UiPath alternative: AI RPA versus Healing Agent
UiPath is the RPA product with the largest revenue share in Japan. According to ITR’s research, it ranked first in Japanese RPA market revenue share for fiscal 2024, its eighth consecutive year. With Studio for development and Orchestrator for central management, it has carried company-wide automation at large enterprises.
At the same time, surveys of companies using RPA find cost the most common barrier to rolling it out company-wide (BizteX, 2024), and too few people able to build robots the most common problem after adoption (Startia Raise, 2024). UiPath itself now offers Healing Agent, which uses AI to recover from screen changes. This guide sets out recent changes and how Healing Agent works, with sources, how to tell which work to keep in UiPath and which to move, and how to migrate.
In short
- In 2023, UiPath raised its prices by about 10%, ended its on-premises legacy plan, and moved customers to the Flex plan
- Healing Agent recovers failing operations at run time, but recoveries are not carried over to the next run, and a developer applies the permanent fix in Studio
- A realistic path is to keep company-wide high-volume processing in UiPath, and move first the automation departments want to fix themselves, the robots that keep stopping, and work that needs judgment
Recent changes in UiPath (as of October 2026)
Pricing and licensing
UiPath raised the prices of all products by about 10% for contracts processed from July 1, 2023, including renewals.
On October 31, 2023, it also stopped offering all on-premises (legacy) plan licenses and Non-Production Robot licenses. Existing contracts run until they end, but renewals from November 1, 2023 must move to the Flex plan.
Healing Agent
Healing Agent uses AI to investigate and recover a UI operation when a screen change or similar would make it fail. According to UiPath’s documentation, it works as follows:
- Two modes: by default it only makes recommendations. “Self-healing”, which recovers automatically at run time, must be enabled by an administrator
- Recoveries are not carried over: healing information from one run is not retained in the next. UiPath itself recommends using the recommendations to fix issues permanently
- A developer makes the permanent fix: the automation itself is fixed only when a developer brings the healing details into Studio and applies them
- Plans and usage: the Enterprise plan includes 5,000 heals a year; on the Basic and Standard plans it must be bought. Each heal uses 3 Platform Units
It means fewer runs stop, but the fixing itself stays with developers who can use Studio.
Work to keep in UiPath, work to move
| The work | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Company-wide, standardized high-volume processing managed centrally in Orchestrator | Keep it in UiPath | Large-scale central management and the speed of fixed operations pay off |
| Already on the Enterprise plan with Healing Agent, and a development team keeps up with fixes | Keep it in UiPath | The tools and the team are in place |
| Small automation built by a department, fixable only by its builder | Move it to automation the business owners can fix by talking | No waiting for developers to be free |
| Operates outside web systems whose screens change without notice | Move it to automation that saves what it relearned | No need to recover from the same change on every run |
| Needs judgment or a person’s check, such as reading invoices | Move it to automation that combines AI and human approval | People decide, AI operates the screens |
| Operates a system that offers an API or CSV export | Replace it with the official integration | More resilient to change, faster, and more reliable than operating the screen |
How to migrate
- Collect the robots and their failure history: export processes, schedules, and job failure history from Orchestrator
- Set the order by fragility and effort to fix: order the moves by the number of failures, the impact of a stop on the work, and how many developers can fix it
- Rewrite in the language of the work: do not copy the workflow activity by activity; write the flow of the work in words, spelling out where a person decides and what to check
- Prove it with a PoC: run it on the real screens and data, and check that it keeps going when a screen changes
- Run in parallel, then switch: run it alongside UiPath through a busy period, compare the results, then switch over
- Review your licenses: release the robot licenses for the moved processes, in step with your renewal
How to switch from RPA to AI RPA explains each step in detail.
How workflow elements translate
| In a UiPath workflow | In steps written in the language of the work |
|---|---|
| Clicks and entries on elements targeted by selectors | Name the target by its heading on screen, such as “Enter it in the invoice number field” |
| Waiting for an element, or for a fixed time | Write the condition to wait for, such as “Check that the list is shown” |
| Looping over Excel rows or data tables | Write “For each row of the list” and process row by row |
| Conditional branches | Write the condition in words, and send hard calls to a person |
| Exception handling and retries | Continue from the failed step and notify the owner |
How UiPath and Kitewell differ
| Aspect | UiPath | Kitewell |
|---|---|---|
| Who builds | Developers who can use Studio | The business owners, by talking with the AI assistant, applying changes after reviewing the diff |
| When a screen changes | Healing Agent recovers at run time (depending on settings and plan). A developer applies the permanent fix in Studio | When the remembered steps do not work, AI reads the screen again, relearns the operation, and repeats it from then on. The run record shows what was relearned |
| Handover | Procedure documents written separately | The assistant writes knowledge as it works, and a robot ledger exports to Excel |
| Scale it suits | Large, company-wide automation | Starting from a department’s work and replacing the work that keeps stopping |
| Price | By plan and usage; raised about 10% in July 2023 | Team and Enterprise for organizations are quoted on the number of computers, never per user |
UiPath information is from official documentation as of October 2026. Features change, so check each vendor’s official site for current information.
Start with one robot
Descarty offers a PoC that replaces one robot that keeps stopping with Kitewell in two weeks (¥300,000, excluding tax). If the agreed success criteria are not met, you pay nothing.
Sources
- UiPath: first in Japanese RPA market revenue share for the eighth consecutive year in ITR’s research (September 17, 2025, in Japanese)
- UiPath: notice of price revision (April 24, 2023), notice of license offerings (July 2023) (in Japanese)
- BizteX: survey on company-wide RPA rollout (April 26, 2024, in Japanese)
- Startia Raise: survey on RPA use (January 25, 2024, in Japanese)
- UiPath: Healing Agent licensing, Healing Agent FAQ, pricing
Frequently asked questions
- With UiPath's Healing Agent, won't our robots keep running when screens change?
- Healing Agent uses AI to recover UI operations at run time when a screen change or similar would make them fail. But a recovery in one run is not carried over to the next. To fix the automation permanently, a developer imports the recommendation into Studio and applies it. Self-healing at run time also has to be enabled by an administrator, and depending on the plan it must be bought separately.
- Can we use UiPath and Kitewell together?
- Yes. Keep the high-volume routine processing that runs reliably in UiPath, and move only the robots that keep stopping, automation the business teams want to fix themselves, or work that needs judgment or approval to Kitewell.
- Can UiPath workflows be converted to Kitewell?
- They are not converted. You rewrite the flow of the work in everyday language. Because the old screen's assumptions, such as selectors and wait times, are left behind, the workflow copes better with small screen changes.
- How has UiPath's pricing changed in recent years?
- UiPath raised the prices of all products by about 10% for contracts from July 1, 2023, including renewals. On October 31, 2023, it also stopped offering on-premises (legacy) plan licenses and Non-Production Robot licenses, so renewals move to the Flex plan.
- How long does a migration take?
- For one robot that keeps stopping, a two-week PoC shows whether Kitewell can replace it. We recommend switching production over only after a parallel run that includes a busy period such as a month-end.
Start by choosing what to switch
We look at your current robots and support you from choosing the work to switch to AI RPA through to a PoC.