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Bonita vs IBM BPM comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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

Bonita
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
28th
Ranking in Process Automation
28th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (17th)
IBM BPM
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
3rd
Ranking in Process Automation
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Bonita is 1.7%, down from 3.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM BPM is 4.1%, down from 6.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM BPM4.1%
Bonita1.7%
Other94.2%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Paparao Nadipineni - PeerSpot reviewer
Architect at Evoke
A simple and lightweight college course automation system with third-party integrations
The initial setup is straightforward and can be completed with the environment within an hour. First, take the latest from the git repository and check the git code to the monitor studio and a bar file, a deployable Bonita archive file. Then, take that process to the Bonita server, running at runtime on another server. Finally, deploy and enable it by selecting the proper organization.
Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
Automation platforms streamline processes and offer flexibility, but AI integration and version upgrades pose challenges
In the technology world, there is always room for improvement. Technologies evolve day by day, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and generative AI models. Although IBM BPM is a substantial product, adopting and integrating new technologies quickly is not easy due to the migration and upgrade paths involved. Every time new versions are released, we face business and production challenges that make rapid adoption challenging. The main concern bothering me today regarding IBM BPM is the integration of AI components.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is stable. Even the older versions are stable."
"I really enjoy using the workflow management tool."
"Our lead generation system involves both automated and human tasks. By centralizing the workflow to our internal Bonita BPM system, we have improved the conversion rate (leads to customers) and lowered the number of leads dropped."
"Process automation with Bonita BPM is really easy."
"Its user-friendliness, along with the availability of comprehensive and clear documentation on the website is the most valuable."
"One of the most valuable features is you can create without coding, it is a low code platform."
"In general, Bonita is a very good solution."
"Of the three BPM vendors I evaluated, Bonita was the best in creating forms, ease of customization of forms, and versatility of supported platforms, and it is the only BPM platform that I've seen so far that allows for versioning of artifacts."
"The current system is definitely stable and the database compatibility is very reliable."
"IBM BPM is easy to deploy."
"It is being able to see the process, and understanding what the process is versus having to bury it in code somewhere."
"I rate the technical support a ten out of ten...The product's installation was easy."
"It helps maintain, and in many instances, lower costs, as well as to maintain those costs, keeping them stable."
"Helped our organization move from paper work to automated work."
"This solution has many valuable features, including: Timer-based escalations and SLA implementation, team filter service to identify and assign to an appropriate set of users based on branch, location, product, scheme, loan amount approval limit, etc., a process portal that provides a single place to access the tasks for different processes, lazy loading of sections, state-of-the-art controls in the user interface, easy and quick implementation of web services, easy and quick implementation of Java integrations, and easy and quick implementation of connecting or calling the database using in-built integration services."
"Our user base seems to be really happy with it."
 

Cons

"The initial setup is not easy compared to other products."
"So Bonita is easy to use but it seems to be missing some powerful features that competing products have."
"It would be nice to have a wizard to help walk through the development process and create a backbone."
"I would like to improve the product's load balancing."
"Bonita can improve by offering more flexibility."
"I should be able to park the tasks that are within a process in a kind of container, and dynamically, a super admin should be able to connect these processes. This kind of feature might be helpful."
"We are struggling a bit with integrations."
"The main issue with Bonita is that the workspace crashes sometimes."
"Performance on large scale requirements could also be improved."
"One of the things that we are looking at is cognitive learning. IBM has another product called IBM RPA, I think, which is doing some of that stuff. We would like to see more of that with respect to cognitive learning and AI put back into the process engine to help."
"We place a lot of importance on security and one area they could make improvements in is to definitely increase the vulnerability and security patches to make it more robust and stable."
"There needs to be better documentation for IBM BPM in a central place; there is not any standard documentation for each component available and it has been a barrier for developers."
"The solution can improve integration with SAP, CRM, and Salesforce, which is not capital-intensive."
"IBM BPM's UI is an area with shortcomings where improvements are required."
"One area for improvement is the scripting languages used within the solution. They could integrate other languages such as GoMango or Python than JavaScript."
"The people working on the front desk are having some problem with managing the documentation. For instance, they get a picture, and if the picture comes rotated 90 degrees, together with a picture that is not rotated, they have some problems dealing with that, technically. There are some minor aspects that on the usability side that are still lacking. That has to do with FileNet, too, I'm talking about the suite together."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe this is a very good financial choice."
"The Enterprise edition is very expensive."
"The Community Edition comes free of charge."
"We are using the Community Version, which can be used free of charge."
"Licensing cost for the Enterprise edition comes out to be around 40,000 a year. There is also a Community edition, which is free. Some customers can go for the Community edition, but some of them require the Enterprise edition. Big companies go for the Enterprise edition, which comes with a lot of additional features such as a mobile app."
"The price is fair for what we are using the solution for."
"Price to service ratio with Bonita BPM is good."
"have installed the image of Bonita BPM on Amazon AWS and there is just one option to use and pay for."
"It's expensive. All software is always extremely high. The manufacturing cost that we have compared to the selling cost, it's not like you're building a house or building a car. But putting that aside, considering that it's expensive, it's a lot of money. If you compare it with some of the other alternatives in the market, it's a similar price. For instance, if you compare it with Pegasystems, it's a similar price."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven out of ten."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"IBM BPM is expensive, so most large companies opt for IBM based on their licensing options."
"​We have definitely seen ROI. When we first kicked it off, we said it had to pay for itself within three years, and it did."
"Starting out with Express can also help reduce the cost for adopting the product."
"The product is expensive considering the hardware and software costs."
"Due to its extensive features and capabilities, the product pricing is more aligned with medium—to large enterprises."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Construction Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise72
 

Questions from the Community

How does Bonita compare with Camunda Platform?
One of the things we like best about Bonita is that you can create without coding - it is a low-code platform. With Bonita, you can build the entire mechanism using the GUI, it’s that simple. You c...
Which is better, IBM BPM or IBM Business Automation Workflow?
We researched both IBM solutions and in the end, we chose Business Automation Workflow. IBM BPM has a good user interface and the BPM coach is a helpful tool. The API is very useful in providing en...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM BPM?
Once it is installed, maintaining it is not a big issue.
What needs improvement with IBM BPM?
There are negative aspects, such as IBM BPM being quite heavy and not lightweight, and the licensing cost is higher, which has caused some companies to shift away. IBM BPM is complicated to install...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Bonita BPM
WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

With more than 1000 customers in 75 countries, and its ecosystem of more than 120,000 members, Bonitasoft is the largest provider of open-source Business Process Management, Low-code and Digital Transformation software worldwide.
Barclays, EmeriCon, Banca Popolare di Milano, CST Consulting, KeyBank, KPMG, Prolifics, Sandhata Technologies Ltd., State of Alaska, Humana S.A., Saperion, esciris, Banco Espirito Santo
Find out what your peers are saying about Bonita vs. IBM BPM and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,806 professionals have used our research since 2012.