IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs UiPath comparison

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and UiPath based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. UiPath Report (Updated: May 2023).
708,830 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Q&A Highlights
Question: IBM digital business automation with UiPath vs IBM RPA with Automation Anywhere?
Answer: Sincerely we are just using UiPath, I haven't tryied Automation Anywhere however I've heard it's easy to use too.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"We can connect with different database types, and they have included a different package for a terminal connection to, for example, AS400. When it comes to UI development, it's not using the drivers or anything. It's not a selector-based development like UiPath.""The feature I found most valuable is the TCO.""IBM Robotic Process Automation has greatly improved the organization by improving the speed of performance, as the speed of the robot is estimated to be 20 times faster than the human being.""The solution’s performance is good.""The solution is scalability.""It's user-friendly; even non-technical people can program bots using drag-and-drop functionalities."

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"Studio and StudioX are really powerful tools.""The processes are accurate. We see very few errors once they are implemented.""The best part is the way UiPath provides the ability to automate everything, including the architecture and Orchestrator. The interfaces are very user-friendly and intuitive. It's very easy to build automations. Someone who is not very technical can understand quite a lot and start to automate.""UiPath makes you more productive because it comes with a lot of drag-and-drop features. You don't need to know the APIs to access particular elements on the screen.""It has a lot of features, but the ones that I'm really interested in and focused on are the Automation Hub and the Task Capture tool that they have created. Automation Hub helps you in gathering a lot of ideas, and Task Capture helps subject matter experts in capturing the step-by-step processes. It helps them build their SOPs or a document system wherever it is not already available.""The AI capabilities are the most valuable feature because it reduces human error so we can easily maintain our pipelines and we have a 99.99 percent output early.""Orchestrator contains a lot of useful apps, data services, and machine templates. From a usability perspective, the most valuable aspects are its custom activities, libraries, and object repositories. In terms of integration, I like the ability to use APIs and call automations from UiPath apps. The most valuable feature from a human-in-the-loop perspective is the action center.""The most valuable feature really depends on the use case. My favorite now is Document Understanding and the AI models that are being pre-trained. That's allowing us to do more, out-of-the-box, without having to do custom programming."

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Cons
"IBM Robotic Process Automation should be more stable.""The scalability of the solution can be challenging.""I would like to improve the efficiency of this solution and the Surface Level Agreement.""We would like a decreased need for customer support.""We can use its inbuilt activities, and it's a complete package, but just like ElectroNeek, a limitation is that we have to depend on its inbuilt activities. We can't include our own activities or we can't introduce other activities.""The product's document readers must be improved to capture the data well."

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"The user interface could be better. There have been advancements in UI design and user experience in recent years. UiPath could do a better job of keeping up with these trends.""UiPath can probably work on improving the AI features. We tried UiPath's AI functionality in our automation program. We did some research on that, but right now, nothing is in production. When we did some research, we weren't getting the expected results. We weren't completely satisfied with the results, so we put it aside. It could be a drawback on our side in terms of learning the tool.""The combination of Orchestrator and Studio is a bit on the higher side, price-wise, for some companies.""The forum's a great place, however, for a new person, it was better some years ago. It's grown so fast, and it's not that as nimble. Previously, if you asked questions and the response time was quicker.""We'd like more onboarding features for new people.""One improvement that could be made is in terms of keeping the documentation updated. Some of the online documentation is outdated. Because things are always changing, it is understandable that information becomes outdated pretty quickly, but sometimes, when you want to go use something, deploy something, or troubleshoot something, the documentation says, "Do this," but what it says to do no longer exists.""There are so many offerings and configurations and customizations that make things a bit complicated. Streamlining it would be ideal.""While UiPath Studio helps speed up the cost of digital transformation, in a way, it requires expensive or complex application upgrades or IT support, as it needs an entire setup. That setup requires support from different departments, and that comes with a cost."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The license is paid annually."
  • "The product has a yearly licensing fee."
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  • "The price and setup costs need to be supported by a strong business case."
  • "I am using the Community Edition and am not familiar with the cost of the paid editions."
  • "Overall, I think that the pricing is reasonable and it is similar to competitors."
  • "Some features are very costly, like Document Understanding. That is why in India many customers are not using the Document Understanding license. This is a premium feature and its licensing costs are high compared to other tools."
  • "In the initial days, UiPath was more competitive in terms of the license pricing as compared to Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere; it was much less. Currently, the pricing is quite standard compared to the other two vendors."
  • "There are three leaders in the market: UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism. UiPath is in-between the two. BluePrism is on the higher end when it comes to pricing. Automation Anywhere is on the lower side when it comes to pricing."
  • "Licensing is quite complex, and sometimes that's true even when we have to explain it to our customers. There may not be a way to do it more simply."
  • "It is very costly to implement RPA. However, I think the benefits outweigh the costs over a long-term period."
  • More UiPath Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Walter Sitoe
    Daniel Robus - PeerSpot reviewerDaniel Robus
    Real User

    My question to you would be - Why are you mixing the two vendors? Do you have licenses for both and are trying to maximize investment? 


    If you have IBM automation you probably have other IBM technology - let the IBM automation run on that as its integration is a little more complicated than UiPath and may cost you time in execution. 


    If you have both IBM and UiPath then I would use UiPath for any areas that are not integral to the IBM technology or systems. 


    I would need to know a little more about your strategy before giving a definitive answer to your question but all 3 are good technical foundations depending on the scenario.

    Willem De Jongh - PeerSpot reviewerWillem De Jongh
    User

    RPA technology has been in the market for quite some time now. Benefits are quite common for all platforms. Every day a new platform is being introduced. You should check whether you want to automate the simple process(es), that does not consume 100% of an agent to execute, or you want to automate a complex End-to-End process, how many departments are involved, business/IT systems and data source needs to be accessed. For example the difference between a Question/Answer chatbot or a Cognitive bot that understands human language and access any corporate systems to solve the issue of the requester autonomously.


    Can you start really small, through a consumption model, or implement the full-blown system at once with lots of idle time of the agent while developing the processes to be automated. Many times the required infrastructure can be costly when growing the implementation.


    How are the processes implemented, how much can be done drag&drop and how much needs complex scripting. Ease of maintenance in the long term. What are the standard technologies that are available? Does it include ETL, AI/ML, API, or OCR as standard, optional or integrated with as part of the platform?


    Many technical and business factors come into play and should be reviewed before even looking at a platform.

    Celestine - PeerSpot reviewerCelestine
    Real User

    If you are looking at a high level, IBM’s digital business automation looks like something that will work well for IBM products with pre-built integration packages. On the other hand, Automation Anywhere or UiPath also offers automation that support multiple technology. If you are looking for any specific guidance having technology in the center, I will be able to add some more view points. Fundamentally all the leading RPA products do not differentiate themselves much as of now in terms of capabilities. In licensing models products come up with variations. 

    Yasser - PeerSpot reviewerYasser
    Real User

    You don't need anything else to use besides UiPath. 


    The platform covers every area and you'll have the full capabilities to do whatever you need. I think you just need more guidance on achieving the full power of UiPath. 


    Good luck!

    Jack Frano - PeerSpot reviewerJack Frano
    Reseller

    Although I've worked with UiPath (not Automation Anywhere), my experience is now solely with AutoMate from Help Systems. 


    I would recommend aligning IBM's digital business automation with Robotic Process Automation and how it works. It seems to be a very different tool from RPA. If programming is required in the use of IBM's digital business automation go with RPA.  

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:It's user-friendly; even non-technical people can program bots using drag-and-drop functionalities.
    Top Answer:There are a few areas that could use improvement. Firstly, the cost of IBM RPA is high, especially here in Brazil. Additionally, it requires a good understanding of the technology to apply it… more »
    Top Answer:I used it in 2018 in a company that specialized in medical services. They used it for accounting and payments.
    Top Answer:I can only speak to UiPath since that is the only RPA solution that I have used. I know that there are specific packages that you can integrate into your project that is specifically made to work with… more »
    Top Answer:Yes, Attended Bots  which can run without centralized control Module. RPA Tools like Automation Anywhere, uiPath ,Power Automation they do support this.
    Top Answer:Microsoft‌ ‌Power‌ ‌Automate‌ ‌is‌ ‌intuitive‌ ‌and‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌integrate‌ ‌and‌ ‌use.‌ ‌I‌ ‌like‌ ‌that‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌no‌ ‌coding‌ ‌experience‌ ‌necessary,‌ ‌and‌ ‌appreciate‌ ‌the‌ ‌automated‌… more »
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    Also Known As
    IBM RPA
    Learn More
    Overview

    IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that encompasses the use of smart robots in any process requiring efficiency, consistency and speed, with no risk of mistakes. In a nutshell, RPA simulates a human user working.

    Today, it is possible to automate processes through the use of digital robots, or bots, which execute pre-programed, repetitive tasks in a safe and mistake free manner. There are literally thousands of opportunities for Robotic Process Automation to make an impact on your organization today, including: automatic invoice emission, system integration, information reconciliation, report generation, intelligent email management to lead generation, and many others.

    UiPath is a popular RPA tool that helps users automate manual and redundant tasks as well as other business processes. The platform is open-source, and is most commonly used for performing PDF automation, web automation, Citrix automation, and Windows desktop automation.

    UiPath Offers:

    • Stability
    • Scalability
    • Flexibility
    • High-performance
    • Ease of use
    • Security

    UiPath Valuable Features

    UiPath includes a solid set of unique features, including:

    Robotic enterprise framework, extensive library of activities, automation hub, process mining, task mining, task capture, studio, studio X, integration service, IntelliSense, Automation Cloud Platform, Orchestrator, test suite, insights, data service, AI fabric, documented understanding model, easy building of building automations, enterprise-level governance for APIs, server-side triggers to start automated processes, database communication, scraping, PDF functions, simplified authentication​, and Marketplace templates.

    UiPath Benefits

    Some of the benefits of using UiPath include:

    • Little to no code needed: You can easily develop automations and automation-powered applications without prior coding knowledge.

    • Increased productivity: Skilled AI robots facilitate more efficiency and lead to better customer satisfaction.

    • Speed: You can automate more processes, faster, with drag-and-drop AI and ready-to-go templates available through Marketplace.

    • Supports different processes: Regardless of which processes you need to run, UiPath provides different types of robots (attended, unattended, or hybrid) to accommodate your needs.

    • Faster ROI: Benefit from an increased ROI with UiPath’s automated end-to-end, enterprise-wide solution.

    • Community-centric: It offers a free trial in its community edition with active community support, tutorials and tips.

    • Cost-effectiveness: This tool is cost-effective because there are minimal operational costs.

    UiPath Components

    UiPath includes the following components:

    • UiPath Studio: This component uses visual aids such as diagrams and flowcharts to design automation processes. It also involves the coding and sequencing of these processes. It consists of Graphical User Interface (GUI) buttons, drag and drop features, and pre-built templates.

    • UiPath Robot: In this component, multiple bots are deployed to execute the automation processes using predefined rules.

    • UiPath Orchestrator: This component functions as a web-based application that schedules, deploys, and manages processes.

    Reviews from Real Users:

    "It is a very simple tool to work with for anybody. Simplicity is the best in UiPath. It also has the best community support. If we are looking for any solution, we can directly reach out to UiPath at any point in time." - Milan B., Senior Specialist Application Architecture and Developer at a tech services company

    "The artificial intelligence and document understanding features are very good and have been helpful when it comes to processing handwritten or unstructured, especially when there is a high volume and it is repetitive." - Harshad J., Senior RPA Developer at Capita

    “This has enabled employees to focus on higher-value work that involves human-base interaction. This saved the client money and provided a recruitment benefit." - Rahul S., RPA Assistant Manager at PwC India

    "The interface is intuitive and very user-friendly." - Jorge M.C., Robotic Process Automation Consultant at a tech services company

    “I can manage everything within one platform, which is either a UiPath Intelligent Automation platform or UiPath Cloud. This is very important. Because if I have multiple systems, then I need multiple stakeholders to manage, upgrade, and maintain them." - Manager and Lead - Digital Center of Excellence at a consultancy

    Offer
    Learn more about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
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    Sample Customers
    The Hanover Insurance Group
    Airbus, Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, CVS Health, DHL, General Electric, Google, Lufthansa, NASA, NTT, Orange, Philips, Singtel, Spotify, The Home Depot, Toyota, Uber, United Airlines, UnitedHealth Group, Wells Fargo
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company38%
    Financial Services Firm13%
    Pharma/Biotech Company13%
    Comms Service Provider13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company18%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Government8%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm20%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Healthcare Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm12%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business33%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise17%
    Large Enterprise61%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business21%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise64%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise67%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. UiPath
    May 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. UiPath and other solutions. Updated: May 2023.
    708,830 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is ranked 10th in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 6 reviews while UiPath is ranked 1st in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 239 reviews. IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is rated 8.4, while UiPath is rated 8.8. The top reviewer of IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) writes "We can connect to different databases and use inbuilt activities, but we can't include our own activities". On the other hand, the top reviewer of UiPath writes "Provides proper metrics and logs, saves a huge amount of time, and significantly improves accuracy". IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is most compared with Automation Anywhere (AA), Microsoft Power Automate, Blue Prism, IBM Datacap and ABBYY Vantage, whereas UiPath is most compared with Microsoft Power Automate, Automation Anywhere (AA), Blue Prism, Robocorp and Pega Robotic Process Automation. See our IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs. UiPath report.

    See our list of best Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vendors.

    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.