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Appian vs Salesforce Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 19, 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
7.5
Appian enhances digital transformation with quick ROI, boosting efficiency, profits, and resource optimization, achieving tangible benefits within a year.
Sentiment score
7.0
Salesforce Platform improves efficiency and revenue, reduces silos, and boosts productivity, with ROI evident through increased revenue and time savings.
Using Appian is saving us five full-time employees, which is significant since we currently have only four team members.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
They see return on investment in terms of cost savings, time savings, more efficient processes, and more efficient employees.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
Appian is very efficient, allowing us to build a lot of applications within a financial year, making it cost-effective.
Technology Leader of Appian at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Salesforce saved about 40% to 50% of my time by allowing me to manage and maintain client data and account progress.
Independent Business Consultant at Freelance
In terms of productivity, my ROI is definitely at an eight or nine out of a scale of one to ten.
Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Appian's customer service is praised for responsiveness and expertise, though complex issues occasionally face delays and costs concern some users.
Sentiment score
6.8
Salesforce support is praised for responsiveness and collaboration but mixed ratings exist due to some preferring internal resources.
I would give Appian's customer support 10 out of 10 due to their next-level support.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
Their customer service is responsive, and the team is very prompt for support.
Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems
The technical support for Appian rates as 10 out of 10 because they have a great support team.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Appian effectively scales for large operations, praised for adaptability and integration, though requires careful architecture and cloud deployment caution.
Sentiment score
7.7
Salesforce Platform offers scalable solutions for all company sizes, although customization is key to managing its feature-rich environment.
On a scale of one to 10, Appian rates as a nine for scalability.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
Our volume has increased by 20% in the two years since using Appian, and it can handle the increased volume effectively.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
Initially, without much coding, I can easily handle five thousand records.
Associate Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Salesforce's scalability was not a problem.
Independent Business Consultant at Freelance
Salesforce Platform is absolutely scalable for us.
Director at GenRocket
We are using it globally in thirty countries.
Sr. Vice President and Business Head at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Appian is stable and reliable, with minor latency issues often tied to external factors or poor design.
Sentiment score
8.1
Salesforce Platform is stable and reliable, with minimal issues, maintaining high performance and receiving strong user ratings for stability.
We have tested Appian during peak usage and off-peak times, and we have not experienced any issues such as lagging or system disruptions.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
It depends on how it has been designed and how it has been configured.
Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems
The stability of Appian would rate as nine, as it's a stable environment.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
On occasion, we had to log in and out frequently, open tickets with our IT team for account reconfiguration, or request permissions to access the system.
Independent Business Consultant at Freelance
We have never had any problems with it.
Sr. Vice President and Business Head at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
It is definitely very stable.
Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies
 

Room For Improvement

Appian users seek enhanced UI flexibility, seamless DevOps integration, better mobile features, improved error handling, and cost-effective pricing.
Salesforce faces integration, cost, and customization challenges with inadequate reporting, UI issues, costly storage, and limited search functionality.
It has room to improve for use cases where the users are public facing, where anonymous users could come to a site and run a business workflow or interact with some data.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
Appian can be improved by adding a geo-location tagging feature, which would be really helpful for identifying remitter addresses.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
If there is a very complex process that includes a lot of data transitioning and memory-centric processes, it consumes a lot of memory.
Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems
Salesforce could improve by adding more capabilities to the dashboard, such as additional fields for more filters and more control over what I would like to see.
Account Manager at Red Hat
Salesforce could improve by offering AI features or functionalities to help business decision-makers analyze business history, suggest forward strategies, and participate in events.
Independent Business Consultant at Freelance
Using AI extensively to make the platform easier to use would also be beneficial.
Director at GenRocket
 

Setup Cost

Appian offers flexible pricing with valuable solutions, costing up to $200,000 annually, yet users seek more competitive rates.
Salesforce Platform is costly but valued for features; pricing varies, necessitating careful evaluation to manage expenses effectively.
Appian provides value for money, is easy to use, has a straightforward setup procedure, and offers great support from the Appian team.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
On the pricier side, both Appian and Pega are enterprise-level solutions, placing them on the slightly higher side.
Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems
The pricing of Appian is based on the number of users and generally ranges from 70 to 100 USD per user per month.
Technology Leader of Appian at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Salesforce Platform may be on the expensive side.
Director at GenRocket
It is on the expensive side, unfortunately.
Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies
 

Valuable Features

Appian excels in rapid, low-code development, fostering collaboration, agile workflows, and AI-driven innovation with robust support and scalability.
Salesforce Platform excels in scalability, customization, integration, analytics, and low-code development, enhancing productivity with automation and real-time insights.
The zero-code integration feature is remarkable, allowing for ease of data transfer and workflow enhancement.
Technology Leader of Appian at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Appian is aiding in leveraging AI technologies in multiple ways: one way is for developers, as they make development efficient and quick by enabling developer co-pilots across various phases of the application, which helps design Appian quickly and provides suggestions along the way.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
After switching to Appian, it can extract data from MT103, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
This integration allows us to manage customers from all aspects in one place, providing a clear view.
Senior Acount Executive for Financial Services at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
The biggest benefit is seamless usage in terms of an easy-to-use interface and GUI that makes it easy to interact with the entire platform and generate reports effortlessly.
Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies
Salesforce offers control over the opportunities to see where we are and gives me high-level dashboards on each opportunity stage.
Account Manager at Red Hat
 

Categories and Ranking

Appian
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
10th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
5th
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (8th), Process Automation (7th), Process Mining (6th)
Salesforce Platform
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
6th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
6th
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (9th), Mobile Development Platforms (3rd), No-Code Development Platforms (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Appian is 5.8%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Salesforce Platform is 4.8%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Salesforce Platform4.8%
Appian5.8%
Other89.4%
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Shad Bhowmik - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Sharmila-K - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Transformations and Infrastructure Delivery Manager at a university with 10,001+ employees
Integration processes improve but scripting requires effort
The updates, pricing part, and upgrades to the products are some of the most valuable features with the Salesforce Platform.With the Salesforce Platform, I have minimal experience of approximately one and a half years. I get minimal exposure, once every three or two months, especially during holidays. The Salesforce Platform is connected to the cloud, which is beneficial. When it is integrated with different tools such as Microsoft BI Analytics, it helps us analyze much better. Currently, the integration itself is tricky as we have to use extensive scripting. It should be more of a plug-in and use solution. That is the only issue I see, but otherwise, I appreciate it.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise42
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business39
Midsize Enterprise26
Large Enterprise39
 

Questions from the Community

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...
How would you choose between Microsoft PowerApps and Salesforce Platform?
I think it depends on your use case. If your organization uses Microsoft Enterprise products, PowerApps will work better in your environment. Similarly, if you have a Salesforce integration in pla...
How does Salesforce Platform compare with Azure?
Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform is not easy or intuitive to deploy. The difficulty will be impacted by the type of application that you are trying to use the platform to build. Organizations tha...
Do you build applications using low-code or pro-code builders on Salesforce Platform?
At my organization, we have only used Salesforce Platform's low-code builder. The reason for this is not because we do not like the pro-code option, but because we do not see the need of using it, ...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
Salesforce1, Force.com, Salesforce App Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee
ADP
Find out what your peers are saying about Appian vs. Salesforce Platform and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,768 professionals have used our research since 2012.