# AutoCua vs Robocorp

> Robocorp scores 65.5 (B) to AutoCua's 44.3 (E) for browser automation. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

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- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)
- Updated: 2026-11-06

Robocorp scores 65.5 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do browser automation.

- AutoCua: grade E, 44.3/100, rank #1100 of 1354. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/autocua.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json
- Robocorp: grade B, 65.5/100, rank #376 of 1354. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/robocorp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/robocorp.json
- Best desktop and mobile app automation for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/desktop-automation/index.md
- All 48 desktop comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/desktop-automation/index.md

## Which one, for what

### AutoCua (E)

Good for: Developers who want a local agent to operate desktop apps, their own browser or phones across platforms, on a machine they control.

Watch for: Two weeks old at version 0.1.9, with no changelog file

### Robocorp (B)

Good for: Python RPA on Windows desktops, browsers and documents, written or run by a coding agent.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 87 against 25
- Schema & documentation, 65 against 42
- Security & auth, 44 against 38
- Maintenance & community, 81 against 65
- Transparency & trust, 65 against 42

Watch for: robocorp.com redirects to sema4.ai, which answered our reader with a bot check, so the docs, Control Room pricing and terms were not read


## Why the edge

### Reliability: Robocorp +62

- AutoCua (25): Local package. Installs from PyPI as AutoCua with Python 3.10 or later and the supported platforms stated (20). No CI runs the tests; the only workflow, use_case_label.yml, labels issues (0). GitHub issues weren't read, so the open-issue line is scored absent (0). Four tags in a week with no changelog file (5). Version 0.1.9 (0). 20 + 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 = 25.
- Robocorp (87): Scored as local software. Official PyPI packages with runtimes stated in each pyproject.toml, read from the repositories on 1 November. rpaframework 34.0.0 requires Python 3.11 or later and lists 3.11 to 3.14, robocorp-windows 2.0.0 and robocorp-excel 0.6.0 require 3.11, and the robocorp meta-package 3.1.7 still allows 3.10 (20; the 14 October figures came from PyPI's JSON API, which robots.txt disallows, and are replaced). Public CI per package, with rpaframework's main and Windows workflows passing on master on 4 October 2026 and robocorp's master runs passing to 14 October, per the 14 October check, not re-read on 1 November (25). rpaframework had 35 open issues and pull requests and robocorp 9, and of rpaframework's 15 newest, 8 had no reply, including RPA.Windows and Java Access Bridge problems from 2024, per the 14 October check, not re-read (12 of 25). The README commits to SemVer and each package has a dated changelog. The 1 November batch labels its Python 3.11 floor `Breaking` and takes a major for it in every rpaframework package and robocorp-windows 2.0.0 (15). rpaframework is marked Production/Stable at 34.0.0 and robocorp is 3.1.7 (15).

### Schema & documentation: Robocorp +23

- AutoCua (42): Framework reading. No API reference or typed interface beyond run_agent's documented arguments (5 of 25). No llms.txt (0). The README says what each mode drives and where it runs, and agent_capabilities.md lists what it can do (16 of 20). Modes and device are documented strings (6 of 15). Many examples, no documented errors (10 of 15). Tags without a changelog (5 of 15). 5 + 0 + 16 + 6 + 10 + 5 = 42.
- Robocorp (65): Graded as a library. Typed Python APIs with docstrings and keyword documentation at rpaframework.org. No machine-readable contract beyond the code (12 of 25). No llms.txt on rpaframework.org (404). The repository's agent skill and its api.md reference are Markdown written for coding agents. sema4.ai docs were unreadable (5 of 10). Keyword docs state purpose with arguments, rarely when not to use one (12 of 20). Type hints and enums on most keywords, some locator strings free-form (10 of 15). Examples throughout, and typed exceptions such as ElementNotFound (11 of 15). Dated changelogs per package and SemVer (15).

### Transparency & trust: Robocorp +23

- AutoCua (42): MIT (30). Says it sends data only to the chosen model provider and keeps everything else locally, and the source agrees (20 of 30). No deprecation policy (0). States no telemetry, and none was found (20). 30 + 20 + 0 + 20 = 70.
- Robocorp (65): Apache-2.0 for both repositories (30). The libraries run locally. Sema4.ai's privacy policy and terms were behind a bot check, and rpaframework.org loads Google Analytics (8 of 30). Changelogs record removals and deprecations, with no deprecation policy found (10 of 20). No telemetry code in the libraries. rcc has a do-not-track setting whose default was not read (8 of 20).

### Maintenance & community: Robocorp +16

- AutoCua (65): v0.1.9 tagged on 4 November 2026 (30). Four tags in 90 days (20). Issues and pull requests weren't read (0 of 25). The PyPI wheel is current (15). No CI; dependencies pinned per OS in requirements files (0 of 10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 65.
- Robocorp (81): rpaframework 34.0.0 and eleven other rpaframework packages tagged on 1 November 2026, with the RPA.Windows `Control Parent Window` keyword, a work item pagination fix and the new rpaframework-decision package, and a release workflow that publishes from tags. PyPI couldn't be read from the shell (30). In the 90 days from 3 August, rpaframework 33.0.0 to 33.0.2 and 34.0.0 and robocorp 3.1.3 to 3.1.7, robocorp-log 3.1.4 to 3.1.7, robocorp-vault 1.4.1 and 1.4.2 and robocorp-windows 1.1.3 and 2.0.0 (20). Commits are frequent, 21 in rpaframework and 26 in robocorp since 3 August, but most new issues got no reply, per the 14 October check (12 of 25). Current official packages, no MCP server (10 of 15). Lockfiles, scheduled dependency checks and CI workflows, run state per the 14 October check (9 of 10).

### Security & auth: Robocorp +6

- AutoCua (38): Framework reading (telemetry, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing). Provider keys stored in a local folder with Chrome profiles (10 of 30). The worker tools are an allow-list with no write tool, unseen ids are refused, downloads need a yes, but on Windows the model answers UAC elevation prompts itself through a kernel driver, with no person asked (6 of 20). The scraping ruleset has a prompt-injection instruction to log page text that gives instructions (10 of 15). Runs are logged in the app, with no audit log (7 of 15). No security policy, disclosure route or advisories found (5 of 20, for the vault and certificate handling). 10 + 6 + 10 + 7 + 5 = 38.
- Robocorp (44): Graded as a library. No credential of its own. robocorp.vault reads secrets from Control Room or a local file, and robocorp.log hides sensitive names and values (18 of 30). No least-privilege mode or approval step, and robots run with the user's desktop rights (5 of 20). Desktop and browser content is read back into tasks with no injection guidance found (4 of 15). robocorp.log writes a detailed log of each run with every call and its arguments, minus hidden values (11 of 15). No SECURITY.md in either repository and no advisories against rpaframework, robocorp or robocorp-windows in OSV on 1 November. Released dependency updates for third-party advisories on 4 and 8 October, 18 October (pillow, cryptography, dompurify) and 1 November (pillow 13, certifi, pypdf and others), and CodeQL in rpaframework's workflows. Sema4.ai's security pages still answer with a bot check (6 of 20).

## Score by category

| Category | Weight | AutoCua | Robocorp | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 25 | 87 | Robocorp +62 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 42 | 65 | Robocorp +23 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 55 | 59 | Robocorp +4 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 38 | 44 | Robocorp +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 60 | even |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 65 | 81 | Robocorp +16 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 42 | 65 | Robocorp +23 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **44.3 · E** | **65.5 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | AutoCua | Robocorp |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent framework | SDK + MCP |
| Vendor | Ashish Yadav and contributors (ComputerUseAgent on GitHub) | Sema4.ai |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | None |
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | no |
| Last release | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-01 |
| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |
| Popularity | none | 1.6k stars, 61k PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | none | 3/5 (4) |

## Verdicts

**AutoCua.** A capable, fast-moving open-source agent for driving desktops, browsers and phones through real input and accessibility trees, with a careful safety section. It's two weeks old, with no test CI or changelog, and on Windows the model itself decides whether to accept an admin elevation prompt.

**Robocorp.** Apache-2.0 libraries with releases on 1 November 2026, labelled majors for breaking changes and an agent skill in the repository make it practical for agent-written desktop automation. Sema4.ai's docs, pricing, terms and rcc downloads sit behind a bot check, and recent library issues mostly went unanswered.

## Before you call either

### AutoCua

1. pip install AutoCua, then call run_agent with a mode such as "web use" or "computer use", a provider, a model and a task
2. Run it on a machine or account you can afford to lose; it drives real input and keeps logged-in browser profiles
3. On Windows, don't install the Interception driver unless you accept the model deciding UAC prompts
4. Set AutoCua_DATA_DIR to keep keys and profiles somewhere private
5. Phones go over USB from a script; Wi-Fi only through the desktop app

### Robocorp

1. Install libraries with `pip install robocorp` and add `rpaframework` or `robocorp-windows` separately. robocorp-windows is not in the meta-package
2. Use RPA.Windows or robocorp.windows on Windows only. On macOS or Linux use RPA.Desktop, which works by keyboard, mouse and image matching
3. Ask the user for the rcc download link for their platform, because the release notes page blocks automated requests
4. Run a task package with `rcc task run --robot robot.yaml --task "TASK NAME"` and read the final status as well as the log output
5. Keep secrets in robocorp.vault or environment variables and register sensitive names with robocorp.log so they are hidden from logs
6. Use Python 3.11 or later. rpaframework 34.0.0, robocorp-windows 2.0.0 and robocorp-excel 0.6.0 dropped 3.10

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, AutoCua or Robocorp?

Robocorp scores 65.5 (B) on agent readiness against AutoCua's 44.3 (E), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Are AutoCua and Robocorp open source?

Yes. AutoCua is open source (MIT). Robocorp is open source (Apache-2.0).


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-robocorp.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-robocorp.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "autocua", "b": "robocorp"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare autocua robocorp`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/autocua.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/robocorp.json

## Other comparisons with AutoCua or Robocorp

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- [AutoCua vs Browser Use](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-browser-use.md)
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- [AutoCua vs Puppeteer (archived MCP reference server)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/autocua-vs-puppeteer-reference-server-archived.md)
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