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ARIS Cloud vs Visio 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 Cloud
Ranking in Business Process Design
19th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (33rd)
Visio
Ranking in Business Process Design
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
109
Ranking in other categories
Mind Mapping Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS Cloud is 2.6%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visio is 10.4%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Visio10.4%
ARIS Cloud2.6%
Other87.0%
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

AB
Administrator at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
Collaboration integrates seamlessly with intuitive user interface for effective process management
ARIS Cloud offers easy query writing for retrieving information and includes a user-friendly Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) part that aids risk managers effectively. The simplicity in drawing dashboards is also appreciated. Their collaboration features function similarly to social media platforms, allowing tagging and subject-specific discussions, all while being intuitive and user-friendly. ARIS Cloud is scalable, evidenced by its use in various organizations as a single source of truth, supported by the UMG database and an open e-learning platform.
NitinSharma - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Specialist at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Created detailed rack and network diagrams that streamline documentation and collaboration
For creating diagrams, I definitely use Visio for HLD, LLD, and traffic flow diagrams. Apart from Visio, I use Jira only if the customer specifically requests it; otherwise, I do not use an in-house version of Jira in my organization. One of the good features of using the Microsoft umbrella product is that if I create a big diagram and then work on the HLD or LLD in Word, I can select everything from Visio and paste it as an image without needing to resize it, which streamlines the process of creating documentation for customers. The main benefits Visio provides me include simplifying processes, saving time on manual work with diagram creation, and delivering a clean architecture, whether it is network architecture or application flow. I have created diagrams for AWS, Azure, GCP, and on-premises data centers, including rack elevation diagrams and organization charts. Modifications can be made easily and reflected immediately, and I can create PNG images to share with the executive team.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"ARIS Cloud offers easy query writing for retrieving information and includes a user-friendly Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) part that aids risk managers effectively."
"In terms of UX design, somebody who has not had experience with ARIS will be able to use it very easily."
"It's very easy to collaborate with. It's very user-friendly"
"In the end, what stands out to me is the ease of using the cloud. I don't see any distinct or unique advantages in business process modeling software compared to other application software. The cloud simplifies operations and removes many operational complexities, which is a significant benefit."
"The most valuable feature is GUI; it is very intuitive and easy to use."
"It has proved that it also works in complex circumstances."
"The solution's most valuable feature stems from its being very easy to use, making it a very user-friendly tool."
"From a total cost of ownership perspective, running this on the cloud is more efficient than having someone in the company take care of the infrastructure."
"We can easily add templates to SharePoint for collaboration."
"I like the way you can hypertext across tabs so you can actually create an interactive that you can export as a website. You can also extend it to a monitoring tool if you really wanted to."
"Drawing flowcharts is the most valuable feature of Visio."
"The diagramming and swimlane features allow for separating business functions."
"Simple to use and very intuitive."
"I recommend Visio to others based on my experience."
"The interface of the solution is very good. It's easy to navigate."
"The solution is finely stable."
 

Cons

"The price is quite high. This is one weak point of the solution."
"On an enterprise level, the ability to onboard somebody quickly is cumbersome because it just has too many things in it. It's got something like a hundred or more techniques and things in it."
"The stability was poor due to frequent outages."
"The support team of ARIS Cloud has certain shortcomings where improvements are required."
"Initial setup is rather complex. You have to find a way to isolate the complexity, and find common ground."
"The stability was poor, with frequent outages."
"If you have multiple tiers of approvals into that update of the policy, or the process design itself, it takes ages to prepare those internal flows within the system."
"There is room for improvement in the support."
"The control flow feature needs to be improved. I compared Visio to Bizagi and found that control flow is better with Bizagi. The improvements that can be made to the solution depends on the user."
"The database modeling has deteriorated significantly in the more current versions."
"It should be easier to transition into a new version without having to spend so much time in just one area."
"In terms of features, it could provide more automation to display data flowing through architecture."
"I would like to see Visio become some kind of enterprise architecture, which it is not."
"The big downside to Visio is that it's very difficult to push the design through to Power Automate, to become a workflow that you can use."
"The only downside to Visio is the learning curve."
"To be able to extract a report for business project management notations would be ideal."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"There is a student version of this solution that can be used for free."
"Visio is included with our Microsoft enterprise license."
"The solution is expensive. The solution does come bundled in other packages."
"It is a free solution for us. It is integrated with our pack. We are trying to use the solutions that we already have."
"You have to purchase a license to use the solution."
"I rate the price of Visio a six out of ten."
"My organization has paid for the solution. However, I have used it personally without payment. There is a free option available."
"Visio is about a $180 dollars to purchase. It is a one-time licensing fee."
"My company does pay toward the licensing costs of Visio. It is a cheap product based on my experience, and since I purchased Visio for my own use."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise61
 

Questions from the Community

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...
How easy is it to migrate process flow charts (modeled using tools like Visio) into Bizagi?
I have been using Bizagi with a major project for a state government agency for about four years now. It is pretty straightforward to load in files that are BPMN 2.0 compliant. The option to load V...
What do you like most about Visio?
The diagrams Visio creates are quite impressive in the sense that we can cooperate with more colleagues in one task and see the flow of the process.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visio?
One of the main problems with Visio is its licensing options and associated issues, which lead to discussions about the price with a Microsoft representative. If asked to rate the price, I would gi...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Process Live, ARIS Simulation, ARIS Aware, ARIS Connect
Microsoft Visio
 

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 and 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.
Thomas College, Hamburg Port Authority, Portigon AG, Conseil G_n_ral du d_partement des Hautes-Alpes, AAA Auto a. s., Commonwealth Financial Network, ICA, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS Cloud vs. Visio and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.