An honest, detailed comparison of MAIA Brain and Automation Anywhere across every capability that matters to European enterprises. Live in 4–6 weeks. No consultants required. EU AI Act ready from day one.
Automation Anywhere is a mature, enterprise-grade RPA platform with a strong track record in Banking, Healthcare, and Telecom. Its Automation 360 platform, IQ Bot for document processing, and a library of 1,200+ pre-built bots make it a credible choice for organisations with dedicated RPA teams and substantial automation budgets. But when the requirement moves beyond predictable, rule-based tasks — towards genuine AI reasoning, unstructured document understanding, or autonomous exception handling — the platform's heritage as a rule-based RPA tool begins to show its limits. IQ Bot, while capable for structured templates, requires significant configuration for each new document format. Pricing entry points are high for many European mid-market organisations. Deployment typically takes months, not weeks, and requires specialist certified resources. MAIA Brain does everything Automation Anywhere does — and goes further: reasoning through exceptions, understanding documents it has never seen before, and learning from every outcome — at up to 60% lower total cost of ownership.
We've taken Automation Anywhere's own advertised capabilities and compared them honestly with MAIA Brain across 13 criteria relevant to European enterprise automation teams.
| What You Need It to Do | Automation Anywhere |
MAIA Brain ★ BEST VALUE
|
|---|---|---|
| Automate repetitive daily tasks | Yes — attended & unattended bots, 1,200+ pre-built automations | Yes — and handles exceptions without stopping, no bot limits |
| Read and understand unstructured documents | Partial — IQ Bot handles templates; new formats require reconfiguration | Yes — native document intelligence adapts to any format out of the box |
| Handle unexpected situations without stopping | Partial — automation pauses and escalates when outside defined rules | Yes — autonomous exception handling with full audit trail |
| Connect existing software (SAP, Salesforce, Oracle, Microsoft 365) | Yes — 1,200+ pre-built bots; MuleSoft, Genesys, ServiceNow integrations | Yes — 500+ enterprise connectors including all major ERP, CRM and HR systems |
| Multi-language support across European markets | Partial — available but requires additional configuration per language | Yes — native multi-language support across all European languages |
| Configure automation using plain language — no coding required | Partial — AARI low-code interface available; complex automations still need developers | Yes — natural language process configuration, no developer dependency |
| Get smarter over time without reprogramming | No — rule updates require developer intervention; IQ Bot needs retraining per format | Yes — continuous self-learning from every completed task |
| Run fully on-premise (data never leaves your environment) | Yes — on-premise and hybrid deployment supported | Yes — full on-premise deployment included in all plans |
| EU AI Act and GDPR compliance built in | Partial — compliance tooling available; requires additional configuration and modules | Yes — EU AI Act ready and GDPR by design from day one |
| Time to go live | Partial — typically 3–6 months; requires certified resources and Control Room setup | Yes — 4–6 weeks including onboarding, configuration and integration |
| Setup and onboarding included in plan price | No — implementation requires specialist consultants billed at day rates | Yes — full onboarding and configuration managed by MAIA team, included in plan |
| Transparent, predictable per-bot pricing | Partial — Cloud Starter Pack entry price; unattended and attended bots charged separately as add-ons | Yes — simple, transparent pricing with no per-bot add-on charges |
| AI reasoning for complex multi-step decisions | No — rule-based execution; AI features via LLM connectors, not native reasoning | Yes — neurosymbolic AI reasons through complex decisions natively |
Based on comparable enterprise deployments. Individual results vary. Automation Anywhere pricing based on publicly available information and third-party research as of February 2026. Verify current pricing directly with Automation Anywhere.
Six capabilities that fundamentally separate MAIA Brain from Automation Anywhere's rule-based architecture.
When an automation encounters a situation outside its defined rules, Automation Anywhere stops and escalates to a human operator. MAIA Brain reasons through the exception, applies context, makes a decision — and logs every step for audit. No interruption. No consultant call-out. Your operations keep moving.
Automation Anywhere's IQ Bot handles structured document templates effectively, but requires reconfiguration each time a new format appears. MAIA Brain understands unstructured documents — invoices, contracts, correspondence — natively, without template setup. New document types are handled automatically from the first example.
Configuring a new automation in Automation Anywhere requires trained RPA developers building and testing bot workflows. MAIA Brain accepts process descriptions in plain language — from a manager, an operations lead, or a compliance officer — and translates them into automated workflows without developer dependency.
Automation Anywhere's bots execute exactly what they were programmed to do — nothing more. When a process changes, a developer must update the bot. MAIA Brain learns from every task it completes, adapts its behaviour based on outcomes, and improves accuracy over time — without any reprogramming cycle.
EU AI Act compliance is not an afterthought for MAIA Brain — it is built into the platform architecture. Decision explainability, audit trails, and data residency controls are standard. Automation Anywhere's compliance capabilities require additional configuration and, in several cases, separate paid modules or services.
Automation Anywhere's pricing model charges separately for each unattended bot, each attended bot, and each IQ Bot deployment. As automation scale grows, so does the licence bill. MAIA Brain operates without per-bot charges — one plan covers the full scope of your automation, no matter how many processes you run.
MAIA Brain replaces a complex, consultant-heavy Automation Anywhere deployment with a structured, supported onboarding in three phases.
MAIA's team audits your current automation landscape — including any existing Automation Anywhere workflows — and identifies which processes to prioritise first, based on cost, volume, and operational risk. Every discovery session is included in your plan. No consultant day rates.
MAIA connects to your existing systems — SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Oracle, and 500+ more — using pre-built enterprise connectors. Automations are configured in plain language, not code. No specialist RPA developers required.
MAIA goes live in 4–6 weeks. It handles exceptions autonomously, learns from every completed task, and improves accuracy with every process cycle — delivering compounding value without ongoing developer intervention.
An honest guide to when Automation Anywhere remains a strong choice — and when MAIA Brain is the better fit.
We had been running Automation Anywhere for two years. It worked well for the processes it was built for — but every exception became a support ticket, and every new document format required a developer. Moving to MAIA meant our operations team could configure automations themselves, and the platform handled the situations our bots never could.
Book a 30-minute demonstration and see MAIA Brain handle the processes your Automation Anywhere deployment struggles with. No commitment. No consultants required.