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Bonita vs IBM Business Automation Workflow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 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)
29th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (17th), Process Automation (27th)
IBM Business Automation Wor...
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
13th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Bonita is 1.8%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 1.2%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Business Automation Workflow1.2%
Bonita1.8%
Other97.0%
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.
IsmailEl Dahshan - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Exact Holding NV
Automation has transformed financial workflows and has improved revenue tracking and compliance
Regarding Watsonx, I am uncertain whether it is fully complied and fully integrated with IBM Business Automation Workflow yet. Currently, we use some AI in Enterprise Content Management, particularly when searching documents. Archiving snapshots would be very beneficial. It would be good to reduce the administration effort required to archive snapshots, as this is a main issue with the product. I would also recommend that IBM engage with customers more deeply. Rather than sending URLs or documentation for customers to solve problems independently, the support team should be more involved in addressing the client's specific issues in a targeted manner, providing clear guidance on what actions need to be taken.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Compared to other products on the market, Bonita presents a pretty acceptable level of robustness."
"We use the on-premises deployment model and the Bonita Community Edition of the solution."
"Studio provides an opportunity to get early feedback from real users and quickly change the process and forms."
"The Connector implementation is a great addition to an out-of-box solution providing robust features for the developer to build hassle-free integrations."
"This product is very easy-to-use and user-friendly."
"We use the tool to validate and give access to the users. It is for access management."
"The user interface is easy to use."
"Its user-friendliness, along with the availability of comprehensive and clear documentation on the website is the most valuable."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow is a good tool provided you can use it cross-platform where there are a lot of features."
"No matter what somebody's technical experience level is, the tool can start adding value immediately."
"One of the most valuable features is the way that they are adapting to the market. Initially, it was doing only workflow. Now it has started bringing all the other components like rules within the workflow and then the integration with RPA."
"It performs the basic tasks that are required for the BBM solution as part of the overall integration with ECM or enterprise contact management."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is the fact it is highly configurable. We can do configurations very easily."
"It is the only product that includes capture content management and a process suite, as well as rules in RPA."
"The solution reduces the time to the resolution which is essential for businesses."
"It streamlines who is doing what, at what time, has increased productivity, and employees spend less time worrying about whether or not they need to work on something or checking the status of an ongoing process, so generally it has saved time and improved business processes."
 

Cons

"Bonita must add a rule engine. We are a 360-degree partner of Bonita. We can integrate with any kind of rule engine. We have a dashboard related to engine performance, but getting a configurable dashboard for the Buildium or transactional data will add value."
"The menus likely would be more intuitive if read in French. Things seem to be under strange headings at times."
"So Bonita is easy to use but it seems to be missing some powerful features that competing products have."
"The support is mandatory to access all features (Subscription), maybe they can have a different business model."
"Automation in vacation of a human resources replacement would be a good improvement in the product."
"At times Bonita BPM Studio crashes, intermittently."
"BPMN 2.0 notations are not all supported, would love to see them all coming in (e.g. complex gateway)."
"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."
"If the issue needs escalation to level two or level three, it can take time on a case-by-case basis."
"The initial setup is actually a really complicated process."
"There are several areas where improvements could be made including with engagement of OCR capabilities. We currently need to write a lot of customization code and I think if that could be reduced it would improve performance."
"From what I understand, in the next release they're actually going to combine all of this together as one integrated solution... If we could have one unified way to build a solution, that would really help."
"The development UI is sometimes a little slow."
"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."
"The solution's technical support could use improvement. The IBM BPM platform, at least from a cloud perspective, still requires using IBM support, which is not very responsive."
"Sometimes, we feel like we are not getting the full features of the content management capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Community Edition comes free of charge."
"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."
"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 of the solution is reasonable."
"The product's pricing is acceptable. Pricing is yearly."
"I believe this is a very good financial choice."
"We are using the Community Version, which can be used free of charge."
"You pay an annual fee and can have an unlimited number of processes and users."
"Licensing varies by use-case."
"IBM Business Automation Workflow has a flexible pricing mode, but the price is expensive. The price of the solution reflects the quality of the solution which is very high. The technical support is an additional cost."
"The product is expensive."
"There is still a relatively high total cost of ownership to actually implement, support, and stand up solutions."
"Our license is on a three-year term."
"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."
"While it can be quite costly, it offers significant benefits for users."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
7%
Construction Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
27%
Construction Company
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Healthcare Company
5%
 

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 Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise17
 

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 Business Automation Workflow?
The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.
What needs improvement with IBM Business Automation Workflow?
Regarding Watsonx, I am uncertain whether it is fully complied and fully integrated with IBM Business Automation Workflow yet. Currently, we use some AI in Enterprise Content Management, particular...
 

Also Known As

Bonita BPM
Business Automation Workflow
 

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.
Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about Bonita vs. IBM Business Automation Workflow and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.