Bonita vs IBM Business Automation Workflow comparison

Bonitasoft and IBM are both solutions in the Business Process Management (BPM) category. Bonitasoft is ranked #16 with an average rating of 8.3, while IBM is ranked #14 with an average rating of 7.4. Bonitasoft holds a 3.6% mindshare in BPM, compared to IBM’s 2.2% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Bonitasoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Bonita

Read 27 Bonita reviews

2,799 Views
2,048 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Read 26 IBM Business Automation Workflow reviews

2,206 Views
1,484 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Bonita

IBM Business Automation Wor...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Bonita and IBM Business Automation Workflow are both prominent in the business process management market. IBM has the upper hand due to its extensive feature set aimed at those seeking comprehensive solutions.

Features: Bonita provides an open-source platform offering flexibility in process design, third-party integrations, and a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface for quick workflow creation. IBM Business Automation Workflow delivers robust automation tools, advanced analytics, and ease of integration with existing IBM systems, ideal for innovative automation solutions.

Room for Improvement: Bonita could enhance its mobile portal features, improve rendering and performance, and expand upon its connectors to offer a wider range of enterprise integrations. IBM Business Automation Workflow would benefit from simplifying its deployment process, reducing the complexity of user interfaces to minimize disruptions, and providing better support for small businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Bonita offers a straightforward deployment model that is often praised for simplicity and strong troubleshooting support, making it suitable for smaller projects. IBM Business Automation Workflow requires a more involved deployment process; however, it is counterbalanced by extensive user support, which can be essential for large-scale operations.

Pricing and ROI: Bonita's lower setup cost offers a quick ROI, appealing to budget-conscious buyers. IBM Business Automation Workflow demands a higher initial investment, but this is justified through long-term value and comprehensive capabilities. The choice centers around budget considerations and the value placed on advanced automation features.

To learn more, read our detailed Bonita vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Bonita vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow

April 2025

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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)

16th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (14th), Process Automation (13th)

IBM Business Automation Wor...

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Bonita is 3.6%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.2%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Management (BPM)

Featured Reviews

Paparao Nadipineni

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.

Read full review

Ateeq Rehman

Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited

Customizable features empower seamless workflow automation

The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant. We have first-line support from IBM, so there are no issues. We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems. It provides many ways to integrate, and we are utilizing it effectively.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I find process management and user interface designing the most valuable features."

"Its user-friendliness, along with the availability of comprehensive and clear documentation on the website is the most valuable."

"The most valuable features of Bonita are the connectors, detailed documentation, and web applications. The documentation was useful because it is how I learned how to use it."

"Flexible and drag-and-drop type of UI is very valuable. The integrations are also very good. You can build workflows very quickly, which is my favorite activity. By using the GUI, you can build the entire mechanism, notifications, and all this kind of stuff."

"I really enjoy using the workflow management."

"Compared to other products on the market, Bonita presents a pretty acceptable level of robustness."

"Development of forms and flows."

"One of the most valuable features is you can create without coding, it is a low code platform."

More Bonita pros

"IBM Business Automation Workflow provides a seamless streamlined collaboration within the organizations."

"IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship."

"The business process modeling is the most valuable feature."

"The most valuable feature is automation, which is quite strong and we are quite happy with it."

"The solution's most valuable aspect is the fact it is highly configurable. We can do configurations very easily."

"No matter what somebody's technical experience level is, the tool can start adding value immediately. Even if that is just an analyst who doesn't have any technical background, they can use some of these no quote accelerators to get things from ideation to deployment in a matter of minutes."

"It has integrated UI and deployment models, and it has a deep set of consultant and service provider ecosystem features."

"The system is fully customizable, very resilient, and fault-tolerant."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pros

Cons

"There is a need for more components in the library and additional customization options for these components."

"The community edition has limited module functionality. If they could release some of the functionality that's available in the enterprise edition that would be helpful to those learning to use the solution."

"Automation in vacation of a human resources replacement would be a good improvement in the product."

"There could be an improvement in IoT connectivity."

"Installation could be made easier."

"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."

"The dashboard has limited features."

"I would like to improve the product's load balancing."

More Bonita cons

"Code management lacks merging capabilities. If parallel development requires merging, improvements in this area would be beneficial."

"While everything is integrated into one platform, I'd like guidelines on when and how to use ODM. This applies not only to implementation but also to automation processes. Additionally, proper instructions should be provided when installing on the cloud."

"The development UI is sometimes a little slow."

"I would like to see more streamlined install and provisioning; preferably containerized IBM BPM would be helpful."

"In terms of improvement, it could be less complex."

"Sometimes, we feel like we are not getting the full features of the content management capabilities."

"I would definitely like to see a unified interface between the BPM side of the house and the case side of the house. Something that just seems a bit more cohesive, because right now there is sort of a disconnect between the BPM and the case side of the house. That makes it a bit of a hard sell sometimes. That is definitely first and foremost on my wish list."

"Every client is moving to the cloud. We are still a little behind with IBM, but we are catching up from my point of view."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"The product is not cheaper, not costlier; it is reasonable. Bonita’s license is very flexible, with options to meet the needs of different customers and clients. Previously, it was less flexible, but now, many different licensing options are available."

"Price to service ratio with Bonita BPM is good."

"The product's pricing is acceptable. Pricing is yearly."

"I am using the free version of Bonita."

"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."

"You pay an annual fee and can have an unlimited number of processes and users."

More Bonita pricing and cost advice

"When you compare with Laserfiche and M-Files, IBM is expensive."

"Licensing varies by use-case."

"Nowadays, clients are looking at pricing as one of the major factors. For IBM products, they always think it is expensive for them. We are still educating our clients on the IBM FlexPoints licensing."

"It is on the expensive side, but it provides excellent supportability and an ecosystem that is proven to be a great fit for our organization."

"There is still a relatively high total cost of ownership to actually implement, support, and stand up solutions."

"The solution has saved us time."

"While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users."

"Our license is on a three-year term."

More IBM Business Automation Workflow pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

37%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Bonita?

The user interface is easy to use.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Bonita?

The Enterprise edition is very expensive.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Business Automation Workflow?

The most valuable feature of IBM Business Automation Workflow is cost management.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Business Automation Workflow?

The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 57% of the time

Bizagi vs Bonita

Compared 17% of the time

Flowable vs Bonita

Compared 8% of the time

IBM BPM vs Bonita

Compared 4% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs Bonita

Compared 3% of the time

More Bonita Competitors

IBM BPM vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Compared 30% of the time

Camunda vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Compared 29% of the time

Apache Airflow vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Compared 12% of the time

Appian vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Compared 6% of the time

IBM Case Foundation vs IBM Business Automation Workflow

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM Business Automation Workflow Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Bonita

May 2025

Download Bonita product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Business Automation Workflow

April 2025

Download IBM Business Automation Workflow product report

Also Known As

Bonita BPM

Business Automation Workflow

Overview

Bonitasoft helps innovative companies worldwide deliver better digital user experiences for customers and employees. The extensible and open Bonita application platform unleashes the full potential of multidisciplinary development teams to create Living Apps: applications that allow continuous and incremental improvement, connecting tailored user interfaces with reliable back-office operations.

Bonitasoft

IBM Business Automation Workflow combines business process management and case management capabilities in one workflow solution. It integrates the capabilities of business process and case management into a single workflow offering. It unites information, process, and users to provide a 360-degree view of work to drive more successful optimized business outcomes. IBM Business Automation Workflow on Cloud provides the same capabilities that are offered in the IBM Business Automation Workflow offering, all within a ready-to-use, cloud-based environment that is hosted in IBM Cloud data centers and managed by IBM.

IBM

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.

Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil

Buyer's Guide

Bonita vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow

April 2025

Free Report: Bonita vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow

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