Appian
Based on 255 reviews and ratings
Based on 202 reviews and ratings
Highlights
Appian and Pega Platform are cloud-based platforms that help developers quickly build apps for business process management (BPM), case management, customer relationship management (CRM), and other business needs. Appian sacrifices some flexibility in favor of ease of use, while Pega Platform sometimes prioritizes customization over usability. Overall, however, both platforms offer similar functionality. Due to their focus on addressing enterprise business needs, both products are used primarily by large companies and organizations.
Features
Although both Pega Platform and Appian offer similar features and capabilities, they differ in their user experience and flexibility.
Appian is focused on being quick and easy to use, both for developers and end users. Developers find Appian intuitive and suitable for quick-turnaround development, allowing them to create mockups and prototype apps within hours or even within minutes. Users with development experience are able to get up to speed with the platform quickly and easily. The platform integrates well with external systems such as Salesforce and DocuSign, helping businesses develop apps that play well with their existing systems. Appian is also actively developed, with quarterly releases responsive to user feedback and changing business landscapes.
Pega Platform, on the other hand, offers detailed customization options and is open to code-based modification. Its modification and update capabilities for apps are easy to use and helpful, making it simple for developers to adapt their apps as needed. Machine learning and analytics allow developers to create apps that learn from past behavior. BPM workflows in Pega Platform are easy for developers to demonstrate and explain, even to non-technical stakeholders.
Limitations
However, each platform has drawbacks that might make it less suitable for your organization. You should consider the limitations of Pega Platform and Appian before purchasing.
Pega Platform’s customizability comes with a price. Despite its low-code and no-code options, the software still requires a non-trivial amount of user training and can be intimidating for new users, especially users without previous development experience. Setting up Pega Platform initially can be a difficult task on its own, with some businesses requiring significant support from the vendor to get started. It can also be slow, especially for users with sub-optimal internet connections, since every action requires communication with the cloud server.
Appian’s frequent upgrades are great for adding new features, but some customers find the upgrade process itself frustrating. Appian doesn’t offer tools to test whether an upgrade will affect the functionality of existing apps, which means you might have to test your applications after every upgrade. Appian’s templates and default forms don’t allow enough customization for some users, requiring them to develop from-scratch solutions instead of modifying a template. The platform also provides limited support for complex UI requirements, code-based development, and data visualizations.
Pricing
Appian offers multiple pricing options in a tiered structure. The Free tier is free and includes training materials and access to basic Appian functionality so new users can evaluate the platform. The Standard tier allows one application per license with a minimum of 100 users, and is priced per user based on the user type: Standard Users ($60/user) with admin access, development capabilities, and unlimited access to the app itself; Infrequent Users ($18/user) with up to four 24-hour sessions per month; and External Input Users ($2/user) who can submit forms and requests to the developed app. The Flat Fee tier offers one fixed price per app, with unlimited users. The Enterprise tier allows an unlimited number of apps and is priced per user. Pricing for the Flat Fee and Enterprise tiers are available via a quote from Appian.
Pega Platform offers three pricing tiers. The Trial tier is free and is limited to 30 days of usage for evaluation and training purposes. The Enterprise Starter tier is $90 per user per month and includes features for internal business apps. The Enterprise Transformation tier is priced by quote from the vendor and adds features for customer engagement and users external to your organization.
Provided by the TrustRadius Research Team
Published on October 3, 2020
Feature Set Ratings
Low-Code Development

Appian

Pega Platform
Visual Modeling


Drag-and-drop Interfaces


Platform Security


Platform User Management


Reusability


Platform Scalability


Reporting & Analytics

Appian

Pega Platform
Dashboards


Standard reports


Custom reports


Process Engine

Appian

Pega Platform
Process designer


Process simulation


Business rules engine


SOA support


Process player


Support for modeling languages


Form builder


Model execution


Collaboration

Appian

Pega Platform
Social collaboration tools


Content Management Capabilties

Appian

Pega Platform
Content management


Attribute Ratings
- Pega Platform is rated higher in 5 areas: Likelihood to Renew, Usability, Support Rating, Online Training, Implementation Rating
- Appian and Pega Platform are tied in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend
Likelihood to Recommend

Appian

Pega Platform
Likelihood to Renew

Appian

Pega Platform
Usability

Appian

Pega Platform
Support Rating

Appian

Pega Platform
In-Person Training

Appian

Pega Platform
Online Training

Appian

Pega Platform
Implementation Rating

Appian

Pega Platform
Likelihood to Recommend
Appian

Pega Platform

Pros
Appian
- Allows at a glance workflow documentation which assists in the need we have for information readiation.
- Drag and drop interface for workflow development greatly speeds our apps time to market.
- Using the advanced features of Appian, we are able to create working sites in a fraction of the time it would take to do so using "traditional" development.
Pega Platform
- Quick development time. Much of the Pega "rules" are easy to configure and implement.
- Visually friendly and modern. Much of the UI/UX elements in the system are continuously supported and updated, giving a nice feel to the apps.
- Many of the configurations and rules Pega gives to the developers can also be delegated to business users. The organization and structure of the client's business can easily be adapted in the Pega platform.

Cons
Appian
- Search issues when type ahead and database search are used in the same field.
- Buttons implementation where user is require[d] to click on the button description - if clicks on the button outside that text - button will not work.
- Problems with using certain off-the-shelf performance tools like WebLoad or Neoload. That is because of different dynamic variables being used internally in Appian - which these tools are unable to correlate. We are still investigating using other tools like Jmeter to overcome dynamic correlation problem for performance testing.

Pega Platform
- Need more learning materials. For Beginners who have previous programming experience with another language takes more time to learn.
- If the developer is met with an issue in pega platform , they have to rely on Pega supporting team to fix it.
- Customization is available but is not encouraged. Pega does not support faults that occur in customized solutions.

Pricing Details
Appian
General
Free Trial
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Entry-level set up fee?
Starting Price
Appian Editions & Modules
Edition
Free | $0 |
---|---|
Standard | 60.002 |
Flat Fee | Contact Sales3 |
Enterprise | Contact Sales4 |
- none
- per user per month
- one fixed price per app, unlimited users
- unlimited number of apps, priced by user
Additional Pricing Details
—Pega Platform
General
Free Trial
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
Starting Price
Pega Platform Editions & Modules
Edition
Starter | $90.001 |
---|
- Per User Per Month
Additional Pricing Details
—Likelihood to Renew
Appian
Pega Platform

Usability
Appian

Pega Platform

Support Rating
Appian
Pega Platform

In-Person Training
Appian

Pega Platform
Online Training
Appian

Pega Platform

Implementation Rating
Appian
Pega Platform

Alternatives Considered
Appian

Pega Platform

Return on Investment
Appian
- I believe it has negatively impacted our release dates. There may have been a misunderstanding as to the learning curve, even though it is "low code."
- The look and feel of the applications created using Appian have uniformity and it's easier to have "reuse" between applications.
- There is less developer control when it comes to features. I think this mainly has to do with the amount of plugins available. I would think there should be many more available plugins. But again, our use case is probably different than most others.

Pega Platform
- For one of the applications we worked on, we were able to reduce the processing time on a case from 2 days to 20 minutes by utilizing Pega
- We were able to resolve the issue of the routing of cases to users based on a specific algorithm by use of Pega
- Pega case management feature was extensively used in one of the application to establish a parent-child relationship which was very helpful for all the business users
