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Codebeamer vs IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 30, 2025

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

Codebeamer
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Engineering Lifecycle M...
Ranking in Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
13th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites category, the mindshare of Codebeamer is 8.5%, up from 5.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) is 3.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites
 

Featured Reviews

SHRINIVAS ALAGERI - PeerSpot reviewer
Built-in project management modules simplify processes while compatibility improvements are needed
Codebeamer could improve its customization capabilities and integration options. For instance, older versions of PDM Windchill ( /products/ptc-windchill-reviews ) face compatibility issues with newer versions of Codebeamer, requiring users to downgrade Codebeamer to establish integration. The installation on Linux can be tricky, and backward compatibility needs enhancement. Also, Codebeamer struggles with some DevOps integrations and lacks AI features for enhanced user assistance.
Harold Pogue - PeerSpot reviewer
A complex deployment that is not stable, but is cloud-based
The team of 15 to 20 software engineers uses IBM Rational ALM and Jira for testing. They coupled different online packages together because the Duration Enterprise was impossible to use IBM Rational ALM did not help the organization and we ended up moving to another solution. The most valuable…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution."
"Since implementing this solution we have better communication and information exchange with customers."
"Codebeamer's API-based integration and many other integration aspects with other solutions are very powerful."
"The key features of Codebeamer include templates and basic structures, most of which are created and readily available for deployment out of the box, reducing deployment time."
"You can track the metrics in the Agile dashboard very easily."
"The platform provided the flexibility to expand our business processes, accommodating or altering them to suit the requirements of a changing environment."
"Utilizing Codebeamer has helped my organization by saving time in our processes."
"The traceability is so simple that I don't need to do any additional configurations related to traceability."
"I would rate the stability of this product a nine out of ten."
"The cataloging is a very valuable feature. For a lot of enterprises, they end up not knowing which applications do specific features. The cataloging helps with this. It's not that verbose, but it still gives you allowances to put in more detail."
"The integration with Git works well."
"The word emulation and importing is good."
"The most valuable feature is the reporting of the CPU usage on the dashboard."
"The planning feature is rich with Scrum concepts: Sprint, Sprint retrospective, the rules in the Scrum framework."
"At the same time, if you're working from the architect or the designing team you, it's quite easy to manage the resources online."
"The tools for requirement capture we have found very useful."
 

Cons

"Usability needs to be improved."
"During migrations from other platforms to CodeBeamer, there have been instances where we encountered issues that required redoing certain tasks."
"We would like to see more industry-specific features that are tailored to the vertical markets."
"It's still a fairly new tool that lacks maturity right now."
"The solution has a very small market share in China. It's almost like a startup."
"There should be more integration tools available. Although Codebeamer has a substantial amount of integration options with multiple tools, new technologies and software constantly emerge."
"Certain areas in Codebeamer could be improved, like addressing small issues, glitches, or bugs."
"The primary challenge is adapting the standard product to our workflows and specific needs."
"The stability of this solution can be improved."
"IBM Rational ALM should remove the features not used by the customers and keep this product as lightweight as possible."
"There is not enough beginner support material in the form of FAQs or simple training to help you get started."
"The reporting functionality needs to be improved."
"The directory designer manager is uncivil. The design manager is clearly really unstable."
"I would like to see better reporting features. The out-of-box reporting is - I don't want to say limited - but the focus is on the Scrum and Sprint reports. We need more reporting features regarding the history of the work, tracking it more deeply."
"The stability of IBM Rational ALM could be improved."
"The GUI is a little bit outdated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is reasonably priced and in accordance with the industry standards."
"Pricing is good when compared to similar ALM solutions."
"Codebeamer is not a cheap solution."
"They're not the most expensive product on the market, but they're not the cheapest either — I'd say codeBeamer ALM is moderately priced."
"IBM Rational ALM has both monthly and yearly licensing options."
"This product is a little expensive and we had to pay extra to have them set it up for us."
"The price of the solution could be reduced. Many of our customers are not using all the features and this could be why our clients feel the price is too high."
"We have a contract, but I am not aware of the details."
"The solution is not cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
32%
Computer Software Company
14%
Healthcare Company
7%
Transportation Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
25%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about codeBeamer ALM?
The platform provided the flexibility to expand our business processes, accommodating or altering them to suit the requirements of a changing environment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for codeBeamer ALM?
Codebeamer is on the expensive side, but it provides ready-made modules for standards like ASPICE and ISO 26262, which might justify the cost for customers looking for those solutions.
What needs improvement with codeBeamer ALM?
Codebeamer could improve its customization capabilities and integration options. For instance, older versions of PDM Windchill ( /products/ptc-windchill-reviews ) face compatibility issues with new...
What needs improvement with IBM Rational ALM?
The user interface requires significant improvement as it is overly complex. For business users with no experience in IT, it can be particularly challenging to understand the UI and create test cas...
What is your primary use case for IBM Rational ALM?
We use IBM Rational ALM as part of our overall application suite for our manufacturing company. It is used by our engineering team to capture requirements, perform testing, and manage defects. Spec...
 

Also Known As

codeBeamer ALM
IBM Engineering Rhapsody, Rational ALM, MKS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Medtronic, Align Technology, Daimler, Samsung, Harman, Dassault
Tennis Australia, WeCloud AB, Port Otago Limited, Logicalis US, Valmer, The Chevrolet Volt, Ashurst
Find out what your peers are saying about Codebeamer vs. IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management (ELM) and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
847,862 professionals have used our research since 2012.