Public service automation and no-stop government are currently two intensively discussed concepts in digital government literature. Although their definitions point to different meanings, some scholars equate the terms and use them interchangeably. Since a clear shared understanding is crucial for scholars to produce reliable research, this conceptual paper aims to shed light on the two terms and support conceptual clarity. We investigate the meaning and relationship between the concepts of public service automation and no-stop government in digital government research. We review the meaning of each concept and discuss the relationship between the two. Thereby, we show that both terms refer to the substitution of a human in public service delivery, but differences lie in the arrangement of the substitution. In automation, a machine substitutes a public official. In contrast, in no-stop government the public organization substitutes the client. We illustrate the relationship between the two concepts using a three-sided model, showing how the use of digital technologies can create an overlap between the two concepts. This conceptual understanding can be used to guide future research and theorizing in the digital government domain.