Android automation apps, compared

Flowroid, Tasker, MacroDroid and Automate, and a key that finds the one that fits what you need — which is not always Flowroid.

Sources
25
Checked

Which one should you use?

Start at 1. Each answer names an app or sends you to the next question.

  1. Question 1: Do you need to tap buttons, type, or read the screen inside other apps?

    Yes
    MacroDroid,AutomateorTaskerbuilt in; Tasker through AutoInput
    No
    Go to 2

  2. Question 2: Do you rely on Tasker/Locale plugins, or want to write JavaScript, Java or shell?

    Yes
    Tasker,MacroDroidorAutomateall three host plugins; Tasker and MacroDroid also run JavaScript and Java
    No
    Go to 3

  3. Question 3: Do you want it free for a handful of automations?

    Yes
    MacroDroidorAutomateMacroDroid: 5 macros with ads; Automate: 30 running blocks
    No
    Go to 4

  4. Question 4: Do you want an app that uses no accessibility service and has no root, ADB or Shizuku route at all?

    Yes
    Flowroidthe only one of the four with neither
    No
    Go to 5

  5. Question 5: Would you rather describe an automation in a sentence and edit the draft on a canvas?

    Yes
    FlowroidCreate with AI, then the canvas
    No
    Tasker,MacroDroid,AutomateorFlowroidany of them — every one has a free trial or a free tier

At a glance

The rows that most often decide it. Each comparison below has the full set. Numbers are sources, listed at the end.

Flowroid, Tasker, MacroDroid and Automate compared
TaskerMacroDroidAutomateFlowroid
Price$4.49 once on Google Play.1Free with ads, up to 5 macros; a one-time Pro upgrade removes the ads and the limit.2Free, up to 30 running blocks; Premium, one in-app purchase, removes the limit.3$4.99 once. The optional Flowroid AI subscription ($2.99 / month or $24.99 / year) adds hosted AI; flows never need it.4
Trying it firstA 7-day trial, downloaded from the developer’s website rather than Google Play.5The free version is fully functional within its 5-macro limit.6The free edition has every feature; only the running-block limit applies.3A 14-day free trial of the whole app through Google Play, with no payment method.7
RootNot for most features; a few actions, such as Kill App and Mobile Data on some devices, need root.1Some system-setting actions, such as airplane mode, mobile data and battery saver, need a permission granted through ADB, Shizuku or root.8Not for most blocks; a shell-command block runs commands as superuser on rooted devices.9Never. No feature uses root, ADB or a computer.10
Accessibility serviceUsed for some features, such as closing the notification tray and detecting which app is open.1Optional, in two services: one for app-launch and gesture triggers, one for UI interaction and reading the screen.2,8Used for UI interaction, key presses, screenshots, toast messages, the foreground app and fingerprint gestures.11None, in any release.10
Tapping or reading other appsYes, through the AutoInput plugin, which uses its own accessibility service.12Yes, built in: the UI Interaction action and screen-content triggers.8Yes, built in: Interact and Inspect layout blocks, which its documentation calls a last resort.13,14No. It can launch apps, send intents, and reply to or press buttons on notifications, but it cannot tap or read another app’s screen.10
How you buildProfiles (contexts) that run tasks (lists of actions), Scenes for custom screens, and an AI generator that builds from a description.1,15,16Macros of triggers, actions and optional constraints, with IF/THEN/ELSE logic and loops.2Flowcharts of connected blocks.11A node canvas you wire by hand, or a sentence that AI turns into an editable flow; 97 ready-made templates.17
Tasker/Locale pluginsYes — the standard Locale/Tasker plugin API.18Yes — it hosts Tasker/Locale plugins.19Yes — Locale/Tasker plug-in blocks.20No.21
AIAn AI generator, since Tasker 6.5: describe what you want and Tasker builds it.16AI actions, most of them on-device with Gemini Nano; cloud models with your own API key; and an assistant that advises on or modifies the macro you are editing.22None listed in its block reference or on Google Play, as of 22 October 2026.11,23Create with AI drafts a whole flow from a sentence, and five AI steps run inside flows. Hosted AI needs no API key; your own model (Ollama, LM Studio or any OpenAI-compatible server) is free.24,25

Automating Android without root or an accessibility service

An accessibility service can read what is on screen and act on it in any app, which is why Android warns, before you turn one on, that it gives the app full control of the device. Root goes further, and most phones are not rooted. Tasker, MacroDroid and Automate each use an accessibility service for some features.1,2,8,11 Each also has a few actions that need root or a permission granted through ADB.1,8,9

Flowroid is Android automation with no root and no accessibility service — build flows on a visual canvas or describe them to AI, and they run on the phone. It has neither, in any release: it works with ordinary runtime permissions and the special-access switches Android shows in Settings, granted one capability at a time. That costs one thing — it cannot tap or read another app’s screen. It can still launch apps, send intents, and reply to or press the buttons on their notifications. Everything below works on a stock phone.

34 triggers

  • Notifications2
  • Battery & power3
  • Connectivity7
  • Device & system8
  • Schedule & time1
  • Location1
  • Apps1
  • Phone & calendar2
  • Sensors5
  • Chat1
  • Inbound & on demand3

54 actions

  • HTTP & integrations1
  • Notifications6
  • Intelligence (AI)5
  • Device control12
  • Audio & media3
  • Connectivity3
  • Apps & system4
  • Phone & chat2
  • Files7
  • Flow control & logic11

One app at a time

Flowroid beside each of the others, with every row, where each one fits better, and a key for that pair.

Sources

Every source was read on . Every claim about another app on this page carries the number of the source that says it. Prices are Google Play’s US prices on that day; apps change, so check the source before you rely on a detail. Something here out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.

  1. Tasker on Google Playplay.google.com
  2. MacroDroid on Google Playplay.google.com
  3. Automate documentation — Premiumllamalab.com
  4. Flowroid help — Plans & pricingflowroid.com
  5. Tasker — Downloadtasker.joaoapps.com
  6. MacroDroid wiki — Overviewwiki.macrodroid.com
  7. Flowroid help — Free trialflowroid.com
  8. MacroDroid wiki — Permissions and Special Accesswiki.macrodroid.com
  9. Automate documentation — Shell command superuserllamalab.com
  10. Flowroid help — Troubleshooting & FAQflowroid.com
  11. Automate on Google Playplay.google.com
  12. AutoInput on Google Playplay.google.com
  13. Automate documentation — Interactllamalab.com
  14. Automate documentation — Inspect layoutllamalab.com
  15. Tasker — home pagetasker.joaoapps.com
  16. Tasker 6.5 — AI Generator (joaoapps blog)joaoapps.com
  17. Flowroid help — Building flowsflowroid.com
  18. Tasker — Pluginstasker.joaoapps.com
  19. MacroDroid wiki — Pluginswiki.macrodroid.com
  20. Automate — home pagellamalab.com
  21. Flowroid help — Action catalogflowroid.com
  22. MacroDroid wiki — AI Featureswiki.macrodroid.com
  23. Automate documentation — Block referencellamalab.com
  24. Flowroid help — The AI assistant and AI stepsflowroid.com
  25. Flowroid help — Running your own modelflowroid.com

Want automation without the accessibility prompt?

Flowroid’s trial is the whole app. Build the one automation you came here for, and keep it if it works.

Get on Google PlaySee what people automate

14 days free, everything included. Then $4.99 once.