Ballet vs Power Automate
TL;DR: Microsoft Power Automate is a broad low-code automation suite — cloud flows plus desktop RPA for Outlook, SAP screens, and thousands of connectors. Ballet is an agent operations platform for API- and MCP-native playbooks with Ask Ballet authoring and durable pause/resume. Choose Power Automate for Microsoft-centric desktop RPA; choose Ballet for agent-built, observable API workflows. You can also hybridize: Ballet HTTP → a Power Automate cloud flow, or Power Automate → a Ballet webhook.
What Power Automate is
Power Automate (part of Microsoft Power Platform) lets teams build cloud flows (API/connector automation) and desktop flows (RPA that clicks through Windows apps). It includes approvals, delays, hundreds of prebuilt connectors, and deep Microsoft 365 interop (Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, Excel).
Where Power Automate is strong
- Desktop RPA — open Outlook, click SAP GUI, scrape screens without APIs.
- Connector catalog — large library of certified SaaS and Microsoft connectors.
- Approvals — built-in approval actions and mobile approve-from-anywhere.
- Microsoft ecosystem — natural fit if your org already runs M365 / Dataverse / Power Apps.
- Templates — fast starts for common departmental flows.
How Ballet is different
- Automation surface — Power Automate includes desktop UI bots; Ballet is API, webhook, MCP, and sandboxed code.
- Authoring — Power Automate designers and Copilot vs Ask Ballet building playbooks with code and agents.
- Native "Power Automate steps" — Ballet does not expose Power Automate actions as first-party step types. Call a PA cloud flow over HTTP, or reimplement with Graph / SAP APIs.
- Durable HITL — Ballet parks with
metaphor.waitForInputon the samerunIdand wakes via Studio orPOST /replywith a server-issuedrequestId(similar idea to PA Approvals / Temporal signals / UiPath Action Center). - Observability — Studio run timeline, step logs, and continue-on-same-run vs PA run history per flow.
A classic PA desktop path (Open Outlook → download PDF → Open SAP → create invoice) is not a Ballet playbook as UI automation. The Ballet-shaped version uses Microsoft Graph / SAP APIs (or MCP), PDF extraction in a Code step, optional waitForInput approval, then confirmation email via API.
Hybrid patterns
- Ballet → Power Automate — HTTP step or Code
fetchtriggers a PA cloud flow (HTTP trigger). - Power Automate → Ballet — PA ends with HTTP to a Ballet webhook / execute endpoint.
- Do not expect to drop PA desktop actions into a Ballet playbook canvas.
When to choose Power Automate vs Ballet
Choose Power Automate when:
- You must automate through the Outlook / SAP / Windows UI because no usable API exists.
- Your IT standard is Power Platform and you need governed desktop bots.
- You want the largest Microsoft connector catalog out of the box.
Choose Ballet when:
- Systems expose APIs, webhooks, or MCP and you want agent-authored playbooks.
- You need durable mid-run approval (
waitForInput) with Studio + external notifiers on onerunId. - You want code steps, agents, and deep run debugging without bot runners.
Many teams use both: Power Automate for desktop RPA islands; Ballet for API-native agent ops and HITL playbooks.