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ARIS BPA vs Bonita comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 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

ARIS BPA
Ranking in Business Process Design
5th
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
7th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Bonita
Ranking in Business Process Design
14th
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
16th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Process Automation (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Business Process Management (BPM) category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 5.0%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Bonita is 3.6%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Management (BPM)
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user548199 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 29, 2016
 

Featured Reviews

Libor Černý - PeerSpot reviewer
I can usually find an answer to my issue on ARIS Community
From the start, there were some difficulties on how to create outputs since there wasn't a repository tool in version 6. However, in version 7, there has been a tool for creating standards for a company, and that tool has been very intuitive. While I have been using this tool for several years, other people just starting to use it find the learning curve steep. This tool is very robust and accommodates many roles, where people can participate from compliance, IT designers, etc. This can create problems for users who have no experience with similar tools. It took me a year before I felt comfortable with this tool, because when I came from university it was the first or second tool that I worked on. It took me a year to run every feature or use it for every possibility since this tool is very robust. We sometimes have to create the link to the server and the repository twice because it is deleted once for some unknown reason. Though, this is not a big problem. There should be a more intuitive tool when creating reports.
Paparao Nadipineni - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"ARIS provides the basic foundation for any digital transformation an organization decides to take."
"The most valuable feature in the latest versions is the connect portal, where you can do very simple modeling using the web-based portal."
"The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting."
"There is a really powerful reporting API that allows you to create almost any kind of report you want out of your process and document repository."
"The solution provides integrations to ServiceNow and other systems, flexibility of connectivity, and reporting."
"In addition to our applications, we have also stored, in ARIS, the footprint of where those applications have been implemented. That means we know in which country a given application has been implemented. With embedded geolocation, we have a very visual world map, where we can see the footprint of each application."
"We also have relationships specified with our IT systems and our organizational chart. That makes it possible to analyze things from the systems point of view and regarding the organizational part of the company. It all comes together in one tool and that is what gives us the most value at the moment."
"BPA, the modeling tool, is the main module used because of our need for documentation."
"Its user-friendliness, along with the availability of comprehensive and clear documentation on the website is the most valuable."
"I find process management and user interface designing the most valuable features."
"Bonita is user-friendly."
"The user interface is better than all of the open-source BPMs that I have tried."
"The solution is easy to use."
"I really enjoy using the workflow management."
"The most valuable features of Bonita are the connectors, detailed documentation, and web applications. The documentation was useful because it is how I learned how to use it."
"One of the most valuable features is you can create without coding, it is a low code platform."
 

Cons

"One thing that could be improved is regarding the handling of the content itself. Maybe ARIS could provide a set of best practices, or best processes, so that people do not have to start from scratch."
"I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying."
"The user interface could be more intuitive and better designed."
"Its governance tool and integration with ESB and execution engine can be improved. Their partner support can also be improved."
"The solution is difficult and not very exciting to learn."
"We should have the ability to download ARIS EPCs to Visio."
"I had this decentralization mission where I had some friendly fights with the consultants of Software AG. My opinion was the business department should be able to publish their processes and do all their evaluation stuff in ARCM themselves. It has to be a one stop shop. I want a one stop shop to go from ARIS BPM to ARIS ARCM, because having everything go through that would be an improvement due to the inputs that we made with Software AG. They will make it possible that the trigger sent from BPM to ARCM will start their object generation."
"There is not enough documentation provided for the tool's support or administration.​"
"I would like to improve the product's load balancing."
"The interface is advanced and quite good, but it could improve."
"It is missing some important features that other products have."
"There could be an improvement in IoT connectivity."
"The dashboard has limited features."
"Bonita can improve by offering more flexibility. The developer does not receive the code of the application to modify it. Most of the other solutions I have used allow the developers to change or improve the code that is generated."
"The main issue with Bonita is that the workspace crashes sometimes."
"There is a need for more components in the library and additional customization options for these components."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ARIS has different licensing mechanisms for different modules, but they are perpetual licenses. So you pay once."
"Prices are high. However, they are worth it if the organization utilizes the tool to its full potential."
"Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay."
"We have a concurrent license system."
"Pricing is a bit on the higher side."
"You will never get a fixed price for this product because they will go in and ask you what kind of environment would you like to set up? How many people will you work with? How big is your organization? Today, they have a fixed price to say, "Okay, just to start the business area, buy two licenses for modeling and eight people that can look into the product." They have this kind of fixed price. It's 50,000 Danish Krone. If you divided that by about six, then you get the pricing in dollars. Still, when you are going out, negotiate and find the right price. You will never get a fixed price: "It costs this and, if you take ten of these, seven of these and eight of these, and then it costs this." No, you negotiate every time."
"Usually, our company buys technical support from the Software AG site. We bought the technical support for the first year of usage for ARIS version 6 and 7. So, when we migrated to ARIS version 7, we bought support only for the first year. Then, we didn't use it the next year. Our experience was that we use it only one to three times during the first year. Therefore, there wasn't much value for us to buy this service because we have no problem with using ARIS after the first year."
"The tool is expensive."
"You pay an annual fee and can have an unlimited number of processes and users."
"I am using the free version of Bonita."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The price is fair for what we are using the solution for."
"I believe this is a very good financial choice."
"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."
"The product's pricing is acceptable. Pricing is yearly."
"The Enterprise edition is very expensive."
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Answers from the Community

it_user548199 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 29, 2016
Nov 29, 2016
Esperaba algo mas de este estilo, sin embargo desarrollé esta tabla de comparación de Suites BPM, la cuál no puedo anexar por lo que dejo en formato de texto en caso deque alguien requiera este conocimiento. Esta tabla fue desarrollada basandome en textos acádemicos de fuentes confiables. Sin embargo no pude encontrar el numero aproximado de clientes que usan ARIS, por lo que si alguien cuenta...
See 2 answers
it_user326337 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 15, 2016
Please find our three comparison pages that compare each of the products you listed with eachother: 1. ARIS BPM vs. Bonita BPM https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/comparisons/aris-bpm_vs_bonita-bpm 2. ARIS BPM vs. Bizagi https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/comparisons/aris-bpm_vs_bizagi 3. Bizagi vs. Bonita BPM https://www.itcentralstation.com/products/comparisons/bizagi_vs_bonita-bpm
it_user548199 - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 29, 2016
Esperaba algo mas de este estilo, sin embargo desarrollé esta tabla de comparación de Suites BPM, la cuál no puedo anexar por lo que dejo en formato de texto en caso deque alguien requiera este conocimiento. Esta tabla fue desarrollada basandome en textos acádemicos de fuentes confiables. Sin embargo no pude encontrar el numero aproximado de clientes que usan ARIS, por lo que si alguien cuenta con esta información se lo agradecería mucho, ya que es el último dato que requiero para completar esta tabla comparativa. BizAgi Suite, Bonita BPM, IBM Suite, ARIS + Webmethods, AuraPortal, Oracle Suite, Appian eBPM HOPEX Requiere pago Software licenciado (anual o perpetuo), freeware en versiones académicas Versión pagada (licenciamiento anual) y versión gratuita Software licenciado Software licenciado Software licenciado Versión pagada y versión gratuita Software licenciado Versión pagada y versión gratuita Código abierto No Si (GPL) No No No No No No Diseño intuitivo Bastante Intuitivo Bastante Intuitivo Medianamente intuitivo Bastante Intuitivo Bastante Intuitivo Requiere tiempo de adaptación Medianamente intuitivo Bastante Intuitivo Acceso a licencia de prueba. Si No No Si Si No Si Si Tutoriales y Soporte técnico Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Notación para diagramar BPMN 2.0 BPMN 2.0 BPMN 2.0, BPEL BPMN 2.0, EPC BPMN 2.0 BPMN 2.0, BPEL BPMN 2.0, EPC BPMN 2.0 Compatibilidad con base de datos SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, HSQL SQL Server SQL Server, Oracle SQL Server Oracle SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL SQL Server, Oracle Sistema operativo Windows, Linux Multi-plataforma Multi-plataforma Windows, Linux, Mac Windows Multi-plataforma Windows, Linux, Solaris Windows Monitoreo en tiempo real Si Si Si No Si Si Si Regular Servicio en la nube Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Si Requiere programación No No Poco Poco No Si Poco No Número de clientes >500 >1000 >3500 >800 >2000 >2000 >2700 Principales clientes Adidas Group, BBVA, Telefónica, BNP Paribas Xerox, Stanford University, CSC Barclays, Emericon, Banca popolare di Milano, Saperion Fujitsu, Coca Cola, Electrolux, ING, Credit Suisse Toyota, RSA Chile, Coprusa Group, Refinery of the Pacific REDISA, Panduit, Total E&P Indonesie Amazon, M&T Bank, Nissan, Ford, Baxter Credit Union GNP, P&G, EuroControl, British American Tobacco Permite importar/exportar archivos BPMN Si Si Si Si Si Solo importación Si Si Nivel de documentación Medio Alto Medio Alto Alto Medio Bajo Alto Considera reglas de Negocio Si Si No Si Si No Si Si Validación de Modelo (diagramas) Si Si Si Si No Si Si Permite simulación Si Si Si Si Si Si Si No Requiere conocimiento del producto Poco Poco Normal Poco Poco Normal Normal Poco Año primera versión lanzada 1989 2001 1998 2009 2001 1997 1999 1994 Accesibilidad móvil Si Si Si Si Si Si Si No Nivel de seguridad Regular Regular Regular Alto Alto Alto Facilidad de instalación Sencilla Sencilla Sencilla Sencilla Sencilla Media Sencilla Media Versión en español SI Si Si No Si Si No Si Saludos.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS BPA?
The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?
Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay.
What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?
I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying. I must write scripts, which requires specific knowledge. Software AG could improve this by making the database more open. ...
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...
What do you like most about Bonita?
The user interface is easy to use.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM
Bonita BPM
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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, 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
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.
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS BPA vs. Bonita and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.