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SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

SAP Enterprise Architecture...
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
23rd
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer is 1.5%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 8.9%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect8.9%
SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer1.5%
Other89.6%
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Artur Chyziewicz - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-Owner at Edusolution s.c.
Great training available with traceability a key feature
I use this solution to model enterprise software architecture. We are customers of SAP and an educational organization in Poland.  Traceability is a fantastic feature.  They should upgrade the algorithm. The solution currently has an old algorithm and there are now free tools on the market that…
Milan Sterba - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Enterprise Architect at Deepview S.r.o.
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

"Traceability is a fantastic feature."
"With this solution, you get a lot of value at a low cost."
"Provides a single repository for all architecture work."
"The nature of this product did not justify an ROI but given a typical fully burdened rate for employee time, the sub-$1000 price tag is quickly recovered."
"The company wants to reduce its maintenance budget so the aim is to get more for less, and the solution has achieved this and improved efficiency."
"Its most valuable feature is the Zachman Framework."
"The solution saved a lot of time, about 30%."
"Simplified our task at maintaining architecture information and traceability with requirements."
"The features I find most valuable is the ability to create a document and then put it into a OneCare artifact."
 

Cons

"The solution currently has an old algorithm and there are now free tools on the market that offer better options for drawing algorithms."
"The algorithm is outdated and should be upgraded."
"Sparx EA has limited visualization capabilities compared to leaders in this segment."
"The templates for documentation should be enhanced to include complex documents such as template RFP, or Non functional requirements template."
"The documentation could be better. Where I work, we speak French and we don't speak English, so we don't have anything in French. It's perfect in English, but we need something in French."
"I cannot get businesses to use Enterprise Architect as it is too complicated for them."
"In a database-server deployment there are performance/locking issues when multiple users make changes simultaneously."
"We feel that compatibility with other MDA modelling products, particularly open source such as Visual Paradigm, Modelio or Capella is an area of improvement, as well as better integration with Integrated Development Environments."
"This solution is quite complex to use. It would be nice if the learning curve wasn't so steep."
"The platform has support for Windows and Mac, but not Linux."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."
"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 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."
"The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."
"Enterprise licensing is competitive. What would be helpful if they load the pricing for consultants, you know, people who are consultants for clients. So the license is fine for end-user organizations. Still, they should consider lowering the license to support this adoption, particularly for people who are consultants like myself."
"The licensing is not as expensive as some of the other data modeling tools such as Erwin."
"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"We have an annual license, and it's very affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business39
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise58
 

Questions from the Community

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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 ...
What is your primary use case for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?
We are mostly using the ArchiMate language to describe enterprise or solution architecture, along with a bit of use cases. We are producing quite large models, with over 10,000 elements and relatio...
 

Also Known As

SAP EA Designer
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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Find out what your peers are saying about Quest Software, SAP LeanIX, SAP and others in Enterprise Architecture Management. Updated: May 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.