Automate vs Tasker

Automate

• Android users who prefer drawing an automation as a flowchart
• Changing device settings or sending messages by time, place or event
• Trying every feature before paying, since the free edition leaves none out

Tasker

• Android users who want detailed control over how their phone behaves
• Automations tied to location, time, the app in use or device state
• People who prefer a one-time purchase to a subscription

Automate

• Android only: the FAQ says there is no PC or online edition and suggests an Android emulator for editing flows on a computer.
• The free edition runs at most 30 blocks at once, and unconnected blocks inside a running flow count toward the limit.
• Premium is tied to the Google account that bought it and is verified through the Google Play store app.
• Battery-saving settings and task-killer apps can pause flows; the FAQ lists the system settings to change.

Tasker

• Tasker is an application for Android only; the developer's site lists no iOS, desktop or web version.
• A few actions, such as Kill App and Mobile Data on some devices, require root access.
• The 7-day trial is a direct download from the developer's site; the Google Play version is paid from the start.
• Triggering tasks from another Android device or a PC needs the separate Join app.

Automate

Flowchart editor

Automations are drawn by adding and connecting blocks. Beginners configure blocks with predefined options, and experienced users can add expressions, variables and functions.

More than 400 building blocks

Blocks cover actions, conditions, event triggers and loops for files, messages, phone calls, the camera, audio and device settings such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and NFC.

Context triggers

Flows can react to the time of day, location through geofencing, calendar events, the app currently open, the connected Wi-Fi network, battery level and physical activity.

App and web integration

Automate works with apps that support the Locale/Tasker plug-in API, can fall back on screen scraping and simulated input, and calls online services over HTTP, including webhooks.

Community flows

Complete flows that other users have made and shared can be downloaded from a community section inside the app, then run or edited.

Files and remote storage

Blocks copy, move, rename and delete files on the device, SD card and USB drives, handle zip archives, and upload or download through Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and FTP.

Tasker

Profiles, contexts and tasks

A profile links one or more contexts, such as an app, a time, a date, a location, an event or a gesture, to a task, and the task's actions run when the contexts apply.

350+ actions

Actions send SMS, create notifications, change system settings and volumes, control Do Not Disturb, open apps, work with files and control music playback.

130+ states and events

Automations can react to the app in use, the time of day, your location, the Wi-Fi network, a received SMS or call, the song that is playing and other states and events.

Manual triggers

Tasks can be started from launcher shortcuts, quick setting tiles, home screen widgets, a long press on the volume buttons, media buttons and notifications.

Scenes and App Factory

Scenes let you design your own interface to show information or trigger tasks. The separate Tasker App Factory turns a project into a standalone app.

Plugins, web APIs and sharing

Third-party apps expose actions and events to Tasker as plugins, HTTP Request and HTTP Auth actions call web APIs, and TaskerNet shares tasks, profiles and projects as links.

Automate

• Free$0

  All features, with a maximum of 30 running blocks: for example 15 running flows of two blocks, or one flow of 30.

• Premium$4.99

  one-time in-app purchase (US Google Play listing)

  Removes the 30 running-block limit. Owned by the Google account that bought it and applied to every device registered with that account.

Tasker

• Tasker$4.49

  one-time purchase

  The full app from Google Play in the US. The listing also marks it as free with a Google Play Pass subscription.

Automate

No public discounts listed.

Tasker

• Other savings

  Included with Google Play Pass

  The Google Play listing marks Tasker as free with a Play Pass subscription, so Play Pass subscribers do not pay the $4.49 purchase price.