BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

BiZZdesign and Sparx Systems are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. BiZZdesign is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.3, while Sparx Systems is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2. BiZZdesign holds a 5.3% mindshare in AM, compared to Sparx Systems’s 12.7% mindshare. Additionally, 78% of BiZZdesign users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Sparx Systems users who would recommend it.

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Read 18 BiZZdesign HoriZZon reviews

2,863 Views
1,746 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Read 99 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect reviews

9,216 Views
3,779 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and BiZZdesign HoriZZon compete in the enterprise architecture tools category. BiZZdesign HoriZZon appears to have the upper hand due to its advanced analytical functionalities and user-friendly dashboards.

Features: Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports UML 2 diagrams, enabling collaboration with an RDBMS back-end and providing extensibility for various modeling standards. BiZZdesign HoriZZon integrates ArchiMate for enterprise architecture and offers advanced analytical tools that aid strategic planning and complex environment management. It also features dashboards that enhance architectural insights, suitable for business users.

Room for Improvement: Sparx Systems EA could improve usability, visualization, and control over repository security. It faces performance issues in large projects, and users seek better documentation and interface enhancements. BiZZdesign HoriZZon has a steep learning curve, high cost, and complex integration processes. Users encounter challenges with repository management and object queries.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Sparx Systems EA offers flexible deployment, including on-premises and hybrid options, and relies heavily on community support for issue resolution. Its customer service is rated favorably but is less frequently used due to the tool's stability. BiZZdesign HoriZZon is primarily cloud-based, supporting collaborative access, but requires more direct vendor interaction due to its complexity, although technical support is well-rated.

Pricing and ROI: Sparx Systems EA is cost-effective, offering competitive pricing with quick ROI realized through increased productivity. Conversely, BiZZdesign HoriZZon is perceived as expensive, impacting its ROI due to high costs, particularly for smaller teams or organizations considering long-term use.

To learn more, read our detailed BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

July 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

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

6th

Ranking in Business Process Design

9th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

2nd

Ranking in Business Process Design

5th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of BiZZdesign HoriZZon is 5.3%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 12.7%, down from 17.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

BijoyTalukder

Enterprise Architect at Tata Consultancy

Helps to get a clear overview of our enterprise architecture, especially when dealing with multiple departments

One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs. While the platform offers REST APIs, they have limitations when it comes to retrieving and exporting data. Obtaining detailed information at the individual application or component level, including IDs, costs, and deployment-related data, can be challenging through these APIs. This limitation makes it difficult to smoothly export such granular data. I have raised this issue with the BiZZdesign team, and they expressed interest in addressing it, but I'm not aware of the current status of this improvement effort. Nonetheless, improving the usability and flexibility of the REST APIs for data extraction is an area that could enhance the platform's capabilities.

Read full review

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.

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 tool's most valuable feature is that its collaboration part is very good."

"The most valuable feature is that it allows you to work with different methods, using the same tool."

"I used BiZZdesign HoriZZon at two organizations. At Manchester Metropolitan University, I used it with a small team for architectural modeling of the student record system. We modeled teams, process objects, and their interactions with applications. We also used it to model a gradual rollout with plateaus showing migration over time. At the BBC, I used it to model software services for publishing content online. I showed key model views to senior stakeholders using Horizon, allowing them to modify and score applications and services."

"BiZZdesign HoriZZon is scalable, and I'd give it an eight out of ten for scalability. Our customers are enterprise level companies, but the solution is suitable for small and mid-sized companies as well."

"This is one of the best tools, especially because of its collaborative nature. Anyone using it can access previous projects and related data. It's definitely a strong collaborative tool."

"The powerful editing function in teamwork project-based, common or shared modeling, based on a powerful repository and knowledge sharing in a portal are the most valuable features. These are the most important features for me. I can add the integration of individual modeling notations like Archimate plus BPMN and DMN, and so on. We travel from one location to another and the tool allows us to keep track."

"I like the flexibility of the modeling part for standards like ArchiMate and, at the same time, BPMN. It allows us to connect elements from different areas and to have a single repository and a single source of truth. It gives us one place to do analysis throughout the organization."

"The most valuable features are the application, portfolio, data, architectures, and modeling things."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon pros

"Its ability to reference and link to components from any diagram."

"The profiles and ready-made templates are an extremely helpful feature. This is one of the biggest features that I find very useful in Sparx."

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

"We can easily use it with our new customers."

"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports multiple modeling languages like ArchiMate for database design, software lifecycle visualization, and team management."

"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect was easy to set up and it took just twenty minutes."

"The company has become more efficient and reduced its budget."

"Modeling is a part of my work, and it has a lot of standard modeling languages. It is quite wide, and a lot is possible in it. We are not programming it ourselves, but if you are into programming and developing software yourself, you can go further and do a lot with Sparx. You can work from the framework and go into the details. With this solution, you get a lot of value at a low cost. It is also quite intuitive in terms of use. I like the use of it."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pros

Cons

"The automatic data collection and interface need improvement."

"I have seen table charts where, if the chart is a little too big, it does not fit in HoriZZon and it is not at all visible... There have been several times where we could not publish a chart properly and we had to break the chart into small tables and create multiple artifacts, creating a complete mess. This should be seriously taken up by BiZZdesign because there is a lot of scope for improvement in terms of usability. It's not at all good, unfortunately."

"Scalability is a bit of a problem for BiZZdesign. There is always a possibility it will failover."

"There is room for improvement in making it more seamless between the modeling and the analysis pieces. Sometimes you have to do some work in the backend to ensure that the HoriZZon portal really gets all of the information the way you want it. They are working on the seamlessness between what they call Enterprise Studio and HoriZZon."

"This tool is something of a beast - it takes a long time to learn, and it isn't possible for casual users and most architects. Unless a person spends 500 or 1,000 hours on the tool or does very concentrated sessions using all its functionalities, it's very difficult to master."

"It lacks capabilities with regard to infrastructure modeling."

"In HoriZZon, there are different matrices. In some of the cases, there is an option to aggregate them, but in other cases, we have not done this, e.g., to see the proper costs. For example, if I have 10 different matrices, then I need to create an aggregate view out of those 10 matrices somewhere. That is where we have been struggling a bit. We have a counterpart from the HoriZZon product team with whom we have bi-weekly discussions. We have suggested to him that this can be improved."

"There's room for improvement. When I finished using it over a year ago, I discussed implementing C4 notation with BiZZdesign HoriZZon.They've likely done this now, but I haven't seen it. Setting up interactive views for stakeholders to score services was a bit difficult."

More BiZZdesign HoriZZon cons

"I think that collaboration can be better."

"There should be a MATLAB-specific toolbox added to the solution with better compatibility. The connections currently are good but in the future, it needs a huge improvement."

"The Portfolio Management features can be added in the next release. As it helps you to manage more portfolio of projects and architectures of cost projects on a portfolio level. This would be an important feature in the next release."

"The initial setup of the Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect It's very complicated. It's very difficult to start with the right templates because there are many possibilities. The deployment took approximately two days."

"The database management area was not usable."

"The templates for documentation should be enhanced to include complex documents such as template RFP, or Non functional requirements template."

"They should make the Save button easier to find. A simplified user interface for a lighter user would probably be useful. I am not sure if such an interface is already there."

"The user interface is not so good. It's not easy for someone to use it at first. The product takes some getting used to."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If one is very cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a seven out of ten."

"In terms of this particular product usage, my clients currently only use per-user licenses."

"The pricing model is slightly on the high side and could be more competitive for long-term partnerships."

"[The] Orbus... pricing model was based on every single functionality having a price. The pricing was comparable but if we wanted to scale, it would have ended up being a lot more expensive. BiZZdesign gave us one price with all of the functionality, and we could scale as much as we needed."

"I haven't found any issues with the scalability and licensing parts that are access-related."

"First and foremost within the scope of improvement for the solution would be the cost. It's very costly..."

"We were customers and bought licenses from them. We used their remote instance initially but upgraded to the on-device version due to lag. For pricing, we paid about 2200 pounds a year per seat for the client installation at an educational rate. I'm not sure about commercial rates. I managed to get a free copy at BBC since it was for evaluation purposes."

"The price is reasonable."

"Its price is very good for the value that you get with it."

"It is very economical and low cost. You have to pay for a one-time license, and it is active forever."

"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"There is no license required for this solution."

"I think our license costs roughly $1,000 a year, but I could be wrong."

"In terms of cost, Sparx EA is probably one of the cheapest tools I have ever used."

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

"The license for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is paid yearly, but I don't handle that area. It's good for its price, so I'm rating it a five out of five, but I'm not using it much. I also don't have information regarding additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Energy/Utilities Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Government

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

This is one of the best tools, especially because of its collaborative nature. Anyone using it can access previous projects and related data. It's definitely a strong collaborative tool.

See all answers

What needs improvement with BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

There is room for improvement in BiZZdesign HoriZZon. It's quite robust and has good online forums where people discuss it, though maybe the interface can improve, but I don't want to criticize it ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for BiZZdesign HoriZZon?

The typical use case with BiZZdesign HoriZZon is basically for enterprise architecture and also for business process modeling.

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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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon

August 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

July 2025

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect report

Download Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect product report

Also Known As

HoriZZon

No data available

Overview

Make smarter decisions and optimize outcomes by unifying all your strategy, capabilities, operating models and change portfolios in a single platform.

With all the data about your business in one place you can see the big picture and make properly informed strategic decisions to drive growth. Bizzdesign Horizzon brings together strategy, IT architecture, operating models, data, capabilities, change portfolios and ideas into a single, intuitive collaborative business design platform. Real-time visibility of key metrics and trends allows you to take action more quickly. Accelerating the speed and accuracy of your operations now – and into the future.

Core Platform Capabilities:

Multi-discipline collaboration
Data Integration
Advanced analytics
Models and Roadmaps
Governance & Security
Business Insight Graph

BiZZdesign

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

T-Mobile, Shell, HSBC, Erasmus University, VIVAT Insurance

OmniLink

Buyer's Guide

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

July 2025

Free Report: BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Find out what your peers are saying about BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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