Blue Prism vs Blue Prism Cloud comparison

Blue Prism and Blue Prism Cloud are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. Blue Prism is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.1, while Blue Prism Cloud is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.5. Blue Prism holds a 11.3% mindshare in RPA, compared to Blue Prism Cloud’s 1.4% mindshare. Additionally, 88% of Blue Prism users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Blue Prism Cloud users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 4, 2024

Blue Prism and Blue Prism Cloud are significant players in the automation solutions arena. Based on user reviews and features, Blue Prism is preferred for handling complex business processes, while Blue Prism Cloud is better for cloud integration and ease of use.

Features: Blue Prism includes features like exception handling, Control Room, and workflow orchestration, which facilitate seamless integration with system applications and effectively automate complex tasks. Blue Prism Cloud allows quick bot deployment and easy integration with cloud infrastructures, suitable for non-technical users.

Room for Improvement: Blue Prism needs enhancements in artificial intelligence capabilities and better integration with cognitive technologies, with suggestions for more advanced AI and attended automation features. Blue Prism Cloud is noted for its high pricing with room for cost reduction and improvements in AI features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Blue Prism's predominantly on-premises deployment can pose challenges for businesses leaning towards cloud solutions, and its customer service reviews are varied. Blue Prism Cloud offers flexible deployment with easy cloud integration, though its customer support also receives mixed feedback.

Pricing and ROI: Blue Prism is perceived as more costly than competitors like Automation Anywhere, affecting its appeal to cost-sensitive users. Blue Prism Cloud faces similar pricing concerns, potentially limiting its reach to smaller businesses, yet both are recognized for providing substantial ROI in larger deployments, notably in error reduction and operational efficiency improvement.

To learn more, read our detailed Blue Prism vs. Blue Prism Cloud Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Blue Prism vs. Blue Prism Cloud

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Fortra's Automate

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Automate is 1.3%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Blue Prism is 11.3%, down from 11.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Blue Prism Cloud is 1.4%, up from 1.0% 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.

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Mohamed Salah Baccouche

Robotic Process Automation Consultant at Ernst & Young

Way more efficient for debugging than other tools but the UI is complicated

The UI is more complicated than other tools. In Power Automate, it doesn't even feel like you are working because the tool does the job for you. But in the solution, there are studio, process, and object interfaces and you have to decode your own objects. The free objects that are predefined are not good compared to other tools. There is still a lot of work to do on the solution's intelligent automation part.

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Keith Mcdowell

Chief Executive Officer at Keith F Kube and Associates

It helps us save on staff costs

I rate Blue Prism Cloud eight out of 10 for ease of setup. It's a cloud-based solution, so it isn't hard to set up. The deployment time is hard to quantify because I work for the government, and we need to go through all these internal reviews, but the technical part takes three to four weeks. The biggest challenge is security because we need to integrate it with Active Directory and set up VPN tunnels, security profiles, etc. We deployed Blue Prism in-house and used three people to set it up. One solution engineer is enough to maintain it.

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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

"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."

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

"Fortra's Automate performs the job effectively and has the capability to alert us of any issues."

"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."

"We have found the pricing to be very reasonable."

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

"The interface is simple, user-friendly, and very intuitive."

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

More Fortra's Automate pros

"The most valuable feature of Blue Prism is the control and development of the processes from one location."

"We find many of Blue Prism's features valuable. One recent one we're using is Decipher IDP. We're also looking at a couple of other tools and working on proofs of concept. Decipher IDP helps us create templates to extract data from images and PDF files, which is especially useful for processing invoices accurately and feeding that information into our systems."

"I like the solution’s simplicity in process and objects. The solution has very clear guidelines and demarcation on processes and objects which is not present in other tools. The tool’s architecture is also very simple and clear. The product’s licensing model is also very simple. Other tools do not have such a simple licensing model."

"This is a scalable product."

"We started with a very small team and small projects. As the project started getting success with Blue Prism we have a large number of teams now just for automating all the business procedures. Larger time was saved after automating the processes."

"Blue Prism currently supports SQL Servers and structured data."

"It is a stable solution."

"I like the error handling, it's very good."

More Blue Prism pros

"With Blue Prism, I like the feature that you build, I don't know the exact name now, but blocks or standards can be reduced later. You configure, for example, the CRM system, and you create a standardized manner of inputting data into the CRM system that you can reuse later. I'm not sure what that's called, but I enjoy it whether it's a feature or not."

"The technical support team of Blue Prism Cloud is very good...I rate the support a ten out of ten."

"I would say that the stability of Blue Prism is superior to any of the competing products because of the maintainability of the features and the openness of the tool."

"It's easy to use, the interface, the the the the queries is which we use. It's user friendly."

"The corporate leverage is better with Blue Prism. They just present better in a large corporation. It's easier to sell suits and ties than it is sneakers and jeans in financial institutions. That's not really about the application per se; it's the perception."

"Decipher has been a valuable feature that many of our clients use to extract information from documents."

"The most valuable feature is security."

"What I like best about Blue Prism Cloud is that it's secure, robust, and has 24 x 7 support available. I also find the solution quick and intelligent. Even a non-coder can easily use it."

More Blue Prism Cloud pros

Cons

"There is room for improvement regarding cloud functionality; there are a few missing features, and the logging could be better, especially air logging. We can go into logging events and create our own task, but it would be nice if this were more detailed."

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

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

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

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

"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."

"The solution has a very weak knowledge base."

More Fortra's Automate cons

"Blue Prism features two layers of documentation. If we could make it in one layer, then it would be easy to develop, and it would take less time for developers to complete the task."

"There are some new tools on the market that work better than Blue Prism. When Blue Prism receives information I have found other RPA solutions refresh the application better. At this moment it's not the best application."

"User interface could be improved and a web interface included for easy access to robot information."

"I believe that there could be more community support, or there could be more support for developers like us from Blue Prism. Blue Prism provides a lot of documentation, but there is a lack of support."

"It isn't very easy or intuitive for our developers to program the bot to make intelligent decisions. A bot, for the lack of a better word, is stupid, and it can only do what we program it to do. It cannot make intelligent decisions. For example, if we are reviewing Uber charges, they could be posting their transactions under different corporation names, even though they are under the same parent company or group. A human can easily understand that it is the name of the same company, and it just has an asterisk or space, but a bot cannot do that. When a bot cannot complete the transaction, it sends out an exception rate, business exception, or system exception for a human to do a manual review. The exception rate has been high because the bots cannot make decisions that we think are very simple, which is understandable because that's how they were programmed. There is potential in utilizing the higher intelligence side of the tool, but it is not easy to code higher intelligent actions. It is a very lengthy process to get the provisioning to ensure that it is kind of doing what it needs to do. Provisioning involves multiple things, and it is quite complicated and not the best experience, but it is not just because of Blue Prism. Blue Prism is easy, but it takes a long time to onboard into our in-house system."

"There is a need for a co-management product to manage multiple developers using Blue Prism."

"Emerging technologies adoption is a challenge for every organization, especially the products which address productivity/automation."

"All of the processes that we've automated have been completed successfully, and the bots are able to process them as expected."

More Blue Prism cons

"The vendor does not make their pricing clear when you are searching for it, which is something that needs to be improved."

"I think that there are some improvements in the product performance that are needed in Blue Prism Cloud...The initial setup of the product needs a lot of time and effort."

"I believe they need to become more competitive within the market in order to maintain their market share. We were essentially a Blue Prism shop and sold Blue Prism, but because of the price point, many clients are now looking at competitors."

"Blue Prism Cloud is a solid product that fulfils its intended functions well. Although there is room for improvement, it has integrated various cognitive and intelligent document processing features into a single product. But needs to effectively automate RPA processes despite some initial challenges addressed through product updates and new features."

"The tool’s customer support should improve. There were instances where I tried to call them up and was put on hold. However, they do revert back through emails once a ticket has been issued. They should be quick with their responses on calls."

"Edge browser extensions could be made slightly more resilient. It would be nice if they could package new libraries for end users rather than have them search for libraries."

"There is room for improvement in the speed."

"It would be useful if some of the information protocols came built within the app instead having to create them."

More Blue Prism Cloud cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is quite reasonable. We can run the process with one bot. The limitation is at the server level because they have some resources, and sometimes that is enough. It isn't too expensive, so you can get a good return off of one, and you can also have a pack of five bots that is quite competitive."

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

"I'm only involved in running the product and maintaining the systems, so I can't speak to the cost."

"From a distributor's side, one of the biggest selling points is its price point. Without going into any numbers, compared to UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism, we're significantly cheaper. The main difference is that other competitors usually charge you per process. However, in Automate's case, it's priced per bot. So, a bot can run multiple processes at the same time, but you are only priced for a single bot."

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

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

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

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

More Fortra's Automate pricing and cost advice

"I chose Blue Prism because it is priced well. The pricing was right for me at that moment even though Automation Anywhere is better in other aspects."

"To use Blue Prism, there is a need to pay INR 15,000 per customer."

"Compared to other tools on the market, it is one of the most expensive."

"Blue Prism is an expensive solution, especially in Southeast Asia, while in Europe and the UK, it can be considered moderate in terms of cost."

"The tool is expensive."

"Our licensing fees are approximately $5,000 USD per year."

"There is a one-time purchase fee for this solution."

"This is a very expensive product and this is the reason that they're losing their market share."

More Blue Prism pricing and cost advice

"I am not sure how we are set up today, but I recall we had an annual License."

"The price is very competitive when you are comparing to other providers."

"I would rate the pricing a five out of ten, with one being cheap and ten being expensive."

"The licensing structure is complex and the minimum contract length is three years."

"We found the pricing reasonable, and it aligned with our budgetary requirements."

"When compared with UiPath, I believe it will be difficult for Blue Prism to maintain its market share."

"The pricing is fine."

"The pricing for Blue Prism Cloud is two out of ten because it's higher than every other technology. My company is on a three-year Blue Prism Cloud license."

More Blue Prism Cloud pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

14%

Healthcare Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

18%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

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?

We used the platform primarily for task automation, including transmitting EDR files. Additionally, we've utilized it...

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

The starter pack was all we needed and was reasonable. Others were either more expensive or didn't do all that I want...

See all answers

Should I choose Blue Prism or Microsoft Power Automate?

Hello Netanya, it depends on your needs and your expertise. In my humble opinion you can start a big RPA project imp...

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I am evaluating Blue Prism and UiPath for RPA for my company. Which one do you recommend?

I'm very familiar with UiPath and the RPA industry: was hired by Daniel Dines in 2015 when there were 35 employees an...

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What do you like most about Blue Prism?

It is a stable solution.

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What do you like most about Blue Prism Cloud?

It's easy to use, the interface, the the the the queries is which we use. It's user friendly.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Blue Prism Cloud?

If we utilize Blue Prism's full capabilities, then it is cost-effective. Otherwise, the pricing can seem high. It req...

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What needs improvement with Blue Prism Cloud?

Decipher, one of their solutions, is a waste of time. Other than that, there's nothing specific I can think of.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power Automate vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 50% of the time

UiPath vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 37% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Fortra's Automate

Compared 8% of the time

More Fortra's Automate Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs Blue Prism

Compared 37% of the time

UiPath vs Blue Prism

Compared 33% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs Blue Prism

Compared 12% of the time

Pega Robotic Process Automation vs Blue Prism

Compared 4% of the time

More Blue Prism Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs Blue Prism Cloud

Compared 17% of the time

UiPath vs Blue Prism Cloud

Compared 14% of the time

Robocorp vs Blue Prism Cloud

Compared 14% of the time

SAP Intelligent RPA vs Blue Prism Cloud

Compared 14% of the time

ServiceNow Automation Engine vs Blue Prism Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

More Blue Prism Cloud Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Fortra's Automate

February 2025

Download Fortra's Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

Blue Prism

February 2025

Download Blue Prism product report

Buyer's Guide

Blue Prism Cloud

February 2025

Download Blue Prism Cloud product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

No data available

Blue Prism Thoughtonomy Virtual Workforce, Blue Prism Virtual Workforce, Thoughtonomy Virtual Workforce

Overview

Fortra's Automate is predominantly used in HR and operational departments for automating reports, file manipulation, and data processing. Key uses include automating repetitive tasks, integrating PDFs and emails, running scripts, processing large data sets, transforming file formats, synchronizing databases, managing job schedules, and transferring files.

Users commend Fortra's Automate for its ease of implementation and user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, which requires minimal technical skills for efficient bot deployment. The software is appreciated for its effective scheduling tools, reliable integration capabilities, and a wide range of functions such as file interaction, secure file transfers, and extensive automation without the need for coding. Businesses achieve significant time savings and simplified processes, bolstered by continuous updates and robust customer support.

What are the key features?

Scheduling Tools: Enables precise control and timing for automation tasks
Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly connects with various systems and software
File Interaction: Comprehensive functions for file manipulation and transfer
Secure Transfers: Ensures data safety during file transfers
User-Friendly: Minimal technical skills needed for deployment and use

What benefits should you look for in reviews?

Ease of Implementation: Fast and simple setup process
Time Savings: Reduces time spent on repetitive tasks
Process Simplification: Streamlines complex workflows
Customer Support: Access to continuous support and updates

In various industries such as healthcare, transportation, and payroll, Fortra's Automate automates workflows like invoice generation, data retrieval, data uploading, and insurance eligibility checks, enhancing efficiency and accuracy for HR and operational tasks.

Fortra

Blue Prism is an intelligent, business-developed, no-code automation platform for SaaS deployments as well as for on-premises, public cloud, multi-cloud, and hybrid environments. Unlike other automation technology, Blue Prism combines robotic process automation with expanded artificial intelligence and cognitive capabilities. Blue Prism gives users instant access to the tools you need for building and delegating automations, as well as a digital workforce that is already AI-equipped.

With Blue Prism’s code-free RPA, deployed through use of their Robotic Operating Model, your business can scale efficiently, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and augment its talent to take on new responsibilities. Blue Prism helps to accelerate operational agility and efficiency by making it easy to automate the most important processes. Allocating everyday tasks to your Digital Workforce gives you immediate increased capacity and allows your teams to focus on their strategic goals. In addition, it delivers a return on investment, increases efficiency gains, and can even introduce new revenue streams.

“Workforce of the Future”

Blue Prism’s all-in-one intelligent automation platform consists of:

Design Studio with drag-and-drop process automation building, reusable “objects” across your business, and updates to objects and processes saved throughout the process library.
Control Room where you can assign processes to digital workers, scale digital worker and task volume ondemand, and gain real-time transparency of process proficiencies.
Digital Workforce of autonomous software robots that can learn and mimic business processes like humans and are equipped with six intelligent automation skills:
1. Knowledge and Insight - The ability to harvest, understand, and deliver insights from multiple disparate data sources.
2. Visual Perception - The ability to read, understand, and contextualize visual information.
3. Learning - The ability to derive contextual meaning and adapt to evolving process patterns.
4. Planning and Sequencing - The ability to optimize workloads and identify opportunities for better outcomes.
5. Problem-solving - The ability to autonomously solve system, logic, and business problems.
6. Collaboration - The ability to seamlessly work with both people and systems.

Reviews from Real Users

Blue Prism stands out for its enterprise-level functionality, which is why many companies choose it over its competitors. PeerSpot users note that the solution is easy to use, stable, and robust scalability-wise. The security is also top-notch. One user pointed out that "One of the most powerful features in Blue Prism is exception handling. It's one of the features that really differentiates it from other platforms." Blue Prism helps businesses with everything from compliance to quality control and error-avoidance.

SS&C Blue Prism

The Thoughtonomy Virtual Workforce is a highly flexible intelligent automation platform. It uses software to replicate the way people work in existing applications and systems, the processes they follow, and the decisions they make, to deliver automation without disruption.

SS&C Blue Prism

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

Coca-Cola, Walgreens, American Express, Royal Bank of Canada, Pfizer, Shop Direct, O2, Siemens, Ascension Healthcare, Jaguar Land Rover

Cabot Credit Management, Hovis, Utilita

Buyer's Guide

Blue Prism vs. Blue Prism Cloud

January 2025

Free Report: Blue Prism vs. Blue Prism Cloud

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