Automation decision guide
OpenAdapt vs Microsoft Power Automate
Power Automate is the default automation layer of the Microsoft ecosystem, and for Microsoft-centric work it is very hard to beat on integration and price. OpenAdapt is a governed workflow compiler focused on consequential GUI transactions with independent verification.
The companion article traces the maintenance and failure costs in more detail. Read the comparison article.
Side by side on the dimensions that matter
Every claim below names its public source. If a vendor doesn't publish a figure, we don't invent one.
Determinism when interfaces drift
OpenAdapt
Compiled replay is deterministic with zero model calls on healthy runs; undemonstrated states halt, and repairs pass through governed re-resolution before a new version deploys.
Microsoft Power Automate
Desktop flows replay recorded UI steps deterministically; cloud flows are deterministic API orchestrations. Drift handling relies on standard error handling and retry configuration rather than evidence-based re-resolution.
Source: Power Automate plans: desktop flows (RPA) · OpenAdapt method
Cost per run
OpenAdapt
The local runtime carries no license fee and healthy runs make zero model calls; published trials recorded $0 model cost per run.
Microsoft Power Automate
Published annual-billing prices are $15.00 per user each month for Premium, $150.00 per bot each month for unattended desktop flows, and $215.00 per bot each month for Hosted Process with a Microsoft-hosted Azure VM. A bot executes one unattended run at a time.
Source: Power Automate pricing page · Frappe Lending benchmark: $0 model cost · OpenAdapt MIT license
Verification of business effects
OpenAdapt
VERIFIED requires an out-of-band check of the system of record, such as REST readback, SQL, table-delta audit, or file arrival. Refusal before effect and uncertain delivery remain separate typed outcomes.
Microsoft Power Automate
Cloud flows surface run history and error details in the Power Platform admin center; Dataverse stores the data flows act on. Verification of a desktop flow's business effect is typically expressed as configured assertions or downstream checks the builder authors.
Source: Power Automate pricing: admin and capacity features · OpenAdapt effect-verifier kit
Halting behavior
OpenAdapt
Ambiguity halts before acting. If delivery may have occurred but the effect cannot be proved, the run returns RECONCILIATION_REQUIRED without a blind retry.
Microsoft Power Automate
Desktop flows support configurable error handling, retries, and timeouts defined by the flow author; unattended runs proceed under the machine/bot license without a human unless the flow requests one.
Source: Power Automate pricing: attended vs unattended desktop flows · OpenAdapt execution outcomes
Data locality
OpenAdapt
Execution is local-first and customer-controlled. Recordings, bundles, and evidence can remain inside your boundary on an inspectable MIT runtime.
Microsoft Power Automate
Runs ride Microsoft-hosted infrastructure; the Hosted Process tier explicitly places the automation VM on Azure-managed infrastructure, and capacities pool at the tenant level in Dataverse.
Source: Power Automate pricing: Hosted Process plan · OpenAdapt trust center
Scope: browser, desktop, RDP/Citrix
OpenAdapt
Browser supports the complete record, compile, replay, and verify loop. Native desktop uses accessibility plus visual evidence. The external zero-install RDP/Citrix lane is qualified per customer before consequential use.
Microsoft Power Automate
Deep Microsoft 365 coverage plus hundreds of prebuilt connectors for API-first work; desktop RPA covers Windows applications, with remote scenarios handled through the hosted VM tier.
Source: OpenAdapt qualification evidence per surface · Power Automate pricing: connectors and hosted VM rows
Published figures about Microsoft Power Automate that we cite
Where Power Automate is strong
- Deep, native integration with Microsoft 365, Teams, Excel, SharePoint, Dataverse, and Azure identity.
- Hundreds of prebuilt connectors for cloud flows, so API-first automation often needs no custom code at all.
- Power Automate for desktop is included with Windows 11 for attended local flows, which makes experimentation essentially free.
- Published pricing starts around $15 per user per month, while hosted RPA bots are in the roughly $215 per bot per month class.
- Centralized administration and governance through the Power Platform admin center for organizations already run on Microsoft tooling.
What OpenAdapt does differently
Recording demonstrations, visual targeting, virtual desktop awareness, and selector repair are common. OpenAdapt binds independent effect verification and explicit outcomes to the workflow contract.
Independent business-effect verification
A run is judged by an out-of-band check of the system of record, such as a read-only API call, a SQL query, or re-reading the persisted record, not by the acting session declaring itself successful.
Explicit transaction outcomes
Every consequential run ends with a typed outcome and a preserved run report. VERIFIED requires independent proof. A refusal before actuation and uncertain delivery after possible actuation remain distinct, so an unconfirmed write cannot appear as success.
Deterministic healthy runs
A compiled workflow replays deterministically with zero model calls on healthy runs. Model spend is reserved for compilation and reviewable repair.
External zero-install remote lane
For managed Citrix, RDP, and VDI estates, OpenAdapt can drive the local client window from outside the session, so nothing is installed inside the remote environment. The lane is qualified today against a deterministic stand-in and a real FreeRDP round trip; a real ICA/HDX environment is qualified per customer before consequential use.
Customer-controlled sensitive data
Recordings, screenshots, and compiled bundles can stay inside your boundary. Local, self-hosted, and customer-controlled deployments are first-class, not an enterprise afterthought.
Open MIT local runtime
The compiler and governed runtime are MIT-licensed and inspectable. You can audit exactly what runs beside your systems of record.
Published qualification evidence
Each execution surface ships with bounded, published acceptance evidence, counted effects, refusals, and halts, instead of an unbounded compatibility claim.
Per-surface acceptance results are published in the qualification evidence.
Frequently asked questions
If a supported connector reaches my system, which tool should I use?
Use the connector. OpenAdapt exists for the UI-only remainder where no practical API exists and correctness has to be proved against the system of record rather than assumed.
Source: OpenAdapt comparison guide
How does per-run verification differ?
OpenAdapt's published trials verify writes out of band - for example 3/3 OpenEMR patient-record runs confirmed by REST readback agreeing with direct SQL plus a non-target delta audit, with 0 model calls. Desktop-flow runs report their own execution status; independent system-of-record confirmation is not part of the published plan features.
Source: Reference qualification results
Which should you choose?
Choose Microsoft Power Automate when
Choose Power Automate when the work lives inside the Microsoft ecosystem, when a supported connector already reaches the system you need, or when low per-seat cost across many light automations matters more than transaction-level verification.
Choose OpenAdapt when
Choose OpenAdapt when the last mile is a non-Microsoft or legacy GUI, when a wrong write is expensive enough that you need the business effect independently verified out of band, when every run needs a typed transaction outcome, or when the runtime must be open, local, and customer-controlled.
If a supported connector or API completes the workflow reliably, use it. OpenAdapt exists for the UI-only remainder where no practical API exists and correctness has to be proved, not assumed.
Test the difference on one real workflow.
Bring one repeated, consequential workflow and measure authoring time, run time, intervention rate, and incorrect-success rate against your current approach. Or watch the governed-execution demo first. It shows result checks and safe stops against the retained event evidence.