ARIS BPA vs erwin Evolve comparison

Software AG and Quest Software are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.7, while Quest Software is ranked #21. Software AG holds a 6.8% mindshare in BPD, compared to Quest Software’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 81% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 69 ARIS BPA reviews

5,701 Views
3,706 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

erwin Evolve

Read 19 erwin Evolve reviews

1,810 Views
923 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

erwin Evolve

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

In the business process analysis and enterprise architecture category, ARIS BPA and erwin Evolve compete. ARIS BPA holds an edge for organizations prioritizing detailed process modeling and seamless SAP integration, while erwin Evolve is notable for its seamless enterprise architecture integration.

Features: ARIS BPA is robust in process modeling, database integration, and provides end-to-end visibility. Key features include process simulation, SAP connectivity, and a multi-dimensional view of business processes. erwin Evolve integrates enterprise architecture with business processes with an effective web-based interface for exploration. Its Evolve Designer facilitates visual management of processes and supports comprehensive analysis with advanced modeling techniques.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA needs better real-time data integration and easier customization of automatic workflows. There are also calls for improved reporting and third-party tool integration. erwin Evolve should enhance its support for non-relational data structures and improve user interface navigation. Both products could enhance automation capabilities and support for emerging technologies.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA provides flexible deployment options but users report occasional installation and responsiveness issues despite strong community and technical support. erwin Evolve offers both cloud and on-premises solutions focusing on configuration ease. However, improved integration guides and resources are needed according to user feedback.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA, with its complex licensing, is positioned as a premium solution for large enterprises, delivering ROI through efficiency and process clarity. erwin Evolve offers more competitively priced options, such as concurrent usage pricing, benefiting teams with flexible access needs, with ROI realized through better process transparency and alignment.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. erwin Evolve Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. erwin Evolve

March 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 884,873 peers since 2012

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

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (12th)

erwin Evolve

Ranking in Business Process Design

21st

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (14th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 6.8%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of erwin Evolve is 1.9%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ARIS BPA	6.8%
erwin Evolve	1.9%
Other	91.3%

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

BeenishMustafa

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.

Read full review

ScottLawson

Director IT Architecture at QAD

Enables us to present data and objects visually, in diagrams, and to make them available via the web. Also enables web-based editing of data.

We tried their collaborative web modeling and we used it with a few people but we tend to not use that piece. We tend to collaborate with the people and then my team of architects draws up the diagram using the modeling tool. We then iterate through those. I would like to use it, but it was a little clunky when they first rolled it out. Overall, it's more about the company having room for improvement. What they need to do is to consolidate more of their products. For example, I was just looking and I couldn't figure out what erwin DT is. It's on the website but it would help if they could put information together and make it more clear as to what products they have and how they work with other things. I hear them talking in the support forums and, when I talk to the representative, they say they're going to do a bunch of stuff but it seems the progress is slow. The changes they need to make are to take their old, legacy product, which we use, and focus a lot on it so they can transform it into a modern cloud tool so that we have fewer little pieces to deal with. They could also fix their security model. It's very confusing to get new people onto the tool and to make sure that your content isn't being exposed to the wrong people.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"you want to do modeling with the old notation form, ours was EPC, you can use the same object in the BPMN because the database is built in a way that you can use both things. So you only have to define it once, and if the notation form is BPMN and those kind of activities, you can use the same EPCs, so there is a connection between them."

"Visualizes processes which helps the business see pain points."

"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."

"There is a module designer, that one is very powerful and it creates very good reports."

"The ease of use is the most valuable. I have tried a number of BPMN packages, and I find the user interface of ARIS BPM easier and more intuitive than others. If your team is knowledgeable on BPMN, it is really pretty easy to figure out on your own because it adheres to the standards extremely well. I have tried Bizagi, BizFlow, and a variety of such solutions, and I just liked ARIS BPM better."

"The tool has good navigation."

"It helps to maintain a single source of truth regarding the processes followed within an organization."

"Also, the UML parts have been improved very much in the last two years. And it's very powerful now to combine the BPMN and UML parts in the product, because you can make a connection between them, so that you have the right interoperability between them. So if you're doing data modeling, you can use your class diagram and bind that to the BPMN part."

More ARIS BPA pros

"You can use different kinds of diagrams to represent the architecture setting."

"Forward and reverse engineering were valuable features."

"There is a model behind it. It's really nice that the Evolve front-end, as it builds a website, keeps those relationships in mind. You can even go to a procedure and see all the applications that are related to it. Then you can go into that application and see all the standard operating procedures that that application is a part of. It's just very connected."

"By placing the data and the metadata into a model, which is what the tool does, you gain the abilities for linkages between different objects in the model, linkages that you cannot get on paper or with Visio or PowerPoint. That is a huge discriminator."

"The ability to share and collaborate on the solution is its most valuable feature."

"We use erwin Evolve to publish to the website. This allows us to enable publishing our website using parameterisation features. In a very fast, quick way, we can publish a table or chart onto a website."

"Evolve's reverse engineering ability is quite useful."

"One of the most valuable features is the website that sits on top of the database. There's a database of objects and how they are related, and you can make views and diagrams and visual elements out of that information on the website. The website is the part that is called Evolve and we use the Evolve Designer and publish the website out to our employees. They can click around and navigate and search, etc."

More erwin Evolve pros

Cons

"ARIS BPA’s usability could be improved."

"The interface is a little archaic."

"Training is one of the important aspects for process awareness. As soon as a process is rolled out, process training is required. If ARIS could generate output in PowerPoint, it would be great for business users."

"I had this decentralization mission where I had some friendly fights with the consultants of Software AG. My opinion was the business department should be able to publish their processes and do all their evaluation stuff in ARCM themselves. It has to be a one stop shop. I want a one stop shop to go from ARIS BPM to ARIS ARCM, because having everything go through that would be an improvement due to the inputs that we made with Software AG. They will make it possible that the trigger sent from BPM to ARCM will start their object generation."

"We do experience a lot of glitches with ARIS BPA. In the past one year we have seen issues and the ARIS administrator has raised tickets with Software AG regarding these issues."

"Sometimes, ARIS BPA breaks down, and its stability can be improved."

"There is not enough documentation provided for the tool's support or administration."

"Simulation is one area that is a bit complex."

More ARIS BPA cons

"I feel that the UML drawing capability needs to be improved."

"What they need to do is to consolidate more of their products. For example, I was just looking and I couldn't figure out what erwin DT is. It's on the website but it would help if they could put information together and make it more clear as to what products they have and how they work with other things."

"If it had fewer features to model all kinds of architecture, it would be less complicated."

"The solution's integration capabilities with other tools in our system has not been all that well done. We have people who use ARIS, who use System Architect and, of course, Visio. erwin has very limited ways to import and export from those kinds of tools. It's not a very easy thing to do."

"There might be improvement required to better support some of the MPP databases for non-relational data structures and NoSQL databases."

"I would like to see an improvement in the output of the solution."

"The solution needs to focus on allowing for more integrations."

"Evolve is primarily focused on the entity's licenses diagrams, but it would be nice if erwin could integrate case development, so that it shows the ER diagram plus certain inputs on the use cases and how the data is used. That deviates somewhat from the overall scope, so maybe they could call it a different product."

More erwin Evolve cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is a bit pricey."

"Prices are high. However, they are worth it if the organization utilizes the tool to its full potential."

"I would recommend the product to only enterprise companies because of the pricing."

"From my point of view, no, it is not cheap, but it is not too expensive because you get this big organization behind it, technical support, and all those things. It's not so expensive to use. It's a Rolls Royce in this field, I know that. Even for small organizations, they can get so much effect from using this tool, in a very fast way, so the money will be back in the customer's pocket very fast."

"If you can afford it, it's the best so far."

"You will never get a fixed price for this product because they will go in and ask you what kind of environment would you like to set up? How many people will you work with? How big is your organization? Today, they have a fixed price to say, "Okay, just to start the business area, buy two licenses for modeling and eight people that can look into the product." They have this kind of fixed price. It's 50,000 Danish Krone. If you divided that by about six, then you get the pricing in dollars. Still, when you are going out, negotiate and find the right price. You will never get a fixed price: "It costs this and, if you take ten of these, seven of these and eight of these, and then it costs this." No, you negotiate every time."

"The pricing and licensing costs are available on their website. They will assign a relationship manager to assist if you show further interest in their products."

"ARIS is quite expensive."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"Yearly, our cost is €100,000."

"The cost is something like $15,000, per license. But I haven't looked at those numbers in three years. It was over $100,000 to initially set everything up and get it all configured."

"Unless you are a one person shop – always go with the Workgroup edition and Concurrent licensing."

"On a yearly basis, our licensing costs are 50,000 euro. There are no additional costs because we are on a SaaS model."

"I think erwin is quite expensive. I have difficulty selling the portal, in fact."

"The licensing enables you to differentiate between people who edit the content and the people who consume it. We are able to keep the licensing costs down by keeping the "contributor" licenses to a minimum, and we then just roll out the content in a read-only version for the rest of our users."

"I estimate that we pay between $40,000 and $50,000 a year for the solution, not including the upfront costs to buy things the first time."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Design solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Performing Arts

11%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	47

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	12

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 13% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 7% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 5% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs ARIS BPA

Compared 5% of the time

More ARIS BPA Competitors

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Evolve

Compared 11% of the time

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Evolve

Compared 9% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Evolve

Compared 8% of the time

erwin Data Modeler vs erwin Evolve

Compared 6% of the time

Bonita vs erwin Evolve

Compared 4% of the time

More erwin Evolve Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

March 2026

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

erwin Evolve

March 2026

Download erwin Evolve product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

erwin EA, erwin Business Process, erwin Enterprise Architecture

Overview

ARIS is the market-leading solution for professional business process management and modeling. Whether you want to document the "as-is" state of your operations for quality or certification reasons or design the "to-be" in terms of continuous improvement in your transformation program, ARIS is the best choice for establishing a single source of truth regarding all process excellence topics in your organization. It is for any organization looking to digitally transform their business, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution. ARIS helps you to make the most out of your processes with Process Mining, Risk & Compliance Management, RPA and much more.

What makes the difference?

The most comprehensive platform for process excellence in the market
Easy to use
Covers business & IT architecture from all angles
Full flexibility and >100 diagram types
Customer-driven development based on best practices
Strong partner ecosystem

ARIS is the market-leading solution for any organization and ideally suited to digitally transform the organization, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution.

Software AG

erwin Evolve provides comprehensive graphical support for handling large data models. It offers features such as metadata access, version control, and model comparison, enhancing operational reports and system analytics through its collaborative web-driven design.

erwin Evolve facilitates reverse engineering and database integration, fostering collaboration and process exploration through its web interface. Customizable and easy to configure, it supports workflow configuration and architectural modeling. Users can utilize its capabilities for developing industry models, managing transformation programs, and presenting standard operating procedures. Despite its strengths, there are demands for improved integration, enhanced UML support, and a more modern user experience. Users also express challenges with legacy system updates and call for better connectors and collaborative features.

What are the key features of erwin Evolve?

Graphical Support for Large Data Models: Provides visualization capabilities for complex data structures.
Metadata Access via API: Allows integration and management of metadata across platforms.
Version Control and Model Comparison: Enhances tracking and analysis of model changes.
Collaborative Web Interface: Facilitates teamwork and process exploration remotely.
Architectural Modeling: Supports the design and configuration of enterprise architecture.

What are the benefits and ROI of using erwin Evolve?

Customization and Ease of Configuration: Reduces setup time and adapts to specific organizational workflows.
Enhanced Accessibility and Mobile Usability: Offers access to critical information on the go.
Operational Reports Creation: Generates insights and facilitates informed decision-making.
System Analytics Handling: Provides robust tools for analyzing system performance and integration.

Data-driven organizations in sectors like finance and healthcare implement erwin Evolve for data warehousing, enterprise architecture, and business process modeling. They leverage its capabilities for cataloging architectural elements, linking to CMDBs, analyzing system interfaces, and describing business processes. Utilization extends to IT solution registration, business capability planning, and strategic modeling, with frequent deployments on cloud platforms to support transformation initiatives.

Quest Software

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.

AT&T, Bank of America, Chevron, Duke University, ESPN, Fidelity, GE, JP Morgan Chase, KPMG, McGraw Hill, NASA, Pfizer, Royal Bank of Scotland, Teradata, Union Pacific, Vodafone, Wells Fargo.

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. erwin Evolve

March 2026

Free Report: ARIS BPA vs. erwin Evolve

Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS BPA vs. erwin Evolve and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our ARIS BPA vs. erwin Evolve report.

See our list of best Business Process Design vendors.

We monitor all Business Process Design reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.