Robocorp vs VisualCron comparison

Sema4.ai and SMA Technologies are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. Sema4.ai is ranked #13 with an average rating of 9.0, while SMA Technologies is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.0. Sema4.ai holds a 1.6% mindshare in RPA, compared to SMA Technologies’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 84% of Sema4.ai users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SMA Technologies users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

VisualCron and Robocorp are both automation tools with distinct market positions. Robocorp appears to have a stronger presence due to its advanced development capabilities and flexible pricing model.

Features: VisualCron provides a straightforward and user-friendly environment without requiring programming skills, making it ideal for scheduling tasks and triggering events based on specific actions, like email deliveries or file placements. It integrates smoothly with databases and Windows environments. Robocorp excels in custom development using Python, offering excellent support for AI and data science projects. It is highly flexible for creating custom libraries and automation processes, and its container-based system supports robust business process automation.

Room for Improvement: VisualCron needs to enhance log management, improve security roles, and expand user documentation. Users often find the documentation inadequate, and a more streamlined interface would be beneficial. Robocorp requires improvements in deployment processes, stability, and the addition of advanced libraries. Its documentation and UI could be enhanced to support easier code customization and comprehension.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VisualCron offers flexibility for on-premises and hybrid cloud deployments, though its customer support can be slow at times. Robocorp's deployment favors cloud environments, with users frequently praising its fast and friendly support. Both tools have active user forums, with Robocorp benefiting from a community-driven support approach.

Pricing and ROI: VisualCron offers cost-effective pricing with predictable yearly costs and simple licensing, making it suitable for businesses of various sizes. Robocorp's pay-as-you-use model is appealing for businesses with fluctuating automation needs, providing a competitive edge with its flexible pricing directly tied to usage. Both tools offer significant ROI through task automation and reduction of manual processes.

To learn more, read our detailed Robocorp vs. VisualCron Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Robocorp vs. VisualCron

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 865,384 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

Automate

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automate is 1.9%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Robocorp is 1.6%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VisualCron is 1.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Featured Reviews

Anabel Marco

Account Director at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Automates processes efficiently with cost-effective scaling and robust customer support

Web scraping is quite good since it offers a lot of possibilities. Another important feature for me is its compatibility with MBI, the Power that is ISEQUADO Centers. I appreciate the ability to scale and increase the number of bots or studios without additional expense. Automate's non-reliance on additional orchestrators makes it quite cost-effective.

Read full review

Sumedin Bilalic

Lead RPA developer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees

Has a straightforward initial setup process and good technical support services

Adapting to Robocorp is initially challenging, especially compared to drag-and-drop automation tools like Automation Anywhere and UiPath. Writing actual code in Visual Studio Code gives freedom but also requires a learning curve. If you don't have experience with programming languages like Python, it would take six to twelve months to learn. However, once proficient, it enables faster development cycles and the ability to achieve more than traditional tools allow.

Read full review

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…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find it very user-friendly. Our IT department and other departments can seamlessly collaborate without requiring extensive training. As a business department, we particularly value this aspect, as our team doesn't consist of many IT users. However, we couldn't solely rely on a drag-and-drop approach to implement and utilize the solution within our departments."

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

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

"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."

"We have tried other RPA solutions like UiPath or Automation Anywhere. They are fantastic products but complex, and it's hard to understand everything. It would be best if you had a skilled developer or several. Automate is easy to implement, administer, and use. It's appropriate for us because our cases are simple and easy to automate. We don't need complicated tools with many features; We prefer to get a significant ROI quickly."

"The best feature of Automate is its ease of use, which is a major selling point."

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

"A great feature that you seldom see in these kind of systems is the ability to use a database as trigger to launch a task. This is something I asked for a few years ago and that was added."

More Automate pros

"I can use it as a library by importing Python scripts, allowing me to access its many features while working with coding."

"The ability to create separate organizations on this platform makes it easier to bill each of the clients separately."

"I have worked with UiPath and Automation Anywhere previously. Robocorp offers an improved development style and support as well as flexibility of its tools. You can easily develop custom libraries in Robocorp."

"The price is good."

"It supports Python runtime because of that, runtime also improves."

"As a developer, I found it easy to integrate third-party applications with Robocorp. I have previous experience with Selenium, and I found the Robocorp framework to be accessible because it uses Python and Selenium keywords."

"I like the fact that it's very fast. The processing speed is good, and that's what matters to me. I also like that we don't have to bother with the infrastructure setup. We don't have to care about the status of the data set, as I believe the local group will provide it. We don't care about the licensing model. We only have to care about how long we are using it."

"The solution is based on Python which makes it very valuable."

More Robocorp pros

"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."

"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."

"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."

"It has improved our organization with more automation within the business departments and less administration and development in the IT department. Usually, as the IT department, we are the bottleneck for many requirements within the business. With this tool, the business departments are able to perform many task themselves."

"It helped us reduce manual steps."

"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."

"'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."

"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

"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."

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

"I would like the updates to be easier to deploy. Integration with Amazon S3 is somewhat lacking."

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

"The solution has a very weak knowledge base."

"They do not encrypt passwords, so this is an issue with HIPAA compliance."

"The documentation for errors needs improvement as many of the error messages we receive are very vague."

"I find that most important features are strong, however, there is a lack of good development for artificial intelligence, such as machine learning."

More Automate cons

"An additional feature I'm looking for in Robocorp is SAP automation."

"I don't like the complexity of deployment."

"They should fully develop Robocorp Studio because it would attract a lot of people to the Robocorp platform."

"The deployment process is complex and not straightforward, especially for legacy modernization."

"Robocorp is still in development, so most of the keywords are a bit confusing. I have to alter lots of automation steps between processing and development. However, Selenium is due for an update soon, and Robcorp is addressing some of the limitations caused by the previous Selenium version."

"We use the latest version of the process studio and it takes up a lot of CPU storage. In our case, this has been up to 14 GB of storage."

"I preferred the user interface in the older versions. When troubleshooting, it's sometimes hard to find details about where things went wrong. You need to search a little harder. It takes more clicks to get to where you want to go. It can be somewhat confusing. When you run a process that fails, it takes you somewhere you may not expect."

"The standard libraries in Robocorp should be more advanced."

More Robocorp cons

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"The documentation is a bit weak."

"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."

More VisualCron cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

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

"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."

"I believe the price falls within a reasonable range, which significantly influenced our decision regarding the product. This aspect is crucial for any technological solution, especially in our country where enterprises might be hesitant to invest heavily in something untested or uncertain about its practicality and potential returns."

"It has gone up in price. The price of Fortra's Automate has increased since we first started using it. It does a lot but also costs a lot. It was a lot more affordable before Fortra owned the software."

"I like the way this solution is priced because you can buy a license, or you can buy the software outright."

"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."

More Automate pricing and cost advice

"The product has good pricing."

"Robocorp is much better in terms of pricing compared to UiPath."

"It's a cost-effective solution."

"You don't have to pay for the license. You have to pay for the time you use it."

"The solution is a very affordable price."

"The pricing is fine."

"The price is cheaper than other competitors. I would rate the cost as one out of five."

"In terms of licenses, there is a return on investment in that area."

"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."

"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."

"ROI is one month."

"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."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

27%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Insurance Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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?

The main purpose is for automation. That has been the purpose why I have been using it so far.

See all answers

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

Regarding pricing, it is very friendly. I would not say that it is really cheap or very expensive, but it fits within...

See all answers

What do you like most about Robocorp?

The product has a valuable business process automation feature.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Robocorp?

The product has good pricing. They offer an efficient pay-as-you-go pricing model. There are different models for ent...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Robocorp?

The platform's documentation could be better.

See all answers

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 Automate

Compared 28% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automate

Compared 24% of the time

Redwood Software - Finance Automation Edition vs Automate

Compared 9% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automate

Compared 8% of the time

Tungsten RPA vs Automate

Compared 4% of the time

More Automate Competitors

UiPath Platform vs Robocorp

Compared 55% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Robocorp

Compared 13% of the time

BotCity vs Robocorp

Compared 12% of the time

Blue Prism Cloud vs Robocorp

Compared 8% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Robocorp

Compared 8% of the time

More Robocorp Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs VisualCron

Compared 36% of the time

Control-M vs VisualCron

Compared 22% 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

Automate

August 2025

Download Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

Robocorp

August 2025

Download Robocorp product report

Buyer's Guide

VisualCron

July 2025

Download VisualCron product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

No data available

Overview

Automate offers a user-friendly solution with a drag-and-drop interface for efficient task automation and integration with major platforms like SAP and Azure, making it ideal for quick deployment with minimal coding and training.

Automate provides powerful features for businesses seeking efficient automation, offering compatibility with databases, email integration, and cloud platforms. Its simple interface supports both beginners and experienced users, simplifying tasks like invoice processing, HR automation, and data transformation. Cost-effective pricing and flexible licensing enhance its appeal while integration capabilities and scheduling tools ensure smooth workflow automation.

What are Automate's Key Features?

Drag-and-Drop Interface: Simplifies automation with intuitive design.
Integration Capabilities: Connects with platforms like SAP and Azure for seamless data flow.
Database and FTP Triggers: Enhances automation potential through direct data interaction.
Efficient Scheduling: Automates tasks with precise timing and control.
Web Scraping: Automates data extraction for quick analysis and reporting.

What Benefits and ROI Should Users Expect?

Rapid Deployment: Minimizes coding efforts for quick implementation.
Cost-Effectiveness: Offers flexible pricing models to suit budget constraints.
Operational Efficiency: Reduces manual workloads and enhances productivity.
Comprehensive Integration: Facilitates improved data management across systems.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs with ease.

In industries such as healthcare, banking, and logistics, Automate is used for tasks like invoice payment automation, data transformation, and task automation. This leads to streamlined processes and reduced manual workload, illustrating its value in enhancing operational efficiency through diversified workflows.

Fortra

Most robotic process automation initiatives fail to get off the ground because the current drag-and-drop offerings are expensive and frustrating for developers. Robocorp is a Python-based open source stack for automating applications and processes. Automate any task you can imagine with hundreds of keywords and libraries with performance, scalability, and security built-in. Our cloud robots can run on any platform from any machine, and scale horizontally to ensure mission-critical processes complete as efficiently as possible. Getting started is free, and our resource-based pricing ensures your costs are always straightforward - no matter how much your implementation grows.

Sema4.ai

VisualCron automates tasks like file encryption, scheduling SQL jobs, system integration, data workflow management, and application triggering, making it ideal for handling nightly syncs, FTP server file replacements, job scheduling, and invoice processing.

VisualCron provides an efficient automation solution with features like error and status reporting, API connections, PGP key generation, encryption file creation, and bulk SQL script execution. It simplifies task automation through its mail and event triggers, job variables, conditional execution, and logging with error alerts. Users benefit from its integration capabilities, scheduling flexibility, visual interface, and support for databases and credential management without extensive coding.

What are the most important features?

Simplicity: Easy-to-use interface for seamless automation.
Mail and Event Triggers: Automate tasks based on specific events.
Job Variables: Customize tasks using various input variables.
Conditional Execution: Execute tasks based on predefined conditions.
Error Alerts: Logging and error reporting to ensure task reliability.
Integration Capabilities: Easily connect and integrate with systems and APIs.
Scheduling Flexibility: Create complex schedules with ease.
Visual Interface: User-friendly GUI for efficient management.
Database Support: Manage and automate database tasks efficiently.
Credential Management: Securely handle credentials for various tasks.
PowerShell Commands: Execute PowerShell commands directly.

What are the benefits or ROI users should look for in the reviews?

Efficiency: Streamline and automate repetitive tasks to save time.
Cost Savings: Reduce manual labor and associated costs.
Reliability: Ensure consistency and accuracy in task execution.
Integration: Enhance workflows by integrating with different systems.
Flexibility: Adjust quickly to changes and handle complex scheduling needs.
Support: Benefit from extensive post-sales support and configuration options.
Innovation: Foster innovation by eliminating the need for coding.

Industries like finance, healthcare, and logistics implement VisualCron to automate data workflows, secure file transfers, and schedule critical tasks. It is used to streamline invoice processing, manage large-scale data operations, and ensure compliance through encryption and error reporting. VisualCron enhances operational efficiency, scalability, and security in various sectors, making it essential for businesses requiring robust automation capabilities.

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

Information Not Available

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

Buyer's Guide

Robocorp vs. VisualCron

July 2025

Free Report: Robocorp vs. VisualCron

Find out what your peers are saying about Robocorp vs. VisualCron and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Robocorp vs. VisualCron 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.