# Desktop and mobile app automation for AI agents

> 6 desktop & mobile app control listings ranked by the Anchor benchmark. Leader Robot Framework (BB). Tools that operate desktop and mobile applications the way a person would, by clicking, typing and reading the screen, from scripting languages and test frameworks to robotic process automation platforms with hosted robots. Compared on the platforms and apps they reach, how an agent starts and watches a run, credential handling and licence cost.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/desktop-automation
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/desktop-automation.md (~2,300 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/desktop-automation.min.md (~380 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/categories/desktop-automation.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-14

Tools that operate desktop and mobile applications the way a person would, by clicking, typing and reading the screen, from scripting languages and test frameworks to robotic process automation platforms with hosted robots. Compared on the platforms and apps they reach, how an agent starts and watches a run, credential handling and licence cost.

- Tools ranked: 6 · agent-ready (BB or better): 1 · accept x402: 0 · hosted endpoints: 2 · desk reviews by the panel: 0
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools.json (list) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/rankings.json (ranked) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/x402.json (payable) · https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/capabilities.json (by capability)
- Grades run AA, A, BB, B, C, D, E, F · methodology: https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/

- Shortlist and picks by need: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/desktop-automation/index.md
- Head-to-head comparisons (15): https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/desktop-automation/index.md
- Capabilities in this category: desktop.control, desktop.rpa, desktop.orchestration, mobile.control, desktop.scripting
- https://letme.dev/desktop.control picks the top-graded tool in this list and says how to call it direct; calling through letme comes later (https://www.anchorterminal.com/letme/index.md)

## Ranking

| # | Tool | Vendor | Kind | Category | Grade | Score | Confidence | x402 | Auth | Where | Reviews | Page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 35 | Robot Framework | Robot Framework Foundation | Agent framework | Desktop | BB | 76.4 | medium | no | None | library | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robot-framework.md |
| 237 | UiPath | UiPath | HTTP API | Desktop | B | 68.2 | medium | no | OAuth | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/uipath.md |
| 337 | Robocorp | Sema4.ai | SDK + MCP | Desktop | B | 65.5 | medium | no | None | local | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robocorp.md |
| 771 | AutoHotkey | AutoHotkey Foundation | SDK + MCP | Desktop | D | 52.8 | medium | no | None | local | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autohotkey.md |
| 815 | Automation Anywhere | Automation Anywhere | HTTP API | Desktop | D | 50.9 | low | no | OAuth or key | hosted | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/automation-anywhere.md |
| 913 | AutoIt | AutoIt Consulting | SDK + MCP | Desktop | D | 46.3 | medium | no | None | local | none | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autoit.md |

Scores are from public evidence against the published checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/), with Performance and Task success pending. p95 latency and context cost come from our probes, which haven't run yet.

## Summaries

### 35. Robot Framework, BB (76.4)

Robot Framework is an open-source automation framework for test automation and robotic process automation, run from the `robot` command line or Python. Its keyword libraries reach browsers, desktop applications and mobile apps. A stable 7.5 release, passing unit and acceptance tests, JSON schemas for results and library docs, and an llms.txt make it a dependable base for agent-written automation. Desktop and mobile control come from separate community libraries, there is no official MCP server, and no security policy or security.txt was found.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robot-framework · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robot-framework.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/robot-framework.json
- Capabilities: desktop.scripting, desktop.rpa, mobile.control

### 237. UiPath, B (68.2)

UiPath is a robotic process automation platform whose hosted Orchestrator runs robots that operate desktop, web and Windows applications. Outside agents start and monitor jobs through the Orchestrator API or folder-scoped MCP servers in Automation Cloud. Orchestrator exposes published RPA workflows, agents and API workflows as MCP tools over Streamable HTTP, with MCP OAuth, scoped PATs and an OpenAPI 3.0 API. Prices above the $25 Basic plan need a sales conversation, and the status page logged several multi-hour incidents between 10 September and 13 October 2026.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/uipath · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/uipath.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/uipath.json
- Capabilities: desktop.rpa, desktop.orchestration, desktop.control · endpoint: `https://cloud.uipath.com/{org}/{tenant}/agenthub_/mcp/{folderKey}/{slug}`

### 337. Robocorp, B (65.5)

Robocorp's open-source automation stack for Python, now run by Sema4.ai, with libraries for Windows desktop, cross-platform desktop, browser and document automation. Tasks run locally through `rcc` or Python, with Control Room as the hosted orchestrator. Apache-2.0 libraries with passing CI, releases in the last month and an agent skill in the repository make it practical for agent-written desktop automation. robocorp.com now redirects to Sema4.ai, whose docs, pricing, terms and rcc downloads sit behind a bot check, and recent library issues mostly go unanswered.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robocorp · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robocorp.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/robocorp.json
- Capabilities: desktop.rpa, desktop.control, desktop.orchestration, desktop.scripting, browser.control

### 771. AutoHotkey, D (52.8)

AutoHotkey is a free, open-source scripting language and interpreter for Windows that sends keystrokes and mouse input, manages windows and controls, and defines hotkeys. Agents run scripts through the `AutoHotkey64.exe` command line, including from standard input. An agent can write a script and run it through the command line, with a script read from standard input, `/Validate` and `/ErrorStdOut` for clean failures, and a function reference of 356 pages. It runs on Windows only with the user's full rights, and the repository has no CI or test suite.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autohotkey · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autohotkey.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autohotkey.json
- Capabilities: desktop.control, desktop.scripting

### 815. Automation Anywhere, D (50.9)

Automation Anywhere's Automation 360 is a cloud robotic process automation platform whose Control Room deploys bots that operate desktop and web applications. Outside agents run automations through the Control Room REST API or its MCP inbound endpoint. The Control Room's /mcp endpoint gives an MCP client three standard tools to discover, run and read automations under RBAC, with each run in the audit log. No API rate limits, error catalogue, SLA or prices were found in public pages, and DiscoverAutomation and RunAutomation need an Enterprise licence with the Process Reasoning Engine in the US or Europe.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/automation-anywhere · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/automation-anywhere.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/automation-anywhere.json
- Capabilities: desktop.rpa, desktop.orchestration, desktop.control · endpoint: `https://<control-room>/mcp`

### 913. AutoIt, D (46.3)

AutoIt v3 is a freeware BASIC-like scripting language for automating the Windows GUI with simulated keystrokes, mouse movement and window and control manipulation. Agents run scripts through `AutoIt3.exe`, and AutoItX exposes the same functions through a DLL and COM control. An agent can run AutoIt scripts or single lines from the command line, or call AutoItX from C# or PowerShell, with each function's return values and `@error` codes documented. The source is closed, the last release was 7 September 2025, and scripts act with the full rights of the Windows user.

- Page: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autoit · Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autoit.md · JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autoit.json
- Capabilities: desktop.control, desktop.scripting

## How we test this category

In this run, public evidence against the published checklist. When the task suites run, the same form-filling task in a desktop application started by an agent through each listing's API, CLI or MCP server. We check whether the run completes, how failures are reported, where credentials are kept and what a run costs. This test hasn't run yet, so Task success is pending and the grades here come from the categories assessed from public evidence.