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Automate® Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users value the automation capabilities of Automate®, enhancing efficiency and reducing manual workload significantly. (13 mentions)
Users appreciate the ease of automation with Automate®, significantly enhancing efficiency by simplifying repetitive tasks. (7 mentions)
Users love the ease of use of Automate®, allowing simple setup and customization for efficient automation. (6 mentions)
Users appreciate the professional and responsive customer support of Automate®, which facilitates a smooth user experience. (4 mentions)
Users value the efficiency of automation in Automate®, significantly streamlining redundant tasks and enhancing productivity. (4 mentions)
Users find the ease of learning with Automate® beneficial, enabling quick onboarding and effective automation. (2 mentions)
Users often face slow performance issues, particularly with web browser actions, impacting overall functionality and efficiency. (6 mentions)
Users frequently face update issues that disrupt functionality and complicate error resolution, affecting overall productivity. (6 mentions)
Users report frequent software bugs in Automate®, hindering functionality and complicating error resolution for critical processes. (5 mentions)
Users experience automation difficulties with Automate, facing issues like freezing, unclear error logs, and slow troubleshooting. (3 mentions)
Users find the complexity of customization options overwhelming, making it difficult for novices to start effectively. (3 mentions)
Users face poor reporting due to insufficient support documentation, complicating troubleshooting and response times during issues. (3 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of Automate®

1. Automation
Users value the automation capabilities of Automate®, enhancing efficiency and reducing manual workload significantly.
See 13 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AH

Ada H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Reliable task automation that reduces manual workload"

What do you like about Automate®?

One that I really like about Automate Robotic Process Automation is that it runs unattended tasks reliably. And it has made it possible for us to disp

MB

Matteo B.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"We finally have the opportunity to focus on what truly matters"

What do you like about Automate®?

What I like best about Automate Robotic Process Automation is how easy it is to build workflows without needing to code. I’ve used it to automate repe

2. Automation Ease
Users appreciate the ease of automation with Automate®, significantly enhancing efficiency by simplifying repetitive tasks.
See 7 mentions

See Related User Reviews

MB

Matteo B.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"We finally have the opportunity to focus on what truly matters"

What do you like about Automate®?

What I like best about Automate Robotic Process Automation is how easy it is to build workflows without needing to code. I’ve used it to automate repe

Matvey O.
MO

Matvey O.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Simple and Reliable"

What do you like about Automate®?

I like how Automate is simple to setup and migrate but also how simple it is to develop automation with it. You can use the built in features/steps bu

3. Ease of Use
Users love the ease of use of Automate®, allowing simple setup and customization for efficient automation.
See 6 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Edson O.
EO

Edson O.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"An awesome RPA Tool"

What do you like about Automate®?

I had been develop RPA bots using Automate for the last 17 years (since 2007). I developed literally more than 1k RPA Bots with Automate for banks com

Verified User
E

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Fortra Automate is a solid entry into RPA"

What do you like about Automate®?

The Fotra Automate product is very easy to use, with plenty of low code configuration options available. If you can document the task, you can build

4. Customer Support
Users appreciate the professional and responsive customer support of Automate®, which facilitates a smooth user experience.
See 4 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AG

Adam g.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Automate Desktop makes many automations easier"

What do you like about Automate®?

You can copy to other new tasks Create and save sql and ftp sessions and use in multiple tasks Our cases are resolved quickly and the support is ver

AS

Andrius S.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Flexible and Reliable"

What do you like about Automate®?

We been running our server automations with Automate solution for more than 10 years and it's been very stable all this time. Easy to use and build si

5. Efficiency
Users value the efficiency of automation in Automate®, significantly streamlining redundant tasks and enhancing productivity.
See 4 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AH

Ada H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Reliable task automation that reduces manual workload"

What do you like about Automate®?

One that I really like about Automate Robotic Process Automation is that it runs unattended tasks reliably. And it has made it possible for us to disp

LM

Lee M.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Automation"

What do you like about Automate®?

The ability to automate a redundant task creates major efficiencies.

6. Ease of Learning
Users find the ease of learning with Automate® beneficial, enabling quick onboarding and effective automation.
See 2 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Edward C.
EC

Edward C.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

1.0/5

"Fortra Automate - I like the concept, but each new release brings new problems"

What do you like about Automate®?

It is easy to learn and begin to use. However with the later updates, it becomes increasingly more difficult to use because you have to work around is

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Automate RPA"

What do you like about Automate®?

Short learning curve with a great GUI - still robust enough to execute custom code when needed

Top Cons or Disadvantages of Automate®

1. Slow Performance
Users often face slow performance issues, particularly with web browser actions, impacting overall functionality and efficiency.
See 6 mentions

See Related User Reviews

JT

Jennifer T.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Automate has been incredibly useful to my organization."

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I wish the Microsoft functionality was expanded to Word and PowerPoint. I have a lot of reports and mail merges....That we execute and I had to write

Edward C.
EC

Edward C.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

1.0/5

"Fortra Automate - I like the concept, but each new release brings new problems"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I do not like that it does not have a cloud hosting option. It would be fantastic to give people that option if they were to want that. Also, cloud ho

2. Update Issues
Users frequently face update issues that disrupt functionality and complicate error resolution, affecting overall productivity.
See 6 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AH

Ada H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Reliable task automation that reduces manual workload"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The main problem I face with Automate Robotic Process Automation is that error resolution becomes hard to handle. The system logs do not show complete

JT

Jennifer T.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Automate has been incredibly useful to my organization."

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I wish the Microsoft functionality was expanded to Word and PowerPoint. I have a lot of reports and mail merges....That we execute and I had to write

3. Software Bugs
Users report frequent software bugs in Automate®, hindering functionality and complicating error resolution for critical processes.
See 5 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AH

Ada H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Reliable task automation that reduces manual workload"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The main problem I face with Automate Robotic Process Automation is that error resolution becomes hard to handle. The system logs do not show complete

JT

Jennifer T.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Automate has been incredibly useful to my organization."

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I wish the Microsoft functionality was expanded to Word and PowerPoint. I have a lot of reports and mail merges....That we execute and I had to write

4. Automation Difficulty
Users experience automation difficulties with Automate, facing issues like freezing, unclear error logs, and slow troubleshooting.
See 3 mentions

See Related User Reviews

AH

Ada H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Reliable task automation that reduces manual workload"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The main problem I face with Automate Robotic Process Automation is that error resolution becomes hard to handle. The system logs do not show complete

BA

Beata A.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"A reliable way to reduce manual workload"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The problem with Automate Robotic Process Automation is that it can be a time consuming process to troubleshoot errors. The system is not always clear

5. Complexity
Users find the complexity of customization options overwhelming, making it difficult for novices to start effectively.
See 3 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Matvey O.
MO

Matvey O.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Simple and Reliable"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I wish there was a visual way to build tasks. Like a flow chart that you can build and within each flowchart item, the actual steps are there. The big

RM

Roberto M.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Our data entry errors have dropped significantly and it's a huge weight off our shoulders"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The overwhelming number of customization options makes starting the application feel complex. The software would benefit users if more basic-level tut

6. Poor Reporting
Users face poor reporting due to insufficient support documentation, complicating troubleshooting and response times during issues.
See 3 mentions

See Related User Reviews

LM

Lee M.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Amazing Automation"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The only dislike I have encountered is having to wait on support to respond to an incident.

RM

Roberto M.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Our data entry errors have dropped significantly and it's a huge weight off our shoulders"

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The overwhelming number of customization options makes starting the application feel complex. The software would benefit users if more basic-level tut

Automate® Reviews (146)

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Reviews

Automate® Reviews (146)

View 1 Video Reviews
4.5
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Matvey O.
MO
Business Systems Manager
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Simple and Reliable"
What do you like best about Automate®?

I like how Automate is simple to setup and migrate but also how simple it is to develop automation with it. You can use the built in features/steps but you can also call your own custom stuff (eg. sql jobs, powershell/bat scripts, APIs) and make it integrate seamlessly with your Automate task you are building.

Training portal and help is pretty good. The ability to edit the task file in your editor of choice is pretty powerfull as well and comes in handy for tedious stuff. Haven't had any issues whatsoever! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I wish there was a visual way to build tasks. Like a flow chart that you can build and within each flowchart item, the actual steps are there. The bigger the task is, the more cumbersome it is to read through in Automate Task builder. Outside of comments, there isn't a good way to put in documentation or notes with each step. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nicholas S.
NS
Conference & Event Manager
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Automate: The Quiet Time-Saver You Didn’t Know You Needed"
What do you like best about Automate®?

I’ve been using Automate for a while now and it’s quickly become one of those “how did I live without this?” tools. It’s super intuitive, you don’t need to be a tech wizard to set up workflows, and it actually delivers on its promise to save time. I’ve used it to handle everything from repetitive email tasks to scheduling triggers, and it just works without fuss. The interface feels clean and modern, and I appreciate that it doesn’t bombard me with unnecessary features. It’s not flashy, but that’s what makes it great; it quietly runs in the background making life easier. If your day involves juggling lots of small tasks, Automate is worth checking out. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

Sometimes the setup process can feel a bit clunky, especially when trying to connect different apps because it doesn’t always play nice right away. A few times I’ve had automations randomly stop working for no clear reason, which can be frustrating when you’re relying on them. The support articles help, but I wish the troubleshooting was a little more beginner friendly. Still, once things are running, it’s super convenient. It just takes a little patience to get everything dialed in. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Tarun  S.
TS
Software QA Engineer
Computer Software
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Simplifying Complex Tasks with Powerful Workflow Control"
What do you like best about Automate®?

It has lot of amazing features but I like the most is it helping us to streamline repetitive task without writing the code as it drag and drop interface with lot of built in action make it simple to create workflow quickly and saves our lot of time and the automate recorder feature is just amazing as they record user activities like mouse click and keystrokes that is helping us to building the accurate automation. It support both ui and api level automation along with that Its credential vault and audit logs ensure workflows are secure and well-tracked. With built-in triggers and error handling, tasks run smoothly even if something goes wrong. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

It's a well design and secure platform nothing to dislike with using this software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

MT
IT Business Partner
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Used Automate for 12 Years"
What do you like best about Automate®?

Automate makes it easy to create scheduled jobs that can pull data from disparate systems. It can do basic programming for you without much understanding of code but also can be used more advanced coding skills to more in depth programming.

Customer service is excellent and they will always try to assist in whatever goal you are working towards. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

When you query a data source it creates a data set in the job. I would like to be able to create multiple datasets from different sources and being to query against both data sets in the system. Instead I need to loop through the first data set and query the second source to get all the information. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

JT
Senior Director of Data Processing.
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Automate has been incredibly useful to my organization."
What do you like best about Automate®?

I haven't found a process I couldn't improve. It has the ability to run scripts, so if I do not have an automate action to use, I can just implement a script. I appreciate that I can standardize my processes through workflow, so my people do not have to look up the details....the workflow can handle it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I wish the Microsoft functionality was expanded to Word and PowerPoint. I have a lot of reports and mail merges....That we execute and I had to write scripts. It is easier for my staff to understand the automate actions, versus scripts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Response from Katie Thompson of Automate®

Thanks for the awesome review! We appreciate your feedback. We’re glad our solution is helping your organization to better improve your automation needs. Sorry to hear you’re having issues with creating folders and ODBC connections. I have shared this information with our product/support team. If you ever find you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to Support as they are always at your disposal. Thank you again!

Verified User in Insurance
AI
Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)
"Automate v9 & v10 experience"
What do you like best about Automate®?

-The interface and ease of use instructions and help documentation is the best and easier to understand comparing with any other RPA team. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

- Some of the modules in Automate like FTP doesn't get security updates which are essential for developers to keep using these features in older versions of Automate.

- Ignoring backward compatibility of the product when AUtoamte vendor developed new versions, this force us to stuck in the sane version and not able to upgrade without significant man hours.

- Even after paying for product and support for older versions, the only support we get is customer support answering and suggesting us to follow work arounds, as this is not significant enough for their dev team to provide a fix on investigate for.

- Inconsistency of auto login between versions of windows always puzzled us. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

RM
Site reliability engineer
Industrial Automation
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Automate RPA really saved us hours by handling all those mind-numbing data entries"
What do you like best about Automate®?

I also like the ease of usage of the drag and drop interface of Automate Robotic Process Automation. It enabled us to develop elaborate workflows that are much easier even to our non technical employees. As an example, in a matter of seconds, we could extract data out of the legacy systems, without any coding. Another huge plus on our part is its ability to handle errors. Our bots could now graciously handle an undesirable pop up or slowness of systems. This implies less manual operation and this is excellent. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

The first thing that can be improved is the steep learning curve of more advanced functionality. Some time is required to learn all the complex settings. In some cases, it can be also a bit difficult to fix difficult problems. Good documentation but the debugger would use a bit of interaction. Small organizations that need to expand rapidly in terms of prices, may also meet some form of a challenge. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

JC
Business Transformation Specialist
Information Technology and Services
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Data entry automated, big relief"
What do you like best about Automate®?

What I personally like about Automate is that, despite being basically a drag-and-drop graphical program in which you write automation flows, somehow, it is extremely developer-friendly, non-developer-friendly, as well. It means that any person within my team will be able to create a new bot and release it within a jiffy without possessing much expertise in coding. In addition, the library of actions (ready-made modules) is very voluminous and it will be possible to reduce the problem of automation of complex Excel report generation or data search on web pages to the process of assemblies of those that are. The fact that it does not need monitoring of activities to carry out the duties and activities that have been assigned on time is also an added advantage. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I will be honest and say that the only thing that I dislike about it is that even though simple automation is easy to do, a little more complex and unique application integrations do still require some learning process to be posed to blend well. Tracing complex workflows can be more taxing than many may expect especially when the unexpected pop-ups or web dynamic elements are involved. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

WK
RPA Developer
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Automate makes my automation job super simple"
What do you like best about Automate®?

I like that I can build bots just by dragging and dropping blocks, no need to write long code. It also records my clicks and typing, which helps me repeat tasks fast. It works with both screens and APIs, so I can do many things easily. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

Sometimes, when the task gets very big, it looks messy and hard to read. I wish it showed steps like a picture or flowchart so it's easier to understand. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Edward C.
EC
RPA (Robotic Process Automation) Developer
Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
"Fortra Automate - I like the concept, but each new release brings new problems"
What do you like best about Automate®?

It is easy to learn and begin to use. However with the later updates, it becomes increasingly more difficult to use because you have to work around issues with the web browser actions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Automate®?

I do not like that it does not have a cloud hosting option. It would be fantastic to give people that option if they were to want that. Also, cloud hosting makes it really easy to test out all the features. Having self-service trials on a cloud hosted version would be a lot easier for people to try it out and see how it works.

The big thing lately for us is that Automate is constantly breaking current functionality when it comes to the web browser actions. If you are not using these, you will likely love the product.. But web browser actions doing what you tell them to do is critical for our business use case

Support seemed great at first, but that was due to working with some bad vendors in the past. Now that I have taken a deep dive into support, I've learned that the customer facing support team is fantastic, but nothing seems to happen once things get escalated in terms of the bugs I'm finding. They'll make a hotfix that fixes the one singular issue that I point out, however it may or may not make it into the next release. At one point they made a hotfix and said that it was just for our company's use with the way we use Automate, even though this was in fact was a change they made that broke existing functionality of the web browser actions..

I've also accidentally been tagged in email threads for similar escalated support issues with other companies by senior staff.

Again, first line support has been great, but once a ticket gets escalated and deep in the weeds, there's not been much help other than hotfixes that do not resolve the root issue of releasing changes without properly testing that they do not break existing functionality.

Because of these issues, we have attempted to upgrade from 11.6 to 11.7 (which horribly failed and 11.7 subsequently got pulled and re-released). Then we were testing 22.1 which also got re-released as 22.1.1. Initially we could not upgrade to 22.1.1, but after rebuilding one of our big processes entirely, we were able to get it to work with 22.1.1 and work around the issues that this update has with performance on the execution server.

23.1 was a dumpster fire of broken web browser actions that I very quickly identified bugs on using public-facing websites. 24.1 fixed a few of those, but left some bugs still standing, and broke some new things with web browser actions.

In short, I've been working with Autoamte on escalated tickets for a couple years now. Half of our environment is on 22.1.1 and the other half is on 11.6 Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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