Automa vs Automation Anywhere (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Automation Anywhere grades higher than Automa: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Automation Anywhere grades higher on the free plan and features. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Automation Anywhere
RPA and agentic process automation for enterprises
Which one is for you
Pick Automa if
- Fits if you want to try desktop and web automation on a free plan first
- Works for teams automating repetitive desktop tasks without code
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you run automations for long, as the free plan stops at 30 minutes a day
- Skip it if you need to know the price, since Pro has no figure on the page
- Watch out: the free plan allows one developed app, and the paid plan's billing choices are only described in words
Pick Automation Anywhere if
- Fits if you are a student or developer learning RPA
- Works for a small business under the Community Edition limits
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a price for a bigger rollout, as none is published
- Tight if your company is above the machine, user or revenue limits of Community Edition
- Watch out: platform support was read only for Community Edition
- Too light for a phone-first job, as only Windows and Mac were listed
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAAutomaFair | 2.4GPAAutomation AnywhereFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CA Pro plan exists but no price is shown on the page read, so it sits in the middle until one is published. | CNo paid prices are published, and the old pricing page returns 404. It sits in the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe free plan has one developed app and 30 minutes a day of runtime for third-party apps, plus a 14-day Pro trial. You will hit those caps. | BCommunity Edition is free with no credit card, giving cloud access to Automation 360. It is limited to small businesses by machines, users or revenue. |
| Features | CVisual builder, AI features, triggers and scheduling, a virtual desktop with an API, and a marketplace. The listing shows free-plan limits on runtime. | BRPA, agentic automation, document automation and a co-pilot. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core work. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You build automations in a visual builder, which has a learning curve. | CNo store rating on record. Building bots and workflows has a learning curve. |
| Platforms and integrations | CDesktop clients for Windows and Mac only; no phone apps and no integrations named. | CWindows and Mac only were read, for Community Edition. No phone apps or integrations list. |
| Best for | no-code automation with a Windows and Mac client | RPA for a small business or learner |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Automa and Automation Anywhere. How we grade
Where they differ
- Automa also covers no-code.
- Automation Anywhere also covers documents.
At a glance
| Automa | Automation Anywhere | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | 1 developed app and 30 minutes a day of runtime for third-party apps. | Community Edition: free, no credit card, for students, developers and small businesses within stated size limits. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Pro plan | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Made by | Automa | Automation Anywhere |
| Price read from | goautoma.com | automationanywhere.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Automa
- The pricing page lists a Pro plan but no price appears in the page text that could be read, so the cost of Pro is not recorded here.
- The Free plan limits third-party app runtime to 30 minutes a day and one developed app.
- The download page offers Windows and Mac clients.
- The vendor says paid plans can be billed monthly or annually, with a discount for annual, and offers pro-rata refunds on standard plans bought on its site.
Automation Anywhere
- No paid prices are published; the old pricing page returns 404.
- Community Edition use by organizations is limited by machines, users or annual revenue.
- Platform support was read only for Community Edition: Windows and Mac.
Key features
Automa
- Visual no-code builder
- Workflows are designed by drag and drop, and the vendor describes bots that click and type the way a person would.
- AI features
- Pro lists AI-assisted features such as magic commands and flows, OCR and NLP, and advanced element capturing with XPath.
- Triggers and scheduling
- The plan table lists cloud triggers, work queues, dispatch mode and an advanced scheduler on paid plans.
- Virtual desktop and API
- Pro also lists a cloud virtual desktop and API access, which the Free plan does not include.
- Marketplace
- Public marketplace access is part of the plan table, and Enterprise adds an enterprise marketplace and a private section.
Automation Anywhere
- RPA software
- Software bots automate repetitive tasks.
- Agentic process automation
- The site lists AI Agent Studio and a Process Reasoning Engine.
- Prompt-to-Automate
- Community Edition can build automations from natural language as well as drag-and-drop.
- Document automation
- Extracts data from documents using generative AI.
- Automation Co-Pilot
- AI-powered assistant listed as a product.
Plans
Automa
Free$0
1 developed app and 30 minutes a day of third-party app runtime. No credit card required.
ProNot shown
Unlimited apps and runtime, plus AI (OCR and NLP), cloud triggers, work queues and API access. No price appears in the page text.
EnterpriseCustom
Adds a management console, an enterprise marketplace and a private section, and expert success and support services.
Automation Anywhere
Community Edition$0
Free cloud access to Automation 360; the page limits small-business use by machine, user or revenue thresholds.
Ways to pay less
Automa
- Annual discount
Annual billing discount
The pricing page has an Annually toggle marked 50% off and its FAQ says annual subscriptions include a discount; the prices themselves were not readable.
Automation Anywhere
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Automa or Automation Anywhere?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Automa publishes no starting price, and Automation Anywhere publishes no starting price.
Which has a free plan, Automa or Automation Anywhere?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Automa and Automation Anywhere have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.