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IBM BPM vs Nintex Process Platform vs WebRatio 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of IBM BPM is 7.3%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nintex Process Platform is 2.2%, down from 2.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WebRatio is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Kamran - PeerSpot reviewer
Has efficient processes and intuitive workflow with many valuable features
You will have access to make any needed changes. Additionally, the review will be published on PeerSpot.com in written or audio format, available to other people. You can stay anonymous if you wish. Notifications and the use of the review are subject to PeerSpot's terms of use, which you can find at PeerSpot.com/TOS. I would give the solution an overall rating of ten out of ten points.
Damilola Adeleye - PeerSpot reviewer
Straightforward interface and user-friendly
There are a lot of apps in K2, but what I really found that needs improvement is the management section of K2, especially the management server and the admin page where you can manage processes, add users, set security fees, and add licenses. The reason for this is because the part that is the section of administration, particularly the management called rows, has multiple rules, as many as you want. For instance, you may have around 200 rules, and when you view them, only the first ten are displayed, and you have to click next to see the next ten and so on until you get to the hundredth rule. On that page, as of today, we only have what we call to fetch, where you can search for a particular rule you're looking for, or else you have to keep clicking until you get to the final page you want. So that's a bit challenging.
reviewer1485573 - PeerSpot reviewer
Little coding needed and speeds development time but lacks documentation
The maintenance aspect is too heavy. Moving from one version to the other made the solution change, and not in a way that we liked. Typically there are documents about the release of new versions and a set of activities required to migrate from one to the other. This time, it was very messy. There were issues surrounding the management of the release. This could potentially be due to the fact that WebRation, in the past, had started to make some choices regarding the framework and architecture that were changed later. In the past, we'd use a strategy as the environment, as an architectural pattern for the application. Now, it's moving more on the spring framework and this initiated some change that obviously had an impact on our application. It's caused a problem with maintenance. The solution seems to have changed its approach. Now, it's more related to a federative application environment in a monolithic aspect. While the solution was interesting at one point, everything is moving towards the cloud. WebRatio should be moving also in the web approach. Currently, you have to install an environment inside the desktop. The future is the cloud. Normally with a low code environment, there is a VPN notation - maybe a WebML or FML notation. If they can move in to have an environment that has a running machine at the end, it would be great. Obviously, some components on the server-side should be deliberate. Normally it's the model you control that's step-by-step and has a very simple flow. In the digital environment, in the organization, the process is more complex. The quality of the documentation and the community surrounding the product are poor. They need to give users more documentation and build up the surrounding community. As it isn't a well-known product, it's hard to find professionals to work with it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"IBM BPM's most valuable features are its speed in implementing and providing any changes."
"The initial setup is straightforward and easy. I would give it a nine out of ten."
"The most valuable features are the integration capabilities - BPM can connect with almost any legacy or advanced system."
"The case management and its integration with process design are good features."
"IBM BPM is easy to deploy."
"Responsive Portal + Process Federation Server. This set of solutions offers a unified worklist to our customers."
"There are two or three valuable features, like BPM."
"It is efficient in reducing costs."
"It's easy to configure your set of rules to make the form controls work perfectly, removing manual work and making processes seamless."
"The integration capabilities have been very useful."
"It has a lot of features for creating and managing workflows, as well as for integrating with other applications. Nintex offers features, particularly to ensure a user-friendly experience."
"It is a scalable product."
"It creates workflows to handle business processes. It allows us to route approvals to users without human intervention."
"This tool set makes it easy to integrate current processes and increase adoption rates and usage for the tool, as well as the process changes to update it on the fly."
"With an extensive list of integrations with LOB data, your workflows can extend far beyond SharePoint, driving adoption of SharePoint."
"Out of box connectivity with UiPath."
"The initial setup isn't too complex."
 

Cons

"Process Server is no more available than new products out there, but in general IBM has a high cost and complex setup."
"We would appreciate more user-friendly definitions of processes with a more user-friendly interface for documenting processes."
"I would like to see a lot more case studies."
"One of the things that we are looking at is cognitive learning. IBM has another product called IBM RPA, I think, which is doing some of that stuff. We would like to see more of that with respect to cognitive learning and AI put back into the process engine to help."
"The product is extremely complex to use and administrate."
"I would like IBM to consider including AI-enabled process mining, robotic process automation, and very good OCR capabilities from the computer vision side."
"I have an interest around the robotic piece, and integrating that with the processes. I think that is certainly a good direction to be going."
"I suggest establishing a developer forum for better communication and issue resolution. Also, the administration panel could be improved for task management."
"User interface could use some improvement. Perhaps integration with Visual Studio or SharePoint Designer would be useful."
"The Workflow Designer needs improvement."
"It is very flexible because you can design your own main forms, but if there were some templates according to your market, it would be more useful for a new customer. That would make K2 more user friendly and easier to use."
"Built-in reporting on-prem is limited and clunky at best."
"We are currently facing a lot of issues with Nintex, and we are trying to move away from this solution."
"Currently, a notable challenge lies in the alignment of user experiences across the eight or nine applications within the suite. Transitioning between applications can be somewhat cumbersome due to varying user interfaces. However, the provider is actively addressing this concern by consistently rolling out updates every four to five months, aimed at harmonizing and streamlining the interfaces. This ongoing effort is expected to enhance the user experience over time. In terms of functionality and features, the platform stands out, offering flexibility with the option for both on-premises and cloud deployment. This flexibility extends to the RPA tool, providing clients with choices tailored to their preferences. An advantage lies in the shared security and data infrastructure across the toolset, facilitating smooth data transfer between applications. This contrasts with experiences with Oracle, where data transfer may involve complexities such as the need for intermediary file formats like TXL or SCZ."
"The solution needs more RPA and AI features."
"The product’s support for the mobile platform and its ability to handle artificial loads could be better."
"The maintenance aspect is too heavy."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When considering the features of the solution the price is expensive compared to competitors."
"The price of the solution is fair for an enterprise solution that has both cloud and on-premise deployments and when comparing to competitors. Recently IBM has introduced Cloud Pak which allows for more flexible licensing options for automation and other features."
"It gives us a good return on investment."
"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."
"The solution is expensive since it is an enterprise application."
"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."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a ten."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"The annual support costs are expensive."
"Prices for licenses of K2 are high."
"We pay on a yearly basis. It's my understanding that we pay approximately $11,000/year."
"The initial investment in K2 is heavy. Currently, the expenditure is $28,000 for a year. After we go to the cloud, it is going to be per seat and probably cheaper. Currently, there are unlimited users."
"Offering a licensing model that allows for multiple small workflows would be a huge improvement to an already great platform."
"The product’s price is competitive compared to other vendors."
"Nintex is around INR 200 per license in India, which is much cheaper. Smaller organizations are always looking for cost-effective solutions, and Nintex provides local solutions with very low pricing."
"Our maintenance costs are reduced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
20%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

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 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 K2?
The latest version of Nintex has many features. We have a clear roadmap and the necessary application to integrate it...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for K2?
Nintex Process Platform is expensive. Prices relate to both features and the professional services necessary due to o...
What needs improvement with K2?
The user interface in Nintex needs improvement. It is not very intuitive and requires changes. Additionally, the depl...
Ask a question
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Also Known As

WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
K2 blackpearl, K2 Five, Nintex Workflow
No data available
 

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
SEA Corp, Omnicom Group, Verizon, STIHL
Unicredit Leasing, Acer, Gruppo Torinese Transporti, A2A, SET Distribuzone, Dolomiti Energia, AIM Gruppo, IFC CNA_ Amsa
Find out what your peers are saying about Camunda, Apache, Automation Anywhere and others in Business Process Management (BPM). Updated: April 2025.
851,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.