AutomationEdge vs VisualCron comparison

AutomationEdge and SMA Technologies are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. AutomationEdge is ranked #21 with an average rating of 7.8, while SMA Technologies is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.0. AutomationEdge holds a 1.1% mindshare in RPA, compared to SMA Technologies’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 84% 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: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AutomationEdge vs. VisualCron

July 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 August 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automate is 1.9%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AutomationEdge is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VisualCron is 1.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

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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BhargavJotva

Associate Manager - Retail Banking Operation at IDFCFIRST

An RPA tool to automate functions, tasks, and processes that also allows users to do coding from the scratch

The initial setup of AutomationEdge was satisfactory for our company. For deployment for a large process, it will take around two months to develop the process. Else, it can be done in fifteen days. My organization gets to automate the banking processes using the solution. There are different requirements for different departments. Finance departments need something to automate their processes, and the requirements may vary for the information management department. There is a different type of automation requirement if there are some secretive documents that we have to keep on triggering mail.

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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

"Overall, the whole product is really nice and provides significant benefits."

"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."

"Automate increases efficiency and eliminates errors during documentation and invoicing processes."

"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."

"The best feature of Automate is its ease of use, which is a major selling point."

"The ability to connect to websites and pull data is the solution's most valuable feature."

"We have found the pricing to be very reasonable."

"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."

More Automate pros

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

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

"The initial setup was easy and straightforward."

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

"We can quickly adapt to our end users."

"It is a valuable tool for developing efficient solutions, especially in finance and banking."

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

More AutomationEdge pros

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

"The tool has reduced our operational costs by 40%."

"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."

"It helped us reduce manual steps."

"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."

"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."

"'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."

"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."

More VisualCron pros

Cons

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

"I would like to see some better web automation, a wizard like the one in the product WinAutomation would be very nice."

"The workflow for variables could be better. The input and output of task-level variables could be made a little clearer in terms of passing those around from one task to another upon success, etc. Things like that could be a little easier potentially."

"The documentation is not that great."

"We really need a free development environment for customers. Building and testing automation on production isn't ideal."

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

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

"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."

More Automate cons

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

"The price of the solution could be improved."

"They could provide more technologies for IT and security to enhance machine learning capabilities."

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

"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."

"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."

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

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

More AutomationEdge cons

"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."

"I want to improve the UI in VisualCron, as it's not as user-friendly, particularly when setting up the task scheduler. If you're familiar with the tool, then no problem, but if not, you'll have a problem typing text because sometimes, the cursor points to other places, so there's an issue with text box alignment in VisualCron. That was painful for me when I was just a VisualCron novice, but when you become used to it, there won't be a problem."

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

"The documentation is a bit weak."

"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 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."

"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."

More VisualCron cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."

"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."

"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."

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

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

More Automate pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

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

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

"The product is available at the lowest price."

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

"ROI is one month."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"ROI is 95 percent."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

Healthcare Company

Real Estate/Law Firm

Computer Software Company

27%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Insurance Company

Healthcare 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.

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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.

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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...

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What do you like most about AutomationEdge?

It helps us with cost optimization and easy implementation.

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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.

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What needs improvement with AutomationEdge?

AutomationEdge's primary issue is its price point, especially compared to products from companies like Microsoft that...

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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.

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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 Automate

Compared 30% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automate

Compared 26% of the time

Redwood Software - Finance Automation Edition vs Automate

Compared 10% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automate

Compared 9% of the time

MOVEit vs Automate

Compared 4% of the time

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Automation Anywhere vs AutomationEdge

Compared 41% of the time

UiPath Platform vs AutomationEdge

Compared 34% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs AutomationEdge

Compared 26% of the time

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Microsoft Power Automate vs VisualCron

Compared 37% of the time

Control-M vs VisualCron

Compared 23% of the time

OpCon vs VisualCron

Compared 8% of the time

ActiveBatch by Redwood vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

Stonebranch vs VisualCron

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automate

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

AutomationEdge

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

VisualCron

July 2025

Download VisualCron product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

No data available

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

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 automates tasks like file encryption, scheduling SQL jobs, system integration, data workflow management, and application triggering, making it ideal for handling nightly syncs, FTP server file replacements, job scheduling, and invoice processing.

VisualCron provides an efficient automation solution with features like error and status reporting, API connections, PGP key generation, encryption file creation, and bulk SQL script execution. It simplifies task automation through its mail and event triggers, job variables, conditional execution, and logging with error alerts. Users benefit from its integration capabilities, scheduling flexibility, visual interface, and support for databases and credential management without extensive coding.

What are the most important features?

Simplicity: Easy-to-use interface for seamless automation.
Mail and Event Triggers: Automate tasks based on specific events.
Job Variables: Customize tasks using various input variables.
Conditional Execution: Execute tasks based on predefined conditions.
Error Alerts: Logging and error reporting to ensure task reliability.
Integration Capabilities: Easily connect and integrate with systems and APIs.
Scheduling Flexibility: Create complex schedules with ease.
Visual Interface: User-friendly GUI for efficient management.
Database Support: Manage and automate database tasks efficiently.
Credential Management: Securely handle credentials for various tasks.
PowerShell Commands: Execute PowerShell commands directly.

What are the benefits or ROI users should look for in the reviews?

Efficiency: Streamline and automate repetitive tasks to save time.
Cost Savings: Reduce manual labor and associated costs.
Reliability: Ensure consistency and accuracy in task execution.
Integration: Enhance workflows by integrating with different systems.
Flexibility: Adjust quickly to changes and handle complex scheduling needs.
Support: Benefit from extensive post-sales support and configuration options.
Innovation: Foster innovation by eliminating the need for coding.

Industries like finance, healthcare, and logistics implement VisualCron to automate data workflows, secure file transfers, and schedule critical tasks. It is used to streamline invoice processing, manage large-scale data operations, and ensure compliance through encryption and error reporting. VisualCron enhances operational efficiency, scalability, and security in various sectors, making it essential for businesses requiring robust automation capabilities.

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

July 2025

Free Report: AutomationEdge vs. VisualCron

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

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