Fortra's Automate vs OpCon comparison

Why PeerSpot?

The compared Fortra and SMA Technologies solutions aren't in the same category. Fortra is ranked #4 in RPA , with an average rating of 8.8, and holds a 2.7% mindshare in the category. SMA Technologies is ranked #14 in WA , with an average rating of 9.0, and holds a 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Fortra users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of SMA Technologies users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Fortra's Automate and OpCon based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Microsoft and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

To learn more, read our detailed Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Report (Updated: August 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

August 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 914,938 peers since 2012

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

Mindshare comparison

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Fortra's Automate	2.7%
UiPath Platform	9.5%
Microsoft Power Automate	5.7%
Other	82.1%

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Workload Automation Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
OpCon	2.6%
Control-M	10.2%
AutoSys Workload Automation	6.5%
Other	80.7%

Workload Automation

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

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.

Read full review

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.

Read full review

Jose Rivera Hernandez

Senior VP of Technology at Triangle Credit Union

Helps automate all kinds of jobs and it's worth the price because it saves a lot of time and money

One problem that I had with them when we got SMA Technologies is that sometimes the jobs fail, but they automatically restart. SMA Technologies automatically gets a notification that the job has failed, and they restart it on their end, so now, we have the job restarting twice. There were times when we came into the office in the morning, and we had two files because the job ran twice. I do not know if the system can prevent a job from running the second time. If a job has run successfully, or it is running, it should not run again.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"If we talk about the automation RPA, it definitely has worked very well for us, giving good savings of more than 180 FTEs after implementing more than 200 plus bots."

"It is easy to fix bug issues which you encounter in the post-production process."

"The return on investment we see from Automation Anywhere is significant; particularly, the FTE savings represent a big return."

"The development tools are very good. It's very user-friendly and easy to develop and deploy with Automation Anywhere. Ordinary people, within a few weeks, can develop a bot using the tool."

"It has helped us to save a lot of FTEs for our solutions that we have provided to our companies. Suppose a job which was done by a group of eight to nine people on a daily basis for 24 hours was taking a lot of time, so we created a bot with Automation Anywhere. It was done with a bot working 24/7. It reduced the numbers of guys required to do that process."

"The ease of use is the most valuable feature. It's very easy to use, so to get started, you don't really need hardcore development skills."

"The features of the Automation Anywhere bot bring us the ability to develop automations to production quickly."

"ROI is good and impressive after using automation anywhere RPA platform."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"The solution is continuously adding more integrations to help with workflows and bot and task creation."

"Fortra's Automate helps to automate things and reduces our manual work, saving our time, so I do not think there is any downside I feel as an automation tool."

"The most valuable feature is the drag-and-drop interface, which is very Windows-like."

"The product effectively handles all the tasks we require."

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

"Fortra's Automate has become a digital worker that performs our clicks, data entry, file handling, and system actions that are done manually, helping us to automate them."

"Fortra's Automate has a user-friendly interface that is quite easy to understand for new use cases."

"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."

More Fortra's Automate pros

"The fact that I can do five minutes to three hours of work in 30 seconds is a significant improvement."

"The biggest example in which OpCon has improved my organization is that we have to download and process files from the federal reserve several times a day. If we don't do it in a certain timeframe, we can be penalized. It's the fact that we can download these files, process them, get our accounting teams the information they need to work the exceptions that is one of the most important roles."

"Since we got it configured, it has just done the job day in, day out. Being able to rely on it and know that it's going to happen, whether there's a person over it or not, is really good."

"Among the numerous valuable features, one standout capability is the implementation of self-service buttons."

"OpCon has streamlined our operations, reducing the number of jobs by about 17 percent, optimizing and automating the scheduling of our programs, and enabling us to immediately create tickets in ServiceNow when a job is down using web services."

"It is so simplistic that it gives us peace of mind. Before, we had all these processes that were run manually, such as different file transfers and jobs running for our core at certain times. Now, all that stuff is done automatically."

"Using OpCon has brought us better visibility into our world production tasks."

"The most significant benefit is time savings, which translates into money savings."

More OpCon pros

Cons

"We would like it to be more user-friendly."

"The certification exam for AA is not as per the training videos, as the questions are more scenario-based, which makes it very hard for beginners to clear the exam after just tutorial knowledge."

"Some things that I do not see as of today are interactive chat or video interface. These are things that I will look for in future. I saw something like picture recognition, but something like a video or voice recognition is something that I'm looking for in the Automation Anywhere platform as an end user and even as a reseller."

"We would like to have a better debugging facility."

"For someone who does not have technical skills, using Automation Anywhere is quite challenging because it is primarily meant for the technical aspect, though it can help with basic data entry tasks, such as invoice processing and other repetitive back office operations."

"We face issues when we need to increase volumes. Currently, it is failing for some reason, and we don't know the reason. It fails or stops, then we need to see what is going on. We have to fix that, then our developers need to rerun it. These are mostly practical challenges for our team who uses it on daily basis."

"The mobile application can be improved by adding more functions and capabilities because right now, only a few features are enabled for mobile users."

"They continue to release new features, but end users struggle to adapt to them."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"The vendor is currently working on a solution that allows us to automatically create a process that is based on a document that we receive via email."

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

"If Fortra's Automate could add more logging in jobs, that could be helpful."

"The documentation is not that great."

"I have encountered challenges with error handling and alerting, as some jobs fail and require retries."

"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."

"Currently, there are many instances where I see empty logs, indicating that, while tasks are scheduled, commands are not executing successfully."

"The intelligent automation feature could be improved. It's interesting because it's simple, but the automation quality isn't always good. It's easy to use, but sometimes you need to make a slight improvement to the automation, and that's not so easy."

More Fortra's Automate cons

"There are some limitations in the actual jobs that are created and how you're able to rename files. Suppose you're bringing in, say, 10, 15, or 20 reports from a core system, and you're using an "asterisk character" to identify files. For example, if you're grabbing files that start with this, end with this, but the characters in between could be different, it has to retain that same name in the destination. It won't allow you to rename them with a date stamp or the like."

"There is some difficulty with the ease of use when I don't have some of the templates that were already created. More templates would be great. Non-core featured templates are my biggest struggle."

"The logs are a little daunting to look at the first few times, however, as you begin to understand what you're looking at, it becomes easier."

"It's not something you can just quickly grab, try, run, and play with. You have to get the knowledge and train yourself. It was easy for me, but I also took the time to throw myself into it. There is a learning curve to a certain extent. You have to learn the rules."

"The one area it needs some help in is the mainframe area because that is not its strength. They support the mainframe but it's not something that they are good at."

"In our environment, OpCon is much more expensive than it used to be a year ago."

"We are still in the early stages of our implementation, so at this point, I cannot see any needed improvements or features."

"I would like more web-based training from SMA. That would be nice. Our primary OpCon representative is phenomenal, but we would like some training opportunities for learning on our own. When I started utilizing OpCon, the sheer breadth of it made for a very daunting task. I was almost fearful to start, not to mention fearful to go change things and possibly hinder a job."

More OpCon cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Automation Anywhere's pricing falls within the mid-range, but the long-term benefits outweigh the initial investment."

"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."

"We have seen ROI in terms of cost and time with a couple of our projects."

"Annual licensing costs would be about $100,000."

"I would rate the price of Automation Anywhere a six out of ten, with ten being the most expensive."

"Complaints are generally about the cost of IQ Bot, which is higher than its competitors. The base model’s pricing is comparable to other platforms with attended, unattended, and IDP capabilities as well."

"We are a partner of Automation Anywhere and find the pricing to be reasonable."

"I've seen the price vary by whether the client is going to scale and adopt a tool."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

"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."

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

"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 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."

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

More Fortra's Automate pricing and cost advice

"Yearly, it's around $30,000."

"Our license is for 1000 jobs. Including support, the license and upgrades are 2000 euros a month."

"It was substantially less expensive than ASG-Zeke... I would suggest that someone who is only looking at price when evaluating workload automation tools take a very hard look at OpCon because it is well-priced."

"It's definitely worth the cost."

"I believe our cost is about $150,000 annually."

"The cost is just shy of $20,000. That's for two licenses annually, production, and failover. It is a pricey solution. Comparatively speaking, you can certainly find schedulers which are cheaper. In some cases, you can find ones that are free or use free solutions. However, OpCon is by far the superior quality product, and you pay for that. This also has a cost savings associated with an FTE, so you can more than outweigh the cost of the solution if you were to reduce the staff that you have onsite. Plus, this means that you don't need to have someone during irregular hours."

"The total cost of ownership is about the same to our previous product. The costs are relatively similar."

"It used to be per machine, so we had X number of devices licensed. Now it's not. If we had a lot of machines, the new license might've decreased the cost. Unfortunately, we didn't see the same gains."

More OpCon pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

914,938 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	161
Midsize Enterprise	85
Large Enterprise	561

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	33
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	29
Large Enterprise	19

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?

I mainly use Fortra's Automate to automate routine IT tasks and schedule workflows, which reduces manual work. I auto...

See all answers

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

The setup cost is free, but I believe it is a little expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortra Automate?

Fortra's Automate could be improved as the reporting could be more flexible, and some advanced workflows could be eas...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 11% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 5% of the time

AutomationEdge vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 3% of the time

IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

More Automation Anywhere Competitors

UiPath Platform vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 8% of the time

OpenText Operations Orchestration vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 3% of the time

Blue Prism vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 3% of the time

Automic Automation vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 3% of the time

More Fortra's Automate Competitors

AutoSys Workload Automation vs OpCon

Compared 12% of the time

Control-M vs OpCon

Compared 11% of the time

AppWorx Workload Automation vs OpCon

Compared 9% of the time

VisualCron vs OpCon

Compared 5% of the time

MuleSoft Anypoint Platform vs OpCon

Compared 3% of the time

More OpCon Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

September 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Automate

September 2026

Download Fortra's Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

OpCon

September 2026

Download OpCon product report

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

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

Fortra

Demo not available

SMA Technologies

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

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

OpCon empowers organizations with its extensive automation capabilities and seamless integrations, particularly appreciated in financial institutions for managing and optimizing batch processes and operational tasks across platforms such as core systems, Windows, and the cloud.

OpCon offers reliable scheduling and management of workloads, crucial for reducing manual interventions and errors. Its robust automation and integration features with systems like Corelation KeyStone and Symitar support efficient operations, contributing to significant time savings and increased productivity. Users find its ease of use beneficial, although some aspects like web functionalities, integration with third-party systems, and flexibility could improve.

What are key features of OpCon?

Automation Capabilities: Advanced tools for automating diverse tasks and batch processes.
Seamless Integration: Compatible with KeyStone and Symitar, enhancing system functionality.
Self-Service: Enables independent initiation of processes by users.
Scheduling Functionality: Efficiently manages workflows, minimizing manual interventions.

What benefits can users expect?

Time Savings: Streamlines tasks, reducing operational time.
Enhanced Productivity: Increases efficiency across departments by simplifying processes.
Reliability: Delivers dependable automation with minimal errors.
Ease of Use: Simplifies task management with intuitive operations.

In financial institutions, OpCon enhances efficiency by automating batch processing, file transfers, and core processes like reporting and ACH processing. It integrates third-party tools, enabling job scheduling across environments from mainframes to cloud, thereby improving operational performance and reducing manual work.

SMA Technologies

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

LOHR, Carnival Cruise Lines, Herbalife, Digital Federal Credit Union, Synergent, Frandsen Bank & Trust

Buyer's Guide

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

August 2026

Download Free Report

Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Microsoft and others in Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Updated: August 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

914,938 professionals have used our research since 2012.

We monitor all Robotic Process Automation (RPA) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.