Fortra's Automate vs VisualCron comparison

Fortra and SMA Technologies are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. Fortra is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.7, while SMA Technologies is ranked #28. Fortra holds a 2.8% mindshare in RPA, compared to SMA Technologies’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Fortra users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SMA Technologies users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 15, 2026

Fortra's Automate and VisualCron are two robust automation solutions competing in the automation software category. Fortra's Automate may have an upper hand due to its affordability, flexible pricing, and easy scalability.

Features: Fortra's Automate offers a no-code interface, extensive integration capabilities, and powerful scheduling features. It supports multi-cloud environments and has a drag-and-drop workflow feature that simplifies automation tasks. VisualCron provides strong database connectivity, scheduling capabilities, and an ability to handle complex workflows with ease, making it ideal for tight integration with existing systems.

Room for Improvement: Fortra's Automate is noted for its less modern interface and stability issues, with user feedback indicating a need for better error logging and community engagement. VisualCron could benefit from a more streamlined interface, comprehensive documentation, and a user-friendly command console.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Fortra's Automate supports public, private, and hybrid cloud deployments, providing flexibility and ease of deployment. It is recognized for good technical support but could improve community engagement. VisualCron, while supporting diverse deployments, could improve user experience with faster technical support and an intuitive setup process.

Pricing and ROI: Fortra's Automate offers a competitive bot-based pricing model that allows multiple processes on a single bot, leading to faster ROI through cost savings in labor and time. VisualCron provides transparent yearly licensing, which users appreciate, and delivers strong ROI, especially for organizations with specific database and system integration needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Fortra's Automate vs. VisualCron Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Automate vs. VisualCron

June 2026

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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

Automation Anywhere

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automation Anywhere is 5.5%, down from 10.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortra's Automate is 2.8%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VisualCron is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Automation Anywhere	5.5%
Fortra's Automate	2.8%
VisualCron	1.2%
Other	90.5%

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

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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Sourav-Dutta

Technical Lead - Database Administrator at SMART ENERGY SYSTEMS LLC

It's user-friendly, and I didn't need long to understand the process

We use VisualCron for all our automation needs, like connecting to FileZilla, calling APIs, generating PGP keys, creating encryption files with the PGP key login to Azure, etc. It can automatically log in to SQL Server and execute SQL script jobs in bulk. We had 2,000-3,000 users at my previous…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I would rate Automation Anywhere a ten out of ten."

"Compared to other RPA solutions on the market I have worked with, AA surpasses its competitors by far."

"What Automation Anywhere does exceptionally well is allowing users—especially those without a technical background—to navigate easily, and if you know how to work with Excel or Word, you can simply type commands in plain English like 'save Excel' or 'open Excel' to find the corresponding actions."

"Courses on Automation Anywhere University are very easy to learn."

"We have a close relationship with our account manager and technical support. This relationship makes the difference."

"The scalability of Automation Anywhere, the framework, and user interface are particularly impressive."

"Automation Anywhere helped us to reduce the work time on data operations."

"The process to add licenses has been very straightforward and seamless."

More Automation Anywhere pros

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

"We've automated all the vendor processes so that we don't have to manually load any files."

"We have done the setup in the last eight months, my team of approximately ten to twelve team members were doing manual jobs, and Fortra's Automate is doing that with three or four bots we have set up, doing this job without any errors and really reducing my manual work and the human errors which were done by my team so I don't need to re-verify data or invest time in this."

"It's very easy to use. That's a big selling point for it. It has got a drag-and-drop interface, so you can quickly deploy bots."

"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."

"The feature I prefer most about Fortra's Automate is that it offers no-code or low-code automation, which is essential for me as a cybersecurity analyst because we do not have time to code and automate everything."

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

"The return on investment I have seen with Fortra's Automate is greater than sixty percent, as it significantly improves our workflow and our team's capabilities."

More Fortra's Automate pros

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

"What I found most beneficial from VisualCron is that you can directly connect it with different databases, user accounts, and credentials. You can run queries from one machine to another using the credentials, unlike PowerShell, that's run by the machine itself. With VisualCron, you can directly ask other machines and run requests through user credentials. Suppose you have an AWS or Azure environment. In that case, you can maintain the connection between on-premises and cloud-based machines, which is the type of setup in the organization I'm working for. You can directly call some of the services via VisualCron on your local on-premises machine, and I found that an excellent feature of the tool."

"VisualCron makes everything clearer and easier to maintain."

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

"VisualCron has enabled us to efficiently automate and maintain many tasks with minimal effort from our internal IT resources."

"The most valuable feature of VisualCron is its ability to schedule interactive jobs so that you can have interdependencies within the job and interdependencies of a job on another job, and so on."

"VisualCron is a handy tool that we (the IT department) provide for the business departments to obtain easy access when automating and scheduling."

"The ability to clone jobs to shorten the time it takes to implement a process has been invaluable, but its flexibility also gives us the ability to create a job that can handle a multifaceted process with a complex workflow."

More VisualCron pros

Cons

"The first version would double our cost."

"I would like to have a bot as a service platform on AA Cloud."

"One of the main concerns with Automation Anywhere is the lack of a robust feature for capturing and managing information from the user interface, something competitors like Blue Prism already offer."

"Automation Anywhere has some limitations."

"Scaling from small to medium automation works well, but if building out very big applications, sometimes the code can be too lengthy and uncontrollable."

"Also, the Master certification should be provided free of cost for partners. More practical samples and examples of bots using new features in A2019 should be available in people Documentation. A2019 presentation material for proposing A2019 as an RPA choice should be provided to partners."

"I used document automation about two years ago, however, it did not work as expected at that time, providing results around 70% to 80%. After that, we turned to third-party tools."

"I think Automation Anywhere could be improved by addressing the learning curve, as it is a little complex to start using it, especially for people new to automation tools."

More Automation Anywhere cons

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

"It's possible that they could use a stronger community for seeking guidance and help."

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

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

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

"We aren't completely satisfied with the stability; the system can slow down and the program occasionally crashes and closes."

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

More Fortra's Automate cons

"VisualCron seems to operate like an efficient machine when it comes to improvements and enhancements and new features. I always appreciate the quick response I get when bringing up an issue or coming up with suggestions. I've mentioned before that it would be great to see a move away from SQLCE and XML configuration files."

"An area for improvement in VisualCron is its cluttered interface. It isn't always easy to find all functionalities, so what VisualCron needs is a user interface expert who can improve the interface. There's a learning curve in terms of finding what you need from the interface of VisualCron. The technical support for VisualCron also needs improvement in terms of response time. Currently, there's no live support or hotline you can call to get quick answers, so this is what I'd like to see in the next version of VisualCron. A less cluttered and more streamlined interface, where you don't need to hunt for some of the features, is also what I'd like to see in the next VisualCron update."

"The documentation is a bit weak."

"The only problem I face when I use the tool is that it doesn't contain much documentation or it doesn't have many video tutorials on its features."

"I would like for VisualCron to expand audit log to show who changed job variables that are initialized per job run."

"The error timeout and info could be better. When making web request calls, it will time out sometimes and we won't get any useful info out of the error response."

"I want to improve the UI in VisualCron, as it's not as user-friendly, particularly when setting up the task scheduler."

"VisualCron is software, and you will experience performance degradation when you scale up. VisualCron takes too much memory or CPU power. We have to increase the hardware resources of a specific server or system."

More VisualCron cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are not receiving the right information about their features, e.g. Automation Anywhere University, or anything that they are selling. They need to improve their documentation."

"The solution itself is free unless we want to add the support option but we have to pay for the bots we use."

"The initial setup and licensing fees are high, and although it saves costs in the long run, reaching the break-even point can take at least six months."

"We have saved time and money using this solution."

"Although the initial implementation cost of Automation Anywhere is relatively high compared to other options, its annual subscription cost is lower than UiPath's, which has the opposite pricing structure."

"The solution's pricing is pretty decent."

"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."

"If we count the integrations that we have done with Appian, which is where a lot of our savings is from, we are well over a million dollars in savings. This is from only doing development for about a year and a half."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

"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."

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

"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."

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

More Fortra's Automate pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is extremely fair, and because of that I recommend purchasing multiple instances to split out the processing load across multiple application servers."

"The price is a bit high."

"ROI is 95 percent."

"We are fine with a rather cheap setup. Licensing with VisualCron is fair. You have a simple one-year licence in different sizes. There isn't a licensing jungle with hundreds of options and opt-ins."

"ROI is one month."

"VisualCron is correctly priced because it wasn't very cheap, and it wasn't overly expensive, so the price for it was set correctly. When my previous company bought VisualCron, it was €800 per server per year. On a scale of one to five, I would rate the pricing for VisualCron a five because it was just right. The tool was affordable, and it has one of the most competitive pricing in the market."

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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

25%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare 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	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

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...

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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...

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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.

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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

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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

Perpetuuiti Platform vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 3% of the time

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ActiveBatch by Redwood vs VisualCron

Compared 9% of the time

UiPath Platform vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

Control-M vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

Nintex RPA vs VisualCron

Compared 3% of the time

More VisualCron 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

VisualCron

May 2026

Download VisualCron 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

VisualCron offers task automation through a visual interface, eliminating the need for programming skills. With capabilities like alerting and variable usage, users benefit from integration with databases, timely task execution, and cross-platform operations.

VisualCron empowers users by simplifying complex workflows. It allows seamless task automation through features like interactive scheduling and role-based operations. Users appreciate its integration capabilities, replacing multiple tools with a comprehensive automation solution. The support system ensures quick assistance, making it a reliable choice for workflow visualization and task execution. However, areas like error handling and interface design require enhancements for improved user experience.

What are the key features of VisualCron?

Visual Interface: Users automate tasks without needing programming skills.
Integration: Connects with databases and multiple systems to streamline operations.
Alerting: Notifies users about tasks and system statuses.
Task Scheduling: Allows interactive management of automated tasks.
Credentials Management: Enables cross-platform operations securely.

What benefits can users expect when evaluating VisualCron?

Increased Efficiency: Reduces the time spent on manual processes.
Cost Reduction: Eliminates the need for multiple tools by consolidating functionalities.
Enhanced Support: Offers robust post-sales support for quicker assistance.
Streamlined Workflows: Simplifies complex task automation.

Organizations leverage VisualCron in industries like finance and logistics to automate tasks such as encryption and secure file transfers. It's also integral in managing data operations, facilitating communications between systems, and executing SQL jobs, enhancing operational efficiency across sectors.

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

7 Eleven, ABB Sécheron SA, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Amazon Europe Core, Apple, Assa Abloy, Aston Martin, Banco Santander, BMW (Australia)

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Automate vs. VisualCron

June 2026

Free Report: Fortra's Automate vs. VisualCron

Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra's Automate vs. VisualCron and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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