Not a comparison against any specific competitor by name — a category comparison of the two approaches, and what each one actually trades off.
Runs without your computer on
A desktop bot or browser extension stops the moment your computer sleeps or the window closes. A cloud bot keeps running on its own server regardless of your machine's state.
No software install or antivirus flags
Desktop automation software is exactly the kind of thing antivirus tools are built to flag. A cloud bot has nothing running locally to flag.
Multi-account isolation (separate proxy/fingerprint)
Some desktop tools support multiple accounts but share one machine's IP and browser fingerprint across all of them unless you manually configure separate environments per account.
Survives a power outage or restart
If your computer restarts, a desktop bot needs to be relaunched by hand. A cloud bot's host infrastructure keeps the account running independently of any one device.
Free trial before paying
Varies a lot by product — some desktop tools are one-time purchases with no trial, others are fully free but less maintained.
Accessible from any device
A cloud dashboard works from a phone browser. A desktop bot only runs on the one machine it's installed on.
No local resource usage (CPU/RAM)
Desktop automation runs a real browser instance on your own machine the whole time it's active — a cloud bot's resource usage is entirely on the server side.
Full control over the account's own environment
Running a bot locally means you directly control the exact browser, extensions and network setup. A cloud provider abstracts that away in exchange for not having to manage it yourself.
"Varies" means this depends on the specific product — not every desktop bot (or every cloud bot) is the same. Verify against the exact tool you're considering.