Desktop vs. Cloud

Desktop means you download an app and scrape data using your PC and internet connection.

Cloud based platforms enable you to run automations 24/7, without consuming resources on your computer or needing to keep it on all the time. There is no software to maintain or configure.

Both Texau and Hexomatic offer a cloud solution.

It's perfect for recurring workflows - schedule once and forget about it.

You can also integrate Slack or add email notifications,

So when your workflow is complete,

The results will be waiting for you in Google Sheets or another SaaS.

You can use API integrations or webhooks.

Cloud is very convenient for automation as everything happens in the background.

No constant human intervention is needed.

But cloud consumes server resources.

So it's easy to run out of credits/time for big scrapes.

Since desktop consumes only your PC's resources you get unlimited usage.

At least with Rtila.

That should also be the case for Texau's desktop app,

But for some bizzare reason,

They decided to put time limits both on desktop and cloud.

Which doesn't make any sense.

Desktop also makes sense for social automations (Texau only),

Because for cloud you'll need a proxy to do any social stuff.

Proxy

A proxy is like a VPN, but for servers.

It allows the server to have a different IP address than it's own.

There are main reasons to use a proxy.

There are two reasons for this:

• For large scrapes use a proxy to rotate IP address. (To prevent being blocked)
• Texau's social automations on the cloud need a proxy with the same location as yours. (To prevent being banned)

Hexomatic comes with free datacenter IP rotation so every request comes from a different IP address to reduce chances of being blocked. They also offer an optional residential proxy add-on using premium credits.

With Rtila you can configure multiple proxies,

But you still have to configure IP rotation manually.

This requires you to monitor while scraping and fine-tune when necessary.

With Texau you can configure a 3rd party proxy,

But there's no way to rotate IP address.

So it's pretty useless for big scraping projects.

It's still useful for social automations though.

Page Scraper

A page scraper is an interface where you can:

• Load any website URL
• Choose attributes to scrape (visually or CSS selectors)
• Run actions (click button, fill out form, pagination, etc.)

Rtila has an advanced web scraper.

It is highly customizable, but also difficult to learn.

It's best suited for web-developers or technical users.

Doesn't mean you can't learn it, just be ready to invest time in it.

Here's some of the unique Rtila feature:

• Filter text with regular expressions (e.g. extract emails)
• Adjust scraping speed
• Run custom javascript code
• Navigation actions (back, forward, go to URL)
• Solve reCAPTCHA
• Many more...

Hexomatic has a simple web scraper.

It is much easier to use - just point & shoot.

It's designed for non-technical users.

However, they also provide the ability to edit the selectors manually and use custom CSS selectors if you are a developer (or use Chrome dev tools to find these on a page).

Texau has no web scraper at all.

Automations

Automations can be:

• Page scraping known platforms (E.g. Google Search)
• Common functions (Eg. Extract emails)
• 3rd Party API integrations (e.g. Slack)
• Data transformation (e.g. Convert image format)

Rtila doesn't have automations (at least not in the sense described here).

Instead they have public templates for page scraping. (screenshot below)

Which is equivalent to some automations in Hexomatic or spices in Texau.

Common functions like extracting emails can be done via regular expressions.

The same tasks can be solved with Rtila - automations just make it a lot easier.

Automations exclusive only to Hexomatic:

• Amazon Product Search
• Translations (Google Translate, DeepL)
• Files and document finder
• Non-email notifications (Discord, Slack, Telegram)
• Data Transformations (Date, number, text, ...)
• Discover WHOIS
• Traffic insights
• Sitemap extractor
• URL status checker
• Image converter
• Currency/Crypto converter
• Keyword finder

Automations exclusive only to Texau:

• Social media (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, ...)
• Email finder (Snov, Hunter.io)
• Email verification (The Checker, Truemail, Verifybee)
• Data enrichment (Fullcontact, Dropcontact)

Disclaimer: Social automations and scraping go against terms of service (ToS) of social media platforms. Use with caution, you can get your profile banned.

Workflows

Workflows don't exist in Rtila.

You can use the output of one project as input for the next one.

There is some manual work involved in that.

In Hexomatic and Texau workflows are built the same way.

You can chain multiple automations and map attributes between them.

In Hexomatic you can also add scraping recipes to workflows,

Which don't exist in Texau.

Features Score

Hexomatic is the most versatile platform.

It's a mix of Rtila (page scraper) and Texau (automations & workflows).

The product is still in beta - some features are still to come. (e.g. webhooks).

It will mature well over time just as other Hexo products.

Rtila is "just" a page scraper.

The scraping features are more advanced in Rtila,

But there's also more configuration work to it (E.g. proxy & IP rotation).

Stuff that Hexomatic can do out of the box.

Also the learning curve may be too steep - especially if you don't have lot of free time to invest.

It's also not the best tool for automated processes. (Runs on desktop & not many integrations)

Texau doesn't have a page scraper.

But to compensate they have more automations, especially for social media.

Also they have useful integrations for cold outreach. (e.g. Lemlist)

Features score:

Rtila - 7/10

Hexomatic - 8/10 (Winner)

Texau - 7/10