Robotic process automation (RPA) tools are paving the way for greater productivity, more precision, and accelerated digital transformation for businesses across all industries. There are many tools on the market that can help you with your automation goals, but it can be difficult to know which solution is the right one for you. Our comparison of Blue Prism and UiPath will help you determine whether one of these tools will meet your needs.
Jump to:
- Blue Prism vs UiPath: Bot Automation
- Blue Prism vs UiPath: Interface
- Blue Prism vs UiPath: Scalability
- Blue Prism vs UiPath: Cost
- The Best RPA Tool for Your Business
Blue Prism vs UiPath: Bot Automation
One of the biggest core differences between Blue Prism and UiPath is the kinds of bots they offer. Blue Prism only offers unattended bots for back-office processes. This has major implications for your business’s overall productivity and operational efficiency, but very little impact on your employees’ individual productivity.
That’s where UiPath has an advantage — with UiPath, you have the option to run both attended and unattended bots. This means your employees can collaborate with attended bots directly from their desktops while unattended bots operate using logic-based triggers in the background.
Also read: Finding Value in Robotic Data Automation
Blue Prism vs UiPath: Interface
Blue Prism and UiPath also have distinct approaches to their user experience. UiPath’s interface is extremely user-friendly. Its drag-and-drop functionality means general business users won’t need any programming knowledge to create automations. Plus, UiPath is accessible from a mobile app and desktop browsers, whereas Blue Prism is only available through a desktop application.
Blue Prism has been on the market longer than UiPath, and it shows in the look and feel of the outdated interface. One customer noted, “The software looks like Windows 98 compared to slicker, newer software such as UiPath.” The fact that Blue Prism is intended for behind-the-scenes automation means the user interface isn’t as important, but you’ll still need intermediate coding experience to make use of the platform.
Blue Prism vs UiPath: Scalability
What Blue Prism lacks in user-friendliness and versatility it makes up for in reliability at scale. The platform is capable of supporting as many robots as you create, whereas UiPath reaches capacity at 10,000 robots per server. The higher the workload, the less stable the UiPath platform becomes.
UiPath has been known to crash even with medium-sized RPA projects, whereas Blue Prism will maintain reliable performance as your business’s automation needs grow. Additionally, Blue Prism’s debugging capabilities for large-scale operations are smoother and more dynamic compared to UiPath’s more tedious processes.
Also read: Laying the Groundwork for Modern IT Automation
Blue Prism vs UiPath: Cost
Blue Prism and UiPath are at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to cost. On one end, UiPath’s pricing is straightforward and more affordable to get started. There’s also a free community edition that’s perfect for learners or a limited number of users. This affordability is great if you’re just getting started with RPA, but the long-term costs may be less effective as you scale.
On the other hand, Blue Prism’s investment costs are higher than UiPath but more economical in the long run. You’ll be responsible for a more expensive price per bot, but Blue Prism has fewer hardware requirements than UiPath. This means your overall operating costs may be lower with Blue Prism, especially as your RPA needs grow.
The Best RPA Tool for Your Business
Blue Prism | UiPath | |
Bots supported | Unattended only | Attended and unattended |
Coding experience required | Intermediate | None |
Architecture | Client-server | Web-based orchestrator |
Debugging | Dynamic | Basic |
Investment cost | High | Low/moderate |
Reliability | High | Moderate |
Accessibility | Desktop app only | Desktop/mobile apps and web browser |
Blue Prism and UiPath are two of the best RPA tools on the market. However, it may be difficult to choose between the two even after comparing their bot automation capabilities, interface, scalability, and costs.
Blue Prism might be the better choice if you need a scalable long-term solution and can manage a higher upfront cost. However, UiPath might be the right tool for you if you need a solution that’s versatile and user-friendly for all skill levels.
If you’re still not convinced that one of these solutions is right for you, check out our list of the Top RPA Tools of 2021.