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Camunda vs IBM BPM vs IBM Business Automation Workflow 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.8
Camunda optimizes processes, boosting productivity and reducing costs, though substantial returns require careful planning and time.
Sentiment score
7.5
Businesses using IBM BPM reported improved efficiency, automation, and cost savings despite high costs and moderate ROI.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and accelerates digital transformation for improved ROI and user experience.
Initially performed manually, workflows now provide a better user experience and increased efficiency.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.2
Camunda's support is generally helpful, though some users seek improved integration assistance and a better knowledge center.
Sentiment score
6.6
IBM BPM customer service is generally positive, with effective support, though response delays and communication issues are noted.
Sentiment score
5.9
IBM Business Automation Workflow's support has mixed reviews, but many find value once acquainted with their processes.
AWS provides the best support, followed by Microsoft, and then Google.
They provide better support for the enterprise edition.
The customer service is outstanding.
We had a contract that provided on-site support, which was very satisfactory.
IBM provides long-term support and maintains a traditionally good customer-vendor relationship.
If the solution is readily available to IBM support team, they provide it instantly.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
Camunda excels in scalability with modern tools like Docker and Kubernetes, though some face database dependency challenges.
Sentiment score
6.9
IBM BPM offers impressive scalability, efficiently managing high user volumes with varied experiences and requiring occasional careful tuning.
Sentiment score
7.8
IBM Business Automation Workflow is highly scalable, supporting extensive transactions, concurrent users, and both cloud and on-premises deployments.
Camunda offers a high level of scalability, especially when using its SaaS model, which manages and scales implementations automatically.
It allows for easy scaling, especially with ECS service configurations.
The solution has scalability issues; on a scale, I would rate it at eight out of ten.
I found IBM BPM to be scalable to a certain level but it struggled with large volumes of concurrent transactions.
We are implementing load balancing and horizontal scalability.
We can manage the license usage and scale our environment while optimizing license use.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Camunda is praised for stability and reliability, performing well under load with minimal bugs, earning high ratings.
Sentiment score
7.1
IBM BPM stability varies; recent versions improve reliability, but issues remain with infrastructure, configuration, and developer expertise.
Sentiment score
7.6
IBM Business Automation Workflow is stable, with minor bugs, improving over time; users rate stability highly due to IBM's robust infrastructure.
There haven't been any significant outages in my experience with Camunda.
Outside of these maintenance periods, the environment is quite stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Camunda needs UI enhancements, improved integration, scalability, security, better support, flexible deployment, and a revised pricing model.
IBM BPM needs improved customization, integration, and user-friendliness, addressing complexity and high cost with enhanced API and AI features.
IBM Business Automation Workflow needs improved integration, usability, cloud features, and support to enhance user experience and modernize the platform.
There is an issue where, in some situations, I need to scale up by observing both CPU and memory usage of containers, yet under the current options available at Amazon, this is not possible.
More open documentation would be beneficial to understand the deployment process better and facilitate easier setup.
IBM BPM also lacks smaller solutions, so I must purchase multiple solutions to start with workflows and applications.
Many developments are focused on AI, LLM models, and data science.
Code management lacks merging capabilities.
IBM Business Automation Workflow could be more intuitive, with more advanced low-code features and services definition.
 

Setup Cost

Camunda provides free open-source and costly enterprise versions, offering enhanced features and support, with enterprise fees escalating by usage.
IBM BPM's high costs suit large enterprises, while flexible Cloud Pak and tiered licensing offer varied pricing options.
IBM Business Automation Workflow is costly but offers high-quality features, flexible licensing, and worthwhile enterprise-level capabilities.
AWS pricing is very competitive compared to Azure and cheap compared to Google.
There is a licensing cost for using the SaaS model and Enterprise edition of Camunda.
SAP is more expensive, but IBM BPM is very expensive.
It is not a cheap license but in line with expectations for such software.
The price of IBM Business Automation Workflow is on the higher side compared to the features it offers.
 

Valuable Features

Camunda excels in scalable, flexible process automation with wide standards coverage, integration options, and user-friendly graphical interface.
IBM BPM offers integration, scalability, and low-code development with strong UI, enhancing efficiency and reducing complexities.
IBM Business Automation Workflow offers agile, user-friendly workflow solutions with RPA integration, enhancing collaboration, customization, and AI-driven processes.
ECS also allows for horizontal scalability with thresholds that can be configured for CPU or memory.
The biggest difference between Camunda and Bonita might be that Camunda is simpler and more flexible for setting.
The integration capabilities of IBM BPM are excellent.
It offers robust workflow features and, despite being a low-code tool, provides extensive customization options.
We have integrations with different banks, ERP systems, and other human resource management systems by integrating through different systems.
It assisted in making users concentrate on the process flow rather than just features.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Camunda is 19.8%, down from 21.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM BPM is 6.9%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Business Automation Workflow is 2.2%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

FABIO NAGAO - PeerSpot reviewer
Reduces costs with hardware abstraction and simplifies scaling
There is an issue where, in some situations, I need to scale up by observing both CPU and memory usage of containers, yet under the current options available at Amazon, this is not possible. I have to choose between monitoring CPU or memory to scale my solution. Not every software is built for deployment as a container service, although the current architecture trend is changing this.
Prince Mathew - PeerSpot reviewer
More customizable than IBM FileNet and useful for automation
One suggestion for IBM BPM is to provide better integration between their products, such as DataCap, which we use for scanning. Although the new CP4BA offers offline capabilities, not everyone is on CP4BA, so enhanced integration for those on older versions would be beneficial. Another major suggestion is to offer a migration path when a product reaches its end of life. For example, there was no migration path when we moved, so we had to redo everything we had developed over ten years completely.
Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
26%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
35%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
6%
Manufacturing Company
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 B...
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...
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 ...
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 inter...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM BPM?
Once it is installed, maintaining it is not a big issue.
What do you like most about IBM Business Automation Workflow?
It performs the basic tasks that are required for the BBM solution as part of the overall integration with ECM or ent...
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?
Code management lacks merging capabilities. If parallel development requires merging, improvements in this area would...
 

Also Known As

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

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
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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
Key Bank, Barclays, Control€xpert, MIR Insurance Brokers, Conqord Oil
Find out what your peers are saying about Camunda, Automation Anywhere, Apache and others in Business Process Management (BPM). Updated: June 2025.
862,499 professionals have used our research since 2012.