Microsoft Power Automate vs RoboTask
We give Microsoft Power Automate a 3.2 GPA and RoboTask a 3.0, out of 4.0. Microsoft Power Automate grades higher on platforms. RoboTask grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Microsoft Power Automate
Cloud workflows and desktop RPA in the Microsoft Power Platform
RoboTask
Task automation for Windows built from ready-made actions
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAMicrosoft Power AutomateVery good | 3.0GPARoboTaskVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPremium is $15 a user a month, paid yearly. That's about the going rate, and it covers cloud flows, premium connectors and attended desktop flows. It climbs fast after that: an unattended bot is $150 a month, or $215 if Microsoft hosts the machine. | A$149 once buys a Personal licence with unlimited tasks and steps and Windows service mode. That's less than a year of a typical automation subscription, and the licence never expires. Updates are included for a year, then it's $59 a year if you want new versions. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free licence covers cloud flows on standard connectors and desktop flows you run yourself, and Microsoft 365 licences include the same cloud flows. But there are no premium or custom connectors and no sharing. The pricing page also offers a 30-day trial. | BThere's a Free License for personal, non-commercial use, with the standard actions, all triggers and the debugger. It stops at 5 tasks of 50 steps each. The 30-day trial has everything working and needs no registration. |
| Features | ACloud flows with more than 1,400 certified connectors, desktop flows that record and replay clicks in Windows and web apps, Copilot to draft a flow from a description, process mining and admin controls. Both halves of automation, in one product. | AMore than 300 actions for files, FTP, email, web requests, databases and keyboard and mouse input. Tasks start on a schedule or an event, like a hotkey, a changed folder or a logon, and can include Python, JavaScript or PowerShell. For Windows chores, that's the whole job. |
| Ease of use | BCopilot drafts a flow from a plain description, and you can build from inside Teams, Excel or SharePoint. Working out which licence each flow needs is the harder part. No rating on record, so a B. | BYou pick actions and combine them in a visual editor, with conditions, loops and variables, and no batch files or scripts unless you want them. There's a macro recorder as well. No rating on record, so a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web portal plus a Windows desktop app, with 1,400+ connectors and custom ones on Premium. But the desktop app doesn't run on ARM devices, and the standalone iPhone and Android app reached end of support on August 31, 2026. | DWindows only: Windows 7 to 11 and Windows Server 2008 to 2022. It does have a REST API and can launch tasks on other machines, but remote connections need the Business licence. |
| Best for | automation for companies already on Microsoft 365 | replacing batch files and scheduled jobs on Windows |
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: Microsoft Power Automate and RoboTask. How we grade
Where they differ
- Microsoft Power Automate starts at $15 per user / month, paid yearly. RoboTask starts at $149 one-time for a Personal license, with 1 year of updates.
- Only Microsoft Power Automate lists a web app.
- RoboTask can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Microsoft Power Automate also covers templates.
- RoboTask also covers no-code.
At a glance
| Microsoft Power Automate | RoboTask | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $15 per user / month, paid yearly | $149 one-time for a Personal license, with 1 year of updates |
| Free plan | Power Automate Free license: create and run cloud flows with standard connectors only, without sharing them, plus desktop flows authored and run locally in attended mode. | Free License for personal, non-commercial use: the standard action set, all triggers and the task debugger, limited to 5 tasks of up to 50 steps each. |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial per the pricing page; Microsoft's licensing docs describe a 90-day self-service trial license | 30-day free trial with all features fully functional, no registration required |
| Web | ||
| Windows | ||
| Made by | Microsoft | Neowise Software |
| Price read from | microsoft.com | neowise.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Microsoft Power Automate
- Organizations already licensed for Microsoft 365 or Dynamics 365
- Automating older Windows applications that have no API
- Approval processes that run through Teams and SharePoint
RoboTask
- Windows users replacing Task Scheduler jobs and batch files
- Unattended file transfers, backups and email jobs on a server
- Buyers who want a perpetual license instead of a subscription
Worth knowing
Microsoft Power Automate
- The free license and Microsoft 365 licenses cover standard connectors only; premium and custom connectors need Premium at $15 per user / month.
- Unattended desktop flows need a Process license at $150 per bot / month, and the machine must be registered by a Premium user.
- The desktop app runs only on Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server, and devices with ARM processors are not supported.
- The standalone iOS and Android app reached end of support on August 31, 2026; Microsoft points mobile users to the browser portal and Teams.
RoboTask
- Windows only: the system requirements list Windows 7 to 11 and Windows Server 2008 to 2022.
- The Free License is for personal, non-commercial use and stops at 5 tasks of 50 steps each.
- The Personal License leaves out the Database, CSV Data, WebSockets and Console App plugins, and remote connections need a Business License.
- Updates are included for one year. Renewing costs $59 a year for Personal and $99 for Business; the installed version keeps working without it.
Key features
Microsoft Power Automate
- Cloud flows
- Automated, scheduled and instant flows connect cloud apps, and on-premises services through a data gateway. Microsoft cites more than 1,400 prebuilt, certified connectors, and custom connectors can be built.
- Desktop flows (RPA)
- Power Automate for desktop builds or records flows that operate Windows and web applications through their interfaces. Attended runs happen with a person present; unattended runs need a Process license.
- Copilot authoring
- Copilot in Power Automate creates, edits and extends flows from a natural-language description, in both the cloud designer and the desktop app.
- Process and task mining
- Analyzes how a process actually runs to find steps worth automating. Premium includes 50 MB of mining data per user, and a tenant-wide add-on provides 100 GB.
- Microsoft 365 integration
- Flows can be built and run from inside Teams, Excel, SharePoint and OneDrive. Microsoft 365 licenses include the right to create and run cloud flows with standard connectors.
- Governance and hosted machines
- Managed Environments and data loss prevention policies give admins control over flows. Hosted Process runs unattended bots on virtual machines that Microsoft manages.
RoboTask
- Visual task editor
- A task is built by picking and combining actions in a visual editor, with conditions, loops, custom variables and expressions. No batch files or scripts are needed.
- Schedules and event triggers
- Tasks run on a schedule or when something happens: a hotkey, a file or folder change, a window or process event, a device being plugged in, a logon, or CPU and RAM usage.
- Macro recorder
- Keyboard and mouse actions can be recorded and replayed, and tasks can send keystrokes, move the pointer and click in any application.
- Files, FTP, email and web actions
- Actions copy and sync files, transfer over FTP, SFTP and FTPS, send and receive email with attachments, call REST APIs, scrape pages and fill web forms.
- Python, JavaScript and PowerShell
- Scripts in Python, JavaScript or PowerShell run inside a task alongside the visual actions, with no extra services to install.
- Windows service and networking
- RoboTask runs as a regular application or as a Windows service that works with nobody logged on. Instances on different machines can launch each other's tasks over a LAN or the Internet.
Plans
Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate Free$0
Free license described in Microsoft's licensing docs: cloud flows with standard connectors only, no sharing, and desktop flows run locally in attended mode.
Power Automate Premium$15
per user / month, paid yearly
Cloud flows with standard, premium and custom connectors, attended desktop flows, process and task mining with 50 MB of data, and 250 MB of Dataverse database capacity.
Power Automate Process$150
per bot / month, paid yearly
One bot for unattended desktop flows, or a license for a cloud flow that any number of users can run, with up to 250,000 actions a day.
Power Automate Hosted Process$215
per bot / month, paid yearly
Unattended desktop flows on a virtual machine that Microsoft manages and hosts on Azure, so there is no machine of your own to maintain.
Process Mining add-on$5,000
per tenant / month, paid yearly
Add-on for the Premium plan only: 100 GB of process mining data, with 2 GB of Dataverse database and 1 TB of file capacity.
RoboTask
Free License$0
Personal, non-commercial use only. Standard action set, all triggers and the task debugger, with at most 5 tasks and 50 steps per task.
Personal License$149
one-time, with 1 year of updates
Unlimited tasks and steps plus Windows service mode. Leaves out the Database, CSV Data, WebSockets and Console App plugins; network and REST API are local only.
Business License$249
one-time per license, with 1 year of updates
No functional limits: every plugin, remote network and REST API connections, and priority support. Volume pricing starts at 2 licenses.
Ways to pay less
Microsoft Power Automate
No public discounts listed.
RoboTask
- Lifetime license
Perpetual license with a one-time payment
Every license is perpetual and never expires. A purchase includes one year of updates and priority support, and a Personal license upgrades to Business for the $100 difference.
- Other savings
Volume discounts on Business licenses
The per-license price falls to $207.50 for 2 to 4 licenses, $166.00 for 5 to 9 and $124.50 for 10 to 49. Orders of 50 or more are quoted.
- Other savings
Multi-year update renewals at a discount
Renewing updates for 2 years saves 5% and for 3 years saves 10%: $113 and $160 for Personal, $189 and $268 for Business.
