ARIS BPA vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

Software AG and Sparx Systems are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.7, while Sparx Systems is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Software AG holds a 7.0% mindshare in BPD, compared to Sparx Systems’s 7.4% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Sparx Systems users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 69 ARIS BPA reviews

5,581 Views
3,683 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Read 99 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect reviews

7,890 Views
4,971 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

ARIS BPA and Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect compete in the business process modeling and enterprise architecture domains, respectively. ARIS BPA seems to have an edge in process modeling and comprehensive analysis, whereas Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect offers more flexibility and support for multiple modeling standards, which could be advantageous depending on user requirements.

Features: ARIS BPA provides extensive business process modeling capabilities with tools for thorough process analysis and optimization. It includes a robust integration framework and advanced relational database management, allowing enterprises to effectively manage IT, processes, and organizational elements. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports diverse modeling standards, such as UML, BPMN, and ArchiMate. It enables detailed code engineering and project management and excels at managing and reverse-engineering intricate software models for enterprise architecture.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA lacks a built-in execution engine, limiting its potential in automation. Its integration with other tools can be challenging and costly, suggesting a need for streamlined integration. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect has a steep learning curve and an outdated user interface, which may deter new users. Enhancements are needed in its data modeling capabilities and support for documentation generation and diagram consistency.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA supports various deployment infrastructures, including Hybrid Cloud, Public Cloud, and On-premises, enhancing flexibility but sometimes complicating the setup. Customer service is generally good, although support inconsistencies are reported. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is mostly On-premises with cloud options, known for competitive pricing and ease of setup, though its support may be inconsistent, needing improvements in responsiveness and clarity.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA is expensive, using complex licensing schemes suited for large enterprises, potentially limiting accessibility for smaller firms. While process optimization can lead to significant ROI, it requires time. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is valued for its cost-effectiveness and lower licensing expenses, offering significant functionality which can lead to a faster ROI. Its affordability makes it an appealing option for organizations with budget constraints.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

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)

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Ranking in Business Process Design

5th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (5th)

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 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 7.4%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect	7.4%
ARIS BPA	7.0%
Other	85.6%

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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Milan Sterba

Senior Enterprise Architect at Deepview S.r.o.

Efficient documentation generation through organized model structure with a good price-performance ratio

Whenever I begin a new project with Sparx, I have to spend time training people on how to use it since it is not straightforward. Although it's a powerful product with plenty of features, it's not easy for even experienced users to find their way without guidance. This is not the most user-friendly solution.

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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

"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."

"The BPMN notation and the share flow through users. It is nice to see all flows in a common, shared space for all the stakeholders to view the same thing and the same language."

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

"One of the many advantages of ARIS is that it is supported by a very strong BPM community, which is critical for us. Although it has been in business for many years, it is still at an early stage of evolution. There are so many instances where your specific use case or requirement for using ARIS hasn't necessarily been matured across the sector. So, you need access to a very active community to help you explore possible solutions and ways in which ARIS can be used to achieve those use cases."

"Features like SAP SolMan sync, Alfabet EA integration (another Software AG product)."

"We chose ARIS because of its good reputation and familiarity with Software AG Tools."

"The maintenance capabilities of ARIS BPM and the strong underlying database are particularly valuable."

"The solution is user-friendly and easy to expose."

More ARIS BPA pros

"It's like a repository. So far, we use it only for Information Modelling."

"We use it to develop and maintain the Enterprise Conceptual Model, migrated from erwin a couple of years ago."

"This is a useful tool for IT people who need to design their solution architecture."

"There are a lot of features in Enterprise Architect. It allows us to take on a lot of tasks."

"For the most part, we find that it is remarkable how inexpensive it is."

"It is a handy tool for visual modeling that provides opportunities for analysis, design, and support of models using ArchiMate, UML."

"The features I find most valuable is the ability to create a document and then put it into a OneCare artifact."

"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is very flexible and it is simple to define the metamodel. Additionally, it is lightweight on resources."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pros

Cons

"The product is difficult to use for someone without prior knowledge of working with it. It requires a certain level of administration training."

"They should make improvements as per customer requirements."

"The reporting capabilities and the ability to create custom reports need to be simplified and made easy so that people even with a good functional understanding of the tool can leverage it to create their own custom report."

"One thing that could be improved is regarding the handling of the content itself. Maybe ARIS could provide a set of best practices, or best processes, so that people do not have to start from scratch."

"Improvement should be made as per customer requirements."

"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."

"If you want to create new reports then you have to use JavaScript, or ARIS script as they call it, which is beyond the competencies of most people."

"Its governance tool and integration with ESB and execution engine can be improved. Their partner support can also be improved."

More ARIS BPA cons

"I have found the solution is lacking options. The general usability needs improvement and more compliance to CML definitions."

"In general, we now have a problem with Sparx Enterprise Architect because many analysts think it's too complicated to use in a giant environment."

"From a practical point of view, we need speed and reliability for creating a model and doing some really meaningful tasks such as application landscape, refactoring, etc. These are two primary criteria. Sometimes, when you import something, it creates the object duplicates, or it allows you to do something that you're not supposed to do. For example, validation is missing. This could be frustrating because when you work at a high speed, you need to come back and start fixing things that the tool allowed you to go with, which is not quite good. So, there should probably be some internal mechanisms to advise you about what you're doing and what is probably not the best idea."

"Their technical support is not good in India. I wrote to them because I had a question, but I never got an answer. So, I just left it behind."

"The stability and performance of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect could still be improved. Setup for it is also slightly complicated and could be improved."

"The UI is a little bit outdated. It should be more fresh and clean."

"The fact that you can do a lot yourself is a plus point, but it also becomes a challenge because you need an understanding of the programming languages to get things to work. It becomes challenging for those who are not very good at programming. You have standard reports, but if you want to make your own reports, you have to program it. Similarly, if you want validations rules, you have to take care of them yourself."

"One room for improvement in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is that it's not very friendly. Another room for improvement in the tool is that it doesn't enable you to import the metadata from a database very easily, so reverse engineering of a database was very difficult. Its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is on the higher side."

"This is absolutely not the cheapest solution in the market, but for large companies, the price is fine."

"ARIS is quite expensive."

"The price of the solution is reasonable."

"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."

"We have a concurrent license system."

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

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"Enterprise licensing is competitive. What would be helpful if they load the pricing for consultants, you know, people who are consultants for clients. So the license is fine for end-user organizations. Still, they should consider lowering the license to support this adoption, particularly for people who are consultants like myself."

"We paid 1200 euros as a once-off cost. All add ons and integrations come at an additional cost."

"The licensing is not as expensive as some of the other data modeling tools such as Erwin."

"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."

"It's reasonably priced for large organizations."

"There is a license for this solution. When comparing this solution to others it is priced well."

"The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."

"I use my own license. So, I just bought the professional version, which costs $800 or something like that. In the company where I am working, we have floating licenses. They are probably more expensive. Its licensing is affordable, but we are talking about a large organization, and there could be modelers or viewers of the models. We don't know how much that would cost us."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

10%

Computer Software 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	38
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	58

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...

See all answers

What do you like most about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

The stability has been good and satisfactory. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

One of the reasons many public sector institutions in the Czech Republic use it is that it provides a very good price-performance ratio. While it might be cumbersome to learn, it still delivers exc...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

See all answers

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

Visio vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 7% of the time

Lucidchart vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 7% of the time

Camunda vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

February 2026

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

January 2026

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect report

Download Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

No data available

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

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is an enterprise solution that helps streamline, accelerate, and integrate software, system, and business development. With this intuitive modeling and design solution, enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, enable collaboration, support their teams and colleagues, and manage complex projects. Software architects, business analysts, project managers, developers, support staff, and testers can unite under a single repository. Through numerous view points and potential sub-systems, users are offered a unified view in a complex environment.

With Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, users are also offered a shared model option which can be accessed quickly and securely by in-office and remote team members through the Enterprise Architect’s Pro Cloud Server. Building a coherent, verifiable model can be done by connecting and integrating a variety of behavioral and structural information in visual form. As a result, Enterprise Architect offers high performance, flexibility, and the ability to model, manage, and trace every stage of the business development and modeling process.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Features

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect assists in creating a unified and accessible vision in business development by offering a flexible platform with a unique set of rich features. These features include:

Test and debug - Streamline software development and visualize software with the simulation process. Users can test and confirm correct behavior, set and oversee test points, and debug and examine software.

Track tasks - Track, prioritize, and assign individual and group tasks to assist in the model’s development. Users can visually monitor their progress through the Gantt chart.

Open standards - Users can visualize and analyze running software with integrated custom tools. They can also run advanced simulations, team-based repositories, testing tools, and version control. In addition, the solution supports enterprise architecture frameworks such as UPDM and TOGAF.

Simulation - Create and debug embedded solutions by simulating behaviors and state models. Users can specify events, triggers, constraints, and more. Users can also specify extensive and complex structural systems and create custom domain-specific solutions.

Reviews from Real Users

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect merges high-end tools, online availability, a dedication to open standards, and accessible pricing so enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, whether remote or in-office. Users particularly like the architectural frameworks and the scalability.

Marc L., a principal architecture enterprise solution adviser at Cronomagic Canada, notes, "The product offers very good support for all mainstream modeling notations and architectural frameworks."

An enterprise architect at a manufacturing company writes, "Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."

Sparx Systems

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.

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Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

February 2026

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