IBM Blueworks Live vs Lucidchart comparison

The compared IBM and Lucid Software solutions aren't in the same category. IBM is ranked #13 in BPD , with an average rating of 7.5, and holds a 2.8% mindshare in the category. Lucid Software is ranked #2 in MMS , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 19.5% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Lucid Software users who would recommend it.

IBM Blueworks Live

Read 22 IBM Blueworks Live reviews

2,734 Views
2,461 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Lucidchart

Read 66 Lucidchart reviews

5,590 Views
1,006 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

IBM Blueworks Live

Lucidchart

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Blueworks Live and Lucidchart based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Bizagi, Camunda and others in Business Process Design.

To learn more, read our detailed Business Process Design Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Business Process Design

June 2026

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Helped 900,644 peers since 2012

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

IBM Blueworks Live

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Design (13th)

Lucidchart

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

8.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Mind Mapping Software (2nd), Visual Collaboration Platforms (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

IBM Blueworks Live and Lucidchart aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. IBM Blueworks Live is designed for Business Process Design and holds a mindshare of 2.8%, down 3.5% compared to last year.
Lucidchart, on the other hand, focuses on Mind Mapping Software, holds 19.5% mindshare, down 23.8% since last year.

Business Process Design Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
IBM Blueworks Live	2.8%
Bizagi	8.1%
Camunda	7.8%
Other	81.3%

Business Process Design

Mind Mapping Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Lucidchart	19.5%
Visio	19.4%
Xmind	13.7%
Other	47.400000000000006%

Mind Mapping Software

Featured Reviews

Nupur Wadhwa

Consultant 2 at Protiviti

Enables efficient process mapping but requires improvement in maintaining server stability

The pricing of the solution can be quite expensive when compared to competitors, though IBM Blueworks Live stands out from a technical standpoint. IBM Blueworks Live provides clear ROI as it saves both time and money. I have successfully imported Visio flowcharts into both IBM Blueworks Live and ARIS. Both tools handled the imports successfully, though some manual intervention was required because Visio is quite a basic tool. Importing flowcharts into advanced tools such as ARIS and IBM Blueworks Live requires some manual effort. The primary advantage is the ease of use. I have not encountered any features in other tools that I couldn't find in ARIS. This is a major factor because I don't have to switch between tools to find specific features. Using ARIS for the past three years has built confidence and trust in the tool.

Read full review

AlexMartin1

Senior Software Engineer at Nestlé

Visual collaboration has improved remote workflows and supports faster shared decisions

The best features Lucidchart offers are that it diagrams processes very well. It allows for project management to help with client timelines. It is also easy to use and create diagrams, especially mermaid diagrams. Collaborating is easy. Out of all those features, collaboration stands out to me the most because it is easy to share with team members to do joint design work. Lucidchart has positively impacted my organization by improving productivity and collaboration. In terms of specifics, collaboration helps us come to conclusions. I notice better throughput as it is easy to use. Improved productivity allows us to express ourselves more quickly.

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 mega process maps are very easy to use."

"It is a stable solution since there has not been any downtime. Everything loads fast."

"You can use if from your mobile device or you can be on the desktop. It doesn't matter. You are always connected. It is cloud-based, so you don't have to install anything."

"The scalability is good."

"It raised the process maturity of the organisation from a low level to a reasonable degree of awareness and introduced some process language and conventions to the organisation."

"The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave."

"The business process discovery is excellent. The diagram or blueprinting functionality of the solution are very good. It's quite easy. You can link the sub-processes and get a big overview of the whole process then."

"It's very easy, very quick to create a process map. It has templates. The look and feel is very nice. What we want to achieve out of the process map, we can achieve it using Blueworks."

More IBM Blueworks Live pros

"It is important to me that the solution accommodates both Mac and PC users because the developers in our company use Mac, then the business people use Windows. The technical people create the technical architecture using Lucidchart. So, it is important that it is compatible with both the systems."

"Ease of use is especially critical because if I am conducting brainstorming sessions with my team, I have to be able to quickly put things on the monitor so that I don't lose their attention and focus. Ease of use is definitely helpful when I do that... The fact that I don't get lost within the software and am able to quickly generate visuals onscreen, so that it doesn't break the momentum, is a huge win."

"Creating flowcharts and documentation is easy to do and the results are very nice."

"Lucidchart is a really effective tool to help illustrate those pictures, to explain very complex technical ideas to other technical people."

"The best part of Lucidchart is its comfortableness when sharing it with my teammates. Lucidchart provides me a folder for my ERD. I can make a dozen lists of my chart, then share them with my teammates easily through the diagrams of Lucidchart. This is their main comfortableness, which is the reason why I choose Lucidchart rather than some other chart program."

"I really like the drag and drop feature because it makes the work easier. It is very easy to use. All the pieces are very good. All the icons and all the fields are available in the left panel. So, I just click, drag, and then edit a piece. When I showed it to my managing director, he was very inspired, and he also got a premium account for himself."

"I like the panel on the left of the screen that has all of the shapes that are available to use in the charts. It's easy to use because you can just drag and drop."

"I have observed several advantages overall while using Lucidchart, as it has improved time to decision by at least fifteen percent, created more visibility over the process and decision-making across our business, and enabled collaboration across the team to improve by at least thirteen percent."

More Lucidchart pros

Cons

"Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively."

"We would like to see more robust API access; we want it to be able to interact not just through the front end and have the ability to integrate with other systems more easily."

"There are a couple of things which are not there right now: The ability to create a very structured rule."

"I wish Blueworks Live had simulations built in, but it doesn't. It also lacks a feature of reporting; ad hoc, drag and drop reporting. A lot of senior people are always asking for reports, and there's no reporting feature within IBM Blueworks."

"The objects that the solution creates are not unique."

"Spaces are not well organized; space controls are lacking."

"I would prefer an on-premises solution for IBM Blueworks Live, and this could be a recommendation."

"IBM Blueworks Live sometimes has a period of repairing and during this time the solution is not available for some hours."

More IBM Blueworks Live cons

"I am not quite sure what different functionalities it provides as well as the difficulties other people are facing. When I have a better understanding of the solution, I will increase my rating of it. No solution is perfect, so I am sure that I will be facing some problems in the future."

"I think Lucidchart can be improved by reducing the pricing, as it is a bit high."

"The main improvement I would like to see is for them to improve the help section on the flow charts or on the formatting."

"As far as I know, LucidChart can’t be automated with Visual Basic .Net like Visio."

"The price of this product is a little bit high. It is probably 20% higher than what I expected to pay for such a solution."

"They could provide more documentation or tutorials of ERDs or DDD on the Lucidchart site. That could be better."

"I have used the solution to modify existing data structures but I would only rate it as a six out of ten in its capabilities."

"I wish Lucidchart would add dark mode to improve the user experience."

More Lucidchart cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is not very expensive."

"Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."

"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."

"Making it less expensive would be good."

"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."

"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."

"The solution is very, very cost-effective."

"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."

"I was using the paid version, but at $12 USD per month, I canceled the plan because it was a little bit too expensive for me."

"At €167 per user per year, the pricing is slightly higher than Visio, but it's worth it."

"I have only used the trial version and have not yet paid for it, or explored the pricing options."

"The price was low enough to make me think that it was fine, I'll go for it. I think it's $80 or so. It's not too expensive."

"There is a nominal charge for the paid version of the product. They have a free version available and from what I could see, there was not much difference between it and the pro version."

"The pricing is very competitive. It is more cost-effective than some competing products, such as Visio."

"Pricing-wise, it is pretty fair. I don't really know what group pricing looks like, but right now, I pay $10 a month for my Lucid subscription. One thing I would say is that I do worry about my bosses being okay with paying $10 a month for every single employee because we would have around 20 people. It makes me a little nervous about whether they are going to pay $200 a month for people to be able to use this software. At the same time, from where I'm sitting, it's totally worth it. We save a thousand dollars from using this software. It's still a no-brainer."

"The pricing is very reasonable, and they have a free trial available that you can play with."

More Lucidchart pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	19

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	30
Midsize Enterprise	15
Large Enterprise	29

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?

I do not have exposure to IBM Blueworks Live pricing since this is managed by other personnel who handle the financial aspects of licenses.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?

I do not use Security Identity Governance and Intelligence, as it is not implemented here. I would prefer an on-premises solution for IBM Blueworks Live, and this could be a recommendation. Regardi...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Blueworks Live?

IBM Blueworks Live and security management are my primary products within the IBM suite. I particularly work on automation-related items, so most of my automation work lies with IBM, and I oversee ...

See all answers

LucidChart vs LucidSpark for brainstorming sessions over Zoom

Hi @Krista Thompson - Yes, LucidSpark is a much more nimble and, in some ways, user-friendly tool than LucidChart. LucidSpark is designed to do a better job managing multiple users participating ...

See all answers

Do you recommend Lucidchart?

I definitely recommend Lucidchart. I feel it is one of the top visual collaboration platforms that’s available on the market. Out of all the solutions I have tried, it is by far the best for diagra...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lucidchart?

It is cloud-based, so no setup is required. Currently, we are using a free plan.

See all answers

Comparisons

Visio vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 12% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 10% of the time

ARIS BPA vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 9% of the time

ARIS Cloud vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 8% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 5% of the time

More IBM Blueworks Live Competitors

Visio vs Lucidchart

Compared 14% of the time

Figma vs Lucidchart

Compared 12% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs Lucidchart

Compared 10% of the time

erwin Data Modeler vs Lucidchart

Compared 7% of the time

ARIS BPA vs Lucidchart

Compared 3% of the time

More Lucidchart Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Blueworks Live

June 2026

Download IBM Blueworks Live product report

Buyer's Guide

Lucidchart

June 2026

Download Lucidchart product report

Also Known As

IBM Lombardi Blueprint

No data available

Overview

IBM Blueworks Live offers a cloud-based tool with real-time collaboration and BPMN 2.0 support, designed for efficient process mapping and management. It integrates well with IBM services and allows seamless Visio flowchart imports, emphasizing ease of use and intuitive process documentation.

IBM Blueworks Live is designed to facilitate business process discovery and optimization. It supports collaborative workshops for process mapping, providing a central repository for all business process information. This tool is ideal for companies aiming to innovate and transform their processes through detailed modeling and analysis. With automation support and cloud accessibility, it streamlines process governance and role management. Potential areas for improvement include cost efficiency, reliability, better integration, user management, and customization features.

What are the key features of IBM Blueworks Live?

Ease of Use: Intuitive interface for streamlined navigation and mapping.
Real-time Collaboration: Enables teams to work together efficiently.
BPMN 2.0 Support: Advanced process modeling standards for industry compatibility.
Cloud Accessibility: Access and manage processes from anywhere.
Visio Integration: Seamlessly import existing flowcharts for continuous use.

What benefits should users expect when using IBM Blueworks Live?

Process Efficiency: Quick and accurate process documentation and management.
Improved Collaboration: Enhanced team communication and workflow management.
Automation Support: Streamlined governance with built-in roles and workflows.
Scalable Integration: Compatibility within IBM's business process management suite.

In specific industries, companies leverage IBM Blueworks Live for comprehensive business transformations, integrating it with IBM BPM for deploying intricate process models. It serves both internal process architecture and external customer engagement needs, facilitating process discovery sessions and collaborative innovation.

IBM

Lucidchart offers a dynamic platform for visual collaboration, enabling teams to enhance workflows and boost productivity through real-time updates and diverse templates.

Lucidchart provides an intuitive interface designed for seamless integration with tools like Google Workspace and Salesforce. This enhances team collaboration by reducing misunderstandings and accelerating workflows. Its cross-platform compatibility ensures both Mac and PC users achieve visual clarity in process management. While users value its efficiency, there is a desire for improvements in handling complex diagrams, more accessible pricing for advanced features, and enhanced offline capabilities. Customization, such as color schemes and dark mode, along with robust tutorials, remain areas for potential enhancement.

What features define Lucidchart?

Real-time Collaboration: Allows teams to work simultaneously on diagrams.
Drag-and-Drop Interface: Simplifies the creation process with intuitive controls.
Diverse Templates: Offers a variety of pre-built templates for extensive usage scenarios.
Seamless Integration: Connects effortlessly with Google Workspace and Salesforce.

What benefits can be expected from Lucidchart?

Enhanced Productivity: Facilitates efficient collaboration and workflow acceleration.
Time Savings: Streamlines process mapping, saving teams significant time.
Visual Clarity: Aids in clear project management and teamwork communication.

In sectors like technology and business, Lucidchart is extensively used for visualizing workflows, system architectures, and process maps. It serves as a powerful tool for collaboration, brainstorming, and documenting procedures. Teams find it effective for demonstrating technical and business structures, improving coordination, and supporting tasks like planning, migration, and development.

Lucid Software

Sample Customers

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council

Google, Salesforce, Adobe, Whirlpool, Uber, Wal Mart, Pearson, Twitch, Riot Games, Western Union, Trimble, Starbucks

Buyer's Guide

Business Process Design

June 2026

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