Is macOS Automator being discontinued?

Apple has deprecated it in favour of Shortcuts. Automator still works on current macOS but receives no updates, and Apple's guidance is to migrate workflows to Shortcuts.

What is the best replacement for Automator?

Apple's official answer is Shortcuts. For scripted macros, Keyboard Maestro is the established power user choice. For tasks you would rather describe than build, Juno works in any app because it reads the screen instead of calling published actions.

Can Juno do everything Automator can?

Most of it, plus a great deal Automator cannot, because Juno is not limited to apps that shipped actions. The exception is unattended triggers: Automator's folder actions and scheduled workflows fire on their own, and Juno runs when you ask it to.

Mac automation

Juno vs Automator

Automator taught a generation that a Mac could do their work for them. Apple has moved on, and describing the outcome beats dragging the process.

Automator shipped with Mac OS X Tiger in 2005 and gave people a visual way to chain actions into workflows. You dragged blocks, connected them, and ran the result. For two decades it was the free automation tool on macOS.

Apple has since deprecated it in favour of Shortcuts. It still runs, but it is not getting updates, and the direction of travel is clear.

Juno is a different idea entirely. There are no blocks to drag. You describe what you want in plain English and it reads the screen, then clicks and types its way through it across whatever apps the job touches.

Side by side

	Juno	Automator
Still developed by Apple	Third party, actively developed	Deprecated, replaced by Shortcuts
Plain language input	Yes, typed or spoken	No
Works in any app	Yes, it reads the screen	Only apps with Automator actions
Situations it has not seen	Works them out	Follows the workflow exactly
Setup	Describe the task	Drag and connect action blocks
Voice	Built in, wake word or key	No
Folder actions and triggers	By command, not on a trigger	Built in, and reliable
AppleScript	Through shell commands	Native
Runs offline	Dictation yes, agent no	Yes, entirely
Price	Free, you bring the model	Free, built into macOS

Still developed by Apple
Juno
Third party, actively developed
Automator
Deprecated, replaced by Shortcuts
Plain language input
Juno
Yes, typed or spoken
Automator
No
Works in any app
Juno
Yes, it reads the screen
Automator
Only apps with Automator actions
Situations it has not seen
Juno
Works them out
Automator
Follows the workflow exactly
Setup
Juno
Describe the task
Automator
Drag and connect action blocks
Voice
Juno
Built in, wake word or key
Automator
No
Folder actions and triggers
Juno
By command, not on a trigger
Automator
Built in, and reliable
AppleScript
Juno
Through shell commands
Automator
Native
Runs offline
Juno
Dictation yes, agent no
Automator
Yes, entirely
Price
Juno
Free, you bring the model
Automator
Free, built into macOS

Where Automator is the better pick

Workflows you already built that still run. There is no reason to rebuild them.
Simple folder actions, like auto renaming files or converting images on drop.
Fully offline with no network and no per task cost.
System level triggers that fire on their own schedule rather than when you ask.

Where Juno pulls ahead

Tasks too tangled to express as a workflow at all.
Work spanning email, browser and spreadsheet in one go.
Apps that never shipped Automator actions, which by now is nearly all of them.
When you want to say what you need rather than build how to do it.
Anything where the right next step depends on what is actually on screen.

If you are moving off Automator

There are three realistic paths. Shortcuts is Apple's official replacement and the right answer for simple system level automation, as long as your apps support the framework. Keyboard Maestro is the power user option: a steep learning curve, and extremely capable once you are up it. Juno is the one that needs no workflow at all, because it reads the screen rather than calling published actions, which is what makes it work with software that never supported Automator in the first place.

Automator's legacy

Automator introduced millions of people to the idea that their computer could do work for them, and that idea outlived the app. What has changed is where the effort goes. You used to build the process by hand and the machine executed it. Now you describe the outcome and the machine works the process out.

Questions people ask

Is macOS Automator being discontinued?: Apple has deprecated it in favour of Shortcuts. Automator still works on current macOS but receives no updates, and Apple's guidance is to migrate workflows to Shortcuts.
What is the best replacement for Automator?: Apple's official answer is Shortcuts. For scripted macros, Keyboard Maestro is the established power user choice. For tasks you would rather describe than build, Juno works in any app because it reads the screen instead of calling published actions.
Can Juno do everything Automator can?: Most of it, plus a great deal Automator cannot, because Juno is not limited to apps that shipped actions. The exception is unattended triggers: Automator's folder actions and scheduled workflows fire on their own, and Juno runs when you ask it to.

Free, and the source is public. macOS 14+.

Download Juno