No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

ARIS Cloud vs Appian comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 25, 2026

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

Appian
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Process Automation (9th), Rapid Application Development Software (13th), Low-Code Development Platforms (8th), Process Mining (6th), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (14th)
ARIS Cloud
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
30th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of Appian is 3.4%, down from 5.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ARIS Cloud is 1.1%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Appian3.4%
ARIS Cloud1.1%
Other95.5%
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Featured Reviews

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.
reviewer1294968 - PeerSpot reviewer
Transformational Leader at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Mapping capabilities lag behind while requiring significant customization but is scalable
I worked with ARIS Cloud under SAP. The solution was deployed by an agile team and utilized daily by process engineers and business process owners. It was involved in the financial services industry, with thousands of users within the company The platform's capabilities are highly dependent on…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The workflow engines are a valuable feature; we use them to bridge the gaps of processes within our core systems that are either too difficult or too costly to develop within the core system."
"It is easy for me to define the process and create configurable workflows."
"The product has a very good mobile app."
"The solution has a lot of strong features for the financial industry, it is very easy to use."
"Appian is easy to install and set up, and it does not come out with your audit. It has accessible process orchestration and process management. With Appian, the time to market is much faster."
"The valuable features include process automation, Appian Portal, and Appian RPA."
"Appian helps you do a lot of things. It's easy to configure and build an application platform, and it offers a lot of features that you find in an RPA solution. It's flexible so you can reuse it for a variety of use cases."
"Overall, the features of the product are very helpful."
"The cloud version has the advantage that you can work on it from anywhere."
"We had used other products before Aris Cloud and we have chosen to go for the ARIS system, and we are quite happy because it's very easy to collaborate with and very user-friendly, intuitive for the end-users to use the tool, so we are happy and it's perfectly answering our needs."
"The most valuable feature is GUI; it is very intuitive and easy to use."
"From a total cost of ownership perspective, running this on the cloud is more efficient than having someone in the company take care of the infrastructure."
"In terms of using the cloud version, if you're somebody who, like myself, has got a lot of experience and understands measures and notations and things, basically it's unrestricted. You can do so many things. You can do your Archimaze, you can do BPMN. There's lots of stuff you can do in there and if you're a good field person and you cause yourself re-using things or whatever, then it's very nice, it's very easy to use."
"ARIS has proved that it works also in complex circumstances."
"Over the past few years, ARIS has made its interface more user-friendly and intuitive."
"This is the best BPM tool that I have ever worked with."
 

Cons

"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."
"The product’s pricing could be improved from the developers' perspective."
"I think Appian could improve by adding its own native GenAI and agentic capabilities."
"There should be more flexibility for the developers to choose the look and feel of the UI. They should have a better ability to design their widgets and customize them with different colors, shapes, and sizes. That is a limitation that could be improved upon."
"You can't really test the software properly without actually buying the license first."
"The tool itself is pretty good, but the main area that we struggled with was the backend."
"Appian is a great tool for internal use cases where the users are company employees, but it has room to improve for use cases where the users are public facing, where anonymous users could come to a site and run a business workflow or interact with some data."
"It needs better integration with our existing application ecosystem."
"The stability was poor due to frequent outages."
"I would like to see more support for architectural diagrams."
"It would be very helpful if this solution were more open and could integrate with other solutions like ServiceNow."
"There is room for improvement in the support."
"I was surprised when my license was deactivated and I could not access my data."
"They need to revamp a whole module. This module has been in place for 16 years. It hasn't been updated since then. It's actually a separate license on its own. It's a disaster."
"If you have multiple tiers of approvals into that update of the policy, or the process design itself, it takes ages to prepare those internal flows within the system."
"It seems that there could be innovations in fostering spontaneous cooperation between departments and individuals. This extends to case management and finding new paradigms for enhancing such cooperation. While some approaches, like basic case management tools, have been tried in the past, they may not have met expectations entirely. However, ongoing efforts in administrative science are focused on these areas. Companies with innovative ideas can contribute to progress, possibly involving concepts related to trust, even within the context of web 3. There are intriguing developments in how economic and business organizations can be formed. When it comes to learning about these concepts, starting with simple examples and gradually moving to more complex ones is advisable. Begin with the basics, excluding unnecessary details that might hinder understanding. Over time, you can delve into more intricate aspects, such as Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, to gain a deeper understanding of these technologies."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing can be a little confusing to customers."
"You can't really test the software properly without actually buying the license first."
"The cost is calculated on a per-user basis. It might be expensive for small and mid-sized enterprises."
"I think that if somebody is really serious at looking at business value, then by all means, the product is well worth the value. You get representative business value for the price that you pay for the product, and for the implementation of the product."
"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."
"Product pricing compared to some of the earlier vendors, like IBM, CA, and Oracle, is quite well-priced. Although, we do feel that as we increase the number of users and the workload increases, we will have to spend more."
"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."
"The cost depends on the number of users, although I recommend taking an unlimited license."
"The licensing model of ARIS Cloud is leaner and more beneficial to the customer. The new license model is great. With the on-premise, you needed to subscribe to many more types of licenses. Now there are licensed bundles available on the cloud."
"There is a student version of this solution that can be used for free."
"The cloud deployment is not more expensive. In the cloud, you pay for what you use, and there's no need for maintaining infrastructure or additional personnel, making it cost-effective. On-premises deployment, on the other hand, involves infrastructure costs and maintenance expenses."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Management (BPM) solutions are best for your needs.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise46
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS Cloud?
The price of ARIS Cloud is relatively high and not every firm can afford it, especially if the company is not mature enough to require such extensive process modeling and optimization.
What needs improvement with ARIS Cloud?
It would be beneficial for ARIS Cloud to add more customization options, such as having a landing page. Improving the importation script from Microsoft Visio ( /products/visio-reviews ) would also ...
What is your primary use case for ARIS Cloud?
I am currently working with both ARIS Cloud ( /products/aris-cloud-reviews ) and MEGA HOPEX ( /products/mega-hopex-reviews ), having switched from ARIS BPM ( /products/aris-bpa-reviews ) to MEGA HO...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
Process Live, ARIS Simulation, ARIS Aware, ARIS Connect
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee
Tesco, Weifu, Airbus, Siemens, Proximus, Alicorp, Sekerbank, Bancor, Philips,Sky, Emirates NBD, Dubai Municipality, Suva, U.S. Army, Australia Post, Westfalen Weser Energie - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as the market leader for process excellence with more than 30 years of experience in the market and 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS Cloud vs. Appian and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,800 professionals have used our research since 2012.