Automate Desktop vs Huginn
Automate Desktop
automate.fortra.comHuginn
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Automate Desktop | Huginn |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Task Automation Software | 7.8 (#19) | 8.6 (#6) |
| Founded | 1982 | 2013 |
| Integrations | Listed integrations include AWS, Azure, VMware, SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory, Dynamics CRM, Excel, Chrome, Firefox, Oracle, MySQL, XML, JSON, PDF, and PowerShell. | The README lists connections including Slack, RSS, Twitter, Twilio, JIRA, MQTT, FTP, IMAP, Pushbullet, Pushover, and Weibo. |
| Intended users | Fortra describes Desktop as single-machine automation for individual users and identifies finance, operations, IT, and back-office teams as use areas. | The project invites contributions including UI improvements, new Agents, documentation, tutorials, and work on help wanted issues. |
| Purpose | Automate Desktop helps individual users automate repetitive desktop tasks, web interactions, data extraction, reporting, and file transfers from a single machine. | Huginn builds agents that perform automated tasks online by reading the web, watching for events, and taking actions on a user's behalf. |
Plans
In their own words
Automate Desktop
Automate Desktop has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Huginn
Huginn is open-source software for creating agents that automate online tasks by monitoring web pages, responding to events, and taking actions. Agents produce and consume events that pass through a directed graph, which can connect steps in an automation. Example uses include checking sites for changes, tracking deals, and sending scheduled email digests. Huginn can send and receive WebHooks, run custom JavaScript, and extend installations with external Agent gems. Listed connections include Slack, Twitter, RSS, JIRA, MQTT, Twilio, and Pushbullet. It can run on Linux or a self-hosted server, with an official Docker image and manual installation instructions. Local setup requires MySQL or PostgreSQL; the default configuration calls for at least 0.5 GB physical memory and 0.5 GB addressable memory such as swap. The production guide was created for Debian and Ubuntu. The README assumes SSL and recommends an egress proxy for shared instances where untrusted users can create agents. Huginn is free under the MIT License, and the project directs users to its Gitter room and GitHub repository for discussion and contributions.