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ARIS Architect and Designer vs IBM Blueworks Live comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ARIS Architect and Designer
Ranking in Business Process Design
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Blueworks Live
Ranking in Business Process Design
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
22
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS Architect and Designer is 1.3%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.2%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ARIS Architect and Designer1.3%
IBM Blueworks Live3.2%
Other95.5%
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

BM
Consultant at KAFD DMC
Has raised concerns about pricing while expressing satisfaction with its contribution to optimizing internal processes
Considering the integration capability of the product, it contributes to data-driven decision-making in our case. We see some impact of reporting tools on performance tracking or strategic planning. We do different kinds of analysis in regard to due integration controls, risk, and how we can strengthen the processes and the activities. We use it for various purposes. Regarding the process visualization framework, it helps to improve communication and collaboration in the company in a positive way. Architect is managing all the library management and with regards to the filter management. It's always a positive side that if you want to use anything further, we know that we can reach out to the Architect to add those objects and those attributes. It's really good.
Nupur Wadhwa - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant 2 at Protiviti
Enables efficient process mapping but requires improvement in maintaining server stability
The pricing of the solution can be quite expensive when compared to competitors, though IBM Blueworks Live stands out from a technical standpoint. IBM Blueworks Live provides clear ROI as it saves both time and money. I have successfully imported Visio flowcharts into both IBM Blueworks Live and ARIS. Both tools handled the imports successfully, though some manual intervention was required because Visio is quite a basic tool. Importing flowcharts into advanced tools such as ARIS and IBM Blueworks Live requires some manual effort. The primary advantage is the ease of use. I have not encountered any features in other tools that I couldn't find in ARIS. This is a major factor because I don't have to switch between tools to find specific features. Using ARIS for the past three years has built confidence and trust in the tool.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Considering the integration capability of the product, it contributes to data-driven decision-making in our case."
"It is suitable for banks, insurance companies, public administration, etc. The method is very adaptable and can be applied independently of the business."
"The most important feature is ARIS's ability to turn a process design into data to analyze anything you want. For example, we have some analysis reports in ARIS that can guide us when we want to change a system. It shows us how this change will affect all of the organization's processes."
"Considering the integration capability of the product, it contributes to data-driven decision-making in our case."
"I would rate the solution overall a ten out of ten."
"Considering the integration capability of the product, it contributes to data-driven decision-making in our case."
"We use the product for modeling, conducting process checks, doing process flow, running, and analyzing the report."
"It's really fast. It's much faster compared to Enterprise Architect."
"The solution is stable. All the refreshes run very well."
"This solution is good at utilizing standards rules for connectivity."
"IBM Blueworks Live provides clear ROI as it saves both time and money."
"It is a stable solution since there has not been any downtime. Everything loads fast."
"In terms of the collaboration features, from the point of discovery, it was useful to go to load up the policies and the rule sets that the client had. And in terms of exploring options and being able to model a variety of different processes, that was incredibly useful as well."
"Collaboration is most valuable. You can collaborate online with many people. People can comment, and you can comment back. It is just like a social network, and that, for me, is very good."
"The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave."
"The reporting that we can generate from IBM Blueworks Live has been interesting. We found the KPIs, risks, process modeling, format, and colors, to be very good. We use the EY template and it is interesting to generate reporting in this format."
 

Cons

"You can have a collaboration feature, but it's necessary to have ARIS Connect which is a separate, costly product."
"The support team takes a long time to respond to our queries."
"Currently, we don't have any metrics to measure the success of ARIS Architect and Designer."
"The simulation part still has some way to go. It's a good feature, and it's something that other vendors don't have right now, but it can still be improved. Some features are needed in ARIS Architect, so advanced users can do things through drag-and-drop functionality."
"This product could be improved by lowering the licensing cost. More organizations could use ARIS if they slashed the licensing costs even a little bit."
"Even with a formal modeling language, users can still draw freely and make a bit of a mess in your repository. It should also improve usability."
"We face problems when the product's capacity is increased."
"Sometimes we feel that the designer needs more usability. I understand that the web module or the cloud version is much more user-friendly and easier to work on compared to the client that we download."
"The ability to create a very structured rule. With the capability that we have right now, Blueworks Live is more process focused. We should be able to enhance it to include a lot more of decisions as well."
"The initial setup is neither straightforward nor complex however you do need to know what you are doing."
"The objects that the solution creates are not unique."
"The solution is stable, but there are some glitches and latency issues."
"It is BPMN-compliant but the tool needs to be more involved to get into a completely 2.0 oriented tool. It has a few things but it's not the complete BPMN model."
"I would like to see integration with ERP systems. This would help us to simulate the process and see where the problems are. Though IBM Blueworks Live is a good tool for documenting, it is not good for simulating."
"I would prefer an on-premises solution for IBM Blueworks Live, and this could be a recommendation."
"We would like the ability to add additional custom colors. We would like to color additional items to add notes to the blueprint."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licenses are very costly. I've seen many people who are hesitant or not able to use ARIS Suite just because of the license cost. Even though they like all the functionalities and understand the value of everything ARIS provides, they aren't able to implement it."
"Many customers find the licensing configuration confusing. There are many different sub-details in the licensing, making it very difficult for us to understand what we are buying and what we are using with what."
"The product is expensive."
"The tool is a little bit expensive."
"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."
"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."
"The solution is very, very cost-effective."
"Making it less expensive would be good."
"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."
"Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."
"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."
"The solution is not very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Government
10%
Insurance Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
18%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise3
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise18
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ARIS Architect and Designer?
Currently, we don't have any metrics to measure the success of ARIS Architect and Designer. We would appreciate it if you could share anything with us that we can do to find out the impact.
What is your primary use case for ARIS Architect and Designer?
We spoke with you about ARIS Architect and Designer. We already have two architect licenses, I think three architect licenses, and we have, I think, six or seven designer licenses. Architect is bas...
What advice do you have for others considering ARIS Architect and Designer?
The reviewer is a consultant at KAFD. We would give ARIS Architect and Designer an overall review rating of ten out of ten.
What do you like most about IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?
I do not have exposure to IBM Blueworks Live pricing since this is managed by other personnel who handle the financial aspects of licenses.
What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?
I do not use Security Identity Governance and Intelligence, as it is not implemented here. I would prefer an on-premises solution for IBM Blueworks Live, and this could be a recommendation. Regardi...
 

Also Known As

ARIS Architect & Designer, ARIS Architect, ARIS Designer
IBM Lombardi Blueprint
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Tesco, Weifu, Airbus, Siemens, Proximus, Alicorp, Sekerbank, Bancor, Philips,Sky, Emirates NBD, Dubai Municipality, Suva, U.S. Army, Australia Post, Westfalen Weser Energie - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as the market leader for process excellence with more than 30 years of experience in the market, 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS Architect and Designer vs. IBM Blueworks Live and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.