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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
17th
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 May 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of iGrafx Process360 Live Platform is 1.3%, down from 1.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 10.6%, down from 12.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

SangameshwarKadole - PeerSpot reviewer
A reasonably stable BPM solution useful for process governance and process mining
The look and feel, along with the ease of use of the solution's web modeling version, is an area with certain shortcomings. The web modeling part can be a bit complex or difficult for new users of the solution. Simplifying the look and feel to make the web modeling part easy to use can greatly improve iGrafx.
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

"The solution is very stable."
"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."
"We found the technical support to be helpful."
"Web diagramming and RACI have helped expedite the process, capture, and ownership initiatives of our organization."
"This product fulfills ninety percent of our needs, and we're happy as users of it."
"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."
"Finding the right symbol and creating links, horizontal and vertical are the features I use."
"One of the biggest plus points of the product stems from the fact that I have never seen any glitches in it."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports multiple modeling languages like ArchiMate for database design, software lifecycle visualization, and team management."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is very flexible and it is simple to define the metamodel. Additionally, it is lightweight on resources."
"Its most valuable feature is the Zachman Framework."
"The most valuable features are the flexibility and adaptability of Sparx Enterprise Architect."
"For the most part, we find that it is remarkable how inexpensive it is."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect was easy to set up and it took just twenty minutes."
"Features good reporting facilities coupled with a concrete database."
"There are a lot of features in Enterprise Architect. It allows us to take on a lot of tasks."
 

Cons

"The look and feel, along with the ease of use of the solution's web modeling version, is an area with certain shortcomings."
"It can be more user-friendly."
"In the next release, I would like to see more layers like three, four, and five. It might be possible but I haven't seen it yet."
"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."
"With iGrafx, the implementation and the licensing were pretty complex."
"It would be nice to have a Spanish user interface available to us."
"I would love to see a template and shapes for customer journey mapping."
"One of the areas in the product with certain shortcomings where improvements are required includes the tool's reporting capabilities."
"When the model is large, it is a bit slow to render."
"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."
"This solution has some limitations from a business perspective."
"The fact that you can do a lot yourself is a plus point, but it also becomes a challenge because you need an understanding of the programming languages to get things to work. It becomes challenging for those who are not very good at programming. You have standard reports, but if you want to make your own reports, you have to program it. Similarly, if you want validations rules, you have to take care of them yourself."
"Even if there are web-based tools in the Enterprise Architecture tool ecosystem (like Prolaborate), the main modeling application is still a fat client application."
"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."
"When many users are accessing the system at the same time, Sparx slows down. It can't easily support a large team."
"More challenging than other tools to maintain documents and document versions for an architecture board review."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"I have heard that the solution's pricing is very competitive."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."
"We have an annual license, and it's very affordable."
"Use floating licenses strategically."
"The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."
"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."
"We paid 1200 euros as a once-off cost. All add ons and integrations come at an additional cost."
"I think our license costs roughly $1,000 a year, but I could be wrong."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
6%
University
6%
Educational Organization
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
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: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.