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Adobe ColdFusion vs Appian comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.5
Adobe ColdFusion accelerates development speed, enhances security, improves productivity, integrates easily, and boosts ROI with faster project completion.
Sentiment score
7.2
Appian enhances profits, reduces process time, achieving break-even in year one, with widespread adoption and demonstrated ROI.
Appian is very efficient, allowing us to build a lot of applications within a financial year, making it cost-effective.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Adobe ColdFusion customer service excels with responsive, knowledgeable teams providing timely assistance and effective technical guidance.
Sentiment score
7.4
Appian's customer support is praised for efficiency and personalization but faces challenges with response times and complex issues.
Their customer service is responsive, and the team is very prompt for support.
The technical support is generally good.
Appian has a community where I can put my questions.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Adobe ColdFusion efficiently handles high traffic and complex tasks, ideal for large-scale applications with robust customization options.
Sentiment score
7.4
Appian is scalable with expert setup, handling cloud configurations well, though hardware and complexity issues may impact performance.
Appian is scalable, but it depends on how you build your applications.
Initially, without much coding, I can easily handle five thousand records.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Adobe ColdFusion is a reliable and stable platform, ideal for web application development with consistent performance under heavy workloads.
Sentiment score
7.9
Appian is highly stable with 99.99% uptime; issues are mostly linked to development choices, while users commend its reliability.
It depends on how it has been designed and how it has been configured.
 

Room For Improvement

Adobe ColdFusion needs performance, documentation, stability, cost, security, and integration improvements to meet modern industry standards.
Appian users want better UI customization, mobile flexibility, enterprise features, and integration, with improved scalability and reduced licensing costs.
I would like to see more enhancement in the user interface to allow more freedom in designing the sites and pages.
If there is a very complex process that includes a lot of data transitioning and memory-centric processes, it consumes a lot of memory.
 

Setup Cost

<p>Adobe ColdFusion pricing starts at $2,499 for Standard and $9,499 for Enterprise, varying with features, support, and licensing.</p>
Appian offers high-value, cost-effective cloud solutions with flexible licensing, competitive in specific regions, and affordable workload-based options.
On the pricier side, both Appian and Pega are enterprise-level solutions, placing them on the slightly higher side.
The pricing of Appian is based on the number of users and generally ranges from 70 to 100 USD per user per month.
 

Valuable Features

Adobe ColdFusion excels in rapid development, database integration, and security, with high performance and comprehensive documentation praised by users.
Appian offers low-code development, intuitive interfaces, and BPMN 2.0 compliance, enhancing application deployment, workflow management, and business process automation.
The zero-code integration feature is remarkable, allowing for ease of data transfer and workflow enhancement.
It is easy for me to define the process and create configurable workflows.
I can create tables, perform database-related activities, and create multiple tables.
 

Categories and Ranking

Adobe ColdFusion
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
23rd
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
22nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Appian
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
5th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (7th), Process Automation (6th), Process Mining (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Adobe ColdFusion is 0.5%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Appian is 9.1%, up from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

RakibulIslam - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-setup tool that can be used to automate repetitive tasks
Currently, they have some legacy connectors with different tools, and they are creating native connectors. For example, AEM was only using HTTP or SMTP connections. However, now, AEM also has a native connector. In Adobe Workfront, if we use those connectors, we can push data through them. Previously there were no in-built connectors for Power BI and the dashboard. Now I see that connectors are there in Adobe ColdFusion though I have not used them yet. Previously when I was trying to create some data, it was very difficult to get real-time data from Workfront. I would like to say that it could be an area of improvement if it was possible to get real-time data, and we can create some connectors like the ones on Power BI or Tableau. Now we have the option with which we can schedule a time, like one or two hours, five times a day, allowing us to push the data with Power BI or an external tool. However, with real-time data, it's really difficult now. For ColdFusion, since I do not have that much expertise, I would say that whatever issue I face, I will resolve them. For that, I would like to get real-time data using the tool. Hence, I would like to get a real-time dashboard all the time.
Srimanta Pandit - PeerSpot reviewer
Flexible, improves operational efficiency, and reduces the time taken to complete processes
The solution’s turnaround time for development is better compared to other tools. The solution enables fast development. The traceability of the processor is good. There is much more governance and regulations on the processers. The tool reduces the time of the processes by 30% to 40%. The solution’s low-code aspect has greatly impacted the development and deployment speed. One of the major reasons we are using the product is that we can reuse the modules. The developers can reuse all the modules. It enables us to make subsequent developments in less time. The prebuilt modules can be deployed within two to three weeks. The tool is very flexible. Compared to other platforms, the Appian product team was agile in quickly customizing things for us.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
22%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
27%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Adobe ColdFusion?
I would like to say that its best feature is its different kinds of connectors. We have lots of in-built connectors.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Adobe ColdFusion?
The tool's pricing is high but it's totally worth the investment.
What needs improvement with Adobe ColdFusion?
Currently, they have some legacy connectors with different tools, and they are creating native connectors. For example, AEM was only using HTTP or SMTP connections. However, now, AEM also has a nat...
Which do you prefer - Appian or Camunda Platform?
Appian is fast when building simple to medium solutions. This solution offers simple drag-and-drop functionality with easy plug-and-play options. The initial setup was seamless and very easy to imp...
Is Appian a suitable solution for beginners who have no additional preparation?
Appian is actually pretty big on educating its users, including with courses that reward you with certifications. There is a whole section on their company’s website where you can check out the edu...
Is it easy to set up Appian or did you have to resort to professional help?
We had some issues when we were setting up Appian. It was quite surprising, since this is a low-code tool which, in its essence, means it is meant for business users and inexperienced beginners. So...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Inspirus, Promisan, Webapper, Giva, Frontech Solutions Inc, Digicon, ITX Corp, Wall Street Magnate, SimulTV, ten24 Digital Solutions, Prospective Medical Data International Inc, Alcatel-Lucent
Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee
Find out what your peers are saying about Adobe ColdFusion vs. Appian and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.