ARIS Cloud vs Visio comparison

Software AG and Microsoft are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.0, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0. Software AG holds a 2.4% mindshare in BPD, compared to Microsoft’s 11.3% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

ARIS Cloud

Read 14 ARIS Cloud reviews

1,824 Views
1,094 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Visio

Read 109 Visio reviews

7,023 Views
5,759 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

ARIS Cloud

Visio

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Visio and ARIS Cloud are competitors in the diagramming and business process modeling software category. Based on the analysis, ARIS Cloud appears to have the upper hand due to its strength in BPMN 2.0 validation and collaborative capabilities.

Features: Visio offers seamless integration with Microsoft Office, a wide range of templates, and an intuitive library of shapes, making it ideal for quick diagram creation. It supports BPMN diagrams and is suitable for users familiar with other Microsoft products. ARIS Cloud stands out with its BPMN 2.0 validation, enabling effective business process standardization, and offers a collaborative BPM portal that allows diverse teams to work together efficiently.

Room for Improvement: Visio lacks support for XPDL file import/export and struggles with pen input on devices like Microsoft Surface, affecting usability. Additionally, it requires more intuitive layer management and better collaboration platform integration. ARIS Cloud could enhance its cost management by offering clearer license transparency and making the platform more user-friendly for non-technical users, although its pricing is generally competitive.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Visio is used across various environments, including on-premises and cloud setups, but its technical support is inconsistent, leaving users to rely on documentation and forums. ARIS Cloud benefits from flexible deployment options across public and hybrid clouds, with license models focused on functionality, although more straightforward customer onboarding could improve user experience.

Pricing and ROI: Visio provides multiple pricing options, with the Professional version being more expensive, but users often find the cost justified by its features and integration capabilities. ARIS Cloud offers a leaner licensing model that can deliver more features for the price compared to competitors, with significant ROI demonstrated through improved process management and flexibility.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS Cloud vs. Visio Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Cloud vs. Visio

December 2025

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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 Cloud

Ranking in Business Process Design

17th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

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 January 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS Cloud is 2.4%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visio is 11.3%, down from 12.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Visio	11.3%
ARIS Cloud	2.4%
Other	86.3%

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

Aimad BATAL

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.

Read full review

NitinSharma

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.

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

"The most valuable feature is GUI; it is very intuitive and easy to use."

"In terms of UX design, somebody who has not had experience with ARIS will be able to use it very easily."

"The cloud version has the advantage that you can work on it from anywhere."

"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."

"It has proved that it also works in complex circumstances."

"This solution has improved the way our organization does training."

"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."

"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."

More ARIS Cloud pros

"The product efficiently visualizes various business processes, including building and networking architecture."

"It's easy to embed Visio in a Word document."

"It is a standard and easy-to-use solution from Microsoft, and you benefit from the general functions of Microsoft solutions. It integrates easily with SharePoint, which is a useful tool from Microsoft."

"The solution is user-friendly."

"We can easily add templates to SharePoint for collaboration."

"The solution makes it very easy to make exciting pictures and designs. Everything is very intuitive and simple to figure out."

"The tools tab within Visio has been amazingly useful, and it is updated quite frequently. Along with how Visio handles components and everything else, I would call it an easy-to-use tool."

"The valuable feature about Visio is it has all the basic tools for creating processes."

More Visio pros

Cons

"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."

"Initial setup is rather complex. You have to find a way to isolate the complexity, and find common ground."

"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."

"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."

"ARIS' flexibility and power add a certain complexity. And if ARIS could be more streamlined, I think customers would have a better handle on what to do with it in the end. So if you're not a tech geek, you might struggle to understand what you should do with it as a customer because it's that powerful."

"There is room for improvement in the support."

"It would be very helpful if this solution were more open and could integrate with other solutions like ServiceNow."

"I would like to see more support for architectural diagrams."

More ARIS Cloud cons

"The product only functions well professionally, with adding additional software for configuration."

"It's not the easiest software to use. It's not user-friendly out-of-the-box."

"The solution should be included in Microsoft Office 365. For some reason, it's not. It should be bundled in with everything else."

"There are too many features."

"Extremely large complex drawings need to be saved on the cloud for access."

"Visio is not as scalable as other tools due to the proprietary restriction. You cannot customize it or scale it up like the way you do with Trello or Jira. Microsoft places restrictions on things that you can do with Visio."

"An area for improvement in Visio is pricing. It's a costly tool for my company because it only uses Visio occasionally."

"System architecture could be improved."

More Visio cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a student version of this solution that can be used for free."

"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."

"We have about 10 to 15 people with Visio licenses in my company, but I wasn't involved in the direct negotiation of the prices since this was taken care of by my administrative office."

"While I don't recall the exact price I do recall that it was quite high."

"I believe Visio to be priced pretty reasonably."

"The price of Visio is reasonable."

"It is a free solution for us. It is integrated with our pack. We are trying to use the solutions that we already have."

"It has a lower price point than the competition."

"There are some cheaper as well as free solutions."

"Personally, I think the price of this solution is too high."

More Visio pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

12%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Large Enterprise	7

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	36
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	61

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.

See all answers

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 ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 11% of the time

IBM Blueworks Live vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 10% of the time

Salesforce Platform vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

iServer vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 7% of the time

ARIS Architect and Designer vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 6% of the time

More ARIS Cloud Competitors

Bizagi vs Visio

Compared 30% of the time

Lucidchart vs Visio

Compared 9% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs Visio

Compared 9% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs Visio

Compared 7% of the time

More Visio Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Cloud

January 2026

Download ARIS Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Visio

January 2026

Download Visio product report

Also Known As

Process Live, ARIS Simulation, ARIS Aware, ARIS Connect

Microsoft Visio

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

Visio is an innovative collaborative solution that enables users to quickly visualize data-connected business process flows with a host of integrated intuitive features that bring the power of Microsoft 365 to Visio. Visio allows users to easily create professional diagrams, graphs, and other visual data, easily anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Users are able to confidently and easily transform data into creative powerful visuals. Visio provides dozens of easy-to-use templates along with thousands of customizable colorful shapes that bring a user's best ideas to life. Visio is available for all Microsoft 365 commercial users and is available on desktop and Web applications.

Visio Features

Visio can easily create visual data for today’s business needs. Some of its most useful visual data include:

Flowcharts: Users can easily bring business concepts to fruition with Visio’s robust flowchart features. Visio provides a huge library of shapes, stencils, and templates to transform numbers and data into impactful, easy-to-understand business stories.
Organizational charts: Visio makes it easy to design articulate org charts to better visualize team, reporting, and hierarchy structures. Users are then able to seamlessly share the charts with stakeholders, teams, and employees.
Network diagrams: Users are able to creatively display how a system design processes function and visually illustrate how devices and networks interact with each other using a variety of network shapes, templates, and connector tools.
Brainstorming: Visio makes brainstorming simple and actionable with a wide range of templates designed specifically for interpreting problems and mapping out solutions, including fishbone and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) diagrams.
Floor plans: Users can design ergonomic workspaces, retail store layouts, new homes, and more with accurate, scalable templates and tools to help them better visualize function, flow, and overall aesthetic appeal.
Accessible: Visio is able to integrate with a wide variety of accessibility tools, such as Narrator, Accessibility Checker, and high-contrast support, to ensure Visio diagrams are available to your entire team.

Reviews from Real Users

“Visio has improved my workflow by making it easy to create charts, diagrams, and essential illustrations to use in my client reports and proposals. It has saved me a lot of time I would otherwise spend creating visuals for clients manually.” - Michael B., Principal Consultant at Lexington Consulting

“I use it for diagramming networks, racks, data centers, data flow applications, etc. It is a useful tool to map data flows, network objects, and computer science technology and to show to clients. It does what I need it to do. It's a tool I've used the longest, so I know it the best, and that's probably the claim to fame.” - Greg S., Director of Solution Architecture at Winslow Technology Group

“We use Visio for architecture modeling. We also use it to facilitate communication with other people. The feature I like most about Visio is that it acts as a facilitator of communication, as it displays information in a way that's easier to understand.” - Guy M., IT/Business Architect at a financial services firm

Microsoft

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

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Cloud vs. Visio

December 2025

Free Report: ARIS Cloud vs. Visio

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