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ARIS BPA vs ARIS Cloud 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 BPA
Ranking in Business Process Design
6th
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
12th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ARIS Cloud
Ranking in Business Process Design
17th
Ranking in Business Process Management (BPM)
31st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 7.1%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ARIS Cloud is 2.9%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ARIS BPA7.1%
ARIS Cloud2.9%
Other90.0%
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

BM
Consultant at KAFD DMC
Has improved process modeling and analysis while supporting integration with organizational data
The process design in ARIS BPA does help with our operational efficiency. What we are doing is object library management for various kinds of objects that we are using in ARIS BPA during our process modeling. We are using that to do a lot of analysis on how many times a system is being used in how many processes, who are the major stakeholders, and if we enhance one system, how is it going to impact other processes and integrated processes. This is helping us a lot. Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual. We are doing a lot of things with regards to the processes as it is at our heart. Processes are one thing and then we have different kinds of things which are related to it, such as SLAs, guidelines, and policy. We are identifying areas of improvement in other documents as well.
reviewer1294968 - PeerSpot reviewer
Transformational Leader at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Mapping capabilities lag behind while requiring significant customization but is scalable
I worked with ARIS Cloud under SAP. The solution was deployed by an agile team and utilized daily by process engineers and business process owners. It was involved in the financial services industry, with thousands of users within the company The platform's capabilities are highly dependent on…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"In this field, ARIS is probably the best compromise, in terms of coverage and functionality."
"It is the most flexible and embracing process modeling tool."
"​It is a well-featured, functional product."
"The initial setup and installation are very straightforward."
"ARIS helps in creating a central repository of all processes of an organization in a standardized manner."
"The solution has come up with a web portal that makes it easy to model and show to clients."
"ARIS has a good collaboration function. You create a portal where any authorized users can work on the models. There are simple flows for making and approving changes."
"In general, the users really like it and they can get started using it very easily."
"The initial setup of this solution was straightforward."
"Over the past few years, ARIS has made its interface more user-friendly and intuitive."
"This solution has improved the way our organization does training."
"ARIS Cloud is scalable."
"The solution's most valuable feature stems from its being very easy to use, making it a very user-friendly tool."
"With ARIS Cloud, we identified our goals, business processes and we turned them into a digital strategy."
"In terms of UX design, somebody who has not had experience with ARIS will be able to use it very easily."
"In terms of using the cloud version, if you're somebody who, like myself, has got a lot of experience and understands measures and notations and things, basically it's unrestricted. You can do so many things. You can do your Archimaze, you can do BPMN. There's lots of stuff you can do in there and if you're a good field person and you cause yourself re-using things or whatever, then it's very nice, it's very easy to use."
 

Cons

"The reporting and the information query features could do with some improvement."
"This is a good solution, but it needs better integration with external tools and it is expensive."
"In my experience, once the organization creates the process model in ARIS EPC, it will take approximately two years before most organizations ditch any effort to update it."
"It takes a long time for a new user to start working with ARIS, so perhaps it could be more user-friendly in terms of the complicated construction conventions that it uses."
"The interface is a little archaic."
"The standard out-of-the-box solutions for modeling are not so good. You have to do some configuration to make it easier and more user-friendly."
"This product is rather complex to set up."
"When it looks like your ten-year-old has done something to present in grammar school, it is not the right thing to be showing at a high-level meeting."
"I would like to see more support for architectural diagrams."
"They need to revamp a whole module. This module has been in place for 16 years. It hasn't been updated since then. It's actually a separate license on its own. It's a disaster."
"The price is quite high. This is one weak point of the solution."
"I would like to see the cost of the licenses improved."
"It would be very helpful if this solution were more open and could integrate with other solutions like ServiceNow."
"Initial setup is rather complex. You have to find a way to isolate the complexity, and find common ground at a level where they don't need the details."
"The trial version of this solution does not give you enough time to learn how to use it, so it should be extended to one year."
"I was surprised when my license was deactivated and I could not access my data."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution."
"The product is inexpensive."
"The product is a bit pricey."
"ARIS Express​ is free."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"Pricing is a bit on the higher side."
"ARIS BPA is too costly from a licensing perspective."
"Usually, our company buys technical support from the Software AG site. We bought the technical support for the first year of usage for ARIS version 6 and 7. So, when we migrated to ARIS version 7, we bought support only for the first year. Then, we didn't use it the next year. Our experience was that we use it only one to three times during the first year. Therefore, there wasn't much value for us to buy this service because we have no problem with using ARIS after the first year."
"There is a student version of this solution that can be used for free."
"The cloud deployment is not more expensive. In the cloud, you pay for what you use, and there's no need for maintaining infrastructure or additional personnel, making it cost-effective. On-premises deployment, on the other hand, involves infrastructure costs and maintenance expenses."
"The licensing model of ARIS Cloud is leaner and more beneficial to the customer. The new license model is great. With the on-premise, you needed to subscribe to many more types of licenses. Now there are licensed bundles available on the cloud."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise47
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?
It is a bit expensive regarding ARIS BPA. However, ARIS BPA does save a lot of effort because this is one tool which can be used for multiple purposes and the viewers have the capability to perform...
What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?
We are not using any what-if scenario features in ARIS BPA. Currently, we are not using the performance monitoring and compliance checks features in ARIS BPA. We have plans to use them, but current...
What is your primary use case for ARIS BPA?
ARIS BPA is being used for process modeling, and we are planning to upgrade and enhance it for process mining and other purposes. We are using it for everything. Currently, we are doing HRMS integr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS Cloud?
The price of ARIS Cloud is relatively high and not every firm can afford it, especially if the company is not mature enough to require such extensive process modeling and optimization.
What needs improvement with ARIS Cloud?
It would be beneficial for ARIS Cloud to add more customization options, such as having a landing page. Improving the importation script from Microsoft Visio ( /products/visio-reviews ) would also ...
What is your primary use case for ARIS Cloud?
I am currently working with both ARIS Cloud ( /products/aris-cloud-reviews ) and MEGA HOPEX ( /products/mega-hopex-reviews ), having switched from ARIS BPM ( /products/aris-bpa-reviews ) to MEGA HO...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM
Process Live, ARIS Simulation, ARIS Aware, ARIS Connect
 

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.
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 and 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS BPA vs. ARIS Cloud and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,644 professionals have used our research since 2012.