ARIS BPA vs erwin Evolve comparison

Software AG and Quest Software are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.7, while Quest Software is ranked #21. Software AG holds a 7.0% mindshare in BPD, compared to Quest Software’s 1.8% 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

5,581 Views
3,683 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

erwin Evolve

Read 19 erwin Evolve reviews

1,706 Views
853 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

erwin Evolve

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

ARIS BPA and erwin Evolve compete in the business process management (BPM) software market. ARIS BPA appears to have the upper hand in comprehensive BPM features and integration flexibility, while erwin Evolve excels with a user-friendly web-based interface and robust enterprise middleware connections.

Features: ARIS BPA is designed for business users and management, focusing on grasping business processes, strategy determination, and process analysis. It provides robust database modeling, process simulation, and integration features. erwin Evolve stands out with its web-based interface, advanced modeling capabilities, and user-friendly navigation. It offers strong process visualization and integration, particularly suited for enterprise middleware connections.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA struggles with tool integration, lacks a genuine workflow engine, has complex pricing and setup, scripting difficulties, and API limitations. erwin Evolve needs better NoSQL database support, security consolidation, integration improvements, and more intuitive navigation to access its functionalities efficiently.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA is available in Hybrid, Public, Private, and On-premises environments but has mixed reviews on customer support, with long resolution times and inconsistent communication. erwin Evolve is deployed in Public and On-premises systems, with customer service improving over time and a generally better reputation for support and setup.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA is expensive, targeting larger enterprises with substantial resources, requiring significant investment and training for ROI. erwin Evolve is also costly, but its concurrent licensing model allows flexibility, with ROI heavily reliant on organizational usage and configuration.

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

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. erwin Evolve

February 2026

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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

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (11th)

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 February 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 7.0%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of erwin Evolve is 1.8%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
ARIS BPA	7.0%
erwin Evolve	1.8%
Other	91.2%

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.

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Asish Sahu

SPM at Infosys

The reverse engineering capabilities are quite useful.

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It brings transparency and 360-degree views of end-to-end processes."

"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."

"I am an advanced user. ARIS BPM is intuitive for me because I know the UML, BPMN, and EPC methodologies implemented in this tool. It is very easy to create processes for restructuring a company with some descriptions."

"Objects can be reused across different BPMNs and processes, so we can design new processes quicker and easier."

"Business Process Analysis: We can simulate, optimize, and analyse business processes based on various business requirements. It assures our rolling out the best processes."

"ARIS BPA covers many or all blueprints and functions that I need."

"I like everything about ARIS BPA. I've used it for a long time and it's a fantastic tool. There is a list of things ARIS has that other solutions do not have."

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

More ARIS BPA pros

"Workgroup Repository collection of data models allows research across models without worry about platform incompatibilities and provides easy KPIs about corporate data assets."

"The most valuable features for us are impact analysis, where I can easily visualize the impact of change."

"We can efficiently deploy business models into the databases and generate SQL scripts."

"I really liked that it mapped out processes and was able to attach the data model to the appropriate process. You could map out the process, then when you got down to a specific couple of data elements, you could attach the table in the database that supported that process. You could connect it with erwin Data Modeler for that."

"The feature that stands out for me is the ease of configuring objects and the screens to show them. It's really easy to add a new type of object in this reference. Creating a new type of object, using it, and evolving it a little bit in terms of what we can document about it are the main features that made us decide to use this provider."

"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."

"The initial setup was really straightforward and the deployment was done within one day."

"I have not seen capabilities for web-sharing and interaction with the architecture from any other supplier. It's a great capability..."

More erwin Evolve pros

Cons

"The reporting and the information query features could do with some improvement."

"I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying."

"It would be helpful if ARIS BPA could have a simple database to get the extract of various attributes."

"The workflow approval process could be represented better in the overviews."

"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."

"I would like to see the reporting aspects improved."

"The user interface could be more intuitive and better designed."

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

More ARIS BPA cons

"They need to develop Evolve's user experience. For example, MEGA has a useful client view that helps with impact analysis. MEGA provides information about the processes, services, infrastructure, and portfolio of applications in one central view. It lets you see the periphery and relationships among components. This view is impressive, and Evolve doesn't have it."

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

"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."

"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."

"I would like it to be easier to make changes and then deploy them into production, especially when you have multiple web servers or front-ends. It would be nice to make a change and then have it propagate to the production servers in a more automated fashion."

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

"With the Excel importing, the "up to date" part is the challenge. If we had a real-time integration, we could keep things up to date for whatever kinds of change points we had. With Excel, it is more that you have to export from one system then import it to another, so it's better for data that doesn't change that often."

"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."

More erwin Evolve cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ARIS is quite expensive."

"ARIS has different licensing mechanisms for different modules, but they are perpetual licenses. So you pay once."

"It is on the higher side."

"It depends on different parameters."

"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."

"ARIS enables you to start small and grow the use of the solution over time, although it's quite expensive. So if you want to start small, it's quite an investment for a small company."

"The product is inexpensive."

"The price could be better."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"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."

"Yearly, our cost is €100,000."

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

"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."

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

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

19%

Performing Arts

10%

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 do you like most about ARIS BPA?

The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.

See all answers

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...

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Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 16% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 8% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs ARIS BPA

Compared 5% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS BPA

Compared 5% of the time

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Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Evolve

Compared 12% of the time

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Evolve

Compared 8% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Evolve

Compared 7% of the time

erwin Data Modeler vs erwin Evolve

Compared 6% of the time

Bonita vs erwin Evolve

Compared 5% of the time

More erwin Evolve Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

January 2026

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

erwin Evolve

January 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

February 2026

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