Sparx Prolaborate vs erwin Data Modeler comparison

Quest Software and Sparx Systems are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. Quest Software is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.4, while Sparx Systems is ranked #21. Quest Software holds a 8.4% mindshare in AM, compared to Sparx Systems’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Quest Software users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 83% of Sparx Systems users who would recommend it.

erwin Data Modeler

Read 47 erwin Data Modeler reviews

5,545 Views
3,771 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Sparx Prolaborate

Read 5 Sparx Prolaborate reviews

512 Views
512 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler

Sparx Prolaborate

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

Erwin Data Modeler and Sparx Prolaborate both compete in the data management and collaboration category. Sparx Prolaborate excels in collaboration due to its robust capabilities and value.

Features: Erwin Data Modeler's strengths include comprehensive data modeling tools, extensive metadata management, and seamless integration capabilities. Sparx Prolaborate shines with advanced collaboration functionalities, support for enterprise architecture, and effective stakeholder communication.

Room for Improvement: Erwin Data Modeler could enhance user experience, provide better cloud support, and improve tool integration consistency. Sparx Prolaborate may benefit from more comprehensive training resources, enhanced customization options, and improved documentation quality for advanced features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Erwin Data Modeler offers user-friendly deployment with effective guidance and ample support throughout implementation. Sparx Prolaborate ensures quick deployment with responsive customer service, focusing on fostering user collaboration during deployment.

Pricing and ROI: Erwin Data Modeler is known for competitive pricing and solid ROI, appealing to those with detailed data modeling needs. Sparx Prolaborate justifies its setup cost with extensive platform capabilities, offering significant ROI through improved collaboration and project visibility.

To learn more, read our detailed Sparx Prolaborate vs. erwin Data Modeler Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Prolaborate vs. erwin Data Modeler

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

erwin Data Modeler

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (7th), Data Governance (9th)

Sparx Prolaborate

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

21st

Average Rating

7.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler is 8.4%, down from 11.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Prolaborate is 1.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
erwin Data Modeler	8.4%
Sparx Prolaborate	1.6%
Other	90.0%

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

Sushree Panigrahi

Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.

Data modeling has transformed regulatory reporting and collaboration across cloud environments

In erwin Data Modeler, areas that have room for improvement include performance improvements. I see that large models sometimes cause it to be slow when opening. Impact analysis can lag as well. Version control is another aspect. If we have developed a current version, it is not integrated with Git where we can easily compare different versions. UI modernization is also something we cannot utilize as it is primarily for development. Additionally, cloud-specific optimizations are needed when it comes to Snowflake or Databricks. When it comes to AI aspects, auto-suggestions for normalization or identifying primary, foreign, or surrogate keys are areas that can be improved.

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Pawel Gawronski

Group IT Manager at a wholesaler/distributor with 10,001+ employees

Diagram are available in real time but edits sometimes require a manual refresh

Diagram edits take a few minutes to update or require a manual refresh. If we make a change in an enterprise architect diagram, then we want to assume everything is up to date on the documentation side. That isn't always the case after many minutes, so a manual step is required to refresh the link. The solution could offer different sources for design. We currently use Lucidchart but would like additional options. Some vendors provide support on the back end for things like verification of the reference architecture so you don't have to design it yourself.

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

"We can create mappings in erwin and possibly data dictionaries."

"Any tool will do diagramming but I think the ability to put the stuff up in a graphical fashion, then think about it, and keep things consistent is what's valuable about it. It's too easy when you're using other methods to not have naming consistent standards and column consistent definitions, et cetera."

"The ability to collaborate between different members across the organization is the most valuable feature. It gives us the ability to work on the same model, regardless of where we are physically."

"Forward engineering, DDL generation, reverse engineering, and reporting are the most valuable features of the solution."

"I have used most of the modeling tools available, but I found that erwin Data Modeler is the most suitable data modeling tool in our current industry."

"Another feature of erwin is that it can help you enforce your naming standards. It has little modules that you can set up and, as you're building the data model, it's ensuring that they conform to the naming standards that you've developed."

"The solution’s code generation ensures accurate engineering of data sources, as there is no development time. Code doesn't even have to be reviewed. We have been using this solution for so long and all the code which has been generated is accurate with the requirements. Once we generate the DDLs out of the erwin tools, the development team does a quick review of the script line by line. They will just be running the script on the database and looking into other requirements, such as the index. So, there is less effort from development side to create tables or build a database."

"The generation of DDL saved us having to write the steps by hand. You still had to go in and make some minor modifications to make it deployable to the database system. However, for the data lineage, it is very valuable for tracing our use of data, especially personal confidential data through different systems."

More erwin Data Modeler pros

"What is really powerful in Sparx is the way in which you can model business processes. You can link business processes to organizational objectives. You can also take those business processes and link them to specific product features that you want to deliver."

"It is valuable to have diagrams available in real time."

"It allows us to give a better description of our project than using the written word."

"Sparx Prolaborate is user-friendly, easy to use, and has good documentation."

"Its extensibility is most valuable."

Cons

"I find the UI very clunky and very difficult to use. If I add columns to a table the whole workflow could be so much easier. I get frustrated using it. I've tried other tools. I've tried to get off of erwin a few times. I always come back to it because every tool has its own set of problems, and it seems like if I have to pick my poison, I stay with erwin. But so many things that are clunky with it."

"erwin is not as robust as a data warehousing project I've been on in the past."

"This is a very complex product."

"While I do not have knowledge about pricing for erwin Data Modeler, I think it could improve by having a feature that allows the publishing of models, similar to how Power BI allows for dashboard publishing for different users within an organization, not just data modelers."

"I would like to see more support for working with the big-data world. There are so many new databases evolving and it's very hard for them to keep up with all of the new technologies. It would be good if they were able to dynamically support big-data platforms, other than Hive and Teradata."

"The interface must be improved."

"We are planning to move, in 2021, into their server version, where multiple data modelers can work at the same time and share their models. It has become a pain point to merge the models from individual desktops and get them into a single data model, when multiple data modelers are working on a particular project. It becomes a nightmare for the senior data modeler to bring them together, especially when it comes to recreating them when you want to merge them."

"There is a lack of local support in the China region."

More erwin Data Modeler cons

"A lot of product teams use a lot of visualizations for mapping out the product roadmap, brainstorming, or understanding the vision of the product, but Sparx is not a great visualization tool. Sparx has to improve the way for visualizing processes, journeys, software designs, etc. It would really benefit the product management teams or even enterprise architects."

"There should be more cloud capabilities."

"In the next release, there should be more editable objects. We find Sparx Prolaborate very user-friendly, and having more features that are in the Enterprise Architect would be great, such as managing different versions of diagrams."

"The solution could offer different sources for design."

"The product is not very user-friendly."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Though the solution is not cheap, it's worth the money."

"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"Price-wise, erwin Data Modeler is okay. You can purchase a single license and it is not very expensive."

"The price of erwin Data Modeler is very expensive, in particular for this part of the world."

"An issue right now would be that erwin doesn't have a freely available browser (that I am aware of) for people who are not data modelers or data engineers that a consumer could use to look at the data models and play with it. This would not be to make any changes, but just to visually look at what exists. There are other products out there which do have end user browsers available and allow them to access data models via the data modeling tool."

"The pricing of the solution is cheap. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"The tool is expensive."

"The solution is expensive."

More erwin Data Modeler pricing and cost advice

"The product is expensive."

"The price of Sparx Prolaborate is good."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Performing Arts

Real Estate/Law Firm

11%

Educational Organization

Energy/Utilities Company

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	34

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

Regarding pricing, I am unsure what the exact price is for erwin Data Modeler, but I believe it is not useful for an individual. It is more targeted toward an enterprise level since organizations l...

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What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

I write code and I write code accessing erwin Data Modeler's API, the Application Programming Interface, so that I can use Excel to update erwin Data Modeler and then get those updates and put them...

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What is your primary use case for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

I work for CVS with a pretty big database as a data modeler on the PBMs, the Caremark PBM side, which is the Pharmacy Benefits Manager. There's a retail side too for all the stores, but our data wa...

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Comparisons

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 42% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 9% of the time

Lucidchart vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 6% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 5% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 4% of the time

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LeanIX vs Sparx Prolaborate

Compared 26% of the time

Sparx Pro Cloud Server vs Sparx Prolaborate

Compared 20% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs Sparx Prolaborate

Compared 18% of the time

Ardoq vs Sparx Prolaborate

Compared 14% of the time

More Sparx Prolaborate Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler

February 2026

Download erwin Data Modeler product report

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

February 2026

Download Sparx Prolaborate product report

Also Known As

erwin DM

No data available

Overview

Erwin Data Modeler provides an effective approach to visualizing and managing data models. It assists in creating, reversing, and synchronizing data models with ease, supporting logical and physical transitions while enhancing understanding across teams.

Erwin Data Modeler is a comprehensive tool designed for professional database management. It offers capabilities to organize and enforce standards, automating script generation with robust reverse engineering and DDL output. Users can manage complex data environments, capitalize on integration with data intelligence, and maintain large-scale databases smoothly. Despite its strengths, improvements in multi-language support, database integration, and reporting features are needed. Users benefit from extensive support for conceptual, logical, and physical database modeling, enhancing architectural design and data governance for platforms like SQL Server, Oracle, and Teradata.

What are the key features of Erwin Data Modeler?

Visual Representation: Facilitates clear visualization of data models, aiding comprehension.
Versioning and Editing: Enhance usability with versioning and bulk editing capabilities.
Reverse Engineering: Offers powerful tools for reverse engineering and DDL generation.
Integration: Aligns with data intelligence to streamline database management.
Naming Standards: Enforces consistency with automated script creation.

What benefits should users consider in Erwin Data Modeler reviews?

Collaboration: Promotes team understanding and collaboration through visual tools.
Automation: Reduces manual effort through automated processes and integration.
Scalability: Handles large database management efficiently, crucial for enterprise settings.
Data Governance: Facilitates effective data governance with structured modeling.

Erwin Data Modeler finds application in industries focused on robust data management, implementing it for enterprise data warehouses, business domain models, and operational systems. It supports architectural design and governance, aligning with business applications demanding precise data representation and visualization.

Quest Software

A high level tour of Sparx Systems latest product release, Prolaborate.

Prolaborate adds a vital information layer to Sparx Systems modeling tool suite, addressing the need of end users and non-modelers alike to be informed by the enterprise model.

In this webinar we'll show how Prolaborate empowers relevant stakeholders, including C-level executives, analysts and other business users, with curated views of the model.

Sparx Systems

Sample Customers

Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Prolaborate vs. erwin Data Modeler

February 2026

Free Report: Sparx Prolaborate vs. erwin Data Modeler

Find out what your peers are saying about Sparx Prolaborate vs. erwin Data Modeler and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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