LeanIX vs erwin Evolve comparison

Quest Software and SAP LeanIX are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. Quest Software is ranked #14, while SAP LeanIX is ranked #1 with an average rating of 7.8. Quest Software holds a 3.3% mindshare in AM, compared to SAP LeanIX’s 9.5% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of Quest Software users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of SAP LeanIX users who would recommend it.

erwin Evolve

Read 19 erwin Evolve reviews

1,706 Views
1,194 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

LeanIX

Read 25 LeanIX reviews

5,537 Views
4,430 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

erwin Evolve

LeanIX

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

Erwin Evolve and LeanIX are products in the enterprise architecture and portfolio management category. LeanIX seems to have the upper hand due to its deployment efficiency and user experience benefits.

Features: Erwin Evolve offers impact analysis, detailed modeling with reverse engineering capabilities, and a collaborative web interface. LeanIX is known for its intuitive user experience, real-time fact sheets, and extensive reporting capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Erwin Evolve could benefit from a more streamlined setup process, enhanced user interface design, and easier cloud integration. LeanIX may improve by expanding customization options, offering more comprehensive technical support, and refining integration capabilities with third-party services like ServiceNow.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: LeanIX uses a cloud-based deployment model that reduces setup time and integrates easily with existing systems, coupled with accessible customer support. Erwin Evolve, although flexible, often requires longer setup times due to its complex configuration options.

Pricing and ROI: Erwin Evolve has a lower initial setup cost but slower ROI because of extended deployment durations. LeanIX, with potentially higher upfront costs, delivers better ROI through quicker implementation and scalability.

To learn more, read our detailed LeanIX vs. erwin Evolve Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

LeanIX vs. erwin Evolve

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 Evolve

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

14th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (21st)

LeanIX

Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

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 Evolve is 3.3%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of LeanIX is 9.5%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
LeanIX	9.5%
erwin Evolve	3.3%
Other	87.2%

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

Asish Sahu

SPM at Infosys

The reverse engineering capabilities are quite useful.

Evolve is primarily focused on the entity's licenses diagrams, but it would be nice if erwin could integrate case development, so that it shows the ER diagram plus certain inputs on the use cases and how the data is used. That deviates somewhat from the overall scope, so maybe they could call it a different product.

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NormanGarnett

Managing Director at Global Information Technology Corporation

Building Strategic Enterprise Architecture Journeys with Comprehensive Process Mapping and Risk Management

They will continue to improve LeanIX. I'm actually supposed to be at the SAP Sapphire this year. There are a couple of recommendations I know some of my colleagues have made. For me, I have not looked into additional recommendations for LeanIX because I've been held in really just utilizing it for the purposes it has. One of the things that I know I've had is being able to build it into decent process flows for changes. While LeanIX does have the capability, one of the challenges that I've found, even with working with Subway, was that being able to build that out into a detailed solution for a developer or for new process design was one of the challenges, just making that leap. But there's enough information that comes out of LeanIX to be utilized, and that would be one of the areas I would suggest.

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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

"I really liked that it mapped out processes and was able to attach the data model to the appropriate process. You could map out the process, then when you got down to a specific couple of data elements, you could attach the table in the database that supported that process. You could connect it with erwin Data Modeler for that."

"We can efficiently deploy business models into the databases and generate SQL scripts."

"The ability to share and collaborate on the solution is its most valuable feature."

"The initial setup was really straightforward and the deployment was done within one day."

"I can send images in the PDF form, along with the relationships and the associations that are a very important part of what we do. It can show what is affected and what is impacted by a certain change in one area of the system architecture or enterprise architecture. I can very quickly draw those issues and topics to the fore."

"The feature that stands out for me is the ease of configuring objects and the screens to show them. It's really easy to add a new type of object in this reference. Creating a new type of object, using it, and evolving it a little bit in terms of what we can document about it are the main features that made us decide to use this provider."

"You can use different kinds of diagrams to represent the architecture setting."

"One of the most valuable features is the website that sits on top of the database. There's a database of objects and how they are related, and you can make views and diagrams and visual elements out of that information on the website. The website is the part that is called Evolve and we use the Evolve Designer and publish the website out to our employees. They can click around and navigate and search, etc."

More erwin Evolve pros

"For the reporting capabilities, LeanIX provides dashboards for different levels, including CXO dashboards. There are plenty of dashboards for reporting."

"LeanIX is quite mature, enabling me to load applications, IT components, and map them to business capabilities to identify gaps and manage risk."

"Among the most valuable features are the easy-to-use interface and the ability to get quick results... Many tools that I have seen are great for technical people and for giving technical and business information as well, but they're not as friendly and easy as LeanIX... It works well for both technical and business users. It provides a good combination, enabling you to quickly put valuable information in for both technical and non-technical people and derive results."

"My favorite feature of LeanIX is its ability to induct attribute-driven surveys."

"The solution provides a single window view of business, application, data, and technology views of the IT ecosystem."

"The most valuable feature would be application portfolio management, which is where they came from, but over time, they have got artificial intelligence. They built up a very good repository. If I identify a system by name, from historical information, oftentimes, they can tell me that this is deployed with this number of CPUs and they can give me a really good profile of the application for me to put it into a change management database with very little effort."

"The most valuable features are that it's user-friendly and the user experience. It's easy to map the fact sheets."

"Interfaces well with downstream systems of data."

More LeanIX pros

Cons

"It could have had a more streamlined navigation. It seemed that when you went to the explorer panel, there were just so many different ways of doing the work that I could not remember, "How did I do this? How did I get to that point in that model to get back to it?" If I wanted to build a new one, where do I start? It just seemed like there was such a smorgasbord of ways of doing it that it was just overwhelming."

"I would like it to be easier to make changes and then deploy them into production, especially when you have multiple web servers or front-ends. It would be nice to make a change and then have it propagate to the production servers in a more automated fashion."

"Evolve is primarily focused on the entity's licenses diagrams, but it would be nice if erwin could integrate case development, so that it shows the ER diagram plus certain inputs on the use cases and how the data is used. That deviates somewhat from the overall scope, so maybe they could call it a different product."

"If it had fewer features to model all kinds of architecture, it would be less complicated."

"erwin Evolve by Quest could have additional features to manage the architecture of enterprises and businesses."

"The solution needs to focus on allowing for more integrations."

"Business process modelling could be improved."

"The way that we are using it for application management, we have several KPIs. We want to follow and monitor them regarding a number of solutions. We cannot calculate this today. We would like real-time calculations along with the KPIs in order to improve the user experience. We would like the tool to be able to display this, not only as signals, but as charts."

More erwin Evolve cons

"LeanIX should improve its support services."

"LeanIX experiences a lot of server timeouts. Nearly every transaction needs to be done twice due to these issues."

"Improvements in user interface simplicity could be made, particularly with the reporting and filtering capabilities."

"They could include a combination of LeanIX and some modeling extensions."

"Another area for improvement is that when you're starting to look into more advanced information, using the solution's APIs and its customizations, documentation for that specific aspect is not very good. There is not too much support built into the offering for that aspect, for a developer."

"The solution uses Gartner's time-based framework for application rationalization. One more thing that you can consider is having some add-on frameworks for the same, not just Gartner."

"What would make LeanIX better is more variety in terms of reporting, and more flexibility with its data importing feature."

"I find LeanIX's pricing expensive for the functionality it offers. However, with the acquisition by SAP, the pricing might become more affordable due to scale and tiered application pricing. Currently, it offers different tiers for the first 400 applications: 400 to 600 and 600 to 1,000, making it expensive from a pricing standpoint."

More LeanIX cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The licensing enables you to differentiate between people who edit the content and the people who consume it. We are able to keep the licensing costs down by keeping the "contributor" licenses to a minimum, and we then just roll out the content in a read-only version for the rest of our users."

"Yearly, our cost is €100,000."

"The cost is something like $15,000, per license. But I haven't looked at those numbers in three years. It was over $100,000 to initially set everything up and get it all configured."

"I think erwin is quite expensive. I have difficulty selling the portal, in fact."

"I estimate that we pay between $40,000 and $50,000 a year for the solution, not including the upfront costs to buy things the first time."

"On a yearly basis, our licensing costs are 50,000 euro. There are no additional costs because we are on a SaaS model."

"Unless you are a one person shop – always go with the Workgroup edition and Concurrent licensing."

"LeanIX uses application-based account licensing, where the cost is multiplied by the number of applications in the software implementation."

"The tool needs to include more flexible licensing options. We do not use the tool all the time. So pricing should be considered only when we use the tool."

"I would rate the pricing a one out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"As the tool is cloud-based, its cost is more affordable."

"It cost me $91,000 a year for 300 applications. For any enterprise, 300 applications are minimal, as many have well over 1,000 applications."

"The solution's pricing is based on a licensing model that is competitive and in line with other products."

"The pricing is very good. We definitely get good value for the money."

"There is a sweet spot of where they need to be on pricing right now. They could go up a little bit in pricing, but it has to do with the cost savings, and it has to do with the practitioners using it. I use it where I get cost savings and I can justify it, but they probably have the ability to flex a 10% up channel on their sales on that. So, they could increase their settle price, not their offering price, when they sell. They can probably hold that up a little bit higher than it is because there are cost savings that we can drive from it."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Performing Arts

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	12

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	13

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

Any experience with Strategic Project Portfolio Management Solutions?

Hi @Cheryl Joseph Looking at the crossover between Project and Portfolio management with EA, then Planview could be a good choice. If looking at Portfolio Management from an EA perspective then Le...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for LeanIX?

My experience with pricing is not directly known, as it was handled by others, but it is subscription-based. The tool was part of the RISE license in a previous project.

See all answers

What needs improvement with LeanIX?

From a pricing perspective, it is not a cheap tool. It is relatively expensive compared to some of its competitors. I can't really think off the top of my head at the moment about any features that...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

SAP PowerDesigner vs erwin Evolve

Compared 8% of the time

IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Evolve

Compared 7% of the time

erwin Data Modeler vs erwin Evolve

Compared 6% of the time

ARIS BPA vs erwin Evolve

Compared 5% of the time

More erwin Evolve Competitors

ServiceNow vs LeanIX

Compared 17% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs LeanIX

Compared 10% of the time

Ardoq vs LeanIX

Compared 7% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs LeanIX

Compared 6% of the time

iServer vs LeanIX

Compared 6% of the time

More LeanIX Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

erwin Evolve

February 2026

Download erwin Evolve product report

Buyer's Guide

LeanIX

January 2026

Download LeanIX product report

Also Known As

erwin EA, erwin Business Process, erwin Enterprise Architecture

No data available

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Quest Software

SAP LeanIX

Overview

erwin Evolve provides comprehensive graphical support for handling large data models. It offers features such as metadata access, version control, and model comparison, enhancing operational reports and system analytics through its collaborative web-driven design.

erwin Evolve facilitates reverse engineering and database integration, fostering collaboration and process exploration through its web interface. Customizable and easy to configure, it supports workflow configuration and architectural modeling. Users can utilize its capabilities for developing industry models, managing transformation programs, and presenting standard operating procedures. Despite its strengths, there are demands for improved integration, enhanced UML support, and a more modern user experience. Users also express challenges with legacy system updates and call for better connectors and collaborative features.

What are the key features of erwin Evolve?

Graphical Support for Large Data Models: Provides visualization capabilities for complex data structures.
Metadata Access via API: Allows integration and management of metadata across platforms.
Version Control and Model Comparison: Enhances tracking and analysis of model changes.
Collaborative Web Interface: Facilitates teamwork and process exploration remotely.
Architectural Modeling: Supports the design and configuration of enterprise architecture.

What are the benefits and ROI of using erwin Evolve?

Customization and Ease of Configuration: Reduces setup time and adapts to specific organizational workflows.
Enhanced Accessibility and Mobile Usability: Offers access to critical information on the go.
Operational Reports Creation: Generates insights and facilitates informed decision-making.
System Analytics Handling: Provides robust tools for analyzing system performance and integration.

Data-driven organizations in sectors like finance and healthcare implement erwin Evolve for data warehousing, enterprise architecture, and business process modeling. They leverage its capabilities for cataloging architectural elements, linking to CMDBs, analyzing system interfaces, and describing business processes. Utilization extends to IT solution registration, business capability planning, and strategic modeling, with frequent deployments on cloud platforms to support transformation initiatives.

Quest Software

SAP LeanIX provides enterprise architecture solutions that modernize IT and transform businesses, integrating AI-enriched, SaaS tools to enhance architecture visualization and evolution.

Embracing a comprehensive approach, SAP LeanIX supports organizations globally with tools that foster IT landscape optimization and forward-looking architecture creation. It offers solutions for real-time IT overviews, risk management, and architectural planning. These capabilities ensure that enterprises have the flexibility and insights needed to maximize their business impact and align their IT strategies with their organizational goals. SAP LeanIX is recognized for its ease of use, flexible reporting, and the ability to seamlessly integrate various data sources.

What features define SAP LeanIX?

Flexible Reporting: Enables personalized data views.
Ease of Use: A user-friendly interface similar to social networks.
Integration Capabilities: Extensive out-of-the-box options.
Real-Time Feedback: Facilitates instant data integration.
Application Portfolio Management: Comprehensive IT analysis.
Seamless ServiceNow Integration: Smooth data flow integration.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from SAP LeanIX?

Data Management: Efficient data capture and tagging.
Cost Optimization: Streamlines operations cost-effectively.
Dashboard Presentation: Enhances strategic decision-making.
Business Alignment: Aligns technology with business strategies.
Educational Resources: Provides valuable learning materials.

SAP LeanIX is implemented across industries to enhance enterprise architecture, application portfolio management, and business capability mapping. Its use extends into cloud governance, data flow analysis, and integration architecture, allowing multiple organizations to improve operational visibility and strategic planning. It also enables cataloging systems and app rationalization while linking capabilities for improved lifecycle management.

SAP LeanIX

Sample Customers

AT&T, Bank of America, Chevron, Duke University, ESPN, Fidelity, GE, JP Morgan Chase, KPMG, McGraw Hill, NASA, Pfizer, Royal Bank of Scotland, Teradata, Union Pacific, Vodafone, Wells Fargo.

Bosch Rexroth, NSW Department of Education, Yamaha Motor Corporation, Tetra Pak, Deutsche Bahn, Flynn, SKF AB, NTT Group, Travis Perkins, SEEK, Haworth, Asahi Beverages, MediaMarktSaturn, KAO USA, Ørsted, The Mark Anthony Group of Companies, AmTrust, Banco Itaú Unibanco, SHL Medical,...

Buyer's Guide

LeanIX vs. erwin Evolve

February 2026

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