Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Appian vs Zoho Creator 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.1
Appian boosts company profits, efficiency, and cost savings, with users achieving quick returns and reductions in process times.
Sentiment score
3.8
Zoho Creator offers significant ROI, cost savings, and efficiency improvements compared to competitors, despite higher portal prices.
Using Appian is saving us five full-time employees, which is significant since we currently have only four team members.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
They see return on investment in terms of cost savings, time savings, more efficient processes, and more efficient employees.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
The Return on Investment is significant.
Associate Technology Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
For instance, a company I worked with compared spending on Salesforce, which was 15 crore, to our expenses with Zoho Creator, which was only 2 crore annually.
Sr Business Application Developer on Zoho Platform. at Tech Worriors
I have seen a return on investment with Zoho Creator because we eliminated a point of sale software that was charging us 5 lakhs per year across all 26 malls.
IT Projects and Strategy Manager at RoboTouch
Using Zoho Creator is affordable for my business as it helps save time.
Software Engineer at Maximus
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.5
Appian's customer service is valued for responsiveness, though complex issue resolution times need improvement, especially for smaller companies.
Sentiment score
5.2
Zoho Creator's service is responsive with praised pre-sales, but email support can lag; chat and community offer quick help.
I would give Appian's customer support 10 out of 10 due to their next-level support.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
Their customer service is responsive, and the team is very prompt for support.
Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems
The technical support for Appian rates as 10 out of 10 because they have a great support team.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
I would rate the technical support 10 out of 10 because they provide excellent assistance.
Software Engineer at Maximus
Delays arise once the support team must refer to backend processes or developers, highlighting the need for enhancement in their overall support system.
Zoho Developer at Tarini Consulting
All documentation exists, detailing even the smallest elements; by reading through it properly, one can manage without additional support.
Sr Business Application Developer on Zoho Platform. at Tech Worriors
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
Appian offers robust scalability and integration, efficiently supporting complex processes despite potential challenges in data and infrastructure.
Sentiment score
5.8
Zoho Creator is scalable and customizable for SMEs but faces challenges with large data and potential cost increases.
On a scale of one to 10, Appian rates as a nine for scalability.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
Our volume has increased by 20% in the two years since using Appian, and it can handle the increased volume effectively.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
Initially, without much coding, I can easily handle five thousand records.
Associate Consultant at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Being browser-based allows me to drag and drop components immediately, deploying in seconds on a live application.
Sr Business Application Developer on Zoho Platform. at Tech Worriors
We are continuing to build on top of what was initially created for them, ensuring that scalability is never an issue as long as you understand how to utilize Zoho properly.
Zoho Developer at Tarini Consulting
When my customers' needs are growing, Zoho Creator is able to adapt to these growing needs because it's a build-it-yourself application.
Founder, Consultant, and Developer at Limitless IT Consultancy
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Appian is stable and reliable with minimal issues, especially when best practices are followed, despite some latency challenges.
Sentiment score
6.4
Zoho Creator is highly stable and reliable, with few issues reported, especially when following best practices and using Creator 5.
We have tested Appian during peak usage and off-peak times, and we have not experienced any issues such as lagging or system disruptions.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
It depends on how it has been designed and how it has been configured.
Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems
The stability of Appian would rate as nine, as it's a stable environment.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
The core elements of coding and daily scripting remain unchanged despite interface updates, assuring continuity in my work.
Sr Business Application Developer on Zoho Platform. at Tech Worriors
You can't rely on any software in business if it's not going to be stable and reliable.
Founder, Consultant, and Developer at Limitless IT Consultancy
Offering versatile flexibility for various integrations, such as WhatsApp and email API integration.
Software Engineer at Maximus
 

Room For Improvement

Appian's tools need more flexibility, better integration, improved scalability, intuitive UI, enhanced mobile support, and comprehensive training materials.
Zoho Creator faces challenges with UI, data management, integrations, scalability, and support, hindering customization and user efficiency.
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.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
Appian can be improved by adding a geo-location tagging feature, which would be really helpful for identifying remitter addresses.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
It also suggests the best automation process that can be configured within Appian.
Associate Technology Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
In terms of scalability, there are certain limitations if the data volume is large due to execution limits.
Founder at GGSH&CO LLP
Enhancing the user interface could also be beneficial, as the company's focus seems more on functionality.
Sr Business Application Developer on Zoho Platform. at Tech Worriors
I want to see improvements in Zoho Creator focusing on AI capabilities because there currently seems to be very little AI usage in Zoho compared to the advancements in other software.
IT Projects and Strategy Manager at RoboTouch
 

Setup Cost

Appian's pricing varies by deployment and workload, offering value despite higher costs, with notable robust, enterprise-grade features.
Zoho Creator offers competitive pricing starting at INR 480, with flexible plans up to 1,500 INR for diverse needs.
Appian provides value for money, is easy to use, has a straightforward setup procedure, and offers great support from the Appian team.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
On the pricier side, both Appian and Pega are enterprise-level solutions, placing them on the slightly higher side.
Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems
The pricing of Appian is based on the number of users and generally ranges from 70 to 100 USD per user per month.
Technology Leader of Appian at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Zoho offers customizable pricing options, such as Zoho One, which provides access to all 40 applications for 1250.
Zoho developer at Lighthouse Learning Group
For INR, the standard cost is 480 per month, the professional tier is around 1,200, and the enterprise level is 1,500, based on the subscription level per user for Zoho Creator.
Software Engineer at Maximus
Pricing is a little on the higher side for the Indian market, especially for mid-sized and small-sized companies with 30 to 40 users.
Founder at GGSH&CO LLP
 

Valuable Features

Appian provides low-code development with seamless integration, automation, and AI, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility in process management.
Zoho Creator offers flexibility, customization, and integration, enabling easy app development with its low-code platform and robust features.
The zero-code integration feature is remarkable, allowing for ease of data transfer and workflow enhancement.
Technology Leader of Appian at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Appian is aiding in leveraging AI technologies in multiple ways: one way is for developers, as they make development efficient and quick by enabling developer co-pilots across various phases of the application, which helps design Appian quickly and provides suggestions along the way.
Director & Key Managerial Personnel at Newlight Technology Solutions Private Limited
After switching to Appian, it can extract data from MT103, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
Finance Specialist at a government with 5,001-10,000 employees
The seamless integration with third-party applications and services in Zoho Creator greatly enhances its utility in my business environment, as the ease of integration is impressive.
Sr Business Application Developer on Zoho Platform. at Tech Worriors
For analytics, we employ two tools: Zoho Creator itself and Zoho Analytics, where we can use SQL queries to fetch data from multiple platforms.
Freelancer at Upwork
We can generate QR codes for free, whereas in CRM, QR generation requires external purchases.
Zoho developer at Lighthouse Learning Group
 

Categories and Ranking

Appian
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
10th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
5th
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (8th), Process Automation (7th), Process Mining (6th)
Zoho Creator
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
12th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
8th
Ranking in Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Appian is 5.8%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoho Creator is 1.3%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Appian5.8%
Zoho Creator1.3%
Other92.9%
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Shad Bhowmik - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
VishalKumar7 - PeerSpot reviewer
Zoho Developer at Evoluz Global Solutions
User experience metadata and workflow customization have been streamlined
The creator needs improvement; for instance, if I create a widget that has dynamic data, it cannot get published. When we publish a page that contains a widget, dynamic data does not appear. That is the problem with Zoho Creator, so it needs improvement. The portal user aspect is also costly; for example, purchasing 250 portal users can be expensive for clients who require them monthly. It creates a financial burden similar to how customer logins on e-commerce websites such as Flipkart or Amazon are generally free. Thus, Zoho Creator needs to offer free access for all portal users as they are essential for the application's usage. In Zoho Creator, we cannot work on UI customization as expected; if I want an application resembling a Figma design, there are limitations on UI changes.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rapid Application Development Software solutions are best for your needs.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise44
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise4
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 Zoho Creator?
I find the pricing of Zoho Creator to be very cheap. When compared to other low-code platforms, Zoho Creator consistently ranks at the top regarding functionality. Their native Android and iOS appl...
What needs improvement with Zoho Creator?
Regarding improvements in the Deluge scripting language, I would like to see enhancements in its loop feature, which behaves differently compared to loops in other languages. Additionally, the exec...
What is your primary use case for Zoho Creator?
There can be several different use cases for Zoho Creator that I work with. I can use Zoho Creator for all types of custom applications. I have built BOM applications and manufacturing-related appl...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
No data available
 

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
Estate Crush Winery, Integra Services, Avidpays, Napa Valley Film Festival, Marionnaud, The Institute of Hormonal Health, Stone Tapert
Find out what your peers are saying about Appian vs. Zoho Creator and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.