The Automa alternative for Chrome
Automa is a free, open-source browser extension that automates by connecting workflow "blocks" on a canvas, with a genuinely capable built-in scheduler and a marketplace of shared community workflows. It has a record button too, but the core building model is block-based — closer to a flowchart than a plain step list. Here's how EasyAgent compares if you'd rather skip the block canvas.
FREE · OPEN SOURCE · NO BLOCK CANVAS TO LEARN
Short version: Automa is free and open source (AGPL, with a separate commercial license only for embedding it in a product), available for Chrome and Firefox. It has a record button and a genuinely strong built-in Trigger block for scheduling — interval, specific date/day, browser startup, even raw cron expressions — plus a Loop Data block that iterates over a variable, table, Google Sheets, or a JSON array. The difference is the building model: workflows are built by connecting blocks on a canvas, which is more flexible than a plain step list but has more to learn. EasyAgent trades that flexibility for a plain recorded step list and a straight Excel-paste for the data loop.
EasyAgent vs Automa
| EasyAgent | Automa | |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Active, free, on the Chrome Web Store today | Active, free & open source (AGPL / commercial license), Chrome + Firefox |
| How you build a workflow | Click record, use the page normally, stop | Record, or connect workflow blocks on a canvas |
| Looping over data | Paste rows from Excel, no setup | Loop Data block over a variable, table, Google Sheets, or JSON array |
| Extracting values | Add an Extract or Extract Table step | Dedicated scraping/data-extraction blocks feeding into a table |
| Scheduling | Built in — 15 minutes to 24 hours, or custom | Built in — interval, specific date/day, browser startup, or a raw cron expression |
| Sharing/reusing workflows | Save/load named macros locally | A public marketplace for sharing and downloading community workflows |
| Packaging as a standalone extension | Not supported | Chrome Extension Builder can package a workflow as its own distributable extension |
| Cost | Free, one tier, everything included | Free, open source (a separate commercial license exists only for embedding Automa in a product) |
| Account required | No | No |
If you're coming from Automa
Automa's blocks are genuinely powerful for anything with real branching logic, but a lot of everyday automations don't need that — they just need to repeat the same clicks over a list of rows. Here's what maps to what if that's your case:
What EasyAgent doesn't do
Not a full replacement for everything Automa can do
- No block canvas / branching workflow logic — Automa's blocks can express conditionals and multi-path flows that a plain step list can't; EasyAgent doesn't have an equivalent builder.
- No workflow marketplace — Automa has a public library of shared community workflows; EasyAgent has no sharing/discovery layer, only your own saved macros.
- No "package as standalone extension" option — Automa's Chrome Extension Builder can turn a workflow into its own installable extension; EasyAgent has nothing like this.