Need a simple vacation request workflow, for example? Both frevvo and Kissflow can handle that.

But as soon as things get even slightly more complicated, Kissflow struggles to deliver.

You don’t have to take our word for it:

“When we tried to automate real processes (not just the “vacation request” workflow), [Kissflow] was simply not powerful enough. The process modeler has strong limitations, it doesn’t use any standard modeling notation, it is difficult to set up advanced behaviors (no interrupting timers, parallel routing, and joining, etc.). When we asked for the support it was very slow to answer, the operator didn’t understand our needs… not a friendly relationship. We had to shut it down and start with another product.” Verified review on GetApp

On the other hand, imagine:

• Intuitive, drag-and-drop software that lets you easily create complex workflows with sophisticated forms, powerful integrations, and dynamic business logic. 
• Workflow automation that meets your precise business needs — without writing a single line of code.
• A solution that’s available for one transparent and affordable price.
• World-class customer support that’s dedicated to your success.

That’s frevvo.

frevvo: Everything Great about Kissflow + Everything You Need for Better Business Performance

Like Kissflow, frevvo features an intuitive, drag-and-drop form builder and workflow designer. Built-in templates make it easy to get a quick start. The resulting forms and workflows are attractive and mobile-friendly.

But unlike Kissflow, frevvo offers powerful features that make it easy for you to meet your unique business requirements using visual, no-code software.

Advanced Form Options

Both frevvo and Kissflow can create forms that meet many business requirements. But, business forms are often long and dense and when you need that little bit more, frevvo delivers where Kissflow cannot.

Need repeating sections in your forms? Whether it’s an insurance form for multiple vehicles or a loan form with multiple cosigners, it’s a matter of some simple drag and drop in frevvo’s form designer. With Kissflow, you’re out of luck.

Business forms often have complex validation requirements. With Kissflow, you can only validate simple scenarios like “greater than” or “less than”.

frevvo lets you take it a step further with full regular expression (regex) support. It’s easy to validate the most complex patterns and enforce the most precise validation.

Have international customers? With frevvo, you can create forms that automatically work in all languages worldwide including right-to-left languages like Arabic.

Need accessibility? frevvo forms and workflows support ADA and WCAG 2.0 standards for worldwide compliance. If you’re a University, Government organization, or are concerned about universal accessibility, frevvo has you covered.

Easy to Use Workflow Wizard

It’s much easier to get started with frevvo’s workflow wizard. Simply answer a few questions and we’ll generate your fully functional workflow with a few clicks.

frevvo and Kissflow both provide numerous templates that can be used as starting points to design your workflow. However, most businesses already have their own customized way doing things — whether it’s approving purchase orders or onboarding new hires.

With frevvo’s workflow wizard, creating completely-customized workflows is a cinch. Launch the wizard and specify your workflow steps in straightforward, visual screens. There are no complicated UIs to navigate.

The resulting workflow is fully functional. Routing rules, conditionally visible sections, auto-populated fields, digital signatures are all set up for you automatically. 

Simple, Dynamic Behavior for Real Business Forms

In Kissflow, implementing dynamic behavior in forms is way too complicated. It’s hard for business users to add and manage large, highly dynamic forms.

Many business forms are highly dynamic. They have custom validations, conditional sections, calculations, dynamic routing, and dependencies. With frevvo’s Visual Rule Builder, you can easily add all sorts of dynamic behavior to your forms and workflows.

It has many built-in functions that let you create even the most complex rule combinations – all without writing a single line of code. The Visual Rule Builder translates complex syntax into plain English so it’s easy for anyone to use.

With Kissflow, you have to deal with rigid programmer-like syntax and cryptic error messages like the image below rather than a natural language rule builder.

Organize Large Amounts of Business Logic

Imagine you’re working on a normal business form – a PO or an expense report. You probably have logic like this in dozens of fields. 

With frevvo it’s easy to organize and manage form logic in one place–no matter how complex your form.

In contrast, Kissflow requires that you set up logic separately for each individual field. It’s difficult to coordinate all the moving pieces and to understand what’s going on when you run the form.

Custom PDF Generation

With frevvo’s PDF mapper, you can simply drag and drop form fields onto any PDF document to visually map data and generate dynamic PDFs.

For example, a new employee can fill in her information once via a user-friendly online form – perhaps on her iPad from home even before her first day. She can also sign digitally on the touchscreen. 

frevvo will automatically populate official Government PDF documents such as a W-4 or I-9. It can even generate the appropriate State W-4 dynamically depending on which state the new hire resides in.

This type of key business functionality is simply not available with Kissflow. You can’t map form information to PDF documents.

Native Integrations Improve Operations

Kissflow’s integrations simply don’t cut it for actual business applications. Their integrations are focused on data in the cloud – primarily via Zapier. That’s not good enough for many businesses.

Your forms and workflows are simply more useful if they can connect to your business data, wherever they reside. That’s where frevvo shines.

For example, practically every business has SQL databases. frevvo’s database connector provides native, secure two-way integration with your database. 

You can auto-populate fields (master-detail forms), perform lookups, auto-save to SQL, and even run stored procedures. 

The sample form below dynamically populates multiple picklists from SQL and generates table rows for order line items – all without writing a single line of code. It would be practically impossible to do with Kissflow.

Powerful integration speeds up processes and drastically reduces errors due to manual data entry.

And, it’s not just SQL. With frevvo, your fully digital business process generates data and documents (including custom PDFs) and automatically exports them to a wide array of Electronic Document Management (EDM) systems.

Are you a Google Apps school? With frevvo’s Google connector, you can easily integrate with Sheets to lookup or save data and Drive to automatically upload documents into custom folders.

Flexible, Fully Secure Deployment Choices

Kissflow is only available in the cloud. That’s a perfectly acceptable choice for many customers but not for everyone.

Some organizations have stricter security requirements. Perhaps they are subject to specific privacy laws or regulatory requirements.

With frevvo, you don’t have to compromise. We offer both a secure, robust cloud-based platform as well as downloadable, on-premises software that you can install and operate behind your firewall in your own data center. Both offer the same set of capabilities and you can even export your forms and workflows from one to the other.

Our Commitment to Your Success

We want to ensure that you get the most out of your investment in frevvo and offer comprehensive support and training options to make sure your workflow automation projects are successful.

We offer extensive onboarding, hands-on assistance, and unlimited access to weekly training classes – all included in the price of every purchase.

That’s why 100% of customers give us positive reviews and rate frevvo 5/5 in customer support.

Compare that with Kissflow. Lower ratings on all fronts, including customer support.

Transparent, Straightforward Pricing

Kissflow has multiple pricing tiers, each with different features and user counts. Need real business functionality? You’ll quickly find yourself in the Enterprise plan. Got 100+ users? Prepare to talk to their sales team and, spend tens of thousands of dollars per year, and get an opaque quote.

With frevvo, everything is simple, including pricing.

We have one, straightforward price, based on your usage. You’ll get unlimited users, access to all features, and unlimited forms and workflows.

We’ll provide you fully transparent pricing so you know exactly what you’re paying for and what it costs.

Plus, we offer discounts for non-profit and educational institutions.

Free, Fully Functional 30-Day Trial

We’re confident you’ll like our software. That’s why we offer a hassle-free, full-featured 30-day trial. You can have your first workflow up and running in 15 minutes. All features are enabled so you can fully evaluate the product and make sure it’s a good fit for your business.

Compare that with Kissflow. Getting access is a tedious, lengthy process with multiple questions and chat sessions. On top of that, you get just 7 days. It’s not easy to make sure that the product truly fits your needs.

While you’re waiting for Kissflow to set up your trial, you could be halfway to your first workflow with frevvo’s simple, easy trial.

The post The Best Kissflow Alternative appeared first on frevvo Blog.

With workflow automation software, it’s possible to digitize and automate just about all of your processes, so that documents are automatically routed to the next stakeholder in the process. With electronic signatures and mobile-responsive design, you need never print-sign-scan-email a document again, and with automated notifications and reminders, you can rest assured that the work will get done and reach the right people at the right time. 

Choosing the right workflow automation software to meet your organization’s needs can be a challenge, so we’ve compiled this post to help you choose between two of the industry’s leading providers, namely Nintex vs. frevvo. 

We’ll start with an overview and list each software’s key features and then compare the two solutions in terms of features, onboarding and training, support, security, and pricing/value for money.

Nintex Overview

Nintex offers multiple workflow automation solutions that allow companies to automate their business processes. Historically, they’ve focused on SharePoint and Office 365. Nintex for SharePoint uses SharePoint’s native workflow engine and provides a designer that can be used within the SharePoint interface. Recently, they launched Nintex Workflow Cloud, which provides a cloud-based platform to design workflows using a drag-and-drop interface. The company was founded in Australia in 2006, Nintex reportedly has more than 8,000 customers. In 2018, Nintex acquired Promapp, a similar workflow mapping solution, and continues to offer Promapp as a separate offering to its core Nintex Workflow platform. 

In this article, we’ll focus on Nintex Workflow Cloud since it offers functionality that’s most comparable to frevvo.

Nintex Workflow Cloud Features

Nintex Workflow Cloud offers low-code form and workflow designers that allow users to build forms from a drag-and-drop menu and allows users to add electronic signatures to their mobile-friendly digital forms. Nintex also offers a variety of integrations with other tools and allows users to build their own connectors. 

Nintex features include:

• Process mapping
• Process collaboration
• Responsive digital forms 
• Mobile apps builder
• Advanced workflow (rules-based logic directs workflow)
• Robotic process automation (botflows)
• DocGen (document generation) 
• eSignatures (powered by Adobe Sign)
• Connectors & open-API Xtensions
• Hawkeye analytics reporting
• Tiered support
• Nintex Partner Network
• Web-based Training at additional cost

frevvo Overview

Much like Nintex, frevvo offers easy-to-use workflow automation solutions. In addition to offering a cloud-based platform where users can build dynamic forms and map out their processes, frevvo also offers on-premise solutions for customers with specialized security requirements. Founded in 2007, frevvo is headquartered in Connecticut.

Unlike Nintex, which started out making tools to automate workflows within existing enterprise platforms, frevvo has always been entirely platform-agnostic and works with whichever existing systems and tools you’re using, whether it’s a CRM or a document management system. 

frevvo Features

Much like Nintex, frevvo provides a no/low-code form and workflow design environment that allows users to build custom forms using a drag-and-drop feature. Users can easily add electronic signatures to their mobile-friendly digital forms, and implement business rules to configure their workflow automation. frevvo also offers a variety of integrations with other tools and allows users to build their own connectors. 

frevvo features include:

• Dynamic web-based forms
• Business process automation
• No-code visual workflow mapping
• Drag-and-drop form builder
• Visual business logic
• Mobile-responsive
• Advanced configuration capabilities
• Secure and wet electronic signatures
• Connectors and open API
• Cloud and on-premise 
• Localization and language support
• Web form to SQL database (auto-populate fields and auto-update database)
• Approval Workflows
• Reporting and analytics
• Out-of-the-box ADA and WCAG compliance
• Effortless PDF-generation
• Comprehensive Support

frevvo vs Nintex

At first glance, these two offerings may seem fairly similar, with the exception that one (Nintex) is somewhat larger and leverages a network of partnerships to expand, while the other (frevvo) takes a more hands-on approach to forging relationships with customers. 

Let’s take a closer look at how they measure up when compared to one another directly.

Customer Ratings

To get an idea of how frevvo stacks up against Nintex in terms of customer experience, we turned to online reviews to see how verified customers ranked each solution. 

Here’s what we found: 

As you can see, frevvo outperformed Nintex in Overall Rating, Features and Functionality and, most dramatically, Customer Support and Value for Money.

Most tellingly, according to GetApp, 100% of users would recommend frevvo while only 75% say the same of Nintex.

Feature Comparison

Next, let’s see how the two solutions’ features measure up side-by-side. While the two companies share many features, such as business process automation, drag-and-drop form builders, no/low-code workflow design and third-party integrations through connectors, a number of differences became apparent:

Electronic signatures

With frevvo, electronic signatures are a standard (and free) element that can be added to any form. With Nintex Workflow Cloud, on the other hand, e-signatures are available through integration with Adobe Sign — users are charged an additional $1.75 per sign event. 

Designing workflows

Most workflows start with one or more forms that are then routed through the organization for signatures, approvals, and comments. Real-world business forms are highly complex. They’re lengthy, require sophisticated layouts, have multiple sections, tabbed views, repeating controls, grids, and other intricate details. frevvo offers one of the most easy-to-use form designers on the market. Nintex Workflow Cloud also offers drag-and-drop form design but the layout functionality appears to be far more basic.

Accessibility and localization

frevvo offers numerous enterprise-grade features that are incredibly easy to use but are very important for real-world business processes. Examples are out-of-the box compliance with accessibility regulations such as ADA and WCAG – meaning there’s no need to subject forms and workflows to an accessibility audit to ensure that they are compliant – and localization, so forms and workflows work in all languages worldwide Nintex does not offer these features.

Dynamic PDF generation

Another key business requirement is the ability to output custom PDFs, e.g. Federal and State W-4s and a Federal I-9 for new hire onboarding. With frevvo, dynamic PDF generation is built-in to the product. Nintex requires additional (complicated) licensing based on the number of generated documents.

Cloud and on-premise options

While frevvo offers an on-premise option that allows risk-averse customers to install frevvo behind their firewall, Nintex Workflow Cloud, as its name implies, only offers a cloud option.

Simplicity of pricing plans

frevvo keeps it simple – and affordable – by including all of its features whether you choose cloud or on-premise software. Meanwhile, Nintex offers various packages, namely Promapp, Nintex Workflow, Nintex RPA and Nintex Sign, and its features are segmented among these, making it difficult for the entry-level user to determine which is the best option for them. Moreover, many of the most useful features are only available in the more expensive tier.

Integrations

When it comes to integration, both frevvo and Nintex have a reasonable number of built-in connectors. Both also have an API available for custom integration. In addition, frevvo offers two powerful capabilities for integration:

• JavaScript support for business rules: Both frevvo and Nintex Workflow Cloud offer powerful visual rule builders for dynamic behavior. However, frevvo also allows you to create custom logic using JavaScript. With built-in support for authentication protocols, it’s easy to integrate with an arbitrary web service for highly dynamic behavior without complicated custom coding using the API.
• Integration with any RESTful service via its built-in XML and XML-schema support. You can import the XML schema specification, generate form controls automatically, and rely on frevvo to enforce the constraints of the schema. You can initialize large forms without coding and output XML documents that are guaranteed to be valid when the form or workflow is submitted. This allows for powerful and sophisticated integration without writing a single line of code.

Ease of use

Finally, frevvo is dedicated to simplicity. We offer one product that works in all environments and constantly strive to improve the usability of our designers so they’re intuitive and simple. From pre-built templates to visual workflow wizards to a guided design experience, anyone can create forms and workflows that meet real business needs without coding or help from I.T.

In contrast, Nintex offers a confusing set of products and add-ons – it’s difficult to determine exactly what features your business needs. The user interface is different depending on which product you use and there is a much bigger learning curve as a result. For a straightforward, easy-to-adopt and -use solution, there’s no comparison to frevvo.

Parallel tasks

To be fair, Nintex does offer a few capabilities that frevvo does not yet offer, e.g. parallel tasks and looping in your workflow. frevvo does not yet offer these features though you can get very close to meeting both requirements in practice. Both features are on frevvo’s short to medium-term roadmap.

Onboarding and Training

One of the biggest barriers to adopting workflow automation is inertia – people are so busy, often due to all the time wasted on manual paperwork, that they don’t have time to learn new tools and technologies. Simplicity, easy onboarding and quality training are often the difference between projects that deliver true ROI and those that just become shelfware in spite of having powerful features.

frevvo exhibits an extreme commitment to ensuring that customers gain value quickly. frevvo offers comprehensive onboarding training and hands-on help — included in the price of any plan. Nintex users are expected to onboard themselves unless they make use of one of the members of Nintex’s global partner network. It’s not clear whether this is included or charged separately.

While Nintex has an extensive and well-organized library of online training materials available, its frequent live webinars and group training sessions incur an additional cost of $249 per person attending each session.

Customer Support

frevvo prides itself on offering customers a more personal and attentive experience that results in resolutions, regardless of the size of their business. As one happy customer told Capterra, “We are a small K-12 public school of fewer than 800 students and we are treated like a Fortune 500 company.” 

Nintex offers tiered support, so if you’re not on the more expensive plan, your tickets are treated with less urgency. Frustrated customers have even graded it harshly. For example, one of their reviewers wrote: “Support is sometimes a merry-go-round of answering the same questions over and over with the same canned responses.”

It’s no wonder that customers give frevvo a 4.7/5 rating for support and 100% of reviewers give positive reviews and would recommend frevvo to their friends and colleagues. Compare that to Nintex with just a 3.6/5 rating for customer support and just 75% of reviewers with positive reviews.

It could be because Nintex is a larger organization with multiple confusing products that don’t always play well together. Customer support staff are likely spread thin trying to resolve questions where the answer varies depending on what’s being used.

If you’re looking for a vendor that believes in the success of their customers, there’s simply no comparison. Dedication to our customer success is core to our DNA – we will always stand behind you. 

Security

Obviously, security is hugely important to most organizations. Both frevvo and Nintex Workflow Cloud support the necessary protocols, encrypt data at rest and in motion, integrate with common identity providers, and closely monitor the security of their cloud platforms. The fact is that no cloud vendor can survive let alone thrive unless we invest in and pay close attention to the security of customers’ data.

Nevertheless, unlike Nintex Workflow Cloud, frevvo also offers an on-premise version of its software. Some customers simply cannot rely on the cloud – perhaps they process financial data or they’re subject to stringent regulatory requirements. In some cases, they have operations spread out across the globe and are subject to different privacy laws in different countries.

With frevvo, customers don’t have to compromise and can choose the option that best fits their needs. Best of all, cloud and on-premise frevvo are the same software and offer the same comprehensive set of features. In the interest of full transparency though, frevvo’s on-premise releases often lag the cloud release. 

Pricing

Here’s where the differences between the two solutions become especially apparent. In terms of pricing simplicity and value for money, frevvo is the clear winner. To start with, Nintex is far more expensive than frevvo – it’s reflected in their “value for money” rating on GetApp (3.6/5).

Nintex ’s offerings are tiered, with each platform offering a Standard and Enterprise option. As you’d expect, in each case, most of the best features are limited to the more expensive tier, effectively forcing users who want any kind of value beyond automating a few very basic workflows to sign up for the Enterprise version. You’re likely to discover that costs escalate quickly.

Meanwhile, frevvo’s pricing includes all available functions, with the pricing based primarily on usage.

Conclusion

A closer look at each platform has given us some insight into the ratings that users have given each platform. 

In terms of features, frevvo’s all-in-one offering is likely to deliver far greater value than Nintex’s confusingly bundled and tiered approach. 

While both solutions have an initial learning curve when it comes to ease-of-use, frevvo’s hands-on approach to onboarding, training and support is more likely to set you up for success than Nintex’s more free-range approach. The result: 100% positive reviews for frevvo compared to just 75% for Nintex.

If your business is a heavy Sharepoint or Microsoft 365 user and you’ve got a big enterprise budget for all Nintex’s tiered goodies, it might be the better choice. Otherwise, frevvo is almost definitely the better fit for your organization. It’s certainly the option more likely to offer even small businesses the high level of customer service and support they deserve. 

Lastly, in terms of pricing, frevvo simply offers far more value for money, offering enterprise-grade capabilities at reasonable cost.

Still not convinced? Request a free live demo.

The post The Best Nintex Alternative: Nintex vs frevvo appeared first on frevvo Blog.