An honest UK cost and capability comparison of Power Automate Desktop RPA, UiPath, and Blue Prism for 2026, covering licensing, total cost of ownership, and which is right for your organisation.
UK organisations evaluating RPA in 2026 are increasingly questioning whether enterprise RPA platforms like UiPath and Blue Prism are worth the cost when Power Automate Desktop (included in most Microsoft 365 licences) can handle the same processes.
UK Licensing Costs (2026)
| Platform | Entry Cost (UK) | Mid-Scale (10 bots) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power Automate Desktop | Included in M365 (attended) | ~£1,500–£2,500/mo (unattended) | Unattended RPA requires Process licence at ~£140/bot/mo |
| UiPath | ~£15,000/yr (Automation Developer) | ~£50,000–£80,000/yr | Orchestrator, Studio, and robot licences sold separately |
| Blue Prism | ~£20,000/yr (entry) | ~£60,000–£100,000/yr | Digital Workers (bots) priced per concurrent session |
| Automation Anywhere | ~£12,000/yr (Community+) | ~£45,000–£75,000/yr | Cloud-native; similar model to UiPath |
Prices are indicative based on 2026 UK list pricing. Enterprise agreements and partner discounts can reduce costs significantly.
When Power Automate Desktop Wins
Power Automate Desktop is the right choice when:
- Your organisation is already on Microsoft 365, attended desktop automation is free for every licensed user
- Your RPA use cases are process-specific and manageable in number (under 15–20 automations), orchestration complexity is lower at this scale
- Your automations need to integrate tightly with Microsoft applications (Excel, Outlook, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, Teams), Power Automate's native connectors significantly reduce build effort
- You want citizen developers (non-IT staff) to build and maintain automations, Power Automate Desktop's recorder-based approach has a far lower skill floor than UiPath Studio
- Your total cost sensitivity is high, the licensing cost differential at small to mid scale is substantial
When UiPath or Blue Prism Still Win
The enterprise RPA platforms retain genuine advantages for specific requirements:
- Large-scale orchestration: Managing 50+ concurrent bots, complex robot queues, and load balancing across a robot fleet is where UiPath Orchestrator genuinely outperforms
- Mainframe and legacy system automation: UiPath and Blue Prism have mature connectors for AS/400, SAP GUI, mainframe terminal emulation that Power Automate Desktop cannot match
- Process mining and discovery: UiPath Process Mining and Task Mining have more mature tooling for identifying automation candidates from user behaviour data
- Non-Microsoft environments: If your stack is predominantly SAP, Salesforce, ServiceNow, or legacy applications without modern APIs, the enterprise RPA platforms often have better pre-built connectors
Total Cost of Ownership: A UK Example
A UK financial services organisation with 10 RPA automations, 3 attended and 7 unattended, running on standard Windows desktop processes with Microsoft 365 integration:
| Platform | TCO | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Power Automate Desktop | ~£28,000–£35,000/yr | Unattended Process licences + Power Automate Premium for cloud triggers + internal development time |
| UiPath | ~£85,000–£110,000/yr | Studio licences + Orchestrator + Robot licences + annual UiPath support + developer time |
| Blue Prism | ~£95,000–£130,000/yr | Digital Workers + Runtime + annual maintenance + typically higher implementation partner fees |
Our Recommendation for Most UK Mid-Market Organisations
If you are already on Microsoft 365 and your automation requirements involve Microsoft applications, start with Power Automate Desktop. The cost differential alone justifies a proof-of-concept before committing to an enterprise RPA platform. If you hit genuine capability limits (typically at 20+ complex automations or when dealing with mainframe/legacy systems) you have a much stronger case for the enterprise RPA investment based on real evidence rather than vendor marketing.
