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Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs iGrafx Process360 Live Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

iGrafx Process360 Live Plat...
Ranking in Business Process Design
16th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (23rd), Process Mining (9th)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Business Process Design
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of iGrafx Process360 Live Platform is 1.5%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 10.5%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

Ganesh-Iyer - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps simplify processes of a business
One of the more important updates that have happened lately in the tool is related to the tool's ability to process data mining. What I mean by data mining is that now you have the ability to take the timestamp of the data from the ERP or transactional data, create your process maps, and then try to see how much compliance is actually happening within your processes. The aforementioned area is one capability that has been added to the tool over the last few years. You can now tell with the tool how much of your process is actually following the required path where everything is approved and where it goes for exception handling, how many transactions are going, what type of transactions really get into exceptions, and then take care of the management and make improvements. One of the areas in the product with certain shortcomings where improvements are required includes the tool's reporting capabilities. The ability to get into customer template requirements and then create different reports from the data they have is one area which can be improved.
Milan Sterba - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Simulation is most valuable."
"Another good feature is that the numbering of the shapes in iGrafx is much easier and more convenient, in comparison to what is found in Visio. So far I haven't found anything similar to what I have with iGrafx, in that regard."
"The solution's most beneficial feature is the 360 approach, where documentation, process mining, simulation, and automation capabilities are in one solution."
"One of the biggest plus points of the product stems from the fact that I have never seen any glitches in it."
"Web diagramming and RACI have helped expedite the process, capture, and ownership initiatives of our organization."
"It has simplified compliance with regulations and company standards."
"iGrafx gives you the capability of documenting your process and then the ability to use it as a tool for analysis to identify the loopholes and shortcomings of your process."
"Provides a valuable BPMN feature."
"Simplified our task at maintaining architecture information and traceability with requirements."
"The solution saved a lot of time, about 30%."
"Automated document generation is a real time saver, no more cut and paste, no more keeping track of which diagrams are in which reports, no more last minute update panics. Just click a mouse and you've got an up to date report."
"The TOGAF ADM model is most valuable. It is also very cheap as compared to other options in the market."
"We can easily use it with our new customers."
"The best thing about the tool is that its database is open."
"Features good reporting facilities coupled with a concrete database."
"It is a handy tool for visual modeling that provides opportunities for analysis, design, and support of models using ArchiMate, UML."
 

Cons

"It would be nice to have a Spanish user interface available to us."
"Dragging and dropping shapes is not as user-friendly as in Visio. In Visio, it's very easy to work with shapes and in very few minutes you can plot a whole, multi swim-lane, cross-functional process."
"It would be helpful to be able to do more analytics and generate reports on historical documents that have already been uploaded to the server."
"The price could be more competitive."
"The look and feel, along with the ease of use of the solution's web modeling version, is an area with certain shortcomings."
"The solution could benefit from improvements to its interface. More specifically, when compared to other tools, the process modeling features lack symbols or object types that are used to represent the information or data within the process."
"If customers want to change the color or the logo, they have to go through every page to verify everything is right."
"I would love to see a template and shapes for customer journey mapping."
"The modeling tool is targeted toward a sophisticated user."
"The elements of the modeling sets can have better customization and visual representation. It would be great to have a mobile version."
"Using EA involves a steep learning curve if you want to understand its capabilities and functionality."
"Their technical support is not good in India. I wrote to them because I had a question, but I never got an answer. So, I just left it behind."
"The Business Process Modeling or BPM feature can be improved to make it more interactive and user friendly because it is a tool for technical people. My current use is only for business process modeling notation and putting in the icons etc. You need to take them in as a class, which makes things very complex. Because of this complexity, it is not an easy-to-handle solution. Enterprise Architect is not very good for mockups. We cannot create user screens and other similar kinds of stuff, which is bad. For these things, we prefer to use Axure RP and other similar solutions. They should either remove this feature from this product or provide some kind of connectivity with Axure RP so that people can do better mockups of screens and import them. They need to augment and strengthen the BPM feature, which is the main feature. They need to put in some elements like artificial intelligence and augmented reality. They should look into such features because these things are coming up."
"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."
"I would like it to be less of a general tool. Currently, it is not a Swiss army knife that can do everything. It is not specialized for our purposes. We are a civil engineering company. We build things. We work mostly in what is known as Infra world in the Netherlands, which comprises objects such as bridges, locks, and water management. We would like to see more focus on such types of projects. It would be nice if it has more specializations. At the moment, it is very generic, and you have to create everything yourself. Our focus is more on user requirement management, which is currently very basic. I would like to see a lot more functionality in this area. Its basic functions for adding user requirements are perfect, but we need more features. Currently, it has limited possibilities for our requirements. I would also like to see better contract management and have it managed in a certain way."
"I struggled with most of the features for this tool, as did the rest of our architecture team."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have heard that the solution's pricing is very competitive."
"Our license is a subscription-based model that is per user. The solution is not expensive, I believe a subscription-based model is $10 per user."
"Earlier, the licensing part was complex because there were so many modules and elements in the tool. Over the last one and a half years, a lot of work has gone into how the product has priced and positioned its tools in the market."
"The licensing part is one of the problems. Its licensing depends on the number of users, so it sometimes gets expensive."
"My company is trying to replace iGrafx because the license is a little bit expensive."
"I use my own license. So, I just bought the professional version, which costs $800 or something like that. In the company where I am working, we have floating licenses. They are probably more expensive. Its licensing is affordable, but we are talking about a large organization, and there could be modelers or viewers of the models. We don't know how much that would cost us."
"It's reasonably priced for large organizations."
"The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."
"It is cheap."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is priced well. The price we pay is approximately $20 per month. Other solutions I have found to be much more expensive."
"It's affordable. The only additional cost that we haven't yet figured out is the floating license. If you buy a floating license, you have to have a license management server, which comes at an additional cost that's not discussed. So, we haven't yet used the floating license. That’s because I haven't had a chance to figure that out."
"They have the price on their site for the enterprise version, and we do receive a small discount."
"The licence has a costly upfront fee which gets you access. You have to pay an annual maintenance fee, which is less."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
6%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Educational Organization
12%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iGrafx?
The solution's technical support is of good quality since they offer fast and seamless services.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iGrafx?
I have heard that the solution's pricing is very competitive.
What needs improvement with iGrafx?
If customers want to change the color or the logo, they have to go through every page to verify everything is right. We have a strategic approach for the customer. I was involved in almost 100 sess...
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.
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...
What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?
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 ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Multinational Bank
OmniLink
Find out what your peers are saying about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. iGrafx Process360 Live Platform and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.