Top 5 Free and Open-Source Workflow Management Software

Workflow automation is a requirement for running and maintaining an efficiently working business. The workflow management tools allow businesses to streamline their numerous tasks and processes such as document management, inventory management, accounts management, etc. The workflow management tool allows organizations to keep track of various activities involved in the seamless execution of business processes. For example, an organization that is largely dependent on documents i.e., for reviews, approvals, etc., can customize a workflow management tool according to the various and numerous tasks involved in a document lifecycle. This will allow them to easily track the progress, and generate reports detailing the insights about tasks completion. Similarly, the model can be adapted for streamlining other business processes. Here in this article, we list the workflow management software that helps automate business processes. The discussed software solutions offer a free subscription, compatibility with leading operating systems, and are open-source thereby providing users an option to integrate plugins that enhances the overall platform’s efficiency and capabilities.

Apache

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Airflow

The software was originally developed and is authored by a renowned company called Airbnb. The acclaimed temporary housing and lodging company was developed for managing various workflows which were later acquired by Apache. The tool efficiently manages, monitors, and creates different workflows. Apache Airflow is a free, open-source, and cross-platform solution that is able to get integrated with any external platforms or plugins which enhances the platform’s efficiency. The tool is acclaimed for providing a dynamic, elegant, extensible, scalable, simple, and user-friendly platform. The software can be integrated with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and other numerous google cloud applications. Enhanced reporting and graph views allow advanced insights into workflow processes. The graph views provided are Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs), graph view, and the tree view.

Get it now from https://airflow.apache.org/docs/apache-airflow/stable/start/index.html

Apache Taverna

Apache Taverna is another amazing product of Apache that ensures seamless workflow management. The great thing about Apache products is that most of its solutions are free, open-source, and cross-platform compatible. The tavern suite incorporates various tools that aid the engineers and the novice in getting easy access to the workflow management techniques. Apache Taverna comes equipped with a list of attractive features such as remote access to the user’s workflows owing to Taverna’s servers, integration with external service providers such as excel spreadsheets, etc., workflows customization and optimization tools, enhanced debugging tools, command-line user interface for fast and easy access, simpler navigation, capability to authenticate HTTP ensuring and guaranteeing protection, ability to create workflows according to user’s preferences, and the list goes on.

Access the GitHub repository now from https://taverna.incubator.apache.org/code/ or see the website for more details https://incubator.apache.org/projects/taverna.html

Camunda

Camunda is another free, open-source, and cross-platform compatible platform. The tool allows businesses a platform to transform their processes by adapting to the latest trends of digital transformation that come incorporated in the efficient tool. Camunda offers numerous features and functionalities to its users or businesses to automate their processes by utilizing workflow management tools and technologies. The features included in the tool are historical data repository, enhanced database, support for BPMN 2.0 symbols that seamlessly handles and manages the complex tasks, support for HTML and XML file types, integration with external plugins, enhanced and most advanced reporting tools, and an intuitive dashboard, efficient checks for authorization, efficient task assignment tools and capabilities, cloud-integrated platform, alerts and notifications, integration with complex decision tables, etc.

Get your hands on the free community edition now from https://camunda.com/download/

Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is one of the top free and open-source software solutions that is an all-rounder for business management tools. Apart from offering amazing workflow management capabilities, it is an efficient CRM software that has all the necessary capabilities and features that are required in an efficient CRM software. Bitrix24 specializes in providing streamlined collaboration solutions, CRM platforms, time and HR management tools, workflow management features, document and project management solutions, and the list goes on. The company aims at providing and ensuring optimized team collaborations and communications, website builder, real-time project, and task tracking, providing live chat support functionalities, etc. Bitrix24 is known across its users from around the globe as a solution ensuring prime call tracking and collaboration facilities provider. With Bitrix24, users can collaborate easily on social media platforms, get benefits from advanced features such as video conferencing, employee polls, lead management, the ability to generate invoice and sales reports, etc.

Get it now from https://www.bitrix24.com/self-hosted/download.php

Vtenext

Vtenext is an efficient cross-platform and open-source software for workflow automation. The tool is not only a solution for seamlessly managing the workflows but is also a complete and integrated CRM suite and Business Process Management (BPM) software. The tool comes equipped with features such as business process management, CRM for marketing, sales, and services, salesforce integration, lead management, campaign scheduling through BPMN, automatic synchronization of targets, SDK software development kit, customized modules creation, data import, and export, roles, and profiles management, web form creation, web services, PHP 7 support, expandability through adds on and plugins, cloud edition, and on-premise edition, documentation, live and online training, i.e., webinars, 24×7 live support, integrations, and plugins with leading business tools such as ERPs, CRMs, etc., pending processes management tool, project management, etc.

Get it now from SourceForge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/vtecrm/

Closing Remarks

The article lists and discusses the leading tools for workflow automation and management. Workflow management is a basic requirement in seamlessly handling and managing various processes in any business. These processes help enhance the task handling along with eventually resulting in the overall business sales and therefore the revenues. The discussed tools are Apache Airflow, Apache Taverna, Camunda, Bitrix24, and Vtenext. All the discussed tools are free, open-source, and cross-platform compatible. Each of the discussed workflow management software is equipped with cutting-edge technologies and tools that result in the optimal management of tasks and help automate business processes.

Karim Buzdar

Karim Buzdar holds a degree in telecommunication engineering and holds several sysadmin certifications including CCNA RS, SCP, and ACE. As an IT engineer and technical author, he writes for various websites.