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Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms vs Appian comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Adobe Experience Manager (A...
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Customer Communications Management (CCM) (6th)
Appian
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (6th), Process Automation (6th), Rapid Application Development Software (14th), Low-Code Development Platforms (10th), Process Mining (6th), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms and Appian aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms is designed for Customer Communications Management (CCM) and holds a mindshare of 5.0%, down 5.4% compared to last year.
Appian, on the other hand, focuses on Business Process Management (BPM), holds 3.4% mindshare, down 5.3% since last year.
Customer Communications Management (CCM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Forms5.0%
Quadient Inspire20.5%
OpenText Communications19.5%
Other55.0%
Customer Communications Management (CCM)
Business Process Management (BPM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Appian3.4%
Camunda7.2%
IBM BPM4.3%
Other85.1%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Q&A Highlights

AS
Community Manager at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)
Aug 29, 2014
 

Featured Reviews

it_user692313 - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing Partner and AEM Architect at a tech vendor with 51-200 employees
Its flexibility and customization ability. Ease of initial setup and complete set of features to support digital marketing initiatives.
Start small and plan your first set of objectives clearly, leaving all the “nice-to-haves” for a later phase. Starting this way will help companies get a sample of the benefits, and get familiar with the tool in general. After the first phase, they may find things that they thought they wanted are not really required or can be achieved in a better, more efficient way in the AEM world. Another useful suggestion is to avoid trying to recreate your current solution using AEM; rather, try to look for new and different ways to achieve the same results that take advantage of AEM’s features.
SB
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
Automated remittance workflows have boosted speed and accuracy but still need geo-tagging improvements
Remittance is a crucial part of my integral operation, so any disruption would majorly impact our clients. After switching to Appian, we never faced any disruption as it is reliable and we can generate data at any point in time, quite faster than other tools in my personal opinion. Regulators can ask for data from us at any time, and with Appian, we download data from our Appian tools to share it with them whenever they ask. I would share a real-life example: a customer's transaction processed more than a year ago. Suddenly the customer came back asking for all the details. In our previous tool, it was quite difficult to generate transaction details from over a year ago; however, while using Appian, we can pull up data using different key search fields, such as a customer's cell phone number, remittance tracking number, or MT103 reference number. We shared it with the customer instantly, and the customer was surprised we could provide all the details in such a short time. It added reputational value for our organization, thanks to Appian.You have pointed out two major things: time-saving and reduction of error, which are key points while processing remittance. Previously, while using another tool, it was quite time-consuming to process remittance, but after switching to Appian, it can extract data from MT103, eliminating the need for manual data entry. The process has become fully automated. Previously we could process only five to ten transactions within an hour, but now, after switching to Appian, we can process about 100 transactions in an hour, making it 10 times faster. In terms of error detection, since Appian extracts data from MT103, the extraction rate is quite good, and the error rate is negligible, lower than 0.001%. We can share accurate, error-free data with the regulator, which is essential for us. Appian benefits us significantly. After receiving an MT103, we check what the remitter is, the amount, if it is under threshold for processing, and if it is from a high-priority remitter or client. Since Appian extracts data from MT103 messages and identifies top-level clients from the database, it can notify us to process their transactions with priority. Due to automated data extraction, there are fewer instances of error. In our previous tool, we reported regulatory data to the central bank manually and often received complaints about invalid purpose codes due to manual data entry. Appian handles this automatically, and after switching, our error rate has dropped significantly, resulting in positive feedback from the Central Bank of Bangladesh regarding our reduced error rates. This has greatly enhanced our organization's reputation. Appian is fully on-premises, and we have our own system.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"All these features help companies create powerful web applications that can then be customized and maintained by marketers with little involvement from IT."
"LiveCycle has a good user interface and has developed an easy way to create fillable .pdf forms."
"What I found most valuable in Appian is that it lets you drill down on multiple things through the structure of the reporting and UI side. It's also low-code, yet it results in quick deliverables."
"The most productive aspect of Appian lies in its ability to develop interfaces, particularly user interfaces. Creating user interfaces is highly productive, when these interfaces are integrated with the original database. In such cases, using record types proves to be a very efficient method of handling data. The synergy between interfaces and record types enhances productivity."
"The valuable features include process automation, Appian Portal, and Appian RPA."
"Development time is much faster than traditional coding solutions, and it is more robust."
"The most valuable feature is business automation."
"The solution's most valuable features are the regular periodic and quarterly updates, they are very useful updates. They keep improving the solution more often, and that helps the platform or code always be up to date with the latest features."
"I find the BPM the most valuable feature."
"Call Web Service Smart Service - Web service integrations with other systems are super simple and fast to create, supported by low code menus."
 

Cons

"Help menu is a bit difficult to navigate."
"We have found occasional issues with stability but those were, in general, caused either by custom developed code or issues in the implemented architecture."
"There could be a scope of enhancement for capturing the variety of use cases."
"It would be nice if you could create your own customized apps when the business needed them.​"
"I would like to see more features for enterprises. They would also benefit from adding documentation and training on their site."
"Sometimes, clients expect us to implement ERP using Appian, which is very complicated. In such cases, I don't believe that Appian is a good tool for that."
"There are some restrictions with respect to using external components within Appian. So, for example, if we do not have a particular feature available, there's a long cycle of getting approvals and all of that. That does not offer flexibility, which definitely can be improved on."
"Something I would like to see improved is an SQL database connection."
"There is no UI customization possible."
"On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate Appian a 7.5."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The license is a bit expensive and the pricing model is sometimes confusing for new users or business users. It is difficult for them to know what volume of usage they will have to be able to purchase the best-suited license at the beginning."
"BPM done right is a huge value proposition for almost any company, and with Appian's low code rapid development model, the ROI can be huge, while the break-even point should be accelerated tremendously."
"Appian is very flexible in their pricing. In general, Appian's pricing is much, much lower when compared to competition like Pega or other products. Appian also has a flexible licensing model across geographies. Pega usually goes with a single licensing cost—which is a US-based cost—for all global customers, and it's costly. Whereas Appian has a different regional licensing cost model and it can be cheaper, depending on geography. So Appian's licensing is very flexible, and cheaper when compared to other competition."
"If you're doing an enterprise-wide digital transformation, Appian is worthwhile, but not for just one or two use cases because the license costs are higher."
"Licensing of Appian is less expensive when compared to other BPMs in the market."
"We will have to have a dialogue or negotiate a price for future use. To start with, it is a reasonable price. As we go ahead, we will have to make sure the costs are inline with our expectations as we grow our user base and workloads."
"I'm sure it is cost-effective, but right now, we're just toying around with it. So, I don't have any hard numbers."
"When it comes to pricing, it's definitely not affordable. However, it really depends on the requirements that you're seeking from the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise46
 

Questions from the Community

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Which do you prefer - Appian or Camunda Platform?
Appian is fast when building simple to medium solutions. This solution offers simple drag-and-drop functionality with easy plug-and-play options. The initial setup was seamless and very easy to imp...
Is Appian a suitable solution for beginners who have no additional preparation?
Appian is actually pretty big on educating its users, including with courses that reward you with certifications. There is a whole section on their company’s website where you can check out the edu...
Is it easy to set up Appian or did you have to resort to professional help?
We had some issues when we were setting up Appian. It was quite surprising, since this is a low-code tool which, in its essence, means it is meant for business users and inexperienced beginners. So...
 

Also Known As

Adobe LiveCycle
Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

State of Illinois, Department of Human Services
Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee
Find out what your peers are saying about Quadient, Gupshup, OpenText and others in Customer Communications Management (CCM). Updated: October 2026.
916,771 professionals have used our research since 2012.