Robotic Process Automation

Why Self-Host Your Robotic Process Automation?

RPA platforms automate repetitive tasks by mimicking human interactions with applications — filling forms, extracting data from websites, moving files between systems, and processing documents. Commercial RPA tools like UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism charge per bot license, often costing tens of thousands of dollars per year. Self-hosted RPA eliminates these licensing costs while keeping your automation scripts and the data they process within your infrastructure.

The security argument is particularly strong for RPA because automation bots typically need access to multiple systems with elevated credentials. A self-hosted RPA platform stores those credentials locally rather than in a vendor’s cloud, reducing the attack surface. When your bot logs into an ERP system, processes invoices, and updates a database, every credential and data point stays on your network. Commercial RPA platforms require you to trust the vendor with access to your most sensitive business systems.

Self-hosted RPA also avoids vendor lock-in in a category where migration is exceptionally painful. RPA workflows are tightly coupled to the platform’s scripting language, UI element selectors, and orchestration model. Once you build hundreds of automations on UiPath, moving to another platform means rebuilding them from scratch. Self-hosted and open-source RPA tools give you access to the underlying automation code, making it possible to extend, fork, or migrate workflows without starting over.