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Visual Paradigm vs iServer 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

iServer
Ranking in Business Process Design
16th
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (8th)
Visual Paradigm
Ranking in Business Process Design
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of iServer is 1.9%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visual Paradigm is 5.1%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Visual Paradigm5.1%
iServer1.9%
Other93.0%
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

Antonios Lazanakis - PeerSpot reviewer
Flexible, easy to use, and easy to import data
We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model. It is very easy to import data, and we also have good integration with Visual Drawing Tools and SharePoint. The solution is…
Angie Ibrahim Eissa - PeerSpot reviewer
A software application designed for software development teams to model business information systems and manage development processes
Setting up Visual Paradigm is easy. There's hardly any configuration needed, unlike some other tools. You just choose your method and diagram type, and you're good to go. As for improvements, integrating project management features with diagrams could be better. Viewing outputs could also be smoother, especially when working with multiple files.Deployment is quick and painless. It practically takes no time at all to set up. And because I also teach at the university, I use Visual Paradigm for my classes and case studies. It's easy to switch between products, and my students have no trouble using it on their own.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have to think less with this solution. It's simple."
"iServer is a solution that helps catalog enterprise architect solutions and catalog information."
"The solution has wide use within Microsoft products. The integration with Microsoft products, and, in particular, Microsoft Office, is great."
"The initial setup is easy."
"iServer is a very flexible platform for defining your own enterprise architecture model."
"Good and effective reporting features, which help in decision making."
"Integrating the Microsoft documents to the product and visualization matrix where we can see the end-to-end relationship of the network is of great importance to our company."
"Tech support is very responsive. They solved issues within a prompt response time."
"Visual Paradigm is simple and easy to use."
"The Visual Paradigm business process forms for designing we good. There was not a lot of configuration for the process diagram."
"Visual Paradigm allowed me to create UML diagrams efficiently."
"It is easy-to-use and it helps understand its data modeling structure through the intuitive user interface."
"The pricing model is attractive."
"Visual Paradigm allowed me to create UML diagrams efficiently."
"What I found most valuable in Visual Paradigm is diagramming. I had a great user experience as diagramming in the tool is easy and convenient, even for complex diagrams or models. Visual Paradigm is the perfect tool for me, and I prefer it over Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect. Visual Paradigm is better for collaboration if you consider, for example, versioning, so this is another valuable tool feature that's simple and embedded in the solution. In Visual Paradigm, it's also easy to set up the project with team members and collaborate, and it's also a pro of the tool."
"The solution is stable. It hasn't crashed, stopped or caused any issues in any way."
 

Cons

"More visualization techniques and ways to report the data might be helpful."
"Enhancing integration options with ERP or ITSM-related solutions for triggering automated requests for process definitions, changes, and tracking them in the iServer."
"iServer is a solid tool. Occasionally, we needed to contact the vendor to clarify details such as porting issues, missing components, and model specifics."
"It definitely needs help to improve the visual aspect of the solution."
"The performance is slow, which is something that should be improved."
"We could allocate permissions to use only specific components to the users rather than the entire instance."
"There are other solutions out there that have a better user interface."
"iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io."
"Visual Paradigm could improve many aspects. The performance could be better because it can be low. When we have large and complicated models, it has a low speed and many bugs. Sometimes the solution stops and you have to restart Microsoft Windows on your PC. The larger database modeling cannot be done properly, I have to use another solution called SAP PowerDesigner."
"The solution could be more compatible with other products in the future."
"Visual Paradigm's initial deployment was difficult since we did it for the first time. It is challenging to learn to use the product."
"The product's versioning capability needs improvement."
"I would like to see the ability to easily export to groupware, such as Atlassian Confluence."
"The solution is not user-friendly. It uses a lot of memory and CPU. You have to have a good computer to use it."
"The solution can improve by updating the user interface, and graphics."
"There is room for improvement in the licensing model. I would suggest implementing country-specific pricing, as many other products in India do. This would make Visual Paradigm more affordable and accessible."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They offer annual subscriptions for developing countries, which are not affordable for small or medium businesses."
"The price of iServer is reasonable compared to other solutions."
"Aim for the exact number of people who shall define/review approve and view the processes, as it will impact the cost."
"The solution is cheaper than its competitors."
"It's about 13K to set up and 9K for the license for three months. I think it's about 20K a year, but we haven't firmed up on pricing yet because the price depends on how long we commit to the solution."
"The product has a moderate pricing."
"I rate the pricing a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"You can use Paradigm on a subscription basis and you can choose from different tiers of subscription."
"This product is fairly cheap, but if you want more complex features, e.g. integration with other products, it does require an additional cost."
"Over the years I've seen an increase in price, and it makes it difficult for a single person company, like me, to decide whether to extend the license."
"In terms of pricing, I find Visual Paradigm's subscription services reasonable, especially for the modern and standard editions. However, the premium products can be a bit pricey, especially considering our location in the Middle East. Currently, paying around a hundred dollars per user translates to almost six hundred Egyptian pounds, which can add up. For enterprise licensing, I think the perpetual license option could be more affordable. If it were cheaper, say around five hundred dollars, I would have invested in multiple perpetual licenses long ago. Sometimes, to manage costs, we share accounts among team members or switch access on and off for certain members who aren't actively working on projects. As for additional costs, there are charges for cloud services, which I'm considering because I've already exceeded the free capacity."
"Visual Paradigm's pricing is not expensive."
"This is an open-sourced solution, it is free to use."
"Visual Paradigm has two models available. One of them is the educational edition, and another is the business edition. For my personal usage, I use the educational version mostly. In a project, my customers have to purchase a license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Construction Company
7%
Educational Organization
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about iServer?
iServer has valuable features for workflow and document management.
What needs improvement with iServer?
iServer should invest in enhancing the capabilities of the embedded drawing tool, draw.io. draw.io is a drawing tool used to draw architectural diagrams, flow diagrams, etc. It is an alternative to...
What is your primary use case for iServer?
We use iServer to establish an enterprise architecture function in our organization.
What do you like most about Visual Paradigm?
The solution is the best application for data modeling. It helps to architect business processes. Its best features are pricing and functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visual Paradigm?
I purchased Visual Paradigm on my own, and it was competitively priced, so I was fine with the pricing.
What needs improvement with Visual Paradigm?
The product can always get better as the industry changes, however, I didn't necessarily feel it was lacking for what I did with it.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Barclays, Cathay Pacific, Deloitte, British Gas, MasterCard
Adobe, Apple, at&t, Caterpillar, Intel, NASA, Nokia, Toyota
Find out what your peers are saying about Visual Paradigm vs. iServer and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
868,787 professionals have used our research since 2012.