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SAP PowerDesigner vs Sparx Pro Cloud Server 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

SAP PowerDesigner
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (4th)
Sparx Pro Cloud Server
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
15th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of SAP PowerDesigner is 9.1%, up from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Pro Cloud Server is 0.4%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

JorgeSanz - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective in terms of validating everything, but sometimes they don't allow us some flexibility and GUI could improve
I would recommend SAP PowerDesigner to others for data architecture management. It provides all the functionalities in terms of data modeling, so it's also a good tool for that. I see trends in terms of data classification, but I don't see this tool with the intelligence to do that automatically. So, like, with artificial intelligence. Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten because there are too many validations. Also, I found some gaps in terms of relationships; they didn't appear when you do reverse engineering. Also, this tool lacks artificial intelligence that should be very good in terms of automatically identifying the classification of elements and maybe also to incorporate some artificial intelligence in providing descriptions for each data element included in the solution.
Pawel-Gawronski - PeerSpot reviewer
A cloud SaaS solution for collaboration with customer support
There could be improvement in connecting to and securing this connection. Spark is not up to date on its Insight dashboard compared to competitors, but this impacts the digital experience. It is important for the team to continue working on this tool without disruption. So maybe this is an area for improvement to have a better Insight.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Has a specific template that's very helpful for importing metadata."
"SAP PowerDesigner is fairly stable."
"The solution is a very pragmatic tool. It's quite easy to use."
"I like the property sheet capability and the user-defined attributes that you can set up."
"Very good repository features."
"It has helped me to develop the as-is state, design its to-be state, and track the capital investment according to gap analysis."
"I mostly work on the conceptual and logical side of things, and I enjoy how easy it is to use."
"I do a data-centric design, so for me, the data analysis and design tools are the most valuable features."
"We have found the technical support to be helpful."
"The solution's most valuable feature is ArchiMate which I use daily."
 

Cons

"I have found the solution not easy to use. When publishing you have to download the HTML, make adjustments against the updated HTML, convert it to HTML, then finally paste the HTML. There is not an on-the-fly function available to bypass the step-by-step converting process that other solutions have."
"SAP PowerDesigner can improve the ease of use. It is not the best tool on the market because it is tough to navigate and use. A beginner would not be able to use it well, it requires some experience. If the solution was more user-friendly it would be able to be used by more audiences. I do not think many people are aware of this solution and they should use it."
"The portal of SAP PowerDesigner could be better. The tool also needs more features and integration with other products, such as Collibra. It would be interesting for SAP PowerDesigner to have more integration."
"The focus is more on mainstream development environments, and I see a lack of focus on the open source world. I think SAP PowerDesigner probably interfaces better with SQL Server and Db2 but not with open source databases like PostgreSQL and MySQL."
"The solution is very, very expensive. It would be ideal if it was a more affordable product."
"In terms of improvement, the pricing is a bit high."
"I've tried to use Power Designer to bring in images, which didn't work very well at all."
"There are some minor things that could be easier. We're writing up procedures to bring all the modeling back into one group as this reduces delays in production."
"The solution should allow easier access with enhanced customization options for web page DHTML."
"The user-friendliness could be even better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Regarding costs, SAP PowerDesigner is pricey, as I've heard from my team manager, which is why the company has been thinking of bringing another solution on board."
"SAP PowerDesigner is cheaper than eriwin."
"When you purchase the license for SAP PowerDesigner, you have to buy one year of support. The tool is worth the money."
"I would like SAP to prove free licenses to professionals that are using the solution. The free version is limited."
"I bought the software outright and do not pay a licensing fee."
"The pricing varies based on functionality and users."
"The price of the solution is too expensive. When we asked for certain licenses in different countries it was unattainable."
"PowerDesigner is not the cheapest solution on the market, so make sure that you are using it to its full potential."
"The solution's Ultimate Plan costs $399 per year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP PowerDesigner?
It allows us to have proper documentation in terms of the databases.
What needs improvement with SAP PowerDesigner?
Based on my experience with SAP PowerDesigner, I'd like to see improvements in the DMM feature. Even if I have an ETL tool, I'd like the DMM options to directly connect to ETL tool repositories lik...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sparx Pro Cloud Server?
We're paying 15 dollars per user per month for large teams, which is more expensive than the competition, but it has more features, such as cloud VPN and testing. There is no other cost apart from ...
What needs improvement with Sparx Pro Cloud Server?
There could be improvement in connecting to and securing this connection. Spark is not up to date on its Insight dashboard compared to competitors, but this impacts the digital experience. It is im...
What is your primary use case for Sparx Pro Cloud Server?
Firstly, we use this solution to enable collaboration among our international teams. Our applications are in the cloud, and most issues are on AWS. We have a central place to store and work on our ...
 

Also Known As

Sybase PowerDesigner
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Medtronic, Cirque du Soleil, Antarc, B&G Manufacturing, EarlySense, eBay, Ferrero, James Austin Company, Lenovo, Sagem, RAK Ceramics, Vodafone
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP PowerDesigner vs. Sparx Pro Cloud Server and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.