Appian vs Nintex

March 15, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
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Appian
Appian is a leader in low-code development & BPM. It provides companies a simpler way to create powerful software.
10
Nintex
Nintex is the market leader in end-to-end process management and workflow automation. Easily manage, automate, and optimize your processes with no code.

Appian and Nintex are both marvelous contraptions designed to save humans from the dreadful fate of manually filling out forms, moving data around and generally doing things that make office life unbearable. They are low-code automation platforms, which is a posh way of saying they let people who aren’t programmers boss computers around using little more than a few clicks and the occasional swear word. Both integrate seamlessly with the great corporate pantheon of Microsoft, Salesforce and SAP, ensuring that no data is ever truly lost—just endlessly shuffled between different systems. If you ever find yourself in need of orchestrating a complicated business process, both will gladly oblige, provided you don’t mind the occasional existential crisis when you realize how many workflows actually run your life.

Appian, hailing from the far-off land of the USA (1999 edition), has always had a grander vision, involving artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and making sure government agencies and financial institutions never have to handle a single piece of paper ever again. It prides itself on being highly secure, highly scalable and just complicated enough to make you feel like you’ve really accomplished something when you finally get it working. Its greatest party trick is something called a "low-code data fabric," which sounds like it should be available in various stylish patterns but is actually a way of making different databases pretend they are best friends without ever having to meet in person.

Nintex, meanwhile, emerged in 2006 from the sunburnt land of Australia with a single noble mission: to make Microsoft SharePoint slightly less of a headache. It has since expanded into document automation, electronic forms and all the sorts of things HR departments dream about when they aren’t inventing new ways to make employees fill out more forms. Unlike Appian, it keeps its AI and robotic automation in separate compartments, much like a particularly well-organized kitchen drawer. It is perfect for businesses that live and breathe Microsoft 365 and would rather stick to the familiar, safe embrace of Office integrations rather than venture into the wild unknown of broader process orchestration.

See also: Top 10 BPM Software
Author: Michael Stromann
Michael is an expert in IT Service Management, IT Security and software development. With his extensive experience as a software developer and active involvement in multiple ERP implementation projects, Michael brings a wealth of practical knowledge to his writings. Having previously worked at SAP, he has honed his expertise and gained a deep understanding of software development and implementation processes. Currently, as a freelance developer, Michael continues to contribute to the IT community by sharing his insights through guest articles published on several IT portals. You can contact Michael by email [email protected]