Help Centre › Building Processes
A process in Automize can run in one of two ways. The right choice depends on what the process needs to do.
1. Bot automation (RPA)
A bot process runs on a desktop machine through the Automize bot. Because it controls a real screen, it can do anything a person at that computer could – click buttons, type into apps, read what's on screen, open files, and drive software that has no API. This is the right choice when you're automating desktop or browser applications. See Working with the RPA Bot.
2. Cloud automation (bot-free)
A Cloud process runs on Automize's servers with no bot and no desktop. Instead of controlling a screen, it calls applications directly through their APIs using connectors. This is the right choice when you're moving data between web apps and services – for example, "when a form is submitted, create a record in another system and send a notification." Cloud runs are faster to start, need no machine to be online, and can be kicked off by a schedule or webhook.
3. Choosing the target
When you create or edit a process you choose its target (the OS picker): Windows, macOS or Linux for a bot process, or Cloud for a bot-free one.
Cloud automation is part of the cloudFlows plan feature. If it isn't included in your plan, the Cloud option is hidden and Cloud runs are blocked – talk to your administrator about your plan.
4. What's different in the app
- A bot process shows Play, Debug, Logs and Run History panels, because those depend on a bot. A Cloud process shows a single Run now button instead. See Running and debugging a process.
- Cloud runs appear under My Runs on your dashboard.
- Cloud automation today is built from connector steps. Some bot-only abilities (driving on-screen apps) and a few advanced flow features are not available in the Cloud yet; if a Cloud run reaches a step it can't handle, it tells you clearly.
5. Where your data and credentials live
With a bot process the work happens on your own machine: the files it opens, the apps it drives and the credentials kept in your machine's keychain all stay on that machine. Only the process definition – the map and its steps – comes from Automize's servers. Project files you attach to a process are referenced by a stable identifier and fetched when a run needs them.
With a Cloud process the run happens on Automize's servers, so it works with data reachable from there (through APIs and connectors) rather than a local desktop.