Top 16 Free and Open Source BPM Software

Business processes in firms need to be reviewed from time to time to eliminate any redundancies and streamline them.

An efficient business process software helps automate business processes and facilitates simulation of the entire lifecycle of business processes, i.e., design, development, analysis, modification, and testing. The BPM market is slated to grow at a rate of 15.5% by 2026 globally.

BPM software tools require individual attention to each lifecycle stage, and many BPM open-source software tools have proved to be a better bargain in terms of integration compatibility.

What is BPM Open Source Software?

BPM open source software is a tool that aids organizations in the design, modeling, execution, automation, and improvement of a group of actions and activities that enable the organization to achieve its objectives. 

It has a source code available for anyone to see, edit, or improve. The resources are controlled and upheld by groups with a particular goal in mind and are open to the public.

16 Best BPM Open Source And Free Software

With evolving digital transformation, the business process management software (BPM) market is also expanding. It has led to the formation of brand-new modern process management systems that incorporate technology into every aspect of the business.

BPM software embraces digital transformation and moves the needle by increasing services and product innovations, operational efficiency, and customer service improvements. Let’s take a look at the best BPM open source software.

1. Bonitasoft

This open source BPM tool, better known as Bonita BPM, helps build better coordination with diverse DevOps teams by facilitating smoother application delivery.

 It is a standalone service that has also proven to be more compatible with evolving business rules over a while. It has helped carve robust infrastructure with the support of more than 12000 members of the BPM open source software community.

Features

• Deployment management
• Business process automation
• Workflow configuration
• Process change tracking
• Document management
• Compatibility testing

Pro-Tip

BonitaSoft is designed to grow your business. If you are looking for rapid business growth, this tool comes equipped with the power to be modified at the production stage and undergo power testing to expedite iterations.

2. Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite

Imagine a single platform offering an all-inclusive package like business process mapping, task form management, resource planning, and event configurations— Red Hat JBoss BPM suite does all this and more. 

This open source business process management tool can seamlessly capture and automate all business processes. With the ease of having the ability to deploy it across the web, cloud, or on-site, this  BPM open source software has been a preferred choice for many IT companies and business organizations. Previously called the Red Hat Process Automation Manager, this software tool has been instrumental in automating many business processes as well as complex event processing decisions globally.

Features

• Business process control
• Graphical workflow editor
• Process modeling and designing
• Business process automation
• Rules-based workflow
• Policy management

Pro-Tip

The Cloud-Native development and Drools are two great features that you must try out with this tool. Coming from a global leader in open source tools, you should avail yourself of its award-winning benefits for your business.

3. Alfresco By Activiti

One of the best open source BPM software tools out there, Activiti, has emerged as one of the best workflow engine platforms for business users. 

Equipped with a lightning-quick BPMN 2.0 Java Process Engine, the lightweight Alfresco process services are capable of dealing with all types of aspects, whether it is analysis or mapping/modeling, to process compatibility checks and software support.

Features

• Compliance tracking
• Document automation
• Process management
• Workflow management 
• Process modeling and designing
• File management

Pro-Tip

Business people and developers can easily get attracted to this business process management system for its high-performance process engine, which helps in business process automation and manages critical business flow seamlessly.

4. Adobe LiveCycle

Adobe LiveCycle is a high-end open source bpm software that caters to the essential need to integrate enterprise documentation and form platform. The software tool helps reduce process costs by automating critical business processes and helps automate the process of form filling. 

 The tool is efficient at modeling business processes, streamlining team communications, and diligently capturing form data. Adobe LiveCycle is literally the mediator between connecting the processes and relaying the information to concerned teams.

Features

• Central migration bridge 
• Workflow management
• Duplex printing
• Process mapping
• Task management
• Business rules management

Pro-Tip

This software is convenient for delivering personalized and sensitive communications, which can help improve your company’s operational efficiency.

5. ProcessMaker

The lowest overheads are definitely one reason ProcessMaker stands out in the crowd of BPM software tools. Its intuitive and easy-to-use GUI makes it a go-to choice for many business organizations. It is equipped with a robust BPMN 2.0 feature based on a simple drag-and-drop technique to resize process elements.

 It has this convenient toolbox that can be used to create digital forms easily accessible on the web. This free bpm software comes equipped with a DynaForm Designer that helps you develop hassle-free forms, and that too, with no coding knowledge required.

Features

• Calendar management
• Graphical workflow editor
• Task management
• Reporting and statistics 
• User management
• Data visualization

Pro-Tip

ProcessMaker is really intuitive to work on model approval-based workflows. Its extensive toolbox and click interface will definitely help you reduce your paperwork radically.

6. Modelio

Modelio has been around for 20 years now, catering to the needs of developers, analysts, and system architects when it comes to the ease of configuring modules of your choice. It is an open source BPM software tool that is adaptable with HTML, UML, BPMN, and Script Language features. 

 When it comes to flexibility, Modelio lets ‘you’ do the talking, and it merely adapts! Armed with the best of modules like WSDL Designer, Java, Togaf Architect, and not-to-forget UML Testing capability, it allows as many Model additions and extensions as you like.

Features

• Business process modeling
• SoaML modeling 
• Enterprise architecture
• Archimate modeling
• UML modeling

Pro-Tip

It can be coded in any way to get specific customizations because of its adaptability with HTML, UML, BPMN and Script Language features. For a developer, this tool is really flexible to use.

7. Camunda

Suited mainly for Spring and JAVA EE, Camunda, one of the largest firms globally, is an extremely light platform to work with. It’s a highly scalable tool equipped with BPMN 2.0 that can be used for container functionality for jBoss, Tomcat, and the like without having to switch off the processing engines.  

This open source BPM software tool is built for robust APIs and scripting language assistance. Because of its dynamic and scalable features, it’s one of the top players in the BPM solutions domain.

Features

• Audit trail
• Process change tracking 
• Template management
• Business process management
• Approval process control
• Task progress tracking

Pro-Tip

This software is ideal for business analysts and developers or anyone working on the same diagrams to efficiently fuse workflow management.

8. RunaWFE

When working across regional platforms, RunaWFE should be your go-to free BPM software tool. The tool is a web-based one that integrates easily with all enterprise apps, Alfresco, and the LDAP/MS directory. 

 A phenomenal end-user solution for BPM-related needs, you can access the tool in various languages and on different Operating systems like Windows, Solaris, FreeBSD, and of course, Linux.

Features

• Active directory integration
• Progress tracking
• Automatic task automation
• Multi-language localization
• Flexible role assignment

Pro-Tip

RunWFE BPM software tool falls in the category of ready-to-use and easy-to-access BPM tools. The work has already been done for you; it’s genuinely for no-fuss system implementations.

9. jBPM

One of the smoothest and hassle-free open source BPM software tools, jBPM acts as the perfect bridge between developers and analysts. It is driven by BPMN 2.0 and can be used on any Java application.

Features

• Case management
• Business optimization
• Human task services
• Core engine API
• jBPM eclipse plugin

Pro-Tip

If you are looking for BPM tools that could run on any platform, it should definitely be taken into consideration as it is built purely in Java and can run on any JVM.

10. Joget

Another great market player that comes equipped with agile management capabilities is Joget. This web-based open source BPM software tool can support all agile development-related features such as lists, forms, CRUM, and the GUI. In regards to the technical configuration, the tool can be deployed using Java Spring on the Apache Tomcat server.

Features

• User management
• App generator 
• Approval process control
• Forms management 
• Drag and drop visual builders

Pro-Tip

Joget lets you manage workflow efficiently to build your web apps intuitively. It is a perfect software for custom software development companies.

11. jSonic BPM

This free BPM software tool is a comprehensive solution for all BPM-related needs. jSonic BPM is a “Zero-coding” app that offers numerous benefits for your organization optimized process efficiency, cost reduction, streamlined and automated business processes, optimal asset utilization, enhanced compliance standards, and increased customer satisfaction.

Features

• Reporting
• Data Management
• Process Management
• Workflow Management
• Interface Designer

Pro-Tip

Enterprise owners can easily align their business processes that are volatile due to dynamic market conditions and prone to customization due to customers’ requirements through jSonic’s BPM.

12. ARIS Express

A great open source BPM software resource for educational institutions, ARIS Express comes loaded with features that can be customized per individual needs. The GUI is simple and easy to use, keeping in mind BPM beginners and not-so-frequent users.  

The ARIS method has been known for boosting productivity and producing exceptional results; hence, ARIS Express could not be far behind. You can create organization charts for each unit and person. In terms of business modeling, you can create business process maps, systems, IT infrastructure, and process models/landscapes. The tool is powered with BPMN as well.

Features

• BPMN 2
• Event-driven Process Chains (EPC)
• Organizational charts
• Process landscapes
• Whiteboards

Pro-Tip

ARIS Express’ BPM ensures that there is a community forum available for you to refer to in case you are a new user or have no programming experience. Thus, it is the perfect software for occasional users and beginners.

13. Bizagi BPMN

Bizagi Modeller is yet another major player in the BPM domain with its numerous features. It’s not just another open source BPM software tool. You could create detailed and conclusive BPMN diagrams and allow the process model to be accessible by all levels of authority as well as users.  

Apt for big and small organizations, this tool is built to enforce better and smoother team communications courtesy of its collaborative and cloud-based model. You could use the quick drag-and-drop tool for designing or could work in real-time as a team. With Bizagi Modeller, everyone gets a chance to be involved throughout the process, from a developer to a business user.

Features

• Task monitoring
• Alerts
• Reporting
• Workload management
• Performance tracking

Pro-Tip

Bizagi’s platform works on that business model, emphasizing the importance of all users working together on a document to verify and modify details in it, thus preventing all the unnecessary to and fro of the documents and its rework.

14. ARCWAY Cockpit

Handle all your BPM-related tasks with ARCWAY Cockpit. Whether it is about formal documentation of business processes or its tremendously intuitive GUI, this tool has it all covered. What’s more, you can easily integrate process/business landscapes, data models, and process chains. 

Hierarchies are used to structure data more coherently, which is why you can drill down the organizational structure or technical aspects with great ease. Another exciting feature is that you could integrate the plans with personal documents and get the whole layout on a Word or HTML document.

Features

• Business Landscapes
• Organization Charts
• Event-driven process chains
• Business landscapes
• Application maps
• UML class
• Sequence diagram

Pro-Tip

ARCWAY Cockpit is among the best free BPM software that allows structured formal documentation as well as the ability to export it for personal use and sharing. It would be good to have a detailed representation of the business processes and the organization hierarchies.

15. W4 Web Modeler

It is SaaS-based, and you don’t even have to install it – that’s W4 Web Modeler for you by ITESOFT Ecosystem. This BPMN tool can be accessed directly from the web browser. It is BPMN 2.0 based, hence the clarity and efficiency of the business processes. 

The tool is excellent from a collaboration point of view since it allows multiple users to access and modify it in real time. Functional analysts and business architects will both find this a handy tool to use. The drag-and-drop feature adds to the charm!

Features

• ITESOFT ecosystem sharing
• Process modeling
• Automation
• Monitoring
• Reporting and analysis

Pro-Tip

If you are not a coder but want a hassle-free and efficient BPM tool, this is a beautiful tool to get started. What’s more, you can not only choose from 1000+ public processes. Still, you can also contribute to the ITESOFT Ecosystem.

16. SYDLE SEED

SYDLE SEED is another handy tool when it comes to virtual modeling and managing processes. The process editor feature lets users work simultaneously and collaboratively on the tool.  

The tool is configured in Java, which makes it easy to design, model, and test the BPMN-supported framework. Whether it is a form filling or automating processes, with Sydle Seed, it’s all so easy!

Features

• Proprietary training program 
• Process tracking
• Custom security authorization 
• Process portal
• Visual identity and branding

Pro-Tip

SYDLE SEED helps you scale over some time and can help you boost your revenues by effectively streamlining and modeling business processes.

Wrapping up

Business processes needs an overview and streamlining from time to time. You could drive greater profits by merely taking care of the business processes in place. BPM software tools are built to help efficiently manage your organization’s business processes and to enable better regulatory compliance.  You can choose to improve the business as well as the financial health of your organization and keep up with the latest trends in the market by merely deploying BPM software.  We went over many free and open source BPM tools. Which one do you think is the best fit for your organization?

Priya Naha

Priya is a seasoned writer with expertise in the SaaS industry. With over five years of experience in the field, she deeply understands the requirement of this specific industry, its techniques, and tools. Her articles, whitepapers, and blog posts are known for their clarity, practicality, and actionable insights. Priya also possesses in-depth knowledge of SEO and content marketing, which enables her to develop effective strategies to increase website traffic and improve brand visibility.