Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 27, 2024
 

Categories and Ranking

Camunda
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
1st
Ranking in Process Automation
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Number of Reviews
73
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (2nd)
IBM BPM
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
5th
Ranking in Process Automation
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (9th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2024, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Camunda is 23.1%, up from 21.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM BPM is 8.8%, up from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM)
Unique Categories:
Business Process Design
12.8%
Process Automation
32.6%
Application Infrastructure
3.9%
 

Q&A Highlights

 

Featured Reviews

SK
Jul 6, 2023
Fully API-based, enabling easy integration and customization but lacks sufficient built-in dashboards and reports for operations and monitoring
We use the Camunda platform for workflow management The architecture is good because it's a headless workflow. I can create my own frontend, and it's fully API-based. Our approach is more flexible, so I can use the Camunda API to generate my own workflow blueprint.  Additionally, it's cloud-ready…
VamsiKrishna2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sep 23, 2021
Processes are simple to learn, install, and create
We use IBM BPM for banking purposes and other banking service-related queries IBM BPM is easy when it comes to creating processes.  It has an elaborated way to explore the IBM BPM processes. Anyone can easily learn how to use IBM BPM, within a period of a month or two. The integration could be…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The Camunda BPMN Platform is very flexible and gives several options to deploy and scale it."
"The headless nature of the Camunda Platform is something that has helped us to build our own logic and platforms on it."
"The ease with which I can define workflows is most valuable. The latest updates and flexibility that it provides around a task activity are interesting for me."
"It has an open BPM"
"Camunda seems to have a lot of traction, maturity, and stability. It also matches the need for agile development."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to share the logic within the rules engine with the business, so you can put it up for everybody to read."
"The most valuable feature is the scheduling."
"We have been able to save costs using this solution compared to the product we used before."
"IBM BPM is equipped with all the functionalities which are needed for building BPM enterprise-level applications."
"The reach with Integration Adapters and support for adding custom Java code are valuable features."
"It makes the company business processes work more efficiently."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy. I would give it a nine out of ten."
"Everything is coupled together and comes as one solution."
"There is information during the process that the analyst will look at, their procedures. We created a part of the application such that the business can change those procedures as needed, on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. As the reps go through the process, they don't necessarily know it's changing, they just know they have to refer to some documentation, and the business can keep that up to date."
"The solution has helped us automate business processes."
"We have automated processes with IBM BPM and DocuSign. Its valuable features include low-code, timer, etc. It makes it simple to implement the products. We generate reports using the solution."
 

Cons

"Camunda could be improved by making it easier to modify a process. You can program it to follow a process, but it is difficult to modify the process when the application is in use. It could also be improved by making it easier to use the visual platform without needing to be informed on that. Sometimes, we programmers haven't used it in the past, and it's a bit difficult to learn it."
"We have faced problems with the performance."
"It's costly and not accessible for small enterprises or startups. It would be great if Camunda offered a tier plan for smaller companies."
"There should be a multi-tenant solution for the platform where it supports multiple organizations on one platform instead of having to spin up multiple clusters for each organization. There should be an easy way to integrate different departments into one platform without having to operate multiple platforms. The operations should be easier with the enterprise solution. It should not create more overhead for the operations people."
"I'm from the .NET world and I would like to use it, rather than Java."
"The solution could use some enhancements like adding connectors, improving forms and having a mobile app, but everything is an enhancement rather than a flaw."
"I would like to have a feature for audit logging, audit logs and audit log management. And some history of use for the audit logs."
"Documentation can be improved."
"UI is an area with a shortcoming that needs improvement."
"They should incorporate an API gateway functionality within it to simplify integrations."
"The constant switch between Eclipse and its web versions can be annoying and confusing."
"The coaches and the user interface are the areas that can be improved a lot. It is good in terms of data processing, but the UI, scripting, and coaches are not very user-friendly and developer-friendly. Performance is always an issue. The scripting and the pattern that it uses are very tedious for new developers to understand, and it takes time to master it in depth. When comparing IBM BPM with IBM APN, a lot of things are provided out of the box in IBM APN. We don't have to write code or a Java connector to make a functionality work. It would be very helpful and time-saving for developers if IBM BPM is improved in this area to provide many functionalities or drag-and-drop options so that the developers don't have to write the code."
"It can definitely be improved in terms of performance and stability."
"They don't have a mechanism to achieve processes, data sources, and data."
"The configuration is not that easy, and the initial deployment took three months."
"User Interface components could be further refined to enhance and extend customizations dictated by end clients."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is quite expensive, which is why we went with the community version."
"We're using the open-source version for now."
"The product is expensive for a small or medium-sized company."
"We are using the open-source version of this solution."
"The cost of this solution is better than some competing products."
"We're using the free version. We used the Enterprise version for some time. If I compare free versus what we paid at that time, the Enterprise version costs a lot. For the additional functionality that we got with the Enterprise version, it was too costly."
"I tried to get some information about buying the license for the solution, but I found it kind of hard to understand the business model."
"It is good for a startup. When we started, its price was fair, but the way we are using it to orchestrate microservices makes it expensive. When you are growing as a company, you would have more microservices, and you would have more users. There is an exponential effect when you are growing in terms of the number of conditions, processes, and users because they bill you per process. So, the price was increasing very quickly for us, and it was very difficult."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten."
"IBM BPM cannot be considered a cheaply priced product. IBM BPM is a really expensive product compared to other companies. One needs to opt for the perpetual licensing model offered by IBM."
"It has a low cost to implement. You'll get your money back in the same year that you complete the project."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"The solution is highly-priced."
"The solution might be expensive, but I can't give you a precise number. In the market here, I've seen two main products for BPM: IBM BPM and Camunda. Camunda is very popular and open-source, so there's no direct comparison."
"We chose to purchase IBM BPM because it was bundled with the actual RPA program/solution that we decided to purchase. We decided to use Automation Anywhere tool (RPA), and it is was bundled with IBM BPM."
"IBM could improve the price. It is far too expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are best for your needs.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

LC
Aug 24, 2021
Aug 24, 2021
Hi Leandro, those two BPM's shouldn't be compared on the functional level. They are different type of solutions. Camunda offers the workflow engine and decission engine, where you can create process models according to BPMN and DMM standards. This gives you the flexibility and agility in the process management. It also gives you the tools to monitor, manage and optimize those processes. Camund...
2 out of 3 answers
BA
Feb 13, 2021
PM
Feb 15, 2021
Hi Leandro, those two BPM's shouldn't be compared on the functional level. They are different type of solutions.  Camunda offers the workflow engine and decission engine, where you can create process models according to BPMN and DMM standards. This gives you the flexibility and agility in the process management. It also gives you the tools to monitor, manage and optimize those processes. Camunda provides very limited functionalities, if it comes to end user interfaces. Usually they are built as custom applications or existing application are used. With Camunda projects you always focus on automation, that requires system integration and custom development and usually concerns core business processes. Camunda is an openAPI solution, which makes the integration fast and easy. It is a common situation in financial industry, that you have many systems, that need to be integrated in one process, that is why Camunda is so popular in this sector.Before you decide on the switch, you have to consider the processes you want to use it for. If this is for standard processes like holiday requests, invoice approvals etc. Camunda is not the best option. But if you want to automate sales or after sales processes, client/partner onboarding, claims management, debt collection you should definitely consider Camunda. I found once in Camunda documents an interesting comparison between Camunda and BPM suites: "On a blank canvas, an artist can paint a picture in exactly the way he imagines. Alternatively, there is the principle of “painting by numbers”, where even the artistic layman can create stunning images by coloring in predetermined areas. However, they can only create what was already pre-designed." And finally, Camunda is available as open source solution and there is no vendor lock. I hope it helped ;-) There is always an option to have a talk... Cheers, Piotr
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Retailer
6%
 

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...
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...
Which would you choose - Camunda Platform or Apache Airflow?
Camunda Platform allows for visual demonstration and presentation of business process flows. The flexible Java-based option was a big win for us and allows for the integration of microservices very...
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?
The solution might be expensive, but I can't give you a precise number. In the market here, I've seen two main products for BPM: IBM BPM and Camunda. Camunda is very popular and open-source, so the...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

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

Learn More

Video not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

24 Hour Fitness, Accruent, AT&T Inc., Atlassian, CSS Insurance, Deutsche Telekom, Generali, Provinzial NordWest Insurance Services, Swisscom AG, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VHV Group, Zalando
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 Camunda vs. IBM BPM and other solutions. Updated: July 2024.
793,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.