Caddi and Automation Anywhere both automate repetitive work, but take opposite approaches. Automation Anywhere is classic RPA: a Control Room of developer-built bots that replay clicks on screen. Caddi is AI-native: you record a workflow once and Caddi writes, runs, and maintains it as code over APIs. Automation Anywhere suits IT-led enterprise programs; Caddi suits ops teams in law and finance that want automations live in days.
The basics
What is Automation Anywhere?
Enterprise RPA software where developers build bots in a Control Room that click through apps on screen like a person would, governed centrally by IT.
What is Caddi?
The deterministic AI automation platform for ops and admin teams. Ops teams teach Caddi their workflows over a screen share, and then Caddi runs them reliably hundreds of times a week.
The fundamental difference
Automation Anywhere bots imitate a human using the screen, moving the mouse, clicking buttons, typing into fields. That works until the interface changes, a page loads slowly, or a layout shifts, at which point the bot silently fails. Caddi uses the recording only to understand the task, then executes through APIs as deterministic code, so runs stay predictable and auditable.
What a bot estate costs you over time
A mature Automation Anywhere program isn't one bot, it's a fleet of them in the Control Room. Each one rides on the exact layout of the apps it touches, so a single vendor update can quietly knock several offline at once. Flip the toggle to see what an app update does to a bot estate versus a Caddi automation.
Every bot replays clicks on a screen, so a moved button or new login screen silently breaks it — and someone has to find and fix each one.
One automation, maintained for you
Runs as deterministic code over APIs — no UI to break — and Caddi handles upkeep.
Nothing to triage on your side when an app changes.
What it takes to stand one up
The classic RPA lifecycle and the Caddi lifecycle look nothing alike. Toggle between the two to compare who builds it, how it runs, and who keeps it alive.
- 1Record the task on a screen-shareA non-technical teammate walks through the workflow once, no developer queue.
- 2Caddi writes deterministic code over APIsNo screen-scraping. Runs go through APIs, so they survive UI changes.
- 3Documents are read nativelyVaried PDFs and shared inboxes are handled out of the box, no OCR template wrangling.
- 4Caddi maintains itUpkeep and edge cases are handled for you, often with automations live in days.
Caddi vs. Automation Anywhere at a glance
| Automation Anywhere | Caddi | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Screen-scraping RPA bots | AI-native, record-to-code |
| How it's built | RPA developers build in the Control Room | Record the task once on a screen-share |
| Production runtime | Replays UI clicks | Deterministic code over APIs |
| App / UI changes | Bots break, often in clusters | Unaffected (API-driven) |
| Documents & email | IQ Bot / OCR templates | Native reading of varied PDFs & inboxes |
| Who owns it | RPA dev / center of excellence | Non-technical ops staff |
| Maintenance | Internal, ongoing | Built & maintained by Caddi |
| Best fit | Horizontal, IT-led enterprise RPA | Law & finance back office |
How they score where it counts
Automation Anywhere is a mature, broad enterprise platform with deep reach across legacy and desktop systems. Caddi trades that breadth for resilience, native document handling, and a done-for-you model built for regulated ops.
When Automation Anywhere is the right call
Automation Anywhere is a strong fit if you run a centralized, IT-governed automation program with RPA developers on staff, need to automate a very broad range of desktop, mainframe, and legacy systems across many departments, and have the budget and team to maintain a bot estate over time.
When Caddi is the right call
Caddi is the better fit if the people who own the process are non-technical, if your highest-value work is document- and inbox-heavy (intake, filing, PDF → system of record, triage), if you need automations live in days rather than a quarter, and if reliability, SOC 2 compliance, and audit trails are non-negotiable.
Which fits your situation?
Caddi
Caddi runs over APIs as deterministic code, so it isn't affected by UI changes that break screen-scraping bots.
See Caddi next to your Automation Anywhere bots
Bring a workflow you run in Automation Anywhere today. Caddi will build it from a screen recording and run it across 70+ tools. See real examples or book a demo. For the broader landscape, see our Automation Anywhere alternatives guide.
Do more with less
See Caddi in action
Tell us where to reach you and the calendar opens right here. In 30 minutes we'll show you how Caddi automates the back-office work that grows with your clients—built, run, and maintained for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Caddi and Automation Anywhere?
Automation Anywhere is enterprise RPA: developers and a center of excellence build bots in the Control Room that replay clicks and keystrokes on screen, which break when an app or UI changes. Caddi is AI-native: a non-technical teammate records a workflow once, Caddi writes it as deterministic code that runs over APIs, and Caddi maintains it for you. Automation Anywhere is built for IT-led, broad enterprise automation; Caddi is built for ops teams in law and finance that want automations live in days.
Is Caddi a good Automation Anywhere alternative?
Yes, especially for document- and inbox-heavy back-office work in regulated industries. Teams adopt Caddi to replace brittle Automation Anywhere bots that need a dedicated RPA developer and ongoing Control Room upkeep. Because Caddi runs on APIs and is maintained for you, it removes both the build burden and the maintenance that classic RPA carries.
Does Caddi need RPA developers and a Control Room like Automation Anywhere?
No. Automation Anywhere typically requires RPA developers, bot licensing, and a Control Room governed by IT. With Caddi, a paralegal, ops admin, or billing coordinator records the task on a screen-share and Caddi builds and runs the automation, so the business team can own automations without writing bots or managing infrastructure.
When should I use Automation Anywhere instead of Caddi?
Automation Anywhere can be the right choice if you run a centralized, IT-governed RPA program with developers on staff and need to automate a very broad range of desktop, mainframe, and legacy systems across many departments. Caddi is the better fit for regulated back-office automation owned by the business team that needs to be live quickly and stay low-maintenance.