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Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms vs Appian comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Adobe Experience Manager (A...
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Customer Communications Management (CCM) (6th)
Appian
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (6th), Process Automation (6th), Rapid Application Development Software (14th), Low-Code Development Platforms (10th), Process Mining (6th), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms and Appian aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms is designed for Customer Communications Management (CCM) and holds a mindshare of 5.0%, down 5.4% compared to last year.
Appian, on the other hand, focuses on Business Process Management (BPM), holds 3.4% mindshare, down 5.3% since last year.
Customer Communications Management (CCM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms5.0%
Quadient Inspire20.5%
OpenText Communications19.5%
Other55.0%
Customer Communications Management (CCM)
Business Process Management (BPM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Appian3.4%
Camunda7.2%
IBM BPM4.3%
Other85.1%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Q&A Highlights

AS
Community Manager at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)
Aug 29, 2014
 

Featured Reviews

it_user692313 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Partner and AEM Architect at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Its flexibility and customization ability. Ease of initial setup and complete set of features to support digital marketing initiatives.
Start small and plan your first set of objectives clearly, leaving all the “nice-to-haves” for a later phase. Starting this way will help companies get a sample of the benefits, and get familiar with the tool in general. After the first phase, they may find things that they thought they wanted are not really required or can be achieved in a better, more efficient way in the AEM world. Another useful suggestion is to avoid trying to recreate your current solution using AEM; rather, try to look for new and different ways to achieve the same results that take advantage of AEM’s features.
SB
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
Automated remittance workflows have boosted speed and accuracy but still need geo-tagging improvements
Remittance is a crucial part of my integral operation, so any disruption would majorly impact our clients. After switching to Appian, we never faced any disruption as it is reliable and we can generate data at any point in time, quite faster than other tools in my personal opinion. Regulators can ask for data from us at any time, and with Appian, we download data from our Appian tools to share it with them whenever they ask. I would share a real-life example: a customer's transaction processed more than a year ago. Suddenly the customer came back asking for all the details. In our previous tool, it was quite difficult to generate transaction details from over a year ago; however, while using Appian, we can pull up data using different key search fields, such as a customer's cell phone number, remittance tracking number, or MT103 reference number. We shared it with the customer instantly, and the customer was surprised we could provide all the details in such a short time. It added reputational value for our organization, thanks to Appian.You have pointed out two major things: time-saving and reduction of error, which are key points while processing remittance. Previously, while using another tool, it was quite time-consuming to process remittance, but after switching to Appian, it can extract data from MT103, eliminating the need for manual data entry. The process has become fully automated. Previously we could process only five to ten transactions within an hour, but now, after switching to Appian, we can process about 100 transactions in an hour, making it 10 times faster. In terms of error detection, since Appian extracts data from MT103, the extraction rate is quite good, and the error rate is negligible, lower than 0.001%. We can share accurate, error-free data with the regulator, which is essential for us. Appian benefits us significantly. After receiving an MT103, we check what the remitter is, the amount, if it is under threshold for processing, and if it is from a high-priority remitter or client. Since Appian extracts data from MT103 messages and identifies top-level clients from the database, it can notify us to process their transactions with priority. Due to automated data extraction, there are fewer instances of error. In our previous tool, we reported regulatory data to the central bank manually and often received complaints about invalid purpose codes due to manual data entry. Appian handles this automatically, and after switching, our error rate has dropped significantly, resulting in positive feedback from the Central Bank of Bangladesh regarding our reduced error rates. This has greatly enhanced our organization's reputation. Appian is fully on-premises, and we have our own system.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"LiveCycle has a good user interface and has developed an easy way to create fillable .pdf forms."
"All these features help companies create powerful web applications that can then be customized and maintained by marketers with little involvement from IT."
"The interface is a good feature because it's simple to use and you can quickly develop the users' interface."
"The most beneficial aspect of Appian is its data management capabilities and the process engine in general."
"The most valuable features of Appian are workflow management and the ease with which you can build the UI."
"If you are looking for a fast, rapid rollout of applications and you have multiple medium-scale and small-scale processes that you want to roll out at a faster pace, with ease of maintenance, then Appian is a good product to go with."
"Appian is a stable product and works very well."
"SAIL (Self-Assembling Interface Layer), a scripting language provided by Appian. It is the equivalent of JS and CSS. It allows creation of complex UIs which are also responsive. With SAIL, we have a single language for both the UI logic and its appearance. UI components can be built as reusable components and used in multiple UI interfaces."
"This is the most complete solution of its kind."
"Form building capabilities and well thought out process modelling are key points to this product."
 

Cons

"We have found occasional issues with stability but those were, in general, caused either by custom developed code or issues in the implemented architecture."
"Help menu is a bit difficult to navigate."
"Something I would like to see improved is an SQL database connection."
"You can't really test the software properly without actually buying the license first."
"The initial setup is fine once you get your head around it, but there is a steep learning curve."
"The user interface is good, but it's not perfect. They should provide more flexibility so designers can create a more picture-perfect device."
"The product’s pricing could be improved from the developers' perspective."
"On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate Appian a 7.5."
"Appian could be improved by making it a strict, no-code platform with free-built process packs."
"It has it's own built-in UI components and doesn't provide much flexibility to customize or extend those components."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The solution offers a monthly subscription model. That's what we use. I recall it being about $90 a month. They do have different tiers."
"The license is a bit expensive and the pricing model is sometimes confusing for new users or business users. It is difficult for them to know what volume of usage they will have to be able to purchase the best-suited license at the beginning."
"The price is high."
"It's good value for the price."
"When it comes to pricing, it's definitely not affordable. However, it really depends on the requirements that you're seeking from the solution."
"The cost depends on the number of users, although I recommend taking an unlimited license."
"I think that if somebody is really serious at looking at business value, then by all means, the product is well worth the value. You get representative business value for the price that you pay for the product, and for the implementation of the product."
"The tool is quite costly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise46
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
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

Adobe LiveCycle
Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

State of Illinois, Department of Human Services
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 Quadient, Gupshup, OpenText and others in Customer Communications Management (CCM). Updated: October 2026.
915,325 professionals have used our research since 2012.