Nintex RPA vs VisualCron comparison

Nintex and SMA Technologies are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. Nintex is ranked #22 with an average rating of 6.5, while SMA Technologies is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.0. Nintex holds a 2.0% mindshare in RPA, compared to SMA Technologies’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Nintex users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SMA Technologies users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

VisualCron and Nintex RPA compete in the automation software category. VisualCron has an advantage in scheduling and alerting, while Nintex RPA stands out with its scalability and ease of integration across different systems.

Features: VisualCron's automation features include job variables, branching logic, extensive logging capabilities, and a visual tool layout for workflows without coding. Additionally, it supports plugins and database integration. Nintex RPA offers a visual design interface, cross-platform integration, and reusable components, focusing on seamless error handling and robust logging.

Room for Improvement: Users note VisualCron could improve its user role management, navigation for beginners, and documentation. Enhancements in its user community support are also suggested. For Nintex RPA, users desire better AI integration, document handling, and smoother integration with external platforms like Google and ServiceNow. Improved error handling for complex automation is also needed.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VisualCron supports deployment across Private, Public, and Hybrid Cloud environments. It is praised for knowledgeable support, despite some slower response experiences, with a strong user community noted as beneficial. Nintex RPA provides similar deployment flexibility and is recognized for remarkable support responsiveness and an active user community.

Pricing and ROI: VisualCron offers a straightforward licensing model valued for lack of hidden costs, perceived to bring high ROI by reducing manual tasks. Nintex RPA, while possibly more expensive, is considered affordable for its features, with flexible licensing for scalable automation. Despite higher initial costs, its ROI and efficiency gains are seen as justifying investments.

To learn more, read our detailed Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Report (Updated: November 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

November 2025

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Helped 876,380 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

Fortra's Automate

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Automate is 2.4%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nintex RPA is 2.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VisualCron is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Fortra's Automate	2.4%
VisualCron	1.0%
Nintex RPA	2.0%
Other	94.6%

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Featured Reviews

Jane Rachma Kiniti

IT Project Manager at Labo des histoires

Automate has streamlined workflows and increased efficiency with powerful automation

The best features of the solution are the flexible automation features, it is rich with beautiful connectors, and it is easy to use with little to no coding knowledge required to get started, so anybody can use the tool. The intuitive interface of Automate has an intuitive design, which makes it easy to learn and use even without a strong technical background, and it has a drag-and-drop interface, which makes everything so easy and straightforward. The error handling capabilities in complex automation tasks are powerful, as it handles all types of tasks, whether complex or simple. I've never faced any problems even when dealing with complex tasks, so everything is super smooth and highly reliable, even when dealing with big tasks, as it has never slowed down. Automate's compatibility with existing IT infrastructure has impacted our business operations positively by providing smooth integration with other software that we use, such as Gmail, Jira, and Microsoft 365 apps, which gives us a unified platform instead of having to keep switching from one software to another, saving a lot of time and streamlining the whole workflows. The automated analytics have helped improve our business processes since it has increased our efficiency by automating our everyday tasks, freeing up time for us to focus more on strategic activities such as analyzing data and developing new business strategies. It is also cost-saving. By minimizing manual labor, it decreases human errors that can lead to costly mistakes. By automating the tasks, it helps to save costs, and it also improves our accuracy by reducing these errors to ensure that tasks are done almost perfectly.

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JonathanNg

Global Automation Lead - Customer Operations at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees

Helped us identify areas where frontline staff aren't following standard procedures or using unexpected systems, giving us better insight into our end users' workflows

To analyze and make sense of the data generated by Kryon process discovery can be a lot of effort. It's not as automatic as some might think. It really depends on how many processes you have and how actively you use them. But the scalability aspect isn't necessarily about deployment or technical maintenance. It's really about how you analyze and gain insights from the data gathering. I'd rate the scalability a seven out of ten because the solution has been scaling well for a long time. It's very easy to deploy. But getting value out of it at scale can be a challenge, just like with any deployment. We use it mainly for process discovery. We actually proceed it from different teams. So, we have 15 licenses that we rotate with different people, actually through different teams. So, we do discovery for the online team; we gather the results after about two weeks to a month. We analyze those results, and then we deploy them again on the analytics team. We regularly deploy it to different teams. So, it's in constant use. It just runs on the systems through discovery mode most of the time.

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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 actually quite liked the no-coding functionality."

"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 pricing is excellent. I would give them perfect marks in that regard."

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

"Automate helps me reduce manual work by automating tasks such as access keys and security rotations that we were not able to automate before, diminishing human dependency, and helps minimize errors."

"Compared to other vendors, it's the scheduling tool because a lot of vendors want to charge you extra for their enterprise-level license to have a scheduling tool built in to give you the ability to set up regular schedules to run and do certain data checks."

"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."

"Fortra's Automate has effectively replaced the workload of an entire employee, saving us significant time and money."

More Fortra's Automate pros

"The thing that we find the most value in is the Process Discovery component and the ability to really see what users are doing on a day-to-day basis. We're starting to make sense of the processes that they're doing and getting visibility into what they're doing. Overall, the Process Discovery is very good."

"The bot is typically about twice as fast as a person and more accurate, as long as the data going in is good. That is the biggest advantage."

"We are able to cope with our clients's demands. No matter how much volume they throw at us, we are able to get it done quickly."

"Troubleshooting and debugging could be improved. It's missing a proper debugger. It's very difficult, based on the log files and the fact that it doesn't have a proper debugger, to troubleshoot issues. It will sometimes end with no indication as to why it ended and it becomes a bit of trial and error."

"What I like most about Kryon RPA is the user experience. I also find the layout and design of the solution better for programming compared to other RPA solutions."

"I like Kryon RPA's ability to use automated and manual processes with any bot."

"Kryon RPA is very stable - we've not had many disruptions, and the product is updated regularly."

"The advanced Excel functionalities are really convenient because we work a lot with spreadsheets. It’s also easy to use the HTML selectors. It’s just a click and it picks it up. There’s not a lot of no hard-coding with it."

More Nintex RPA pros

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

"What I like about VisualCron is that like its name, it's a very visual tool. In my previous company, there were a lot of scripts for all kinds of services, and through VisualCron, you get to group all flows and get a nice visual overview. VisualCron also has an alerting feature, so you receive alerts from it. VisualCron makes everything clearer and easier to maintain. Every other solution that I was looking for almost always needed a programmer, but with VisualCron, you can do what you need to do without programming skills, so this is another valuable feature of the tool."

"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."

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

"I love VisualCron because we previously spent a lot of time writing Power switches to connect to SQL Server. VisualCron makes it easier to execute services or connect to FileZilla by only adding the credentials to the master credentials stored in the solution."

"'ve only had a few cases where I've had to request support in the past 12 years of use, but the support response time and resolution were was extremely quick."

"VisualCron is a very powerful program to automate different steps in your business processes. We use it to automate replacing files and inform departments about the replacement."

"It helped us reduce manual steps."

More VisualCron pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"Error messages should be better. For error status, there should be better documentation because a lot of times, error messages that you get are quite vague. For example, you get a message saying that the workflow has run into an unknown status, which is vague. It just tells you that it failed, but you don't know how or why it failed. It makes debugging difficult."

"Some companies have asked for voice integration. This is likely part of the roadmap."

"Automate could simplify the UI for creating a workflow for automation. As a technical person, I can understand it easily. However, there are few activities in the software that our HR department cannot understand."

"Sometimes when we communicate with the ERP system and there is an issue, we are not always aware of the specifics of Automate and the source of the problem."

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

"The interface could be more user-friendly and easier to navigate."

More Fortra's Automate cons

"There are limitations on integrations with other platforms like ServiceNow. There are some issues integrating. It's not a really an open system. The product, its design, etc., is really good, but they have to look at the openness, how to integrate with other products which are available in the market, as well as with our own solutions. You can do integration but it is not so easy."

"Nintex RPA is not suitable for PDF automation."

"From our experience, the product is not suitable for end users."

"I would expect that in the first year there is no ROI. It has to be measured over three or five years."

"We have found some difficulties regarding the integration with legacy systems where the screen has elements in the Hebrew language. The connection to Hebrew, right-to-left systems, is more challenging."

"The process discovery tool of Kryon RPA could be improved because of its limitations."

"I would like to see a better OCR solution. That's the main thing: identifying unstructured data, like all paper documents and data from pictures."

"Kryon RPA's integration with other solutions could be more seamless."

More Nintex RPA cons

"VisualCron's command console is a little bit difficult to understand and needs to improve."

"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."

"There are some conditions in the mail trigger, but you can only use them as an "AND" condition, not as an "OR" condition. This is an improvement that could be useful. For example, some people put "invoice" in the subject and others put "invoice" in the body. If I want to make a trigger for everybody whose sending invoices, I have to make two jobs for this now."

"I want to improve the UI in VisualCron, as it's not as user-friendly, particularly when setting up the task scheduler. If you're familiar with the tool, then no problem, but if not, you'll have a problem typing text because sometimes, the cursor points to other places, so there's an issue with text box alignment in VisualCron. That was painful for me when I was just a VisualCron novice, but when you become used to it, there won't be a problem."

"Our suggestion to make it better and more manageable in terms of GDPR: Implement it in a very partnership way."

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

"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."

"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

"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."

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

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

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

"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."

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

"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."

More Fortra's Automate pricing and cost advice

"It is very cheap. I would rate the pricing a three out of ten, with ten being expensive."

"Kryon is slightly more expensive compared to UiPath."

"They license per robot and we have 25 robots. You get so many robot licenses and can allocate those licenses to either attended, unintended, or Process Discovery bots. If you have 25 licenses, for example, you could have 20 automation bots and five process discovery. This allocation is flexible. There are also maintenance costs."

"We have a yearly license. It's about $5,000 per year."

"The price is affordable."

"We're paying in the neighborhood of about $66,000 a year. The cost is fairly similar to its competitors' costs. It might have been a little bit more reasonable than the others, and that cost was with Process Discovery in addition."

"Compared to its competitors, Kryon RPA's pricing is very competitive."

"For an unattended robot it's $6000 a month."

More Nintex RPA pricing and cost advice

"ROI is one month."

"The price is a bit high."

"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."

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

"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 95 percent."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

28%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	6

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	18

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about HelpSystems AutoMate?

We use it for specific cases, mainly secure file transfers, which are vital for us. And it works for us.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for HelpSystems AutoMate?

We have been using Automate for approximately one to one and a half years for the automation component. For complex a...

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

The pricing aspect is covered by my senior, but Automate is a centralized tool, so we do not need to buy different to...

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Best RPA tools for IBM iSeries

We have found that Foxtrot (Now NintexRPA) is a very solid solution for IBM iSeries integration using the IBM ACS 525...

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What do you like most about Nintex RPA?

Nintex RPA often includes security features, including encryption and user access controls, which ensure the protecti...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nintex RPA?

Although Nintex RPA is expensive, it is somewhat affordable considering its features. I would rate the cost aspect as...

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What do you like most about VisualCron?

The tool has reduced our operational costs by 40%.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VisualCron?

The price is a bit high. However, it is okay.

See all answers

What needs improvement with VisualCron?

The documentation is a bit weak. The tool must provide a better set of documentation.

See all answers

Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 15% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 10% of the time

Redwood Software - Finance Automation Edition vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 8% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 7% of the time

MOVEit vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 4% of the time

More Fortra's Automate Competitors

UiPath Platform vs Nintex RPA

Compared 16% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Nintex RPA

Compared 12% of the time

IBM Robotic Process Automation (RPA) vs Nintex RPA

Compared 11% of the time

Blue Prism vs Nintex RPA

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Nintex RPA

Compared 9% of the time

More Nintex RPA Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs VisualCron

Compared 28% of the time

Control-M vs VisualCron

Compared 19% of the time

OpCon vs VisualCron

Compared 8% of the time

ActiveBatch by Redwood vs VisualCron

Compared 7% of the time

JAMS vs VisualCron

Compared 6% of the time

More VisualCron Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Automate

December 2025

Download Fortra's Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

Nintex RPA

November 2025

Download Nintex RPA product report

Buyer's Guide

VisualCron

November 2025

Download VisualCron product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

Kryon RPA

No data available

Overview

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

Using Nintex RPA, enterprises can leverage trained bots to quickly and cost-effectively automate routine tasks without the use of code in an easy-to-use drag and drop interface. Users are now equipped with a comprehensive, enterprise-grade process management and automation solution that streamlines processes fueled by both structured and unstructured data sources.

Nintex

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

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

Amazon, Audi, Chevron, Toyota, Uber, Walmart

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

Buyer's Guide

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

November 2025

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