UiPath Platform vs VisualCron comparison

UiPath and SMA Technologies are both solutions in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category. UiPath is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while SMA Technologies is ranked #18 with an average rating of 9.0. UiPath holds a 17.9% mindshare in RPA, compared to SMA Technologies’s 0.9% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of UiPath 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 Oct 20, 2025

UiPath and VisualCron are prominent players in the automation software category, each offering distinct advantages. UiPath appears to hold an edge due to its comprehensive ecosystem, ease of use, and extensive community support. UiPath offers robust automation features, including drag-and-drop interfaces, end-to-end automation capabilities, and AI-enhanced document understanding. It supports deep integration with various platforms, thereby reducing manual tasks and ensuring scalability. VisualCron excels with its task scheduling capabilities, offering a visual interface that simplifies complex automation tasks without requiring coding expertise. It provides rapid integration with multiple databases and supports PowerShell commands, making task management efficient and customizable. In terms of improvement, UiPath could work on simplifying its advanced features to lower the learning curve for non-technical users and provide better documentation to support their journey. Enhancing AI capabilities and refining integration processes with other systems could further strengthen its offering. VisualCron could benefit from improving its user interface for more intuitive navigation and expanding its plugin options to increase integration possibilities. Enhanced support and training materials would also help in maximizing its potential. Regarding deployment and customer service, UiPath offers flexible deployment options through its cloud services and strong community forums, making it accessible even for beginners. Training resources provided by UiPath Academy and active community support enhance user proficiency. VisualCron is noted for its seamless integration within existing Windows environments and also provides a manageable deployment process, emphasizing simplicity and minimal coding requirements. However, its technical support could improve to better address more complex issues. Pricing and ROI for both products reflect their respective strengths. UiPath's pricing varies, but its community edition lowers barriers to entry, offering significant cost savings and high ROI through improved operational efficiency and workforce optimization. VisualCron offers a competitive pricing structure, emphasizing cost-effective solutions for task scheduling that minimize manual interventions and deliver steady ROI. However, greater transparency in pricing would benefit potential users looking to invest in either platform.

To learn more, read our detailed UiPath Platform vs. VisualCron Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

UiPath Platform vs. VisualCron

September 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

Automate

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) category, the mindshare of Automate is 2.0%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of UiPath Platform is 17.9%, down from 26.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VisualCron is 0.9%, 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 (%)
UiPath Platform	17.9%
Automate	2.0%
VisualCron	0.9%
Other	79.2%

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.

Read full review

Kyle Grimm

Automation Developer at Worthington Industries

Desktop development has become faster and improves automation results

My thoughts on UiPath Platform's user community suggest that a lot of content seems outdated and old now that gets referenced. The community experience for the AI is limited because putting the error codes into the community search field doesn't return many results. However, a lot of information from pre-AI, before 2022, is still accurate and helpful, but the cutting-edge content just isn't in the community yet. There should be better training on UiPath Platform. I wish I could search UiPath IXP training and have a course pull up as the first result without having to dig through a bunch of links, dead-end links, and random things. Easier access for training would be ideal.

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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

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

"I would rate the technical support as a nine out of ten because it is quite fast and courteous."

"I find the ease of use from a programming perspective very valuable."

"The peace of mind I have using Automate for scheduling tasks allows me to focus on other responsibilities without worrying about operational issues."

"The most valuable features of Fortra's Automate include its FTP functionality and file manipulation capabilities."

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

"This tool has machine learning and voice recognition and computer vision, which are both quite useful aspects. These aren't available in other tools. It's a good addition to this tool and it gives the solution an edge on the market."

"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've contacted technical support many times and they are very helpful."

"I feel comfortable with UiPath. The thing that I like most is that UiPath has a very large community and a large ecosystem. So, it is easy to connect with other applications or platforms."

"My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing as a UiPath Platform customer is very good; we get a bundle license, and if we have any issues, we can directly reach out to the sales managers to resolve them."

"We are able to extract data from the PDF and website, then translate the data into different languages."

"if you are a business user, even if you don't have a technical team, you can install the second version of the Community edition, which is StudioX. This is specifically made for business people who don't have a lot of ideas about technicalities. This is a great feature."

"It's easy to build automations in UiPath. It has a simple drag-and-drop interface."

"The most valuable feature of UiPath is document understanding. AI is also a valuable feature, as that is the current trend, so it's one of the most essential features of UiPath."

"The pricing is fairly decent."

More UiPath Platform pros

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

"'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."

"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."

"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."

"It helped us reduce manual steps."

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

"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."

More VisualCron pros

Cons

"While this solution is continually improving, as it is now, the user interface could use improvement when I compare it to a product like UiPath."

"Some challenges include the system being too loaded or delayed in taking instructions and responding quickly as needed."

"Fortra's Automate is not as reliable as I would like it to be."

"The solution has a very weak knowledge base."

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

"The user interface could be slightly enhanced to make it more modern."

"It would be an improvement if Automate had better stability tools, whether by recommending a certain amount of memory because it can be a memory hog at times."

"Regarding customer support, I face challenges sometimes. They're not always available, and you may need to wait for assistance, but overall their support is acceptable."

More Automate cons

"With UiPath, one needs the UiPath Assistant installed on every machine, which is unrealistic as many people use the same machine in the hospital."

"Studio needs to be more user-friendly, maybe it could be integrated with an AI."

"We struggle to demo our processes. For whatever reason, we can't get the bot to run so that someone can watch it simultaneously. We press the button, and it shows that it's done rather than showing how the bot works."

"There is a big room for improvement when it comes to mobile automation. The Find Element activity is not present in mobile automation. There are activities to extract data, but we don't have data scraping in mobile automation. These activities are available for UI automation of web applications, but they are not available for mobile automation, which is a drawback when working on mobile automation with UiPath."

"We cannot utilize the UiPath community edition license to operate any bots that we have created using that version in an enterprise environment."

"The update process has resulted in several small issues for us. Sometimes when you update, there are several lines that are not included in the package. This kind of technical error, even though it's small, has to improve."

"At the functional level, UiPath is almost perfect. The only area for improvement would be the ability to use code. In Blue Prism and other tools, we can write the code, whereas UiPath is drag-and-drop, so sometimes we have limitations when it comes to implementation."

"The built-in OCR is only 60% to 70% correct if you're analyzing a PDF that has images in it, so this is an area that can be improved."

More UiPath Platform cons

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

"The documentation is a bit weak."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"An area for improvement in VisualCron is its cluttered interface. It isn't always easy to find all functionalities, so what VisualCron needs is a user interface expert who can improve the interface. There's a learning curve in terms of finding what you need from the interface of VisualCron. The technical support for VisualCron also needs improvement in terms of response time. Currently, there's no live support or hotline you can call to get quick answers, so this is what I'd like to see in the next version of VisualCron. A less cluttered and more streamlined interface, where you don't need to hunt for some of the features, is also what I'd like to see in the next VisualCron update."

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."

"It comes with a package that costs approximately $20,000 USD per year."

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

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

"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."

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

"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."

More Automate pricing and cost advice

"Previously, we were not using automation operations. I believe we have now reduced costs significantly, which justifies the cost we are paying for the service."

"We saved a little over $600,000. That totaled to almost 19 FTEs which we ended up saving."

"I believe that the price is on the higher side."

"The solution is definitely expensive but is a powerful technology that we do not expect for free."

"The setup cost is minimal as far as other options are considered."

"The investment is relatively small compared to the potential in qualitative and quantitative benefits that can be achieved."

"There is some initial sticker shock from a lot of people regarding cost, until you show them what the actual benefit is. Initially, people are just going, "Why?" So, the retort for that is, "Look how much you will save, time, and budget-wise with one bot. If one bot costs X, this is how much it will save you over one year. This alleviates the "Oh my gosh" face, when it's 1200 dollars for a bot."

"We just signed a very large perpetual agreement. So, we had 125 Studios and 1200 unattended licenses. We paid $3.7 million. Then, we paid maintenance costs for the next three years, which was 15 percent of that."

More UiPath Platform pricing and cost advice

"ROI is one month."

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

"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."

"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."

"The price is a bit high."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Retailer

Computer Software Company

27%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Insurance Company

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	8
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	240
Midsize Enterprise	144
Large Enterprise	661

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?

My main use case for Automate is to deliver enterprise-scale script execution jobs, which means we are using Automate...

See all answers

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

Until now, I have not specified any other tech products except Microsoft Power Automate, N8N, and Make.com that I've ...

See all answers

Best RPA tools for IBM iSeries

I can only speak to UiPath since that is the only RPA solution that I have used. I know that there are specific packa...

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RPA that Bots can run without centralized control?

Yes, Attended Bots which can run without centralized control Module. RPA Tools like Automation Anywhere, uiPath ,Pow...

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How do I choose between UiPath and Microsoft Power Automate?

Microsoft‌ ‌Power‌ ‌Automate‌ ‌is‌ ‌intuitive‌ ‌and‌ ‌easy‌ ‌to‌ ‌integrate‌ ‌and‌ ‌use.‌ ‌I‌ ‌like‌ ‌that‌ ‌there‌ ‌...

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

Nintex RPA vs Automate

Compared 16% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automate

Compared 15% of the time

Redwood Software - Finance Automation Edition vs Automate

Compared 9% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automate

Compared 8% of the time

Control-M vs Automate

Compared 4% of the time

More Automate Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs UiPath Platform

Compared 18% of the time

Blue Prism vs UiPath Platform

Compared 11% of the time

Automation Anywhere vs UiPath Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Pega Robotic Process Automation vs UiPath Platform

Compared 5% of the time

WorkFusion vs UiPath Platform

Compared 2% of the time

More UiPath Platform Competitors

Microsoft Power Automate vs VisualCron

Compared 34% of the time

Control-M vs VisualCron

Compared 23% of the time

ActiveBatch by Redwood vs VisualCron

Compared 9% of the time

OpCon vs VisualCron

Compared 8% of the time

Stonebranch vs VisualCron

Compared 6% of the time

More VisualCron Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automate

October 2025

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Buyer's Guide

UiPath Platform

September 2025

Download UiPath Platform product report

Buyer's Guide

VisualCron

September 2025

Download VisualCron product report

Also Known As

HelpSystems Automate, Automate

UiPath Maestro, UiPath Apps, UiPath Agent Builder

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

UiPath Platform is appreciated for its user-friendly interface and extensive automation capabilities, offering seamless integration with diverse applications. Its intuitive drag-and-drop functionality enables users to design efficient workflows with minimal technical expertise.

UiPath Platform delivers a robust set of features that enhance automation and productivity. With components like Orchestrator, task management is optimized, facilitating better scalability. Users benefit from advanced AI and document understanding tools, boosting data handling accuracy and reducing errors. Despite its strengths, UiPath faces challenges with upgrading processes, AI enhancements, and user documentation. Integration and selector sensitivity issues, along with support and licensing complexities, highlight areas for potential improvement. Users request smoother deployment, error handling, and migration processes. Enhanced support for RHEL/Ubuntu, LINQ, and Lambda and improved real-time insights, automation recording, and scheduling are desired. Streamlining the experience for non-technical users with simplified workflows remains a priority.

What are the key features of UiPath Platform?

Drag-and-Drop Functionality: Allows users to design workflows easily without extensive technical skills.
Orchestrator: Enhances task management and enables scalable automation.
AI and Document Understanding: Improves data accuracy and minimizes errors.
System Integration: Offers seamless integration with SAP, CRM, Oracle, and more.
Active Community and Training: UiPath Academy provides resources for skill development.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Increased Efficiency: Reduction in manual workloads through automation of repetitive tasks.
Improved Accuracy: Enhanced data handling capabilities reduce errors.
Productivity Boost: Supports both attended and unattended automations to streamline operations.
Scalability: Ability to handle growing automation demands efficiently.
Integration Benefits: Easy integration with enterprise systems for streamlined operations.

UiPath Platform is widely implemented across sectors such as finance, healthcare, insurance, HR, IT, and supply chain to automate repetitive business tasks. Common uses include automating data entry, invoice processing, document management, report generation, and customer service operations. Organizations value the platform's ability to integrate seamlessly with systems like SAP, CRM, and Oracle, allowing for enhanced efficiency and accuracy in processing both structured and unstructured data.

UiPath

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

1. Accenture 2. Deloitte 3. PwC 4. IBM 5. Capgemini 6. KPMG 7. Ernst & Young 8. Infosys 9. Cognizant 10. Wipro 11. Tata Consultancy Services 12. HCL Technologies 13. Genpact 14. Tech Mahindra 15. DXC Technology 16. Atos 17. NTT Data 18. CGI 19. L&T Infotech 20. Hexaware Technologies 21. Mindtree 22. Mphasis 23. Virtusa 24. Syntel 25. Zensar Technologies 26. WNS Global Services 27. Hexaware Technologies 28. Larsen & Toubro Infotech 29. Persistent Systems 30. QuEST Global 31. Sonata Software 32. Zensar Technologies

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

Buyer's Guide

UiPath Platform vs. VisualCron

September 2025

Free Report: UiPath Platform vs. VisualCron

Find out what your peers are saying about UiPath Platform vs. VisualCron and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.

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