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SAP PowerDesigner vs Sparx Prolaborate comparison

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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
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Metadata Management (6th)
Sparx Prolaborate
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
20th
Average Rating
7.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of SAP PowerDesigner is 8.6%, up from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Prolaborate is 1.8%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAP PowerDesigner8.6%
Sparx Prolaborate1.8%
Other89.6%
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

HemantKUMAR6 - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Architect at Sopra Steria
Customer support has delayed successful upgrade to supported version
It was a long time back when my company purchased it, but I am now participating in upgrading it to the latest version. I found customer support to be tedious during the upgrade process to the latest version. I tried to upgrade to a trial version before purchasing a new license. During that process, I had some technical issues. When trying to go from 12.5 to 16.5, I could migrate but faced technical challenges. When I approached customer support, they informed me that even 16.5 is not supported. They stated I would need to go to 16.7 before they could look at my issue. They didn't spend any time on the issue because according to them, 16.5 is not supported. Until I get 16.7 and complete the migration, I'm not getting any help from them. I was not too happy with the customer support. This was my only interaction with customer support, and I haven't received any resolution to my issue. It can be rated as low as zero because that's the only time I approached them. I cannot even say zero out of ten because I approached only once. Perhaps they are correct that they don't support 16.5, so they don't want to spend any time on that.
KD
Technical manager at Koninklijke Bam Groep N.v.
The solution is scalable and easy to set up, but it is not very user-friendly
People must start using the product as soon as possible. It certainly will be the way we engineer in the future. It's already the way we are engineering. Organizations must invest time and effort to set it up and get it running. I rate the user-friendliness a five out of ten. However, I rate the product’s functionality a nine out of ten. Overall, I rate the product a seven out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The initial setup was very easy."
"The most valuable feature is the way you can extend it and customize it. With most modeling tools, you fit your modeling process to fit the tool. In PowerDesigner, you can make the tool fit the way you want to work."
"One of the key reasons for choosing this solution above others is because of the repository features which we're able to consolidate and work on a single repository where we store all our models in one location."
"The publicly accessible meta-model is the foundation for utility scripts, report, and general model-to-model or model-to-text generation."
"It's a great tool for documentation."
"I previously used Erwin and I switched because PowerDesigner is a more powerful tool."
"In summary, this product gives you all of the features that a modeler would require to produce both logical and physical data models."
"I've used the reverse engineering feature a lot. I can take a look at the structure of the database and what relationships it has."
"It is valuable to have diagrams available in real time."
"Its extensibility is most valuable."
"It allows us to give a better description of our project than using the written word."
"What is really powerful in Sparx is the way in which you can model business processes. You can link business processes to organizational objectives. You can also take those business processes and link them to specific product features that you want to deliver."
"Sparx Prolaborate is user-friendly, easy to use, and has good documentation."
 

Cons

"The solution itself does not need to be improved. However, they could add support for different languages."
"I've tried to use Power Designer to bring in images, which didn't work very well at all."
"There should be a better usage of current hardware including multicore CPUs, higher resolutions (UHD, 4K), and multiple displays."
"Checking-in models to the repository, especially when working remotely, is a slow process than can sometimes have problems with models being corrupted."
"In terms of improvement, the pricing is a bit high."
"I would like SAP to prove free licenses to professionals that are using the solution. The free version is limited."
"The tool lags in the area of customer service."
"However, the pricing for small consultancies needs to be improved. The competing vendors often have special offers that make the tool more affordable, which is vital for data management consultancies that have to buy the tools that their clients use."
"The product is not very user-friendly."
"In the next release, there should be more editable objects. We find Sparx Prolaborate very user-friendly, and having more features that are in the Enterprise Architect would be great, such as managing different versions of diagrams."
"The solution could offer different sources for design."
"There should be more cloud capabilities."
"Sparx doesn't have great visualization."
"A lot of product teams use a lot of visualizations for mapping out the product roadmap, brainstorming, or understanding the vision of the product, but Sparx is not a great visualization tool. Sparx has to improve the way for visualizing processes, journeys, software designs, etc. It would really benefit the product management teams or even enterprise architects."
"On paper, the installation seems easy. However, it took us some time to complete it. The process could be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing varies based on functionality and users."
"When you purchase the license for SAP PowerDesigner, you have to buy one year of support. The tool is worth the money."
"I bought the software outright and do not pay a licensing fee."
"SAP PowerDesigner is cheaper than eriwin."
"The ROI has been 43%."
"PowerDesigner is not the cheapest solution on the market, so make sure that you are using it to its full potential."
"The price of the solution is too expensive. When we asked for certain licenses in different countries it was unattainable."
"The price of the solution is low."
"The price of Sparx Prolaborate is good."
"The product is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Government
6%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise18
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with SAP PowerDesigner?
Synchronization is vital since I experience multiple problems, such as mismatched models and manual DDL handling. Improving the synchronization between models and databases can enhance integration ...
What is your primary use case for SAP PowerDesigner?
I use SAP PowerDesigner for data modeling, which greatly enhances the clarity of my data management processes. I manage data across multiple databases, including cloud databases, Teradata, and Orac...
Ask a question
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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 Prolaborate and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.