When it comes to enterprise RPA, two names dominate: UiPath and Automation Anywhere. Both are trusted by Fortune 500 companies, but they have meaningful differences. Here's our complete 2026 comparison — updated with the latest pricing, AI features, and market data.
⚡ Quick Verdict
UiPath wins for features, community size, and learning resources.
Automation Anywhere wins for cloud-native architecture and modern UI.
For most → Choose UiPath. For cloud-first strategies → Consider Automation
Anywhere.
Company Overview
UiPath
Founded 2005 in Romania, NYSE-listed in 2021. Consistently ranked #1 RPA vendor by Gartner with ~30% global market share. 10,000+ enterprise customers globally, 1.5M+ developers in community. In 2026, UiPath is heavily focused on "agentic automation" — AI agents that reason and act across systems.
Automation Anywhere
Founded 2003, headquartered in San Jose. Pioneer of cloud-native RPA (Automation 360 platform). 5,000+ customers, particularly strong in financial services and healthcare. Also investing heavily in agentic AI and IQ Bot document intelligence in 2026.
Features Comparison
| Feature | UiPath | Automation Anywhere |
|---|---|---|
| Attended Automation | ✅ | ✅ |
| Unattended Automation | ✅ | ✅ |
| AI Document Understanding | ✅ Excellent | ✅ IQ Bot |
| Process Mining | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Discovery Bot |
| Cloud-Native | ⚠️ Hybrid | ✅ Full Cloud |
| No-Code Builder | ✅ StudioX | ✅ IDA |
| Generative AI / Agentic | ✅ Autopilot + AI Agents | ✅ AI Agent + Prompt-to-Automate |
| Free Tier | ✅ Community Ed. (non-commercial) | ✅ Community Ed. (non-commercial) |
| Mobile App | ✅ | ✅ |
| SAP Integration | ✅ | ✅ |
Ease of Use
UiPath
Offers three editors: StudioX (business users), Studio (developers), Studio Pro (advanced). Free UiPath Academy courses mean most users can build their first bot within a week.
Automation Anywhere
Modern, cloud-based interface. IDA (Intelligent Document Automation) is intuitive. Overall development experience is comparable to UiPath.
Winner: UiPath — better learning resources and larger support community.
Pricing Comparison
| Plan | UiPath | Automation Anywhere |
|---|---|---|
| Free/Community | ✅ Available (non-commercial) | ✅ Available (non-commercial) |
| Starting Price | Custom quote (contact sales) | Custom (~$750+/mo typical) |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Custom pricing |
| Pricing Transparency | ⚠️ Limited (quote-based in 2026) | ❌ Requires sales call |
Winner: Draw — Both now require custom quotes for paid plans. UiPath's Community Edition is more accessible for learning, but commercial pricing for both is negotiated.
Community & Support
| UiPath | Automation Anywhere | |
|---|---|---|
| Community Size | 1.5M+ developers | ~400,000 members |
| Free Training | ✅ UiPath Academy (world-class) | ✅ AA University |
| Certifications | ✅ Multiple levels | ✅ Available |
| Marketplace | ✅ Largest (UiPath Marketplace) | ✅ Bot Store |
| Stack Overflow content | Extensive | Limited |
Final Verdict
Choose UiPath if...
- New to enterprise RPA
- Want free training resources (UiPath Academy)
- Need deployment flexibility (cloud/on-prem/hybrid)
- Want to hire certified developers
- Want the largest component marketplace
- Have .NET development expertise
Choose Automation Anywhere if...
- Building cloud-first strategy
- Operating in banking or healthcare
- Need strong unstructured data processing
- Modern UI matters to your team
Not sure either is right? See our full list: 15 Best RPA Tools in 2026 →