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Bonita vs IBM BPM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

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

Bonita
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
30th
Ranking in Process Automation
28th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (17th)
IBM BPM
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
5th
Ranking in Process Automation
9th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Application Infrastructure (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Bonita is 1.9%, down from 3.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM BPM is 4.1%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM BPM4.1%
Bonita1.9%
Other94.0%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

Paparao Nadipineni - PeerSpot reviewer
Architect at Evoke
A simple and lightweight college course automation system with third-party integrations
The initial setup is straightforward and can be completed with the environment within an hour. First, take the latest from the git repository and check the git code to the monitor studio and a bar file, a deployable Bonita archive file. Then, take that process to the Bonita server, running at runtime on another server. Finally, deploy and enable it by selecting the proper organization.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Bonita is user-friendly, and the features are useful."
"One of the most valuable features is you can create without coding, it is a low code platform."
"We use the on-premises deployment model and the Bonita Community Edition of the solution."
"One of the most valuable features is you can create without coding, it is a low code platform."
"The solution is easy to use."
"Process automation with Bonita BPM is really easy."
"I find process management and user interface designing the most valuable features."
"In general, Bonita is a very good solution."
"This product does the job in terms of executing the workflow."
"We will be hitting over a million transactions a day by the end of the year, so it is pretty successful."
"Technical support is good. They are very responsive. It is usually me who takes more time to get back to them than they take to get back to me, which is good."
"The solution is stable."
"Our clients were previously using Excel sheets for processes, and it has changed their whole life as now the processes are all automated."
"The functionality to design UI to be responsive and can run on multiple devices."
"Everything is possible with the solution."
"IBM BPM is easy to deploy."
 

Cons

"We are struggling a bit with integrations."
"BPMN 2.0 notations are not all supported, would love to see them all coming in (e.g. complex gateway)."
"The menus likely would be more intuitive if read in French. Things seem to be under strange headings at times."
"The interface is advanced and quite good, but it could improve."
"The support is mandatory to access all features (Subscription), maybe they can have a different business model."
"It would be nice to have a wizard to help walk through the development process and create a backbone."
"Scalability of the Bonita BPM Community version is low."
"The dashboard has limited features."
"We would appreciate more user-friendly definitions of processes with a more user-friendly interface for documenting processes."
"They don't have a mechanism to achieve processes, data sources, and data."
"The price and the overall installation process could be improved."
"Stability wavers. We have some opportunities for improvement in this space, especially as we approach our target volume of a million transactions a day."
"We had a weird problem that whenever the database would go down, even for a few seconds, it broke the connection. It would not come back up as it was supposed to. However, working with IBM, we were able to figure out a fix, then it came back up, even after an interruption of the database."
"There needs to be better documentation for IBM BPM in a central place; there is not any standard documentation for each component available and it has been a barrier for developers."
"I'd like the tool to be more flexible."
"IBM BPM's UI is an area with shortcomings where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are using the Community Version, which can be used free of charge."
"I believe this is a very good financial choice."
"The Community Edition comes free of charge."
"The price is fair for what we are using the solution for."
"You pay an annual fee and can have an unlimited number of processes and users."
"Price to service ratio with Bonita BPM is good."
"The Enterprise edition is very expensive."
"The product is not cheaper, not costlier; it is reasonable. Bonita’s license is very flexible, with options to meet the needs of different customers and clients. Previously, it was less flexible, but now, many different licensing options are available."
"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."
"The price is good but could be a little lower."
"The pricing is quite high, I would rate it two out of five."
"I rate the tool's pricing a seven out of ten."
"Its price is on the higher side, and it can be improved. Its licensing is on a yearly basis. There are no additional costs."
"​We have definitely seen ROI. When we first kicked it off, we said it had to pay for itself within three years, and it did."
"Due to its extensive features and capabilities, the product pricing is more aligned with medium—to large enterprises."
"I already compared some solutions related to business process management, and I saw that the cost of IBM BPM is more expensive compared with that of Camunda, for example."
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886,468 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise11
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise72
 

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...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Bonita BPM
WebSphere Lombardi Edition, IBM Business Process Manager, IBM WebSphere Process Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

With more than 1000 customers in 75 countries, and its ecosystem of more than 120,000 members, Bonitasoft is the largest provider of open-source Business Process Management, Low-code and Digital Transformation software worldwide.
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Bonita vs. IBM BPM and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,468 professionals have used our research since 2012.