RPA vs API: Key Differences & When to Use Them

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and API integrations are two distinct methods for automating workflows, each suited to different scenarios. RPA operates at the user interface level, mimicking human actions like clicking and typing, which makes it ideal for automating tasks in systems lacking API access, such as legacy applications or UI-heavy processes. It is quick to deploy but requires ongoing maintenance and is less scalable compared to APIs. API integrations facilitate direct data exchange between systems at the backend level, offering high scalability, real-time data synchronization, and stronger security through methods like OAuth and JWT. While APIs are preferred for secure and reliable automation, they require more development effort upfront. A hybrid approach combining RPA and API can be beneficial for automating complex workflows involving both UI interactions and backend processes. Superblocks emerges as a platform offering a middle ground by simplifying API-driven automation with prebuilt connectors, a visual workflow builder, and managed infrastructure, providing the best features of both RPA and API integrations without the typical integration challenges.