processes. We use it to automate replacing files and inform departments about the replacement."

"'ve only had a few cases where I've had to request support in the past 12 years of use, but the support response time and resolution were was extremely quick."

More VisualCron pros

Cons

"It would be an improvement if Automate had better stability tools, whether by recommending a certain amount of memory because it can be a memory hog at times."

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

"They do not encrypt passwords, so this is an issue with HIPAA compliance."

"Regarding customer support, I face challenges sometimes. They're not always available, and you may need to wait for assistance, but overall their support is acceptable."

"I believe we need to test various OCR tools that assist in evaluating, let's say, six different customer resyncs. We analyze their spending patterns and documentations, but current OCR support has limitations, requiring highly standardized documents, which isn't always the case. With a more advanced OCR system, we could improve processes related to credit risk management and legal matters. We're exploring how to integrate Fortra's Automate with our CRM platform, taking cues from instances where Salesforce seamlessly merged with Automate. However, we use a different CRM, Insight for New Enterprise, and we're seeking ways to connect the automation process within our CRM. We aim for the automation to continue smoothly, even in instances where traditional automation methods might face hurdles."

"The user interface could be slightly enhanced to make it more modern."

"The solution has a very weak knowledge base."

"The product also has a limited use case in some respects."

More Fortra's Automate cons

"It's not an intuitive tool."

"In the future, they should have a similar version for the cloud and on-premises, and the installation should be flawless within few minutes."

"There are some shortcomings in the product's stability that need improvement."

"The price of the solution could be improved."

"With the solution, customizing software can be time-consuming."

"AutomationEdge's ecosystem has shortcomings and needs improvement. When we compare AutomationEdge to other RPA tools in our company, we find that it has a very minor online community."

"The installation process could improve. It was difficult to complete."

"AutomationEdge's primary issue is its price point, especially compared to other products."

More AutomationEdge cons

"VisualCron's command console is a little bit difficult to understand and needs to improve."

"Our suggestion to make it better and more manageable in terms of GDPR: Implement it in a very partnership way."

"The error timeout and info could be better. When making web request calls, it will time out sometimes and we won't get any useful info out of the error response."

"VisualCron seems to operate like an efficient machine when it comes to improvements and enhancements and new features. I always appreciate the quick response I get when bringing up an issue or coming up with suggestions. I've mentioned before that it would be great to see a move away from SQLCE and XML configuration files."

"There are some conditions in the mail trigger, but you can only use them as an "AND" condition, not as an "OR" condition. This is an improvement that could be useful. For example, some people put "invoice" in the subject and others put "invoice" in the body. If I want to make a trigger for everybody whose sending invoices, I have to make two jobs for this now."

"VisualCron is software, and you will experience performance degradation when you scale up. VisualCron takes too much memory or CPU power. We have to increase the hardware resources of a specific server or system."

"An area for improvement in VisualCron is its cluttered interface. It isn't always easy to find all functionalities, so what VisualCron needs is a user interface expert who can improve the interface. There's a learning curve in terms of finding what you need from the interface of VisualCron. The technical support for VisualCron also needs improvement in terms of response time. Currently, there's no live support or hotline you can call to get quick answers, so this is what I'd like to see in the next version of VisualCron. A less cluttered and more streamlined interface, where you don't need to hunt for some of the features, is also what I'd like to see in the next VisualCron update."

"The documentation is a bit weak."

More VisualCron cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"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."

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

"The cost is a bit high for a small business like ours, but we manage with Fortra's Automate."

"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."

"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."

"Once you buy the software, you just pay for the support for backend help."

"I like the way this solution is priced because you can buy a license, or you can buy the software outright."

More Fortra's Automate pricing and cost advice

"The product is available at the lowest price."

"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."

"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."

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

"Price-wise, AutomationEdge is pretty affordable, making it not so expensive when you compare this with other tools in the market."

"The licensing for this solution should have a more competitive pricing model. The price is in the top five of similar products."

"It is expensive but its value can justify the cost."

"VisualCron is correctly priced because it wasn't very cheap, and it wasn't overly expensive, so the price for it was set correctly. When my previous company bought VisualCron, it was €800 per server per year. On a scale of one to five, I would rate the pricing for VisualCron a five because it was just right. The tool was affordable, and it has one of the most competitive pricing in the market."

"ROI is 95 percent."

"ROI is one month."

"The pricing is extremely fair, and because of that I recommend purchasing multiple instances to split out the processing load across multiple application servers."

"The price is a bit high."

"We are fine with a rather cheap setup. Licensing with VisualCron is fair. You have a simple one-year licence in different sizes. There isn't a licensing jungle with hundreds of options and opt-ins."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

13%

Healthcare Company

10%

Media Company

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

28%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	24
Midsize Enterprise	10
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

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?

We have been using Automate for approximately one to one and a half years for the automation component. For complex a...

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

The pricing aspect is covered by my senior, but Automate is a centralized tool, so we do not need to buy different to...

See all answers

What do you like most about AutomationEdge?

It helps us with cost optimization and easy implementation.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with AutomationEdge?

In AutomationEdge, I think there could be improvements. I have not used it in maybe two months, but in the past, you ...

See all answers

What do you like most about VisualCron?

The tool has reduced our operational costs by 40%.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VisualCron?

The price is a bit high. However, it is okay.

See all answers

What needs improvement with VisualCron?

The documentation is a bit weak. The tool must provide a better set of documentation.

See all answers

Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 13% of the time

Nintex RPA vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 10% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 8% of the time

MOVEit vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortra's Automate Competitors

Automation Anywhere vs AutomationEdge

Compared 32% of the time

UiPath Platform vs AutomationEdge

Compared 31% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs AutomationEdge

Compared 19% of the time

Blue Prism vs AutomationEdge

Compared 10% of the time

BotFarm vs AutomationEdge

Compared 8% of the time

More AutomationEdge Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs VisualCron

Compared 27% of the time

Control-M vs VisualCron

Compared 18% of the time

OpCon vs VisualCron

Compared 9% of the time

JAMS vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

ActiveBatch by Redwood vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

More VisualCron Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Automate

December 2025

Download Fortra's Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

AutomationEdge

December 2025

Download AutomationEdge product report

Buyer's Guide

VisualCron

December 2025

Download VisualCron product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

No data available

Overview

Fortra's Automate offers a user-friendly platform for task automation, featuring a drag-and-drop interface that aids in scheduling, file management, and integrating with services like Azure and AWS.

Fortra's Automate provides substantial ease in automating complex tasks through its intuitive design. It offers seamless integration capabilities, especially with Azure and AWS, and comes equipped with strong error handling. Cost-effective and requiring minimal coding, it supports a broad range of industries by effectively automating tasks such as HR operations, invoice management, and data processing across servers.

What features stand out in Fortra's Automate?

Drag-and-Drop Interface: Simplifies task setup and automation without deep coding expertise.
Scheduling and File Management: Ensures efficient, automated handling of tasks and file transfers.
Integration Capabilities: Works with platforms like Azure and AWS for enhanced performance.
Error Handling: Offers solid solutions to manage and resolve task execution errors.
Minimal Coding: Facilitates automation with limited coding requirements, broadening accessibility.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-Effectiveness: Provides affordable licensing options for diverse businesses.
Operational Efficiency: Enhances productivity by automating repetitive tasks, reducing manual errors.
Versatility: Adapts well across sectors like banking, healthcare, and transportation.
Robust Support: Offers extensive assistance with automation features.
IT Compatibility: Easily integrates into existing IT infrastructures.

In industries such as healthcare and transportation, Fortra's Automate facilitates the automation of client management, HR operations, and data processing, boosting efficiency. Banks utilize it for managing extensive invoice workflows, while distribution sectors rely on its capabilities for insurance checks and system support. Its applicability across servers makes it a valuable tool for any sector seeking to reduce manual workload and improve task accuracy.

Fortra

AutomationEdge is an Intelligent Robotic Process Automation product which comes bundled with key essential technologies for automation of front office, middle office, back office and IT operations.
AutomationEdge provides Chatbots, Intelligent Automation bots, AI and Machine Learning capabilities that help clients reduce costs, improve response time, grow business and achieve compliance. AutomationEdge provides ready Bots and development environment to build new Bots.

AutomationEdge

VisualCron offers task automation through a visual interface, eliminating the need for programming skills. With capabilities like alerting and variable usage, users benefit from integration with databases, timely task execution, and cross-platform operations.

VisualCron empowers users by simplifying complex workflows. It allows seamless task automation through features like interactive scheduling and role-based operations. Users appreciate its integration capabilities, replacing multiple tools with a comprehensive automation solution. The support system ensures quick assistance, making it a reliable choice for workflow visualization and task execution. However, areas like error handling and interface design require enhancements for improved user experience.

What are the key features of VisualCron?

Visual Interface: Users automate tasks without needing programming skills.
Integration: Connects with databases and multiple systems to streamline operations.
Alerting: Notifies users about tasks and system statuses.
Task Scheduling: Allows interactive management of automated tasks.
Credentials Management: Enables cross-platform operations securely.

What benefits can users expect when evaluating VisualCron?

Increased Efficiency: Reduces the time spent on manual processes.
Cost Reduction: Eliminates the need for multiple tools by consolidating functionalities.
Enhanced Support: Offers robust post-sales support for quicker assistance.
Streamlined Workflows: Simplifies complex task automation.

Organizations leverage VisualCron in industries like finance and logistics to automate tasks such as encryption and secure file transfers. It's also integral in managing data operations, facilitating communications between systems, and executing SQL jobs, enhancing operational efficiency across sectors.

SMA Technologies

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)

7 Eleven, ABB Sécheron SA, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Amazon Europe Core, Apple, Assa Abloy, Aston Martin, Banco Santander, BMW (Australia)

Buyer's Guide

AutomationEdge vs. VisualCron

December 2025

Free Report: AutomationEdge vs. VisualCron

Find out what your peers are saying about AutomationEdge vs. VisualCron and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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