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Ardoq vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 2, 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

Ardoq
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
13th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of Ardoq is 3.0%, down from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 9.3%, down from 14.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect9.3%
Ardoq3.0%
Other87.7%
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Anthony Houghton - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Architect at UK Research and Innovatio
Provides stable performance and scalability but not intuitive for data modeling
Overall, I would rate it around six out of ten. The training environment wasn't very intuitive, but maybe with more use, it will get better. We need to learn to navigate it. So, there is a potential learning curve in this tool. I use it once in a blue moon, and not very frequently because I have not found it very intuitive.
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

"It is a stable solution."
"Snapshots are the most valuable feature."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports multiple modeling languages like ArchiMate for database design, software lifecycle visualization, and team management."
"Artifact templates are most valuable."
"It is an EA tool that is approved by Open Group. It is in the tool register of Open Group."
"It is a very rich tool in terms of the functionality, and the types of diagrams, that you can create in this tool."
"We have found the stability to be very reliable."
"The stability has been good and satisfactory. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"We use it to develop and maintain the Enterprise Conceptual Model, migrated from erwin a couple of years ago."
"I like Sparx's BPM features and the way it lets you create the diagram."
 

Cons

"The training environment wasn't very intuitive, but maybe with more use, it will get better."
"Scalability as a standalone system is good, given the information that has been described inside Ardoq. But not the scalability as a third-party system or with integration with other systems. Because in this direction, the scalability is about zero for Ardoq."
"Sparx can be a bit slow. If you are trying to design software architecture, sometimes we run into issues and need to refresh."
"I struggled with most of the features for this tool, as did the rest of our architecture team."
"The solution needs to offer better support for the mobile-based system. Right now, it's not working."
"The UI could be improved and made a little bit more presentable."
"The user interface is not so good. It's not easy for someone to use it at first. The product takes some getting used to."
"The stability and performance of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect could still be improved. Setup for it is also slightly complicated and could be improved."
"One room for improvement in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is that it's not very friendly. Another room for improvement in the tool is that it doesn't enable you to import the metadata from a database very easily, so reverse engineering of a database was very difficult. Its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement."
"The areas of improvement should be focused on utility service such as producing better graphics, perhaps having a wider image library set and producing better models for working directly with customers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay for extended support."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"We had a yearly license."
"Use floating licenses strategically."
"The licence has a costly upfront fee which gets you access. You have to pay an annual maintenance fee, which is less."
"It's reasonably priced for large organizations."
"Licenses are pretty low cost compared to, for example, ARIS."
"The license I use is on-premise. We haven't gone to the cloud where we have to pay monthly or something like that. Sparx is cheaper than most similar tools."
"They have the price on their site for the enterprise version, and we do receive a small discount."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
9%
University
8%
Insurance Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise58
 

Questions from the Community

Any experience with Strategic Project Portfolio Management Solutions?
Hi @Cheryl Joseph ​Looking at the crossover between Project and Portfolio management with EA, then Planview could be a good choice. If looking at Portfolio Management from an EA perspective then Le...
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

Schibsted, Government of Malmo, Torvald
OmniLink
Find out what your peers are saying about Ardoq vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,282 professionals have used our research since 2012.