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.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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

"The interface is simple, user-friendly, and very intuitive."

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

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

"Fortra's Automate performs the job effectively and has the capability to alert us of any issues."

"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."

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

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

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

More Automate pros

"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."

"Blue Prism is a great enterprise and it has offered the solutions that I have been needing in order to give my organization an RPA."

"As a developer, I liked the layout and UI, specifically referring to testing. I was able to watch the process through stages."

"The only good thing about Blue Prism is the execution speed."

"We started with a very small team and small projects. As the project started getting success with Blue Prism we have a large number of teams now just for automating all the business procedures. Larger time was saved after automating the processes."

"Blue Prism provides both on-premises and cloud versions."

"One key feature is the workflow design is able to be customized according to the way that you want the automation to work."

"From technical perspective, Blue Prism is pretty good. Overall, it's a stable and scalable solution. Installation is straightforward as well."

More Blue Prism pros

"The program requires no code making it very easy to implement various functions."

"The solution has saved us hours of work."

"The most advantageous aspect of the solution is its cloud capabilities."

"The initial setup is very simple."

"It's easy to learn."

"Instead of manually triggering payments through the website, everything was done through robotic process automation (RPA), saving us a lot of time."

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Power Automate in the desktop version is web scraping because you can do a lot with it. I work in retail and you can study prices changes, which can give you a lot of information. The solution is no code which is a large advantage."

"AI Builder is a good add-on."

More Microsoft Power Automate pros

Cons

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

"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 documentation for errors needs improvement as many of the error messages we receive are very vague."

"The technical support could be better. We suffer from language barriers, as we are in Argentina."

"There is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning."

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

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

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

More Automate cons

"Its pricing is sometimes higher. Its price can be better. Its presale support should be increased. Currently, its presale support is very less. System integrators generally position Blue Prism in front of customers. Though they have an ecosystem, they don't have people who can train for the partner ecosystem. They have to increase the presales consultants for partners. In addition, their L1 and L2 support can also be improved."

"The recording of the transaction is missing in this solution."

"We've found some challenges with Blue Prism, particularly when interacting with certain applications. The element inspection feature could be improved, especially for more complex applications."

"I would like to see bespoke dashboards allow the front-end to display what is required."

"Its front end is not very good for things like screen scraping. UiPath and AA are very good for that. Blue Prism's license is costlier than UiPath and AA. They should be improving its price. Its artificial intelligence and cognitive features are not that strong enough. Cognitive automation should be their next area of improvement. The decoding of the bot is a highly painful activity, and this is an area of improvement for Blue Prism. It is tough to find variables and get the code in place. You have to open the whole bonnet of the car to get things in place. Their training should also be improved. UiPath and AA have their learning communities. They provide free of cost basic certification. As a result, you get trained workforce in the market that can directly work on projects, but this is not the case with Blue Prism. It is costly to get the resources trained, which increases the overall cost of getting a resource for Blue Prism. Their tech support can also be improved. Many times, the issues that should have been addressed by L1 have gone to L2."

"They should add more OCR engines to it."

"As a user, I cannot directly work with the bot. On a daily basis, I use and do some work in Microsoft Excel, which cannot be directly taken into Blue Prism. Our company majorly runs on Microsoft Excel. Everybody has Excel sheets as their working sheets. Therefore, we need a kind of automation to be able to do things with this program. This bot is almost like an invisible staff that works between the servers but not with the users. This bot works well with SAP and things like that, but it doesn't work with Excel sheets. It doesn't work with the bots that we have, and I cannot invoke an RPA right now as a user. It has to be done by an administrator who has better control than me. It needs better integration with Microsoft Excel. Its price can be improved. It is expensive for us. It should be cheaper for a market like ours. We are based in India."

"For developers, they should have some kind of recording feature."

More Blue Prism cons

"I need to have more integration capabilities from this solution."

"One of the challenges is dealing with OCR text recognition."

"Power Automate could be improved by adding an internal fuzzy lookup or fuzzy match feature."

"Better support is needed for building custom components on top of ProcessRobot."

"More OCR and AI capabilities are needed to improve the solution. Other solutions have better features, such as Blue Prism and UiPath."

"On the governance side, there isn't enough documentation on how to govern Power Automate. People just build bespoke automation, which then becomes a problem point for different companies."

"The solution could benefit from mirroring Oracle's use of videos and community forums to help users get acquainted with the product. It could use better online training and/or documentation."

"Enhancing Power Automate to work synchronously instead of asynchronously would eliminate the need for additional coding, saving time in project implementation."

More Microsoft Power Automate 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."

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

"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."

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

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

"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."

More Automate pricing and cost advice

"Blue Prism is a bit higher priced compared to other payment-related or investment-related solutions. At the same time, it also provides more security than those solutions, specifically for the banking and insurance sectors."

"The solution is not that expensive and a five-year license costs about 20k euros."

"Blue Prism is less expensive than some of the other RPA solutions."

"Our customers pay for an annual license."

"The solution is expensive."

"Blue Prism is an expensive solution, especially in Southeast Asia, while in Europe and the UK, it can be considered moderate in terms of cost."

"The billing is on a yearly basis. They send us the bill every year. My business unit is billed by the technology team, so I don't know exactly how much they pay. In my business unit, we have our first-year license costs, and then we have our ongoing costs. Our bots cost projected per license is $8,600. Our projected support cost for every year is about $38,000. Our operation agent costs anywhere between $50,000 to $55,000, so the saving is there, but it is still kind of expensive for us, but I'm looking at it from the technology kind of billing us for it. This is the cost that we have for our technology team, which is different from the licensing of Blue Prism."

"Blue Prism has a higher cost with respect to RPA enablement, particularly if you are trying to start with RPA."

More Blue Prism pricing and cost advice

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

"We have it on our system. I don't really know if we need a separate license."

"It is free with Office 365 subscription."

"I don't deal with the financial side. I know that we pay for a per-user license. It is probably less than $20 a user, but I am not sure about the exact figures."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

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

"Power Automate is comparatively less costly than UiPath."

"It has a cost-effective pricing model compared to competitors."

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

10%

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...

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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 7% of the time

MOVEit vs Automate

Compared 5% of the time

More Automate Competitors

UiPath Platform vs Blue Prism

Compared 32% 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 9% of the time

Pega Robotic Process Automation vs Microsoft Power Automate

Compared 6% 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

April 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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