Camunda vs IBM Cloud Pak for Automation comparison

Camunda and IBM are both solutions in the Process Automation category. Camunda is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4, while IBM is ranked #21 with an average rating of 9.0. Camunda holds a 23.9% mindshare in PA, compared to IBM’s 0.5% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Camunda users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Camunda

Read 77 Camunda reviews

21,608 Views
12,317 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

Read 2 IBM Cloud Pak for Automation reviews

269 Views
266 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Camunda

IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Camunda and IBM Cloud Pak for Automation compete in business process management. IBM often holds an edge due to its expansive features, while Camunda is preferred for cost-effectiveness and support.

Features: Camunda delivers process automation with tools favorable to developers and flexible deployment. Its open architecture allows integration with other tools. IBM Cloud Pak for Automation includes comprehensive automation, advanced analytics, and AI insights to cater to complex needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Camunda offers simple deployment with its lightweight design, providing easy maintenance and responsive customer service. IBM, with robust infrastructure, necessitates a more complex setup but offers thorough documentation and premium support.

Pricing and ROI: Camunda is valued for its lower costs, benefiting businesses with limited budgets, while IBM Cloud Pak involves more upfront investment, promising higher long-term ROI with its enterprise features.

To learn more, read our detailed Camunda vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Automation Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Camunda vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

September 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

Camunda

Ranking in Process Automation

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (2nd), Business Process Management (BPM) (1st)

IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

Ranking in Process Automation

21st

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Camunda is 23.9%, down from 27.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Process Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Camunda	23.9%
IBM Cloud Pak for Automation	0.5%
Other	75.6%

Process Automation

Featured Reviews

FABIO NAGAO

Chief Technology Officer at Looplex SA

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.

Read full review

SYEDMUJTABA

Vice President - Digital Automation Services at Techvista Systems

Effectively handles parallel instances effectively

I find it quite straightforward, perhaps around 8.5 out of 10 in terms of ease. When we upgraded from the old version of IBM BPM to the new one within IBM Cloud Pak for Automation, we didn't encounter any major issues. There were some minor ones, but they were easy to overcome.The migration process was part of our deployment strategy. We had a plan to migrate two processes per week from on-premises to the cloud. The migration involved taking the instances and migrating them to the new environment. There is an inbuilt feature in IBM Cloud Pak for Automation that facilitates the migration process, although I personally haven't conducted it myself; it's managed by my team. Overall, the setup process was relatively smooth.

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

"The speed and execution of DMN was a big selling point for us. It's very good at conducting business processes that are easily modeled and presented in a way that's easy to understand."

"We are documenting all of the processors and VPN. Then we are sharing it with our business users."

"Camunda is a scalable product."

"The most valuable features are that it's lightweight, can be embedded in existing Java code, and keeps track of the workflow state and the instances that we need."

"The most valuable features are the workflow, the task list, and the modeler where we use VPN."

"The most valuable feature is the scheduling."

"It is open-source. It supports microservice orchestration. This is what we are really interested in. We can customize our products depending on the use cases."

"Being able to use a Java-based solution makes the product flexible."

More Camunda pros

"I believe two significant features of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation are the focus on SLA management and the capability to handle parallel instances effectively. Parallel instances, for instance, are valuable when dealing with a large number of users, enabling tasks to be performed concurrently for efficient system operation. The SLA aspect is crucial for tracking and ensuring timely completion of tasks. Additionally, the cloud compatibility of IBM BAW allows for seamless migration from on-premises to the cloud. This version also includes a business rule management system for storing and managing business rules effectively."

"What this product allows us to do is to move from on-prem instances where we are running independent instances of FileNet, Datacap, and ODM. It allows us to leverage container-based resiliency and availability modeling so that we have some visibility across the CP4BA ecosystem. We're now migrating all of our data to be in the Cloud Object Storage, and we can now use some of the features of Azure in terms of how we store and retrieve content for our members and our providers."

Cons

"Initial setup can be quite complex."

"The user interface needs some polishing because it is too technical for end-users to use it."

"Like all BPM tools, they're very bad with proprietary UIs. In general, anyone who uses BPM tools should not expect to use their proprietary UI."

"As we experienced some difficulties in the beginning, deployment took almost a month."

"I think that Camunda can try to do better when it comes to solving the complexities of all the products in its software stack."

"The latency of API could be decreased."

"I have faced problems in bringing up the Cockpit in terms of GUI processes. I think that there is room for improvement in those areas."

"We're trying to put the people from the business to do it. We are using APIs, and we have open APIs to define our APIs and the request-response that each call requires and sends. So, to base the mapping on that, there was nothing to help. I know that with some tools, such as Oracle tools, you can see the input and expected output. With drag and drop, you can take one property from the left and drag it to the right, and it does all the mapping itself, but that's not the case with Camunda. So, for me, this is something that can be improved."

More Camunda cons

"One of the challenges we're having is finding vendors who have experience in developing on the cloud. We can find developers on the old platform, but it is leading-edge technology. So, we are having some challenges, and IBM is assisting us to find vendor partners. To be able to leverage all the capabilities of the new platform, we have to upgrade our existing ecosystem of FileNet applications. Upgrading to the new platform while trying to modernize is always challenging because it is like you have a moving target."

"I believe there is room for improvement in the user interface, particularly in the Process Portal that customers use to view and manage their tasks. The UI of the Process Portal needs enhancement. Additionally, in the next release, I would like to see improved compatibility with Angular, allowing for direct integration with front-end systems. It would be beneficial to have built-in GUI features based on Angular within the system, rather than developing separate applications externally. This, in turn, would provide a more seamless and enhanced front-end experience."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Camunda Platform is an open-source product."

"The product is expensive for a small or medium-sized company."

"We have an annual subscription to this solution."

"The open-source version of the product is free to use."

"When compared with the proprietary products, the pricing costs are much less, even though it is an enterprise edition."

"We are using the community version. There is no licensing cost."

"Camunda is much cheaper."

"There were some features that were only available in the paid version."

More Camunda pricing and cost advice

"Its cost is almost the same or comparable to what we pay with FileNet, but I'm not sure what we pay a year. A good part of CP4BA is the CPU-based licensing model. When we're dealing with 50,000 dentists, for example, if we were to use Salesforce, we would be hit with the licensing of 50,000 dentists, whereas when we build out in CP4BA, it is just based on our CPU usage, not on individual licenses."

"IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is relatively expensive, especially considering it is designed for long-living processes, not for normal automation needs. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the pricing at around 9. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fees, but IBM has multiple pricing models that make it expensive in its own way. Different plans are available, but overall, the experience suggests it is a costly solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Insurance Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	42
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	29

No data available

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

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Cloud Pak for Automation?

I believe two significant features of IBM Cloud Pak for Automation are the focus on SLA management and the capability to handle parallel instances effectively. Parallel instances, for instance, ar...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Cloud Pak for Automation?

IBM Cloud Pak for Automation is relatively expensive, especially considering it is designed for long-living processes, not for normal automation needs. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate the pr...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Cloud Pak for Automation?

I believe there is room for improvement in the user interface, particularly in the Process Portal that customers use to view and manage their tasks. The UI of the Process Portal needs enhancement. ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Flowable vs Camunda

Compared 11% of the time

Apache Airflow vs Camunda

Compared 10% of the time

Temporal vs Camunda

Compared 8% of the time

Bizagi vs Camunda

Compared 8% of the time

IBM BPM vs Camunda

Compared 8% of the time

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IBM BPM vs IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

Compared 52% of the time

Appian vs IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

Compared 48% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Camunda

October 2025

Download Camunda product report

Buyer's Guide

Process Automation

October 2025

Download IBM Cloud Pak for Automation product report

Also Known As

Camunda BPM

No data available

Interactive Demo

Camunda

Demo not available

IBM

Overview

Camunda revolutionizes process orchestration by enabling seamless automation and integration with AI, human tasks, and existing systems while ensuring security and governance.

Built for collaboration between business and IT, Camunda empowers organizations to manage complexity, boost efficiency, and maintain competitive advantage. With a clientele of over 700 top organizations like Atlassian, ING, and Vodafone, Camunda is a trusted partner in designing, orchestrating, automating, and refining critical business processes to accelerate digital transformation. Its open-source nature, ease of use, and REST API integration make it a versatile choice for various needs.

What are Camunda's key features?

Lightweight Architecture: Offers streamlined and efficient process management.
Scalability: Supports growth and complexity in operations.
Flexibility with BPMN, CMMN, and DMN Standards: Ensures adaptability to different process modeling needs.
Open-Source: Encourages customization and user-specific enhancements.
Graphical Process Modeling: Intuitive interface for designing and automating processes.

What benefits or ROI should users look for?

Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlines processes for optimized performance.
Seamless Integration: Ensures smooth workflow across different systems.
Improved Collaboration: Facilitates effective cooperation between business and IT.
Customizability: Adapts to specific user requirements and system environments.

In banking, Camunda automates processes and manages transactions, while in telecommunications, it optimizes service orders. Governmental and public sectors benefit from workflow automation. Organizations often use either the enterprise edition or the open-source version to create APIs and manage business rules effectively.

Camunda

IBM Cloud Pak for Automation offers design, build, run, and automation services to rapidly scale your programs and fully execute and operationalize an automation strategy.

IBM

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Camunda vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

September 2025

Free Report: Camunda vs. IBM Cloud Pak for Automation

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