Buyer's Guide: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Software

Executive Summary

Robotic process automation (RPA) software runs software robots that work in other applications through their screens, as a person would. GSA's Digital.gov states that robotic process automation (RPA) technologies can automate repetitive, rules-based tasks, and can be used to rapidly design, test, and deploy automations and reduce low-value work in an organization. Bots fit best where a system offers no usable API, the rules are stable and the volume is high.

RPA vendors now start from different places. UiPath states that its robots, powered by AI Computer Vision and robust selectors, interact with screens, systems, and data the way a person would across Windows and macOS, including legacy systems and virtual environments like Citrix. SAP states that SAP Build Process Automation creates RPA bot automations that emulate human interaction with computer systems, with a built-in automation recorder for UI-based automations. Appian states that Appian RPA automates repetitive, manual work by deploying software robots, especially for systems that lack modern APIs, and that when combined with the Appian Platform, RPA can be integrated with AI, workflow, and case management to orchestrate end-to-end processes.

This guide defines RPA and its two run modes, asks whether to buy a specialist or use the RPA inside a platform you already own, lists what to test, sets out six approaches with eight vendors, shows the prices vendors publish, and covers who builds and runs the bots: your own team, a partner or the vendor. Finding which processes to automate is covered in the Process Mining Buyer Guide. Reading documents is covered in the Intelligent Document Processing Buyer Guide.

What Is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

An RPA bot follows recorded or scripted steps in an application’s user interface. It logs in, reads fields, copies values, clicks buttons and fills forms. It needs no change to the target system, so it reaches legacy and packaged applications that have no API. The same property makes it fragile: when a screen changes, the bot can break.

RPA runs in two modes. Automation Anywhere defines attended RPA as working alongside human workers, and unattended RPA as operating autonomously without human intervention. Attended bots run on a person’s desktop when that person starts them, often during a call or a case. Unattended bots run on servers or virtual machines, on a schedule or from a queue. The two modes are usually licensed differently, as the pricing section shows.

UiPath states that RPA is best suited for repetitive, rule-based work with structured inputs, such as data entry, invoice processing, employee onboarding and system-to-system data movement, and that for processes with dynamic interfaces or exceptions that need judgment it extends RPA with agentic AI capabilities and human-in-the-loop steps. A process that changes every quarter, or that needs judgment at most steps, needs more bot maintenance and more human review.

RPA is one of three ways to automate work between systems. An API integration is sturdier where the system offers one; the iPaaS Buyer Guide covers integration platforms. AI agents handle inputs that vary and steps that need judgment; the AI Agent Orchestration Buyer Guide covers them. NiCE contrasts traditional RPA tools that follow rigid scripts with agentic AI automation agents for enterprise processes, which it states can adapt to context, make decisions, and execute multi-step workflows across dynamic systems. Many RPA vendors now sell agents beside their bots, so decide which steps of a process each should do.

Federal agencies publish their results. Digital.gov reports that the RPA programs reviewed in the State of Federal RPA Report had created almost 1,000 automations and freed up almost 1.5 million hours of capacity, from 49 programs that responded to the survey.

Should You Buy an RPA Specialist or Use the RPA in a Platform You Already Own?

RPA is sold on its own and inside platforms that many enterprises already run: ERP systems, productivity suites, and low-code and process platforms. The statements below are the vendors’ own, from their own pages, as of November 2026.

Specialists sell bots, agents and orchestration as one product. Automation Anywhere states that its APA platform combines and orchestrates goal-based AI agents, RPA, APIs, and human expertise in one unified platform. UiPath states that it extends deterministic UI automation with agentic capabilities, including self-healing at runtime with UiPath Healing Agent and UiPath ScreenPlay, which turns natural-language instructions into self-driving UI automations.

The ERP vendor’s RPA starts from its own applications. SAP states that SAP Build Process Automation connects process and task automations to any SAP or third-party application. SAP states that the SAP Build Process Automation add-on by UiPath brings UiPath capabilities into SAP Build Process Automation.

A productivity suite’s RPA comes with licenses and identity you already manage. Microsoft states that Power Automate can automate legacy applications such as terminal emulators, modern web and desktop applications, Excel files, and folders.

Process platforms put bots inside workflows and cases. Pega states that RPA bots can be integrated with Pega’s low-code platform and paired with Pega Agentic AI and Pega Process AI.

Ask each finalist which of your applications it automates through an API, which through the screen, and which it cannot reach. The two RPA specialists are compared aspect by aspect, with a source for every fact, on a separate page, and so are the two process platforms on another.

What Should You Test in RPA Software?

Start with reach. List the applications in scope, including terminal emulators, virtual desktops and web applications, and ask each vendor to automate one task in each. Note which steps use an API, which use screen elements and which fall back to images or coordinates.

Then test resilience. Change a field label or move a button in the test application and run the bot again. Automation Anywhere offers UI Agents that automate browser-based work, adapt to changing interfaces, handle exceptions, and work across systems where APIs are unavailable. Ask how a broken step is detected, who is alerted and how long a repair takes.

Test orchestration under load. Pega states that Robot Manager allows users to manage work queues, monitor bot performance, and enable self-healing bots from a single interface. Queue 500 items, stop a machine halfway and check what happens to the work in flight.

Test governance before you scale. Digital.gov recommends a centralized code repository for code review and disaster recovery, role-based access controls (RBAC) to mitigate the risk of automations accessing sensitive data, and separate environments for code development, testing, and production. Nintex lists permissions management and a secure credentials vault among its platform's privacy features. Ask where bot credentials are stored, who can read them and how each change reaches production.

Last, test the path to agents. Ask which steps an AI agent can take over, how the agent’s actions are logged, and whether you can choose the model.

Vendors in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Software

Representative vendors include Appian, Automation Anywhere, Microsoft Power Automate, Nintex, Pega, SAP Build Process Automation, SS&C Blue Prism and UiPath. The list is alphabetical, is not a ranking, and is not for sale. How we choose vendors

The approaches below follow where each product started: an RPA specialist, an ERP vendor, a productivity suite, a process platform or a workflow suite. Two approaches in the table hold two vendors each.

An agentic automation platform from an RPA specialist sells bots, agents and orchestration as one product, in the vendor’s cloud or on your own infrastructure. UiPath states that other deployment models remain available for specific regulatory or self-hosting needs, but that Automation Cloud is the recommended path forward for organizations that want to move fast and scale confidently. Automation Anywhere states that it acquired Aisera in late 2025, which added enterprise knowledge and automated employee service to its platform. Automation Anywhere announced a definitive agreement to acquire Boost.ai from Nordic Capital, with the transaction expected to close in Q4 2026.

A digital workforce platform runs centrally managed bots, and its vendor also offers to host and run them. SS&C Technologies lists the acquisition of Blue Prism among its 2022 acquisitions. SS&C Blue Prism describes Blue Prism Enterprise as an enterprise automation suite that deploys a digital workforce to handle business tasks and create end-to-end automated workflows. SS&C Blue Prism describes WorkHQ as an agentic automation platform connecting people, AI agents, and digital workers in one secure environment. SS&C Blue Prism describes Blue Prism Cloud as a fully managed cloud RPA platform. SS&C Blue Prism describes Blue Prism Desktop as a desktop automation solution for repetitive tasks that must run on employee desktop applications, with enterprise-level control, security, scalability, and auditability.

RPA in a low-code productivity suite is bought and governed with the suite’s other tools. Microsoft states that Power Automate hosted machine groups automatically provision hosted bots when needed, as virtual machines running in Azure that can scale to run simultaneously on multiple Windows VMs.

RPA from the ERP vendor starts from that vendor’s applications and content. SAP states that SAP Build Process Automation lets users build attended bots for task automations that need to be manually triggered or reviewed, and unattended bots for fully automated tasks with predefined times or triggers.

RPA inside a process and case management platform makes each bot one step in a modeled process with people, rules and AI. Pega states that Pega Unattended RPA runs 24/7, with bots handling repetitive, high-volume tasks behind the scenes without waiting for APIs. Pega states that Pega Attended RPA gives employees digital assistants that take over tedious work in real time. Pega states that with Robot Studio, users can design, test, and deploy bots in a low-code environment, and use design agents to map an application and generate automations powered by agentic AI. Appian states that RPA tools are managed securely in the Appian Cloud and run on Windows, Linux, or Mac. Appian offers an RPA task recorder and a drag-and-drop low-code interface for building automations.

RPA in a no-code workflow suite adds bots to a product that business teams use to build forms and workflows. Nintex states that attended automation lets teams activate bots on demand for everyday tasks, from assisting customers to handling internal processes. Nintex states that with unattended automation, bots operate independently, without any human involvement. Nintex describes building bot-based automation with its drag-and-drop designer, with no coding needed, and over 200 advanced commands. Nintex states that native integrations into the Nintex Automation CE and K2 platforms make it possible to automate tasks that make up broader workflows.

Integration platforms and contact center suites also automate work across applications. In the Salesforce / MuleSoft portfolio, MuleSoft states that MuleSoft RPA can automate processes that require human input and can also interact with systems that do not have an API available for consumption. MuleSoft describes RPA Manager as the cloud-based control plane for the automations, integrated into Anypoint Platform. Salesforce announced on May 2, 2018 that it had completed its acquisition of MuleSoft. NiCE states that NiCE AI Agents for Process Automation complete repeatable service work using AI, business rules, and workflow logic end to end, powered by NiCE Cognigy.

Eight vendors across six approaches; UiPath and Automation Anywhere share one, Pega and Appian another. The approaches were written before any vendor was placed in them, and every vendor the previous edition covered is still named: eight in the table and Salesforce / MuleSoft in the text above. A row cannot be bought and is not ranked. Other RPA vendors can present their own case in the Spotlight below.

How Is RPA Software Priced?

RPA is priced per person, per bot, per plan or by platform tier, and large deals are quoted. The price of one bot matters less than how many bots your peak volume needs and what the platform around them costs.

Per user and per bot. Microsoft lists Power Automate Premium at $15.00 per user per month, paid yearly, with cloud flows, attended desktop flows, and process mining for individual users. Microsoft lists Power Automate Process at $150.00 per bot per month, paid yearly, to automate core enterprise processes and run unattended automation. Microsoft lists Power Automate Hosted Process at $215.00 per bot per month, paid yearly, for unattended automation with a virtual machine managed by Microsoft and hosted on Azure infrastructure. Microsoft states that a bot assigned to a machine can execute one unattended desktop flow run at a time, and that multiple bots are required to execute concurrent desktop flow runs on a machine.

Plans. UiPath lists its Basic plan starting at $25 per month for basic personal automations at limited scale, and states that an updated plan offering is coming soon.

Platform tiers. Appian states that its platform capability is priced per user, per month, per app. Appian's pricing table lists Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with 5 bots in the Standard tier, 25 bots in Advanced and unlimited bots in Premium. Appian states that starting with the 24.2 release, RPA is available for self-managed customers using Appian on Kubernetes.

Ask every vendor for a quote at your expected bot count and at twice that, with AI, document processing and agent consumption priced separately. All prices are US list prices as published when this guide was checked in November 2026.

Who Builds and Runs the Bots: Your Team, a Partner or the Vendor?

An RPA program needs people who design, build, test and support bots. They can be your own developers, business users, a partner such as an RPA agency or systems integrator, or the vendor itself. Most programs mix them.

Your own team. Digital.gov notes that RPA software is marketed to be low-to-no code, with the goal of empowering non-technical employees to develop and deploy automations locally. Digital.gov states that to empower citizen development at a federal agency, the agency’s CIO office and RPA teams must collaborate to establish governance so that RPA can be deployed safely, securely, and effectively across the enterprise. Digital.gov warns that development licenses can be a large expense for an RPA program, so they should be carefully assigned. Automation Anywhere describes CoE Manager as a dashboard for governance, tracking, and measuring automation program performance in a Center of Excellence.

A partner. UiPath states that its partners bring strategy, expertise, and delivery capabilities to turn the UiPath Platform into outcomes across functions, industries, and regions. Ask a partner who owns the bot code, how support is priced after go-live, and how many of its developers hold the vendor’s certifications.

The vendor. SS&C Blue Prism states that its automation managed services include expert guidance in automation design, development, deployment and ongoing, proactive monitoring and maintenance. Pega states that Pega Cloud services are backed by a 99.95% availability SLA. A managed service moves infrastructure and support to the vendor; process ownership and exception handling stay with you.

What should you ask vendors about Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Software?

Ask each vendor to answer in writing and to demonstrate on your own applications.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) RFP package: 123 questions, 10 demo scenarios and a vendor scorecard

RFP packages are a separate paid product. Vendors do not pay to appear in buyer guides.

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