Top 5 RPA Tools in 2024
The automation of business processes is becoming increasingly popular every year. It is actively implemented by companies of various sizes and industries. One of the most promising areas is related to software robots (bots). In this article, we will explain what robotic process automation (RPA) is and why businesses need it. We will also introduce you to the top RPA software available on the market in 2024.
What are RPA Tools?
Robotic process automation is a technology for developing and deploying software robots that can interact with and control computers and digital interfaces. The AI and ML algorithms at the core of bots allow them to effectively automate a number of repetitive tasks, freeing up human workers from them. For example, they can retrieve information, fill out forms, move files, and perform other routine operations.
Software robots quickly learn various work processes by imitating human actions. They read and process information on the screen, navigate sections of the interface, manage input means, and identify and classify data. In addition, they have the ability to switch between applications and transfer data between them. These bots are similar in many ways to graphical interface (GUI) testing tools.
RPA technologies have proven themselves in many areas, including customer service, law, IT, financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, industrial production, and more. Their competent implementation into business processes provides companies and organizations with a number of key advantages:
- Increased productivity. Automation using software robots speeds up and optimizes work processes, improving the accuracy and reliability of results.
- Reduced costs. The introduction of bots into business processes allows you to relieve staff and entrust them with more important work. This increases productivity and ROI.
- Improving the quality of service. Bots communicate with users and fulfill their requests around the clock without interruption. This reduces response time and increases customer satisfaction.
- Minimizing errors. Robots trained on the basis of ML models are ideal for tasks that require high concentration and attentiveness. Thanks to them, businesses significantly improve the quality of processes, minimizing errors arising from the human factor.
- Easy integration. No specialized technical skills are required to implement and configure RPA tools. Their intuitive UI with drag-and-drop elements simplifies and speeds up staff onboarding.
- Strengthening morale. By delegating routine, repetitive tasks to bots, human workers can focus on more strategic processes. This has a positive impact on their morale and enthusiasm.
To select the best platform, an RPA tools comparison is usually done. We invite you to consider 5 top services that are highly popular today. We have prepared an overview of their capabilities and functions to make it easier for you to decide on the most suitable one.
UiPath
UiPath is one of the most famous services for robotic process automation. It provides businesses with powerful functionality for integrating software robots that effectively automate data collection and interpretation tasks.
Key features:
- The visual drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create separate workflows by dragging tasks into a graphical space and then converting them into steps in a single process. The Post Wizard allows you to create posts for websites or applications.
- Users can record their actions and turn them into a series of automated processes. There are several recording types available: standard, desktop recording, web recording, Citrix recording.
- The platform contains more than 300 built-in actions, covering a variety of process automation and application integration tasks.
- UiPath Screen Scraping provides advanced features for scraping web pages and applications, automatically performing this action at a specified frequency. The tool is suitable for various technologies, including .Net, Java, Flash, PDF, Legacy, and SAP.
- The service guarantees the reliability and safety of the processes performed. Bots are launched using secure automatic authorization parameters with screen lock support.
- The UiPath Orchestrator web application deploys, monitors, schedules, and manages automated bots and processes.
Three tariff plans are available to users:
- Free (for personal use).
- Pro (for small departments/companies) – starting from $420 per month.
- Enterprise (for large businesses) – the cost is calculated individually and is available upon request.
Blue Prism
Blue Prism has developed a platform that is considered one of the best robotic process automation services today. It helps businesses automate complex, end-to-end processes through software robots. Its Virtual Workforce Platform integrates flexibly into business processes and provides a high level of automation with rapid deployment and reasonable costs.
Key features:
- Bots built with Blue Prism can autonomously perform tasks assigned to them according to specific priorities, responding to changing rules, business scenarios, and systems.
- Developed based on the Microsoft.NET Framework, the service adapts to various platforms and technologies, including mainframe, Windows applications, WPF applications, Java, SAP, Exchange, Citrix, web services, custom programs, and more.
- Software robots connect to and operate programs in a controlled, non-invasive environment to ensure processes are carried out safely.
- Users have several options for deploying tools: locally, in a public or private cloud.
- Blue Prism is an object-oriented platform. This allows you to quickly scale it using pre-installed components and libraries.
- The system provides a range of reporting and analytics features, including BI and MI reports, operational process statistics, and real-time operational insights.
- The Work Queues tool dynamically calculates the amount of resources and robots according to the current workload.
The Blue Prism tariff line contains 4 plans: Enterprise, Cloud, Desktop, and Chorus. Their cost is calculated individually and is available upon request.
Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere is a major developer of RPA – robotic process automation tools. It supplies businesses with multifunctional software robots to automate work processes, as well as artificial intelligence and predictive analytics technologies.
Key features:
- The company's main product is the Enterprise RPA platform with advanced capabilities for business users, automation engineers, and bot developers. It is deservedly classified as one of the best RPA software.
- The built-in cognitive chatbot IQ Bot trains and supports users. It is integrated with all tools and effectively automates complex tasks, including those related to unstructured data.
- The service provides three types of bots. Task Bot automates repetitive tasks with structured data based on rules. Meta Bot scales processes using block architecture. IQ Bot provides general management and automation of processes.
- Bot Insights displays statistics and graphs to analyze the performance of bots in the system. This tool combines real-time business intelligence with digital workforce productivity.
- The enterprise-grade platform Bot Farm allows you to create, deploy, and use thousands of bots for various purposes to perform tasks.
- The Bot Store marketplace offers a variety of ready-to-use software robots, including those for automating processes, applications, and chats.
The cost of using the company’s services is calculated based on the number of bots and their functionality. The basic Cloud Starter Pack starts at $750 per month. For this money, the user receives 1 bot designer, 1 control point, and 1 general-purpose bot. There is also a free Community Edition designed for developers and students. It includes RPA, AI, and analytical tools.
Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow) is one of the popular RPA tools. This service helps users automate workflows and tasks in services and applications without the participation of developers, using triggers – so-called “flows”.
Key features:
- The most common way to use Power Automate is to automate the delivery of trigger notifications based on selected events.
- The platform can be used to automatically copy files. For example, when you add a new file to Dropbox or OneDrive, it will immediately publish a copy of it to SharePoint.
- The service is successfully used to collect data. Here you can create and configure automated parsing of information from website pages or other sources, adding it to a SQL database and more.
- The system easily integrates with other Microsoft products. For example, it lets you run automations in Teams workspaces. In addition, it supports communication via API connectors with third-party systems: Salesforce, SQL Server, Twitter, Box, Docusign, Slack, Skype, and Google Drive.
Power Automate offers 4 tariff plans:
- Free trial (period – 30 days).
- Premium – $15 per month per user.
- Process – $150 per month per bot.
- Hosted Process – $215 per month per bot.
Nintex RPA
Our review ends with the popular robotic process automation example – Nintex RPA. Like previous platforms from our selection, it refers to the best RPA tools. This service helps businesses create virtual resources that operate around the clock with high performance, speed, and flexibility.
Key features:
- The Nintex Process Platform leverages AI and ML technologies to enable developers to create workflows that are efficient, compliant, and customer-responsive.
- The system supports operations for identifying and managing processes, developing applications, automating repetitive tasks, generating documents, and insights based on data.
- The service allows you to create and run automations using a drag-and-drop interface. This makes it suitable for non-technical people.
- The Nintex RPA platform is in demand among small and medium-sized businesses that require a simple and affordable solution to automate repetitive workflows.
- The system catalog contains ready-made solutions for a variety of business tasks. It includes contract management, personnel and user onboarding, invoice management, content management, chatbots, user data processing, distance learning, and more.
The cost of implementing Nintex RPA tools is reflected in three tariff plans:
- Pro – starting from $15,000 per year.
- Premium – starting from $30,000 per year.
- Custom – the cost is calculated individually and is available upon request.
The Pro plan comes with a 30-day free trial.
Final Thoughts
The top RPA tools presented in our selection are in demand among companies of different sizes and areas of activity. They quickly and efficiently automate the work routine, increasing productivity and quality of work, as well as optimizing personnel costs. Each of the services we reviewed has a wide range of functions, which allows it to be used for the most complex and highly specialized tasks and processes. However, the cost of using the platforms varies greatly: from $15 per month per user (Microsoft Power Automate) to $15,000 per year per company (Nintex RPA). Some systems (Automation Anywhere) offer a free plan, which gives you the opportunity to get acquainted with their tools and potential in practice.
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