Best Business Process Management Software 2021

Business process management software—or BPM for short—may be the key to helping your organization streamline and automate time-consuming processes to enhance operational efficiency. In this review, we will explain what BPM software is, describe the benefits of using BPM tools, outline the criteria for choosing a solution, and then tell you all about the best business management process software in 2021.

What’s on This Page

What is business process management software?

Business process management (BPM) software helps define, implement, automate, and monitor management processes. A process is typically defined as a set of activities or tasks linked together based on conditions. For example, processes might involve person-to-person interactions or system-to-system, such as employee onboarding, invoicing systems, account management, and service orders. In other words, BMP tools enable companies to streamline operations and eliminate areas where bottlenecks occur with the end goal of improving corporate performance.

What are the benefits of BPM Software?

Implementing a process management solution may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Most BMP tools cater to non-technical users who need to develop workflows that connect disparate departments and systems within an organization. Having a complete operational view at your fingertips makes any company better equipped to switch gears and respond to a changing work environment.

Improve Productivity
According to Gartner, even the most basic commitment to BPM tools can lead to a 12% increase in productivity. It allows you to improve business operations by removing redundant or inefficient tasks and automating menial work. As a result, employees can focus their time on important core functions that will yield higher output.

Eliminate Errors
The risk of human error is an ongoing concern for most organizations, especially as the global economy is shifting from brick and mortar to remote workspaces. By following a standardized process, employees are significantly less likely to make mistakes. Even if they do, BPM software analytics will alert you in advance.

Reduce Expenses
Reduced labor and operational costs are a direct result of higher productivity within an organization. With the efficiency gained from streamlined process models, companies will eventually end up with a lower output-to-expenses ratio. You will either have a greater output for the same operational costs, or the same output at a lower cost.

Before investing in a BPM system, it’s critical to ensure the solution you choose will address your unique challenges. To help you out with your research, we have curated a list of the best business process management tools on the market. We assessed each software platform based on scalability, available integrations, automation functionality, and ease of use. All BPM tools on our list have been assigned a score out of 5 based on the criteria described below.

Top 5 Rated BPM Products

Process Street

Best for automation

Continuous improvement without the code. Process Street is easy to install, simple to use, and quick to learn. The Zappier integration allows your team to connect with 1000+ apps to manage everything you need from one, single platform. Track day-to-day progress using the dashboard or gain deeper insights using the reporting API that highlights redundancies and inefficiencies. The ability to add screenshots, videos, and documents to each step ensures your team knows exactly how the process should be executed. Pricing plans start at $15 a month per user based on features and requirements needed.

Conditional Logic

Simplify your business processes using if/then logic that will automatically adapt to different situations and outcomes. By setting rules for your workflows that update based on their outcome, you can make even the most complicated task list easy to navigate.

Approvals

Avoid process management bottlenecks using single instance, multi-stage or sequential approvals. Assign decisions, documents, and tasks to key decision-makers who can review, approve, or reject them with a single click.

Web Forms

Build complex web forms to collect, store, and utilize structured data. Drag and drop form fields into your workflows to capture important information that you can easily transfer to other apps, platforms, and software.

SC Icon

StackCompare.com

4.6 (Aggregate Score)


Capterra Icon

capterra.com

4.7 (509 user reviews)


G2 Logo

G2.com

4.6 (125 user reviews)

Monday.com

Best for custom workflows

All your data, connected. Gantt, calendar, timeline, kanban, map, form, workload, and main views transform your data into visual workflows so you can see it the way you want to. Start building with one of 200+ templates or drag and drop 30+ column types to customize the process model of your dreams. You can expand the capabilities of your monday.com platform using ready-made apps or connecting data with 40+ integrations from different tools across departments. Pricing ranges from $0 to $27 per user per month. Custom pricing is available for organizations that need enterprise-grade features.

Data Dashboards

High-level dashboards act as the central hub of your entire organization. Get a clear view of your team’s progress, efficiency, and costs at a glance, giving you ninja-like agility to identify and eliminate bottlenecks.

Mobile App

The monday.com mobile app gives you the freedom to manage your process anywhere, at any time. Share files, updates, and feedback in real-time, or get up to speed in seconds using offline mode (coming soon).

Automation Recipes

Leave the routine tasks to the robots with unlimited automation recipes that take less time to set up than pouring a cup of coffee. Assign owners, get notifications, update statuses, and more in less than 1 minute flat.

SC Icon

StackCompare.com

4.4 (Aggregate Score)


Capterra Icon

capterra.com

4.6 (2358 user reviews)


G2 Logo

G2.com

4.7 (2819 user reviews)

Creatio

Best for affordability

Design and organize process diagrams, engage peers, automate routine tasks, and manage all processes in a single environment. Thanks to Creatio’s commitment to low-code technologies and out-of-the-box templates, even users without extensive technical skills can build process models like a pro. Create dynamic workflows with the recommended next action option that shows your current progress, a list of possible next actions, alerts, and notifications. The Studio Free plan is packed with a respectable number of features focused on accelerating process design and management. The Studio Enterprise plan adds AI functionality and custom configurations for only $25 per user a month.

Process Documentation

Share links to process diagrams that enable you to collaborate and edit processes together as a team in real-time. The system can convert process descriptions in the app into PDF files for complete and comprehensive process documentation.

Creatio Marketplace

Creatio offers built-in best practices to jumpstart your implementation. Choose from hundreds of pre-set processes and ready-to-use templates to extend and adjust the functionality of the platform according to your needs.

Machine Learning Tools

Set up machine learning to assign predictive scores to leads, opportunities, customers, and more. These scores analyze historical data to automatically identify critical information, such as qualified leads and priority orders.

SC Icon

StackCompare.com

4.4 (Aggregate Score)


Capterra Icon

capterra.com

4.8 (80 user reviews)


G2 Logo

G2.com

4.6 (190 user reviews)

Jira

Best for software development workflows

Jira software unlocks the power of agile process management with flexible planning and value-driven prioritization. While this BMP platform can be adapted to various business applications, it’s best suited for teams that need to plan and track software development. Easily create user issues, plan sprints, and distribute tasks across your software team using product roadmaps and automated tasks. Choose from over 3,000 integrations and apps to customize Jira software to fit any and every use case so that your team can do their best work. The average price per user is $7 a month, with an option to upgrade to the enterprise plan. Paid plans have a limit of 10,000 users.

Scrum Boards

The scrum framework enables software teams to manage complex projects with a visual display of progress during the development cycle. Jira scrum boards slice the work into sprints to keep track of key project milestones.

Roadmaps

Plan and track how you’re making progress with a complete view of projects across multiple teams. Gain insight into your workload capacity on a sprint-by-sprint basis to assess if your teams have the bandwidth to complete the work they’ve scoped.

Time Tracking

Time tracking in Jira enables agile resource planning and visibility into the progress of each stage of development. Analyze your team’s work with powerful reporting options, and generate invoices for clients all on one unified platform.

SC Icon

StackCompare.com

4.1 (Aggregate Score)


Capterra Icon

capterra.com

4.4 (10,000 user reviews)


G2 Logo

G2.com

4.2 (3858 user reviews)

Kissflow

Best for growing companies

Kissflow offers tailor-made features for seamless process management trusted by 10,000+ customers. Get up and running in minutes (not months) using easy visual workflow automation that can grow with your business and data volume. Real-time analytics, dashboards, and custom reports keep you updated on the state of each process to make informed, data-driven decisions. Dynamic business rules can handle complex decision branches, while ad-hoc assignment gives you the flexibility to reassign items even when the process is in progress. Kissflow offers flexible pricing that ranges from $20 to $30 a month per user, requiring a minimum of 10 to 50 users based on the plan you choose.

Access Control

Define responsibilities and visibility according to the user’s role, level, and the nature of form data. Automate access to tasks and projects by selecting permissions to make them editable, hidden, or read-only.

Dynamic Routing

Items are automatically routed to the right team members based on standard operating procedures (SOPs). Dynamic routing reduces the manual labor of assigning tasks and replaces it with efficiency and quality output.

SLA Manager

Automatic alerts ensure that all service level agreements (SLAs) are monitored and executed consistently. Analyze key performance indicators and establish resolution plans for all open tickets by the next service-level event.

SC Icon

StackCompare.com

3.9 (Aggregate Score)


Capterra Icon

capterra.com

3.8 (17 user reviews)


G2 Logo

G2.com

4.3 (474 user reviews)

Our Rating Process

Before investing in a BPM system, it’s critical to ensure the solution you choose will address your unique challenges. To help you out with your research, we have curated a list of the best business process management tools on the market. We assessed each software platform based on scalability, available integrations, automation functionality, and ease of use. All BPM tools on our list have been assigned a score out of 5 based on the criteria described below.

Scalability
Integrations
Automation
Usability
Scalability

Most BPM tools charge per user every month. Some plans also have requirements for a minimum or a maximum number of users. It’s crucial to choose a solution that scales with your business to get the maximum return on your investment.

Integrations

Business process management software should integrate with the tools that you already use to run your business. Be sure to consider how the platform will work with your existing software for accounting, invoicing, email, and client management—to name a few.

Automation

The level of automation can vary from simple task management and assignment to routing and business logic. Knowing what you need, and more importantly, what you don’t need, can save you from paying for features you won’t use.

Usability

BPM software should offer a user-friendly interface that’s easy to understand with a minimal learning curve. Most platforms use drag and drop features that make building visual workflows feel as simple as stacking legos.

Product Features

Process Street

$25
/ month (per user)

  • Simplified workflows
  • Automation tools
  • Complex web forms


Sign Up

Monday.com

$14 – $19
/ month

  • Custom workflows
  • Simple dashboard
  • Automation tools


Sign Up

Creatio

$25
/ month (per user)

  • Value for money
  • Documentation
  • Machine learning


Sign Up

Jira

$7
/ month (per user)

  • Affordable
  • Simple roadmaps
  • Time tracking


Sign Up

Alternative Options

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a BWM and workflow software?

Workflow software is used to coordinate and reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks and procedures. If you are looking to automate specific steps of a process, workflow software might be your ideal solution. BPM software offers a more complex approach to process management. BPM solutions organize company-wide initiatives by integrating and automating systems, processes, and people.

When is business management software needed?

The best place to start is at the beginning. A new company is prime real estate for implementing standard process models. You can identify inefficiencies early on, making it easier to optimize and automate your business as you grow. Alternatively, if you’re an established organization looking to reduce human error and bottlenecks in your operation, it’s time to invest in business process management software.

How much is BPM software?

Prices for BPM software can vary depending on several factors, such as requirements, customizations, and on-premise versus cloud-based software. Pricing is also based on the number of users and the scope of features required. In general, BPM software is likely to cost between $30 and $100 per month for each user.

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