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IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs SAP Intelligent RPA comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

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 Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
661
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (2nd), Process Mining (1st), Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (1st), Agentic Automation (1st), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (2nd), AI Legal & Compliance (1st), AI Finance & Accounting (2nd), AI Procurement & Supply Chain (1st)
IBM Robotic Process Automat...
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
25
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP Intelligent RPA
Ranking in Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
13th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automation Anywhere is 5.2%, down from 9.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is 1.9%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Intelligent RPA is 1.6%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Automation Anywhere5.2%
IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)1.9%
SAP Intelligent RPA1.6%
Other91.3%
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
 

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.
MA
Business Solutions Manager at valleysoft
Has improved analytics and reporting but needs better integration and support
To improve IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for the next release, there should be more integration with external systems, and more integration with IBM's data and AI platforms is needed. There is an AI part in IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for Machine Learning, but IBM has another platform specifically for data and AI, which is integrated right now. More features are hoped for in the future.
Keerthana Jayathran - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP BTP Developer at Wipro Limited
Offers integration of the document extraction service into SAP ALC, enabling the direct upload and extraction of details
I found that SAP Intelligent RPA can be somewhat unstable when using SAP GUI. When we upgraded from SAP GUI version 7.50 to version 7.70, we had to update our SAP Intelligent RPA screens even though the screens were the same. This was difficult and time-consuming. The one I would like to see is in context with the screens, if they are using the same SAP UI, and if it updates, it should not be changed. At least it should be able to identify the screen. There should be more of an error, like a proper error feature, in future releases. Sometimes, we don't understand why that automation is not learning what, like, where it is stuck, what the reason is, or what the criteria we are missing to add. A proper error message would be helpful.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Automation Anywhere (AA) is easy to use and understand, even if the user didn't have previous experience with RPA (robotic process automation) software before."
"The recorders are highly beneficial when automating web scraping or web automation tasks."
"Automation Anywhere has helped our organization to save human efforts on mundane tasks and shifted it to more analytical and interesting tasks."
"Compared to other tools like NICE and Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere is the only tool that gets your work completed in half the time."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It is a very guided experience: out-of-the-box with Automation Anywhere University training."
"The control room is the best part as everything can be seen and controlled from there, scheduling storing of credentials, and much more. I have used PDF extraction and other tools where data needs to be extracted and it works great at that part. I highly recommended this tool for automation."
"The immediate impact is administrative tasks which were traditionally done manually are now being done by robots. This reduces the workload for people."
"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."
"Deployment is done in a small amount of time."
"The feature I found most valuable is the TCO."
"The good stuff about IBM is the fact that it's very easy to use, there are very nice and smart AI tools within the licensing that you don't have to pay any access. Moreover, it's more precise and more secure."
"The quality is great! It's very strong and has a very strong platform."
"Put IBM on top of your list because we have done the analysis."
"It's not inclusive, in terms of automation, you can just do it standalone, in its own silo. It's not going to force your existing system or teams, your admin teams, to create new IDs for you or even force them to create new services or APIs for you or expose something from there. They can just keep the way they are doing it right now, but you still automate it."
"IBM Robotic Process Automation is very easy to use."
"This product definitely helps with cost optimization and brings a lot of optimization to repetitive processes."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Contextor is that everyone is in one place in the program that I need."
"Contextor is a good solution for a Citrix environment. It's the first with this tool. Other tools provide the same functionality, but not with the Citrix environment."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"SAP Contextor has improved our organization by giving us better operational efficiency."
"The standout features of SAP Intelligent RPA are its flexibility and integration capabilities."
"Scalability is fine. It is pretty nice."
"Contextor is a good solution for a Citrix environment."
"Most of the details are already in the help portal and SAP notes are available. It is well documented as part of the product support."
 

Cons

"Anything that can be done to increase the stability from a system standpoint in regards to large-scale systems, which are being used by a number of applications, e.g., Salesforce or Workday."
"Automation Anywhere can include database commands like insert row, bold row, etc commands in 11.x"
"The conversion time of invoices to JSON File should take less time using AA2019 IQBot, the report file creation feature should be added into IQ Bot A2019."
"The IQ Bots have a lot of room for improvement in terms of accuracy level. We need to improvise a lot. I'm facing another big challenge with one of the use cases. We raised a ticket and did multiple follow-ups with support, but the accuracy still isn't up to the mark."
"I'd like to see the stabilization of Co-Pilot and integration with multiple products... In the future, I will require integration with SAP Oracle, Atlassian, and Service Now. The contact center vertical is important..."
"Though IQ Bot is the most powerful and effective cognitive OCR platform for data extraction in the market, still, there is a lot of scope for improvement as there are a lot of non-standard documents which do not give a high straight-through processing rate and accuracy."
"It takes a lot of time to deploy, and sometimes it fails after a timeout."
"I'd love to see the ability to build web or mobile applications that are integrated with Automation Anywhere bots, so that a user can work on a web interface directly. Then, it can be linked to the Automation Anywhere bots in the background. They just hit a button, and all the data or information will be used by the bot to do some process in the back end."
"We're based in Thailand, but the documentation is not in Thai, which makes it difficult for us. If they could translate all of their documentation into our language, we'd be very grateful."
"The scalability of the solution can be challenging."
"This RPA should be under the umbrella of BPM. This is what the future should be."
"The product must be promoted more."
"This solution is still evolving. It is going through the rounds right now."
"We are looking to see how it can connect with various interfaces seamlessly, through APIs."
"Extensibility is the key, especially in terms of the Recorders feature that we have. That should be browser independent. Enhance it because some people have Chrome, some have Internet Explorer, etc. Also, integration with PDFs: Not just the ability to read information from PDFs but the ability to write information from PDFs, make it secure, sign it, etc. Finally, if they can allow a token exchange inside the tool itself, that would help."
"IBM RPA is an unstable solution."
"The tool's licensing has been kind of a challenge...At the moment, the tool does not offer different licensing models to users."
"The support is expensive."
"The initial setup is of medium complexity. It is neither too hard nor too simple. You need some background in SAP and an understanding of it."
"There should be more of an error, like a proper error feature, in future releases. Sometimes, we don't understand why that automation is not learning what, like, where it is stuck, or what is the reason like, or what is the criteria we are missing to add. So a proper error message would be helpful."
"I would like to see a better capacity for unstructured data, for example, PDF, or text within images."
"I found that the SAP scripting of a program is easier than SAP Contextor."
"For potential features or improvements, one aspect I would suggest enhancing is the flexibility of the extraction process."
"SAP Contextor could improve by automating some processes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Automation Anywhere is flexible in terms of costing and licensing."
"Cost-wise, it is fine. A lot of medium businesses prefer Automation Anywhere. The development cost is also lower."
"It looks like it will be right around $115,000, not counting IQ Bot, which we won't renew until later."
"I advise others that even as of right now, the setup cost and licensing cost to automate bots on Automation Anywhere is steep but it is worth the investment!"
"It is reasonable, but it can always be a little bit cheaper."
"As our team size increases, we may get some more licenses for the tool."
"Pricing is too high for small-scale groups. The Control Room yearly fee is high, making it difficult to break even."
"Automation Anywhere offers a subscription-based licensing model for cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployments."
"The license is paid annually."
"The product is reasonably priced compared to other tools."
"The product has a yearly licensing fee."
"IBM licensing is annual and based on Virtual Processor Cores (VPC). This provides flexibility as part of the containerization environment."
"The pricing is reasonable for this solution."
"IBM RPA is cheaper than other tools."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"There is a free trial for one month, so you can use it to run your payloads or proof of concept. After that, you can pay for the license on a monthly or annual basis."
"It all comes with a bundle right now. Having advanced features, it is competitively priced."
"The initial cost might seem higher, but over time, with continued use over five or ten years, the cost tends to decrease, making it a more economical choice."
"This is not a tool or software with a license as others are. The SaaS model is based on the usage of the tool."
"The pricing is not that expensive. It is manageable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business161
Midsize Enterprise82
Large Enterprise560
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

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 needs improvement with IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
To improve IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for the next release, there should be more integration with external ...
What is your primary use case for IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
My customers' main use cases for IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are especially in the banking industry, particu...
What advice do you have for others considering IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
I recommend starting with the Academy to check the features and compare them with other competitors to choose the bes...
What needs improvement with SAP Contextor?
The tool's licensing has been kind of a challenge. If the tool can bring up a usage-based licensing model, it would b...
What is your primary use case for SAP Contextor?
The inputs of SAP Intelligent RPA used to come from the process mining output. Whenever we connect process mining to ...
What advice do you have for others considering SAP Contextor?
Speaking about bot creation and management features, I rate the tool as four out of five compared to the other market...
 

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)
IBM RPA
SAP Contextor, Contextor
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics
The Hanover Insurance Group
BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Kabel Deutschland, Orange, Carrefour
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. SAP Intelligent RPA and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
914,262 professionals have used our research since 2012.