No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Fortra's Automate vs Microsoft Copilot Studio comparison

Sponsored
 

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

Automation Anywhere
Sponsored
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
660
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (2nd), Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (2nd), Process Mining (1st), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (1st), Agentic Automation (1st), AI Legal & Compliance (1st), AI Finance & Accounting (1st), AI Procurement & Supply Chain (1st)
Fortra's Automate
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
6th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) (4th)
Microsoft Copilot Studio
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
21st
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
Chatbot Development Platforms (3rd), AI Agent Builders (6th)
 

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Management Consultant at Accenture
Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions
Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.
Jane Rachma Kiniti - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Shrikant Pillay. - PeerSpot reviewer
Architect at kyndryl
Has helped automate repetitive tasks and streamline content summarization across teams
For analytics, I prefer using the Power BI platform instead of Microsoft Copilot Studio. When it comes to analytics, though it gives the right insight, the visuals are not of great quality, or sometimes they don't appear at all. For instance, when creating charts of sales on a quarter-on-quarter basis or month-on-month basis in a bar graph or pie chart, Microsoft Copilot Studio doesn't perform adequately. Anything requiring image creation or graphs and plots is not optimal. The graphing features are missing in Microsoft Copilot Studio. Although image creation is available, it lags at times, similar to any other LLM module. When creating content based on graphs or CIO presentations, these features are not developed to a great extent.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The bot creation process is simple and useful. Whatever you need to do, it is there. If there is something else, there are the MetaBot functions."
"We mostly used the Database commands in order to make the process faster and more secure, rather than using Excel or a CSV for reading the input files."
"Its ease of deployment is the most valuable feature. We have found with many customers that it's quite easy to deploy."
"With the cash flow generated just on the one bot we had operating, it's paid for itself in the first month."
"I like the diversity. Every year, maybe even every six months, new modules are introduced to the program, and module enhancements are added to the toolbox to make automating various applications or situations easier."
"Automation Anywhere is easy to use and user-friendly due to its intuitive interface and straightforward implementation architecture, making it accessible even for those without a technical background."
"The graphical user interface (GUI) is very useful, since I don't know any coding languages. I have been able to be a developer with Automation Anywhere without knowing the technical background. I am a business user, and not needing the technical knowledge to use the system has been useful for me."
"Non-developers can use the tool to create bots. Also, it is very easy for developers to use."
"The pricing is excellent. I would give them perfect marks in that regard."
"This tool has machine learning and voice recognition and computer vision, which are both quite useful aspects. These aren't available in other tools. It's a good addition to this tool and it gives the solution an edge on the market."
"The most valuable features of Fortra's Automate include its FTP functionality and file manipulation capabilities."
"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."
"I find the ease of use from a programming perspective very valuable."
"We've automated all the vendor processes so that we don't have to manually load any files."
"Web scraping is quite good since it offers a lot of possibilities."
"The use case involves intelligent code assistance, UI, UX, and integration parts."
"We have achieved approximately 60 to 70% productivity gain using Microsoft Copilot Studio."
"Starting with Microsoft Copilot Studio for product projects, especially for POC and MVP, accelerates the creation and demonstration to clients, helping them interact with and understand the solution before discussing further improvements."
"The integration part in Microsoft Copilot Studio is something I really appreciate because it's very easy to integrate with anything, and the main reason we chose this Studio is its simplicity in developing and building workflows and interconnecting things, especially when it comes to public cloud; life is quite easy."
"Microsoft Copilot Studio has helped enhance my development process quite a lot."
 

Cons

"My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been mixed."
"Automation Anywhere is not fully compatible with browsers other than Internet Explorer while working with web extraction."
"Logging into Automation Anywhere takes some time. I use it frequently, and each login currently takes some time. A reduction in this time would be helpful."
"Automation Anywhere is one of the least stable RPA tools out of the top five RPA solutions."
"Automation Anywhere could use to be more stabilized."
"The Help menu/description can be provided while hovering over actions so that it can help us better to know them."
"They have a ridiculously expensive bot licensing structure, especially for the Asian region."
"There is a small thing from a development point of view. There should be a static site box for finding any command if I am writing a code. If there are hundreds of functions, you can only scroll up and down to find one each one. There should be a site box where we can find the commands and easily use them."
"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."
"Currently, there are many instances where I see empty logs, indicating that, while tasks are scheduled, commands are not executing successfully."
"The user interface could be slightly enhanced to make it more modern."
"Fortra's Automate is good overall, but the advanced logic is somewhat challenging."
"Regarding the pricing of Fortra's Automate, for a startup or mid-market company, I would say it is not cheap and is definitely on the higher side."
"I would prefer not having to log in to update a ticket; being able to respond via email would be beneficial."
"One thing I dislike about Fortra's Automate is that it does not perform well with OCR software, which is optical character recognition."
"If Fortra's Automate could add more logging in jobs, that could be helpful."
"While Microsoft Copilot Studio can create documents and add information, it does not do so accurately, and this is an area that needs improvement."
"I feel that the pricing and licensing methods of Microsoft Copilot Studio are not very conducive."
"For analytics, I prefer using the Power BI platform instead of Microsoft Copilot Studio."
"The price for Microsoft Copilot Studio can definitely be improved, as small organizations find it very difficult to manage the subscription."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My understanding is that the license cost of Automation Anywhere is more reasonable than UiPath and Blue Prism."
"It looks like it will be right around $115,000, not counting IQ Bot, which we won't renew until later."
"We save 34,000 hours of time per year and have recouped up to $6000 in lost revenue."
"The cost for scalability is much cheaper than developing a new system."
"While calculating the setup cost you should account for the server, virtual machines, product licenses, maintenance costs, and running costs."
"It is not cheap, with costs ranging between 700 to 800 dollars per month. While Power Automate is cheaper at 15 dollars per month, Automation Anywhere offers superior features, user-friendliness, and smoothness."
"Automation Anywhere's pricing is significantly higher than other RPA solutions."
"The cost is at the highest end of the spectrum."
"The cost is a bit high for a small business like ours, but we manage with Fortra's Automate."
"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 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."
"It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."
"I believe the price falls within a reasonable range, which significantly influenced our decision regarding the product. This aspect is crucial for any technological solution, especially in our country where enterprises might be hesitant to invest heavily in something untested or uncertain about its practicality and potential returns."
"I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."
"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."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
11%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Healthcare Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business157
Midsize Enterprise82
Large Enterprise558
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business1
Large Enterprise9
 

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...
How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?
It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.
What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?
I use Fortra's Automate to automate our workflows and reports mainly. For example, we normally task it to generate an...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra Automate?
When we installed Fortra's Automate, I was present. We use Automate Plus, and we are running about 20 bots or instanc...
What needs improvement with Fortra Automate?
The interface of Fortra's Automate is similar to GoAnywhere. I am not completely pleased with it, although it is intu...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Copilot Studio?
While Microsoft Copilot Studio can create documents and add information, it does not do so accurately, and this is an...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Copilot Studio?
Microsoft Copilot Studio is implemented for different scenarios, including straightforward and common scenarios. Howe...
What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft Copilot Studio?
The predictive analytics features in Microsoft Copilot Studio are rated at the highest level because there is the abi...
 

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)
HelpSystems Automate, Automate
No data available
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics
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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Automate vs. Microsoft Copilot Studio and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.