Apache Airflow vs Oracle BPM comparison

Apache and Oracle are both solutions in the Business Process Management (BPM) category. Apache is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while Oracle is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.0. Apache holds a 6.9% mindshare in BPM, compared to Oracle’s 1.8% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Apache users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

Apache Airflow

Read 38 Apache Airflow reviews

8,850 Views
6,699 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Oracle BPM

Read 25 Oracle BPM reviews

1,626 Views
1,341 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

Apache Airflow

Oracle BPM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Oracle BPM and Apache Airflow compete in process management and automation. Oracle BPM appears stronger for complex business processes, whereas Apache Airflow's flexibility makes it ideal for data workflows.

Features: Oracle BPM offers business process modeling with BPMN 2.0, integration with Oracle's SOA platform, and comprehensive analytics through advanced reporting tools. Apache Airflow, as a Python-based open-source platform, provides flexibility, a wide range of connectors, and excels in orchestrating ETL processes.

Room for Improvement: Oracle BPM has a steep learning curve, lacks native microservices support, and has costly pricing. Apache Airflow's dependency on DAGs limits workflow cyclicity, its UI needs updating, and it could improve on stateful step management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Oracle BPM requires complex deployment, often on-premises, and has notable customer service delays. Apache Airflow offers cloud deployment versatility and community support, though it lacks formal technical support.

Pricing and ROI: Oracle BPM is expensive but can deliver high ROI for large enterprises, with a focus on cloud migration incentives. Apache Airflow is open-source and cost-effective, appealing to budget-conscious entities, although operational costs may arise from infrastructure needs.

To learn more, read our detailed Apache Airflow vs. Oracle BPM Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Apache Airflow vs. Oracle BPM

January 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 831,158 peers since 2012

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

Apache Airflow

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Oracle BPM

Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)

15th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Apache Airflow is 6.9%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle BPM is 1.8%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Management (BPM)

Featured Reviews

Kemal Duman

Team Lead, Data Engineering at Nesine.com

Enables efficient orchestration of batch processes with very good reliability

I am using Apache Airflow to orchestrate my jobs, projects, and batch ETL jobs. It manages tasks, orchestrates jobs, and helps in handling batch processes effectively, incorporating integrations like DBT and Great Expectations Apache Airflow is easy to scale and its UI improves with each release.…

Read full review

Neilsen Seixas

Owner at NSTEC

Enables robust integration capabilities, facilitating seamless connection with various systems and applications

We utilized Oracle BPM to automate various administrative processes within our organization, specifically focusing on eliminating paper-based workflows related to licensing procedures in our environment. Oracle BPM enabled collaboration between our IT and business teams for effective process management. Utilizing the Oracle VPN, we experienced significant improvements in process efficiency. For instance, a process that previously took forty days before implementation was reduced to just twenty minutes after implementing Oracle BPM. This remarkable reduction in time demonstrates the substantial benefits brought about by the solution. The solution is comprehensive, encompassing modeling, implementation, and runtime capabilities. Additionally, by leveraging this platform, we seamlessly integrated Oracle Portal and Oracle Document Management, providing a complete solution within the Oracle ecosystem. The integration capabilities of Oracle BPM with other systems significantly influenced our workflow. Our workflow was impacted positively by these integrations. Initially, we utilized Oracle BPM alongside other Oracle products such as Oracle Context Manager, Oracle Portal, and Oracle Document Management. Despite using multiple products, they are seamlessly integrated, providing a comprehensive solution for our clients. This solution encompassed document management, workflow control, process execution, and automation, effectively streamlining processes and eliminating bureaucratic hurdles. The transparency and efficiency achieved through this integrated approach were highly beneficial for our clients.

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 user interface for monitoring and managing workflows has been excellent, particularly in the latest version. c"

"Since the solution is programmatic, it allows users to define pipelines in code rather than drag and drop."

"The tool is user-friendly."

"The most valuable feature of Apache Airflow is creating and scheduling jobs. Additionally, the reattempt at failed jobs is useful."

"To increase efficiency, it's quite simple to add dbt tasks to an Apache Airflow pipeline or orchestration file. With the tool, you can specify dependencies."

"We're running it on a virtual server, which we can easily upgrade if needed."

"Since Apache works very well on Python, we can manage everything and create pipelines there."

"I worked on a project at a leading German bank for two years, successfully migrating large applications with hundreds of jobs."

More Apache Airflow pros

"It is easy to use in a business processing suite."

"The initial setup is straightforward."

"The Workspace is a full, rich application where most users can find what they want. It shows them a list of their work."

"The default Workspace does not meet all our needs and sometimes you need to create your own custom Workspace."

"It is easy and cheap."

"One of the most valuable features of Oracle BPM is the workflow itself. It is quite intuitive."

"Our company is based around Oracle processes. It provides a lot of flexibility in its processes."

"It is quite scalable and can be applied to enterprise-level organizations effectively."

More Oracle BPM pros

Cons

"The platform's stability needs improvement, particularly regarding occasional interruptions due to networking issues."

"The documentation must be improved."

"Apache Airflow improved workflow efficiency, but we had to find solutions for large workflows. For instance, a monthly workflow with 1200 jobs had to be split into three to four pieces as it struggled with large job numbers. Loading a workflow with 500 jobs could take 10 minutes, which wasn't acceptable."

"I want to see Apache Airflow have more integrations with more production-based databases since it is an area where the product lacks currently."

"Programmatically, it's very good, and it doesn't have any competitors, but you cannot develop anything in Airflow UI. You need to develop everything within the program. In the market, other tools have come up recently as competitors to Airflow, and they also give graphical programming options, whereas Airflow doesn't provide that feature currently. All the DAGs you want to build need to be coded in Python."

"I have some issues with the solution's communication."

"It would be beneficial to improve the pricing structure."

"Technical support is an area that needs improvement."

More Apache Airflow cons

"Their Case Management set of features is severely lacking and should be a target for immediate improvement dealing with unpredictable processes inside of organizations."

"Pricing is an area that could use improvement."

"You have to maintain it manually."

"Oracle BPM should allow integration with external, common APIs."

"There is room for improvement in the pricing structure."

"It could have easier administration. It takes time to configure and deploy."

"The time it takes to get from deployment to production could be faster."

"The solution needs to offer better integration with third-party systems."

More Oracle BPM cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is quite affordable."

"The pricing for the product is reasonable."

"For the time being, it doesn't cost anything."

"I use the tool's open-source version."

"Although Airflow is open source software, there's also commercial support for it by Astronomer. We personally don't use the commercial support, but it's always an option if you don't mind the extra cost."

"It is an open-source tool. There are no additional fees or charges associated with the product."

"Apache Airflow is open-source and free of charge."

"We are using the open-source version of Apache Airflow."

More Apache Airflow pricing and cost advice

"We received the product packaged into the Oracle database solution."

"The pricing is significantly high, particularly for Brazil where fluctuations in the exchange rate between the dollar and the real can further increase the cost of Oracle licenses."

"This solution is very expensive. You are charged per license and an additional 20% for support."

"Oracle is good, but they're still expensive compared to other vendors."

"The licensing for this product is very costly. We pay for a yearly license to use Oracle BPM."

"The pricing is very expensive."

"The licensing model is good."

"I don't have information on the exact cost of Oracle BPM because a different team handles that, but it's pretty high. Oracle products are very costly. I would rate pricing for Oracle BPM three out of five. Though the pricing is high, the solution has a lot of features."

More Oracle BPM pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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 Apache Airflow?

Apache Airflow is easy to use and can monitor task execution easily. For instance, when performing setup tasks, you can conveniently view the logs without delving into the job details.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apache Airflow?

I prefer using the open-source version rather than the enterprise version, which helps manage costs.

See all answers

What do you like most about Oracle BPM?

The solution provides extensive functionalities.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle BPM?

The licensing is expensive. It needs to be more affordable, especially in the Kenyan market.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Oracle BPM?

Oracle BPM should ensure its product is aligned with current technology by keeping up with advancements like AI. There are delays in offering the latest technology, so there is a need to be more re...

See all answers

Comparisons

Camunda vs Apache Airflow

Compared 61% of the time

Informatica Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) vs Apache Airflow

Compared 8% of the time

IBM BPM vs Apache Airflow

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Business Automation Workflow vs Apache Airflow

Compared 4% of the time

Pega Platform vs Apache Airflow

Compared 1% of the time

More Apache Airflow Competitors

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs Oracle BPM

Compared 33% of the time

Camunda vs Oracle BPM

Compared 30% of the time

IBM BPM vs Oracle BPM

Compared 16% of the time

AWS Step Functions vs Oracle BPM

Compared 9% of the time

ARIS BPA vs Oracle BPM

Compared 6% of the time

More Oracle BPM Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Apache Airflow

January 2025

Download Apache Airflow product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle BPM

January 2025

Download Oracle BPM product report

Also Known As

Airflow

Oracle Business Process Management

Learn More

Apache

Oracle

Overview

Apache Airflow is an open-source workflow management system (WMS) that is primarily used to programmatically author, orchestrate, schedule, and monitor data pipelines as well as workflows. The solution makes it possible for you to manage your data pipelines by authoring workflows as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) of tasks. By using Apache Airflow, you can orchestrate data pipelines over object stores and data warehouses, run workflows that are not data-related, and can also create and manage scripted data pipelines as code (Python).

Apache Airflow Features

Apache Airflow has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

Smart sensor: In Apache Airflow, tasks are executed sequentially. The smart sensors are executed in bundles, and therefore consume fewer resources.

Dockerfile: By using Apache Airflow’s dockerfile feature, you can run your business’s Airflow code without having to document and automate the process of running Airflow on a server.

Scalability: Because Apache Airflow has a modular architecture and uses a message queue to orchestrate an arbitrary number of workers, you can easily scale it.

Plug-and-play operators: With Apache Airflow, you can choose from several plug-and-play operators that are ready to execute your tasks on many third-party services.

Apache Airflow Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Apache Airflow. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

User friendly: Using Apache Airflow requires minimal python knowledge to get started.

Intuitive user interface: The Apache Airflow user interface enables you to visualize pipelines running in production, monitor progress, and also troubleshoot issues when needed.

Easy integration: Apache Airflow can easily be integrated with cloud platforms (Google, AWS, Azure, etc).

Visual DAGs: Apache Airflow’s visual DAGs provide data lineage, which facilitates debugging of data flows and also aids in auditing and data governance.

Flexibility: Apache Airflow provides you with several ways to make DAG objects more flexible. At runtime, a context variable is passed to each workflow execution, which is quickly incorporated into an SQL statement that includes the run ID, execution date, and last and next run times.

Multiple deployment options: With Apache Airflow, you have several options for deployment, including self-service, open source, or a managed service.

Several data source connections: Apache Airflow can connect to a variety of data sources, including APIs, databases, data warehouses, and more.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Apache Airflow solution.

A Senior Solutions Architect/Software Architect says, “The product integrates well with other pipelines and solutions. The ease of building different processes is very valuable to us. The difference between Kafka and Airflow, is that it's better for dealing with the specific flows that we want to do some transformation. It's very easy to create flows.”

An Assistant Manager at a comms service provider mentions, “The best part of Airflow is its direct support for Python, especially because Python is so important for data science, engineering, and design. This makes the programmatic aspect of our work easy for us, and it means we can automate a lot.”

A Senior Software Engineer at a pharma/biotech company comments that he likes Apache Airflow because it is “Feature rich, open-source, and good for building data pipelines.”

The Industry's Most Complete and Unified BPM Solution A complete solution for all types of processes that provides a unified process foundation, user-centric design, and social BPM interaction. Reduces complexity and risk and increases business efficiency, visibility, and agility.

Sample Customers

Agari, WePay, Astronomer

State Revenue Office Victoria, New South Wales Health, REDISA, Panduit, Total E&P Indonesie

Buyer's Guide

Apache Airflow vs. Oracle BPM

January 2025

Free Report: Apache Airflow vs. Oracle BPM

Find out what your peers are saying about Apache Airflow vs. Oracle BPM and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Apache Airflow vs. Oracle BPM report.

See our list of best Business Process Management (BPM) vendors.

We monitor all Business Process Management (BPM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.