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AWS Step Functions vs ESP Workload Automation Intelligence comparison

 

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

AWS Step Functions
Ranking in Workload Automation
9th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (11th)
ESP Workload Automation Int...
Ranking in Workload Automation
22nd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Workload Automation category, the mindshare of AWS Step Functions is 1.6%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ESP Workload Automation Intelligence is 2.0%, down from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Workload Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
AWS Step Functions1.6%
ESP Workload Automation Intelligence2.0%
Other96.4%
Workload Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Carlos Alberto Marangon - PeerSpot reviewer
Automate complex workflows with seamless AWS integration
Step Functions provide seamless integration with AWS services, which enhances the speed of application development. The JSON app launched recently allows us to define data execution more easily. The Standard Workflows feature includes error replay capabilities, which are crucial for efficient error management. The Amazon State Language (ASL) in JSON format facilitates workflow automation and accelerates the deployment of Step Functions.
reviewer1609584 - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable, connects with everything, and has great technical support
The new version is going to have more web services where you could string together various web services so that you can create a workflow across multiple web services, which I don't think is there today. It's not easy to do today. You have to use other tools to accomplish things. However, if the functionality exists, we haven't tested that out yet.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"What I like the most about Amazon Step Functions is how easy it is to use."
"The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky."
"AWS Step Functions was stable, and there were no problems that I can recall."
"If you want to create a workflow to call one Lambda function after another, and other serverless features, it could save you a ton of money. That's for sure."
"AWS Step Functions offers advanced workflows that save time and enhance efficiency by reducing delays and ensuring consistent orchestration among various services."
"The solution is stable...The solution is easy to scale."
"The JSON app launched recently allows us to define data execution more easily."
"It's Amazon, it's scalable."
"The solution can scale."
 

Cons

"It is difficult to suggest improvements at the moment."
"The solution's data size limit can be improved."
"The interface can sometimes feel limited, as we're unable to see what AWS is running behind the scenes."
"It wasn't easy to understand the licensing model. It's like if you use just a little, it's cheap, but it becomes more expensive as you use more. It's like a hook that ties you inside the Amazon ecosystem. So, it creates a dependency."
"Increasing the payload size would be beneficial."
"If AWS Step Functions keeps adding more integrations, it would be even better."
"The solution's pricing could be cheaper. It is cheaper than Airflow."
"One area for improvement is the payload size. Currently, I sometimes have to save data as a file since I cannot pass it within Step Functions, necessitating caching in processes."
"The new version is going to have more web services where you could string together various web services so that you can create a workflow across multiple web services, which I don't think is there today."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
28%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
43%
Retailer
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise5
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Step Functions?
The integration capability is easy, whereas building state machines is tricky.
What is your primary use case for Amazon Step Functions?
My customer's usual use cases for AWS Step Functions that I've been working with include orchestration, flows, diagram creation, and creating a flow for multiple Glue jobs to run a single pipeline.
What advice do you have for others considering Amazon Step Functions?
I use the Visual Workflow Editor feature of AWS Step Functions. I mainly work through code and then improve it through the visual aspect. There are two ways to do orchestration: through code and th...
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Also Known As

Amazon Step Functions, Step Functions
CA Workload Automation ESP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Alpha Apps, The Guardian, SGK, Bigfinite
Sandvik, DHL, Landmark Group, SAIF
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC, Broadcom, JAMS Software and others in Workload Automation. Updated: October 2025.
870,697 professionals have used our research since 2012.