How do you compare to Camunda?
Camunda is a leading open-source workflow engine and is based on the same core platform as offerings from IBM, Flowable, Appian, and others. Many of the comparisons here are also applicable to these other systems.
Camunda
Java Developer Friendly
Camunda focuses on supporting professional software engineers, allowing them to use their development environments of choice to write the code behind a BPMN Diagram. It provides introspection and analytics tools for decision-makers within a company.
SpiffWorkflow
Citizen Developer Friendly
We focus on putting automation tools in the hands of decision-makers throughout the company. We use BPMN as a tool for collaboration in an interdisciplinary effort of streamlining your internal processes, engaging everyone in making things work better.
Feature Comparison Details
See how we compare to Camunda v8 on a number of key elements of a workflow engine …
- End To End Process Orchestration
- Open Standards
- Analytics and Optimization
- Flexible Architecture
- Open Source
- Low Cost of Ownership
End To End Process Orchestration
Both Camunda and SpiffWorkflow provide full end-to-end process orchestration - we don’t solve a small specific problem. We help you improve your overall process.
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| Human Tasks - Ability to create web forms that can be completed by end users. SpiffWorkflow uses an open standard (JSON Schema); Camunda uses a proprietary Form Builder. | ✅ | ✅ |
| Automated Tasks - Script, Service, Decision Tables - the ability to define and execute tasks automatically. | ✅ | ✅ |
| APIs & MicroServices - Create and expose new APIs and Micro Services from BPMN Diagrams. | ✅ | ✅ |
| External Applications - Connect with external applications through a standard protocol. SpiffWorkflow uses REST-based APIs and JSON Schemas; Camunda8 uses gRPC. | ✅ | ✅ |
Open Standards
Both systems are founded on open standards that have seen substantial research, are backed by well-respected international organizations, and are widely used across the industry.
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| BPMN 2.0 - BPMN is a flowchart-like notation that models the tasks and events within a complete business process. BPMN 2.0 is maintained by the OMG, an international standards body. | ✅ | ✅ |
| DMN - A spreadsheet-like notation that describes repeatable business decisions concisely and comprehensively. DMN is also maintained by the OMG. | ✅ | ✅ |
| CMMN - Case Management - for describing processes that are intrinsically unpredictable, not repeatable, and weakly structured. CMMN is also maintained by the OMG. | ❌ | ✅ |
| JSON Schema - SpiffWorkflow uses JSON Schemas to describe web forms, data stores, and other internally modeled systems according to a well-established standard. | ✅ | ✅ |
Analytics and Optimization
The ability to track workflow processes as they execute, and to use that information to improve the process over time.
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| Deep Analytics - Highly detailed logging of the execution of workflows. | ✅ | ✅ |
| Data Extraction - Ability to query and report on details collected within a workflow process. | ✅ | ✅ |
| Heat Maps - Heatmaps allow you to view all running processes as a single diagram, allowing you to quickly pinpoint areas that need improvement. Heatmaps are a top-level item on SpiffWorkflow’s Roadmap but are not yet available. | ❌ | ✅ |
| Issue Resolution - The ability to suspend, modify, and resume a running process when something goes wrong. | ✅ | ✅ |
| Long Running Processes - Ability to execute workflow processes over days, weeks, and months. | ✅ | ✅ |
Flexible Architecture
Both software applications are designed for integration into your organization’s infrastructure.
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| Self Hosted - While some aspects of Camunda’s infrastructure can be deployed in-house, Camunda 8’s offering requires that much of the execution happens remotely on their SAAS Platform. | ✅ | ❌ |
| Embeddable - The core SpiffWorkflow library is designed specifically for embedding in any Python-based application in any framework. Some aspects of Camunda are embeddable in Java frameworks, such as Spring. | ✅ | ✅ |
Open Source
Open Source Software is software that is provided along with its source code, with a license that permits users to study, change, and improve its design.
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| Open Source - SpiffWorkflow provides its core source code under an open-source license. While some extensions and plugins are proprietary, the core library, editor extensions, and user interface are released under the LGPL license. | ✅ | ❌ |
| Source Available - “Source Available” licenses permit users to view the source code, but additional restrictions may prevent you from modifying it or using it without permission. Camunda’s core Zeebe engine is released under a restricted license that prohibits use as a ‘process automation service’, but it does provide the source code for examination. | ✅ | ✅ |
| Open Source Contributions - Both organizations make substantial contributions to the open-source community. | ✅ | ✅ |
Low Cost of Ownership
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| Early Assessment - SpiffWorkflow and Camunda both provide demo sites that allow people to immediately try out the project with freely available videos and documentation. We encourage you to make a comparison! | ✅ | ✅ |
| Low Sloped Learning Curve - SpiffWorkflow allows a novice user to build and execute a diagram within minutes. While it can take years to master everything, the basics are easy to learn. Camunda’s structure is more complex and requires software engineers to create and deploy even a simple diagram. | ✅ | ❌ |
| Simple Pricing Model - SpiffWorkflow’s commercial pricing models are based on features and support contracts. We don’t set our prices based on intrusive details about your business, such as the number of processes you execute. | ✅ | ❌ |
See SpiffWorkflow for yourself
Schedule a demo with a member of our core team, and we can demonstrate these capabilities live on our demo site.
