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IBM BPM vs Make comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 15, 2026

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
6.7
IBM BPM delivers ROI by optimizing workflows, cutting errors, and reducing issuance time, despite initial costs, within a year.
Sentiment score
6.0
Automation enhances efficiency, cuts labor costs by 50%, boosts ROI, and saves time on reporting, content, and CRM tasks.
I have indeed seen a return on investment as it has saved us hundreds of hours in repetitive tasks, streamlining our follow-up to the leads that we are generating.
Network Engineer at AT&T
I implemented a booking system for my client that previously required data to be entered directly into Google Sheets and reminders to be sent manually; using Make, they have saved about 50% of their time, which equals one labor resource, translating to a significant amount of money saved.
Founder at WebEase
With that extra time each month, I could focus more on sales and upscaling my business, so it is really worth it.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
IBM BPM's customer service is highly rated for responsiveness, despite occasional delays, with quality varying by location and issue complexity.
Sentiment score
5.5
Make's responsive customer support and abundant self-help resources efficiently resolve user issues, fostering an active, supportive community.
The customer service is outstanding.
Project Manager at Ora-Tech Systems
We had a contract that provided on-site support, which was very satisfactory.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
On a scale from 1 to 10, support deserves a rating of 7 to 8.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
We have escalated a few issues that we faced during some integrations, and we received reasonable responses from Make support.
Chief Executive Officer at Ashtex Solutions
They were doing the best job for my use cases and my problems.
Bubble.Io | Xano | No Code | Mba | Make | Zapier | Full Stack at Indian Railways
When I had a problem during the pricing payment, the customer support handled it very well.
Freelancer at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
IBM BPM is scalable, supports large workloads and complex tasks, but scalability varies by architecture, configuration, and concurrent transactions.
Sentiment score
5.5
Make is scalable and effective for complex workflows, but pricing and workflow setup can challenge some users.
The solution has scalability issues; on a scale, I would rate it at eight out of ten.
Project Manager at Ora-Tech Systems
The architecture of the solution offers scalability; we can scale both vertically and horizontally.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
I found IBM BPM to be scalable to a certain level but it struggled with large volumes of concurrent transactions.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
When you have an error, it is very hard to do error handling and debugging.
Automation Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
It can handle increasing workloads or more complex automations easily, but I need to set up each and every component carefully.
Developer at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
Make's scalability is very good, and if the pricing were lower, I could scale a lot more.
Founder at WebEase
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM BPM is generally stable, with on-premises better than cloud, but faces challenges in migrations and occasionally infrastructure-related issues.
Sentiment score
7.3
Make is mostly stable and reliable for users, with occasional minor bugs and issues that don't hinder overall performance.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM BPM needs better configuration, improved UI, flexibility, enhanced performance, affordability, cloud capabilities, and easier debugging and maintenance.
Users seek enhanced developer-friendliness, integrations, documentation, pricing, ease of use, security, stability, support tools, and customization.
IBM BPM also lacks smaller solutions, so I must purchase multiple solutions to start with workflows and applications.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Technologies evolve day by day, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and generative AI models.
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
There are negative aspects, such as IBM BPM being quite heavy and not lightweight, and the licensing cost is higher, which has caused some companies to shift away.
Senior Project Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
There should be clarity about whether the data is secure while passing through these automations or integrations created within Make.
Chief Executive Officer at Ashtex Solutions
I would love to have more detailed logs, step-by-step error tracing, and better visualization of failed executions, as I think it would improve the user experience significantly.
software engineer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The lagging problem needs to be solved.
Gtm Operator, Lead Generator at 404Minds Technologies
 

Setup Cost

IBM BPM is costly with complex licensing, favored by large enterprises, but impractical for small businesses due to high expenses.
Make's pricing is affordable and flexible, with options like Docker solutions, making it cost-effective compared to competitors.
SAP is more expensive, but IBM BPM is very expensive.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Licensing was affordable.
Network Engineer at AT&T
I found a solution that allows me to use Make almost for free, just using the Docker on-premises.
Automation Engineer at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
It's cost-effective and it's pocket-friendly.
Bubble.Io | Xano | No Code | Mba | Make | Zapier | Full Stack at Indian Railways
 

Valuable Features

IBM BPM enhances business efficiency with robust process execution, integration, responsive UI, automation, and comprehensive management tools.
Make's intuitive interface and integrations boost efficiency and productivity, saving time and reducing manual tasks with seamless automation.
The integration capabilities of IBM BPM are excellent.
Compliance Sanctions Senior Analyst at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Coordination across data silos is effective, and IBM BPM can be used for that purpose.
Senior Project Manager at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Make has positively impacted my organization by enabling us to solve use cases for hundreds of clients across hundreds of different platforms, providing the customization capabilities to automate accounting and invoicing processes that save dozens of man-hours a month, and allowing us to build custom churn, retention, and engagement costs that have driven a 30% reduction in churn.
Network Engineer at AT&T
Instead of spending several days implementing and testing API integrations inside our FastAPI back end, I was able to build the workflows in a few hours using Make.
software engineer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The task that I would complete in a span of one day is completed in a matter of minutes by using Make.
Executive at Core Jobs
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM BPM
Ranking in Process Automation
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (4th), Application Infrastructure (8th)
Make
Ranking in Process Automation
6th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
AI Software Development (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of IBM BPM is 5.7%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Make is 1.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Process Automation Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Make1.6%
IBM BPM5.7%
Other92.7%
Process Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Ateeq Rehman - PeerSpot reviewer
Unit Head System Implementor at Allied Bank Limited
Automation platforms streamline processes and offer flexibility, but AI integration and version upgrades pose challenges
In the technology world, there is always room for improvement. Technologies evolve day by day, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence and generative AI models. Although IBM BPM is a substantial product, adopting and integrating new technologies quickly is not easy due to the migration and upgrade paths involved. Every time new versions are released, we face business and production challenges that make rapid adoption challenging. The main concern bothering me today regarding IBM BPM is the integration of AI components.
Dinesh Lavu - PeerSpot reviewer
Bubble.Io | Xano | No Code | Mba | Make | Zapier | Full Stack at Indian Railways
Automation workflows have saved time and have reduced manual work for my client projects
Most of what I learned about Make is mainly from the templates only. Anything that I tried to do, I try to see who has done it already and try to understand and rebuild it. When I'm trying to build some workflows, there's a chatbot component. When I ask for something, it helps me in that. Or if I get a bug that I'm finding difficult to debug or understand the use case or the log, it clearly explains it to me and sometimes it advises me to do certain things, so that it's easy for me to fix it. One area for improvement is an auto-building feature. Another is how n8n has a chatbot completion where you can bring some LLMs into the workflow and integrating Ollama and all of that is something I felt is really needed for Make also.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
15%
Educational Organization
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Construction Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise72
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

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?
Once it is installed, maintaining it is not a big issue.
What needs improvement with IBM BPM?
There are negative aspects, such as IBM BPM being quite heavy and not lightweight, and the licensing cost is higher, which has caused some companies to shift away. IBM BPM is complicated to install...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Make?
Regarding my experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing for Make, I would add that they need to provide a dark mode because the UI is in light mode. I remember that when I was working late...
What needs improvement with Make?
I think there are improvements needed for Make. They could add a guide roadmap for beginners to make it more accessible. While Make is easy to use, there is always room for improvement. There are m...
What is your primary use case for Make?
My main use case for Make involves automating social media content creation and personalized content creation for my social profile like Instagram.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
Integromat
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Buan Consulting, Armadia
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM BPM vs. Make and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.