# What is UiPath Robot

> UiPath Robot, the execution layer of the UiPath Platform that runs the RPA processes, tests, agents, functions, and API workflows Orchestrator dispatches.

UiPath Robot is the execution layer of the UiPath Platform. It runs the jobs that Orchestrator dispatches: RPA processes, test cases, agents, functions, and API workflows.

This guide covers the Robot on machines you manage. The same Robot also runs on infrastructure UiPath manages, on robot nodes in an Automation Suite cluster, and on virtual machines that Orchestrator scales in your own cloud account. Where it runs decides who maintains the host and how you pay. It doesn't change what a job is or how Orchestrator hands it over.

## What the Robot does and what Orchestrator does

Orchestrator is the control plane. It decides which job runs, on which machine, with which folder resources and which license. The Robot is the execution layer. It runs the workload on its host and reports back.

| Orchestrator | UiPath Robot |
| --- | --- |
| Machine objects and machine templates, including runtimes and slots | The execution environment on the host |
| Which process types and runtime types a job can use | Running the workload itself |
| Job dispatch, schedules, and triggers | Reporting status, logs, and traces back to Orchestrator |
| Folder resources such as assets, queues, storage buckets, and connections | Reaching the applications and systems the automation targets |
| License allocation and consumption | Declaring which process types and runtime types it supports |

## What the Robot runs

A workload is the kind of job the Robot executes. The Robot runs five:

* **RPA processes**, attended or unattended, in the foreground or the background.
* **Test cases**, run on Testing runtimes.
* **Agents**, low-code and coded.
* **Functions**, written in Python, JavaScript, or TypeScript.
* **API workflows**, built in Studio Web.

All five run in [Unified Runtime](https://docs.uipath.com/robot/standalone/2026.10/admin-guide/unified-runtime), the Robot's single runtime. Unified Runtime hands each job to the executor that workload needs: the .NET executor for RPA processes and test cases, and executor packages for agents, functions, and API workflows. For what each workload needs, refer to [Workloads](https://docs.uipath.com/robot/standalone/2026.10/admin-guide/workloads).

## Robot and automation

A robot is what runs the work. An automation is the work it runs: a process, a test, an agent, a function, or an API workflow, published to Orchestrator as a package. One robot runs many automations, one after another or side by side.

## How you pay for it

On a machine you manage, the Robot is paid for in one of three ways, depending on the workload:

* **User licenses** cover attended RPA: a person runs automations on their own machine.
* **Runtimes** cover unattended RPA processes and test cases, and can also cover functions and API workflows.
* **Units** cover agents, for each run, and functions and API workflows that don't run on a runtime.

For how these combine, refer to [Licensing the Robot](https://docs.uipath.com/robot/standalone/2026.10/admin-guide/licensing-robots-unattended).

## What a robot is not

Four terms sit close to "robot" and are often confused with it:

* A **runtime** is a license that lets one unattended job run at a time. It is not Unified Runtime, the software that runs the job.
* A **machine object** is Orchestrator's record of a host, with its runtimes and slots. It is not the physical machine.
* A **robot host** is the machine the Robot runs on. It is not the Robot.
* A **robot account** is the identity a job runs under. It is not the software that runs it.

For every term in this guide, refer to [Robot terminology](https://docs.uipath.com/robot/standalone/2026.10/admin-guide/robot-terminology).