Fortra's Automate vs OpCon comparison

The compared Fortra and SMA Technologies solutions aren't in the same category. Fortra is ranked #4 in RPA , with an average rating of 8.7, and holds a 2.8% mindshare in the category. SMA Technologies is ranked #12 in WA , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 2.3% 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

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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: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

June 2026

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Helped 902,270 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	2.8%
UiPath Platform	10.2%
Microsoft Power Automate	6.7%
Other	80.3%

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Workload Automation Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
OpCon	2.3%
Control-M	11.4%
AutoSys Workload Automation	6.8%
Other	79.5%

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.

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Anthony Tuhame

Information Technology Manager at Everseen

Automation has reduced night-time server checks and now manages reporting and cloud monitoring

The downsides I normally mention about Fortra's Automate are about reports and deep analytics. While Fortra's Automate can manage our servers, it can give you a problem report that says what happened, but it doesn't give you a clear picture of why it happened or how many times your servers went offline. This pushes us to get another third-party tool. We have to generate those simple reports from Fortra's Automate and push them to another software in Tableau. We use Tableau for analytics to analyze that data and understand what the trends are, what the instance is telling us, and what the clear problem is. It lacks that deep analytics feature. Additionally, I am not impressed with the interface, as it feels outdated and it has taken a long time to see any updates or changes. I believe those are the two downsides, but the customer support is adequate.

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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

"The customer engagement is really deep, and they work with the “gemba”. They work with operations very closely. I also believe they have a good product roadmap."

"Using Automation Anywhere has improved our company significantly, as we are doing over eight to 10,000 invoices a month, which people had to do before, while now the automated process is doing that without too much human intervention, saving probably about at least two to possibly three FTEs per week."

"I like all of the product features, but I mostly like to work with IQ Bots because they have cognitive automation capabilities."

"It is a great company with a great product and support."

"Implementation of Automation Anywhere (AA) allows us to automate business processes and has brought productivity gains, error reduction, and speed of execution in multiple HR and Finance operations."

"Features like reusing each and every piece of code for things such as login scripts and data extraction scripts helped us to speed up the implementation of PoC for the client."

"The technical support is something that I rely on if I have any queries or if I have to work on another alternate approach."

"A valuable feature of Automation Anywhere for my needs is IQ Bot because it covers most of the semi-structured and structure data. That's where we are struggling a lot. So, IQ Bot is a very good solution to know and bring onboard for the automation of unstructured and semi-structured data."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"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."

"I like the interface; it makes managing automation easy. We can set different schedules and templates for each task."

"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 most valuable features of Fortra's Automate include its FTP functionality and file manipulation capabilities."

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

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

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

"Regarding errors, there is a sixty to sixty-five percent chance that our errors get resolved by Fortra's Automate by default."

More Fortra's Automate pros

"The stability of this solution is awesome. It's the only product I've ever seen that you can actually build to fix itself if it has a problem. You'll build something and, if you find an issue, you can say, 'Hey, if this happens again, do this to correct it.'"

"It's a good product. They can run almost anything you need to run, as far as I am aware."

"It can run scripted tasks automatically over and over without intervention. That is what it does and the part that I really like because repetitive tasks need to be done over and over, day after day, no matter what day of the week it is. It is difficult to have staff do these manually and consistently, especially over weekends or through the night. Instead, you can have OpCon do them."

"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."

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

"The solution has streamlined operations. We have written custom jobs to do particular things, but OpCon is definitely the one that manages running them at particular times. Often times, those jobs have to run after hours. So while we still develop and spend time and man-hours writing code, once it's done, OpCon is running that in the afternoons or evenings. This is usually done during off hours when a person would normally be required to be here and do it. Instead, OpCon is available, consistent, reliable and easy to get things in and working quickly once we develop and get them working. OpCon takes care of the entire process, including notifications that we define if something were to happen so we know what to do next. Again, it's simplifies the entire process."

"I rate OpCon support 10 out of 10. I've never had a problem with them. I've always been able to get answers quickly and always seem to find a knowledgeable person to assist with any questions."

"It has also helped to streamline our operations. We contract out our collection department so they are no longer housed on our system. They're housed on another platform. OpCon is able to not only pull in our data, but it also, on a daily basis, updates that third-party."

More OpCon pros

Cons

"To achieve a perfect ten, I would want to see new features working as expected and further advancements in automation."

"In the current organization, we had trouble initially because I think the documentation and support could be better than what it is now."

"There is an issue with security where users can see the values in the credential vault."

"We have a third bot which takes longer being automated than it did with the human process."

"Another feature that would be cool to see in Automation Anywhere is more use of artificial intelligence."

"The debugging tools need to be included, for where and why it has failed to execute the bot in a clear manner."

"Automation Anywhere can be improved with better documentation."

"Automation Anywhere should improve its OCR capabilities."

More Automation Anywhere cons

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

"One aspect I dislike about Fortra's Automate is that debugging slows me down."

"The interface of Fortra's Automate is similar to GoAnywhere; I am not completely pleased with it, although it is intuitive, but it lacks something in terms of complexity."

"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 areas that have room for improvement in Fortra's Automate include the reporting and analytics functionality, where the analytics could be more detailed."

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

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

"I 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."

More Fortra's Automate cons

"Upgrading to newer versions remains complex."

"The UI refresh rate is really bad and needs improvement."

"The solution has quite a learning curve for beginners. It's challenging. I wouldn't rate it as super-easy to automate processes. It's medium-weight. I've used more complex software, but I've used simpler software."

"It is a complex product to use. Programming the schedules is complex."

"I would like OpCon to implement a reporting feature on the dashboard that displays historical data for specific jobs. Ideally, this feature would allow us to view the past seven days or the next seven days, but with a specific focus on highlighting instances where a particular job has historically failed, particularly on Saturdays over the past year."

"The system needs better communication, better advanced warning, and better stability with SQL database systems."

"Do your first install, your first upgrade, with SMA. It's simple, it's as per the manual, as per the training, but you need that little bit of confidence."

"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."

More OpCon cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Automation Anywhere is flexible in terms of costing and licensing."

"I don't agree with the IQ Bot licensing costs, which depends on the consumption of the document rather than per bot or user. This is confusing for me, because most of the cases for us in a possible future scenario, there would be a lot of invalid data to be scanned to get to real data. E.g., we would have to supply approximately 100 pages of scanned data to extract two pages of original data. In these type of cases, the IQ Bot might be a costly venture."

"On a yearly basis, our licensing costs are about $80,000. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees."

"We have reduced our headcount, approximately 200 to 300 employees, by eliminating manual, repetitive work. It provides profit to the business."

"We're on a license package with Automation Anywhere (AA), paid yearly. What would be better is for them to have different packages for different types of organization."

"There are some additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees. There are a couple of add-ons we've looked at: The IQ Bot for OCR and machine-learning were add-ons, as well as the Bot Insights - the analytics."

"The licensing cost is approximately $4,000 USD, which is a seed license."

"In the Indian market, I feel that for mid-size companies, such as ourselves, that having multiple bots costs a lot. If Automation Anywhere wants to expand in the Indian market, they will need to look at their pricing."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

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

More Fortra's Automate pricing and cost advice

"While the base pricing is reasonable, the à la carte options are making the overall cost more complicated and potentially problematic."

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

"This solution is slightly more expensive than our previous solution. Right now, we are paying about $40,000 a year. However, we think it's well worth the cost to keep things automated, reducing our staff."

"Annually, we pay $29,000. This is for a blanket policy that covers everything, like licensing and support."

"Cost depends on your environment. We are doing stuff now with failover and recovery, so we have boosted our costs."

"It's definitely worth the cost."

"Operating OpCon comes with a cost."

"Yearly, we're paying about $62,000. OpCon has an all-inclusive feature and module license, but you pay per task."

More OpCon pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Construction Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Outsourcing Company

Computer Software Company

23%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	154
Midsize Enterprise	82
Large Enterprise	536

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	31
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	10

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?

Fortra's Automate has two or three use cases in this scenario. The feature I appreciate most is the drag and drop opt...

See all answers

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

Regarding the pricing of Fortra's Automate, for a startup or mid-market company, I would say it is not cheap and is d...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Fortra Automate?

One thing I dislike about Fortra's Automate is that it does not perform well with OCR software, which is optical char...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for OpCon?

I am the one who signs the contract. In the beginning, when I started working here, it seemed very expensive, but aft...

See all answers

What needs improvement with OpCon?

One problem that I had with them when we got SMA Technologies is that sometimes the jobs fail, but they automatically...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for OpCon?

In this credit union, we use OpCon for automation. That is the main use of it. We have over 3,000 jobs and schedules ...

See all answers

Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 13% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 11% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 7% of the time

WorkFusion vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

Appian vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

More Automation Anywhere Competitors

UiPath Platform vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 8% of the time

Nintex RPA vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 6% of the time

Redwood Software - Finance Automation Edition vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 4% of the time

Matterway vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 2% of the time

More Fortra's Automate Competitors

Control-M vs OpCon

Compared 12% of the time

AutoSys Workload Automation vs OpCon

Compared 11% of the time

AppWorx Workload Automation vs OpCon

Compared 6% of the time

VisualCron vs OpCon

Compared 6% of the time

Tidal by Redwood vs OpCon

Compared 4% of the time

More OpCon Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

June 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Automate

June 2026

Download Fortra's Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

OpCon

June 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)

June 2026

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