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Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Best iMacros Alternatives

Best iMacros Alternatives

(Last updated: January 2024)

iMacros, a popular web automation tool, is being discontinued by its new owner. This is sad news, as iMacros was the grandfather of all web automation tools. It literally invented this category.

Now, looking to the future, what are the best alternatives to iMacros? Many current iMacros users have contacted us for advice, and so we have decided to summarize our thoughts on the situation in this blog post. While there are many web automation tools available, there are only a few that we can recommend as true iMacros alternatives.

Here is our list of the best iMacros alternatives. Please note that this is not a ranking; the best replacement for iMacros will depend on your specific needs and use case.

iMacros Alternative: Google Puppeteer

Google Puppeteer is a library developed by Google that provides a high-level API to control Chrome or Chromium over the DevTools Protocol. It is essentially a headless browser, meaning that it allows you to control a web browser programmatically without the need for a graphical user interface.

Puppeteer can be used to automate tasks that would normally be performed manually in a web browser, such as clicking links, filling out forms, and scrolling pages. It can also be used to capture screenshots, create PDFs, and perform other types of web scraping and testing.

The drawback of Google Puppeteer is that it is a “framework” and, as such, it requires programming skills to automate tasks. This means that every iMacros macro would become a standalone program with Puppeteer. If that works for you, Puppeteer is a powerful alternative. However, it is a completely different approach to web automation. Additionally, Puppeteer does not support real-user simulation commands like IMAGESEARCH and DirectScreen. It can only automate at the XPath locator level.

PRO:

  • If the use of a framework is acceptable, this is the best framework to replace iMacros.

  • iMacros Scripting Interface commands are replaced by Puppeteer API calls.

  • Open-Source

CONTRA:

  • Since it is a framework, it requires significant programming skills

  • No support for real-user simulation (iMacros commands like IMAGESEARCH or DS).

  • No Record & Replay feature

iMacros Alternative: Bunker down with Firefox

iMacros as iMacros alternative? Yes, hear us out: While iMacros for Google Chrome will likely stop working at some point in 2023, the Mozilla Firefox team is way behind in its transition to Manifest V3. So there is a good chance that you can get another 2-3 years of usage out of the current iMacros for Firefox version. But keep in mind that there is no guarantee for this, and one Firefox update gone wrong could kill the iMacros extension by mistake. If that happens, there will be nobody around to fix and update iMacros.

If you choose to continue using iMacros, we strongly recommend that you download the latest version of both iMacros and Firefox. Do this as soon as possible. January 2024 update: iMacros is no longer available in the Chrome and Firefox stores, and you need to do a Google search to find iMacros. Disabling automatic Firefox browser updates can help extend the lifespan of iMacros, but it is important to note that doing so may pose a security risk, depending on your specific needs. Additionally, newer websites may eventually stop functioning correctly on older versions of Firefox.

PRO:

  • Staying with iMacros means no need to spend time on conversion

  • Free (but not open source)

CONTRA:

  • Eventually, even iMacros for Firefox will stop working

  • Using an older Firefox browser can be a security risk

  • The iMacros support forum will likely close at some point in 2023.

iMacros Alternative: UI.Vision RPA

Our UI.Vision RPA software is a free, open-source browser extension that allows you to automate tasks in the web browser. It is available for use with Chrome, Firefox, and Edge on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.

UI.Vision RPA provides a visual interface for creating and editing automation scripts, known as “macros,” which can be used to automate repetitive tasks in the web browser. These macros can be triggered manually or automatically using a schedule, and they can be run in multiple browser tabs or windows at the same time.

UI.Vision RPA supports a wide range of actions, including clicking elements, filling out forms, scrolling pages, and extracting data from web pages. It also includes features for debugging and testing automation scripts, as well as a command line interface (similar to the iMacros Scripting interface) for integration with other tools and services.

If this sounds similar to what iMacros does, it’s because it is. There is even an iMacros Alternative page with iMacros migration hints. In many ways, you can think of UI.Vision as the next generation of iMacros. As such, it is probably the best all-around iMacros alternative.

PRO:

CONTRA:

  • User interface (UX) different from iMacros, so a learning curve is required despite overall similarity

  • Macro source code is stored in JSON format instead of iMacros plain text format

What about other tools?

There are plenty of automation frameworks, most of which are designed for web testing: Cucumber, Selenium, Selenium IDE, Watir, Silk Test, Telerik Test Studio, Power Automation, HP UFT (aka QTP), Katalon. These are good tools for their core use case, but they are not good iMacros alternatives:

  • If they are a framework, they require programming skills. If using a framework is ok for you, the Puppeteer framework (see our list above) is the better iMacros alternative.
  • If they are a software, they are designed for web testing use, and not for web automation or web scraping.
  • All tools except iMacros and UI.Vision rely on the use of XPath locators to automate the web. In our opinion, Computer vision and text recognition is the future of web automation. The locator approach is outdated and over time, less and less websites can be automated with locators alone.

By the way: The three iMacros alternatives that we recommend are all free. This also saves you the time of searching for iMacros cracks, iMacros free license keys, or iMacros serial keys. You get the power of the iMacros full version for free.

Did we miss a good iMacros alternative? If so, please let us know.

What iMacros migration path do we recommend?

We recommend this step-by-step approach:

  • Don’t panic! :-)

  • Leave iMacros for Chrome as soon as possible. It can break anytime.

  • Keep your old macros running in iMacros for Firefox.

  • Create all new web automation tasks directly in the open-source UI.Vision RPA software.

  • Whenever you need to modify an existing iMacros macro, migrate it to the UI.Vision RPA software at the same time.