ARIS Architect and Designer vs erwin Data Modeler comparison

Software AG and Quest Software are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #11 with an average rating of 9.2, while Quest Software is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.4. Software AG holds a 1.3% mindshare in BPD, compared to Quest Software’s 2.6% mindshare. Additionally, 83% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Quest Software users who would recommend it.

ARIS Architect and Designer

Read 11 ARIS Architect and Designer reviews

845 Views
845 Comparison Views

83% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler

Read 48 erwin Data Modeler reviews

5,545 Views
1,664 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

ARIS Architect and Designer

erwin Data Modeler

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

Erwin Data Modeler and ARIS Architect and Designer are both influential in the data management and enterprise process management sector. While Erwin stands out with its data-centric features, ARIS shines in enterprise process visualization.

Features: Erwin Data Modeler is noted for its advanced capabilities in bulk editing, forward and reverse engineering, and visualization that assists in understanding and collaboration. It automates reporting and supports various integrations. ARIS Architect and Designer offers superior enterprise architecture management, advanced process visualization, and has the ability to establish in-depth process alignments with high customizability, enhancing its integration capabilities.

Room for Improvement: Erwin struggles with usability issues and a complex interface, along with limited compatibility with new big data platforms. Improving the Complete Compare usability and simplifying navigation could improve the user experience. ARIS could lower licensing costs and improve cloud functionality, as the separation of collaboration tools into a separate, costly product is a barrier for some users. Enhancements in simulation and usability would boost its market appeal.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both Erwin and ARIS primarily operate on-premises. Erwin is known for its proactive customer support, despite some inconsistency in response times, and has gaps in JSON and big data platform support. ARIS’s support is satisfactory but has room for improvement in handling technical issues, especially when it comes to accessing more advanced cloud-based features.

Pricing and ROI: Erwin’s concurrent and per-seat licensing options are often seen as pricey, especially for smaller organizations, posing challenges in license management. It delivers ROI through time savings and enhanced data governance. Similarly, ARIS faces challenges with complex licensing and high costs, potentially deterring new users. However, its value in enterprise process management supports its cost for larger implementations. Both products deliver ROI but could improve accessibility by reevaluating pricing strategies.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS Architect and Designer vs. erwin Data Modeler Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Architect and Designer vs. erwin Data Modeler

February 2026

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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

ARIS Architect and Designer

Ranking in Business Process Design

11th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

erwin Data Modeler

Ranking in Business Process Design

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (2nd), Data Governance (9th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS Architect and Designer is 1.3%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of erwin Data Modeler is 2.6%, up from 2.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
erwin Data Modeler	2.6%
ARIS Architect and Designer	1.3%
Other	96.1%

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

BeenishMustafa

Consultant at KAFD DMC

Has raised concerns about pricing while expressing satisfaction with its contribution to optimizing internal processes

Considering the integration capability of the product, it contributes to data-driven decision-making in our case. We see some impact of reporting tools on performance tracking or strategic planning. We do different kinds of analysis in regard to due integration controls, risk, and how we can strengthen the processes and the activities. We use it for various purposes. Regarding the process visualization framework, it helps to improve communication and collaboration in the company in a positive way. Architect is managing all the library management and with regards to the filter management. It's always a positive side that if you want to use anything further, we know that we can reach out to the Architect to add those objects and those attributes. It's really good.

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Sushree Panigrahi

Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.

Data modeling has transformed regulatory reporting and collaboration across cloud environments

In erwin Data Modeler, areas that have room for improvement include performance improvements. I see that large models sometimes cause it to be slow when opening. Impact analysis can lag as well. Version control is another aspect. If we have developed a current version, it is not integrated with Git where we can easily compare different versions. UI modernization is also something we cannot utilize as it is primarily for development. Additionally, cloud-specific optimizations are needed when it comes to Snowflake or Databricks. When it comes to AI aspects, auto-suggestions for normalization or identifying primary, foreign, or surrogate keys are areas that can be improved.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use the product for modeling, conducting process checks, doing process flow, running, and analyzing the report."

"The support team is very responsive."

"The most important feature is ARIS's ability to turn a process design into data to analyze anything you want. For example, we have some analysis reports in ARIS that can guide us when we want to change a system. It shows us how this change will affect all of the organization's processes."

"It is suitable for banks, insurance companies, public administration, etc. The method is very adaptable and can be applied independently of the business."

"It's really fast. It's much faster compared to Enterprise Architect."

"The user interface is easy to work with."

"Considering the integration capability of the product, it contributes to data-driven decision-making in our case."

"I would rate the solution overall a ten out of ten."

More ARIS Architect and Designer pros

"My favorite feature of erwin Data Modeler is that we can export and import tables directly from the databases, and it is easy to map from table to table and column to column."

"Any tool will do diagramming but I think the ability to put the stuff up in a graphical fashion, then think about it, and keep things consistent is what's valuable about it. It's too easy when you're using other methods to not have naming consistent standards and column consistent definitions, et cetera."

"One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability."

"The modeling portion of the tool is the most valuable. There are some notes, naming standards, and other functions that we use as well. There's a whole boatload of functionality in this thing and we use maybe 10% of it. It seems to be pretty common that not all the functionality is fully utilized. But it's just got gobs and gobs of stuff that you can implement if you so choose to."

"The visual data models for helping to overcome data source complexity and enabling understanding and collaboration around maintenance and usage are excellent. A picture speaks 1,000 words. Seeing a picture that shows you how the data relates to each other helps you better understand what the data is and how to use it. Pairing that information with a dictionary, which has the definitions of the tables and columns or the entities and attributes, ensures that the users understand what the data is so that they can use it best and most successfully."

"Currently in the market, there is no competitor to erwin Data Modeler; everything is very powerful, such as performing reverse engineering from an existing database and deploying that on Databricks or Snowflake."

"It is a scalable solution...The technical support team is fine."

"erwin has versioning so you can keep versions, over time, of those models and you can compare any version to any version. If you're looking at a specific database and you want to see what changed over time, that's really useful. You can go back to a different version or connect that to your change-control processes so you can see what was released when."

More erwin Data Modeler pros

Cons

"Currently, we don't have any metrics to measure the success of ARIS Architect and Designer."

"Sometimes, it's not easy to convince customers to use this methodology because it's a bit rigid."

"Currently, we don't have any metrics to measure the success of ARIS Architect and Designer. We would appreciate it if you could share anything with us that we can do to find out the impact."

"The support team takes a long time to respond to our queries."

"You can have a collaboration feature, but it's necessary to have ARIS Connect which is a separate, costly product."

"The simulation part still has some way to go. It's a good feature, and it's something that other vendors don't have right now, but it can still be improved. Some features are needed in ARIS Architect, so advanced users can do things through drag-and-drop functionality."

"The product is not flexible."

"Currently, we don't have any metrics to measure the success of ARIS Architect and Designer."

More ARIS Architect and Designer cons

"The erwin Data Modeler is quite complex to use."

"I would like the solution to be more user-friendly to deploy."

"The modeling product itself is far and above anything else that I've seen on the market. There are certain inconsistencies when it comes to keeping up with other platforms' databases in the reverse-engineering process. It should also support more database platforms."

"As erwin Data Modeler files get larger, the response time really slows down, and when I have multiple files open I sometimes get a glitch where a lot of the text fields get solid black and the first eight characters of column names might be blacked out with a rectangle."

"The only real complaint I have is the time it takes to do a database comparison on a large model. If they could speed that up, that would be the only thing I can think of that needs improvement."

"One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability."

"In erwin Data Modeler, areas that have room for improvement include performance improvements. I see that large models sometimes cause it to be slow when opening."

"I would like to see the ability to support more NoSQL platforms more quickly. In addition, enhancing the graphics to render more quickly would be beneficial for any user."

More erwin Data Modeler cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product is expensive."

"The licenses are very costly. I've seen many people who are hesitant or not able to use ARIS Suite just because of the license cost. Even though they like all the functionalities and understand the value of everything ARIS provides, they aren't able to implement it."

"Many customers find the licensing configuration confusing. There are many different sub-details in the licensing, making it very difficult for us to understand what we are buying and what we are using with what."

"The tool is a little bit expensive."

"The price should be lower in order to be on the same level as its competitors."

"It is not a very expensive solution. Only the licensing and maintenance fee needs to be paid."

"Though the solution is not cheap, it's worth the money."

"There are two license options and the pricing is reasonable."

"The primary reasons that erwin was selected were that it was much more affordable for us [than Embarcadero] and it was easily maintainable."

"An issue right now would be that erwin doesn't have a freely available browser (that I am aware of) for people who are not data modelers or data engineers that a consumer could use to look at the data models and play with it. This would not be to make any changes, but just to visually look at what exists. There are other products out there which do have end user browsers available and allow them to access data models via the data modeling tool."

"The pricing of the solution is cheap. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

"The solution is expensive."

More erwin Data Modeler pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

10%

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	3

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	35

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ARIS Architect and Designer?

Currently, we don't have any metrics to measure the success of ARIS Architect and Designer. We would appreciate it if you could share anything with us that we can do to find out the impact.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ARIS Architect and Designer?

We spoke with you about ARIS Architect and Designer. We already have two architect licenses, I think three architect licenses, and we have, I think, six or seven designer licenses. Architect is bas...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering ARIS Architect and Designer?

The reviewer is a consultant at KAFD. We would give ARIS Architect and Designer an overall review rating of ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

Regarding pricing, it depends on the company. For a cloud or SaaS standard edition, it typically runs around two hundred to two hundred ninety-nine US dollars per month. For a workgroup edition, it...

See all answers

What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

My use case is mostly architectural design for our end-to-end deployment.

See all answers

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Architect and Designer

February 2026

Download ARIS Architect and Designer product report

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler

February 2026

Download erwin Data Modeler product report

Also Known As

ARIS Architect & Designer, ARIS Architect, ARIS Designer

erwin DM

Overview

ARIS is the market-leading solution for professional business process management and modeling. Whether you want to document the "as-is" state of your operations for quality or certification reasons or design the "to-be" in terms of continuous improvement in your transformation program, ARIS is the best choice for establishing a single source of truth regarding all process excellence topics in your organization. It is for any organization looking to digitally transform their business, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution. ARIS helps you to make the most out of your processes with Process Mining, Risk & Compliance Management, RPA and much more.

What makes the difference?

The most comprehensive platform for process excellence in the market
Easy to use
Covers business & IT architecture from all angles
Full flexibility and >100 diagram types
Customer-driven development based on best practices
Strong partner ecosystem

ARIS is the market-leading solution for any organization and ideally suited to digitally transform the organization, increase operational excellence and customer experience and ensure compliance in execution.

Software AG

Erwin Data Modeler provides an effective approach to visualizing and managing data models. It assists in creating, reversing, and synchronizing data models with ease, supporting logical and physical transitions while enhancing understanding across teams.

Erwin Data Modeler is a comprehensive tool designed for professional database management. It offers capabilities to organize and enforce standards, automating script generation with robust reverse engineering and DDL output. Users can manage complex data environments, capitalize on integration with data intelligence, and maintain large-scale databases smoothly. Despite its strengths, improvements in multi-language support, database integration, and reporting features are needed. Users benefit from extensive support for conceptual, logical, and physical database modeling, enhancing architectural design and data governance for platforms like SQL Server, Oracle, and Teradata.

What are the key features of Erwin Data Modeler?

Visual Representation: Facilitates clear visualization of data models, aiding comprehension.
Versioning and Editing: Enhance usability with versioning and bulk editing capabilities.
Reverse Engineering: Offers powerful tools for reverse engineering and DDL generation.
Integration: Aligns with data intelligence to streamline database management.
Naming Standards: Enforces consistency with automated script creation.

What benefits should users consider in Erwin Data Modeler reviews?

Collaboration: Promotes team understanding and collaboration through visual tools.
Automation: Reduces manual effort through automated processes and integration.
Scalability: Handles large database management efficiently, crucial for enterprise settings.
Data Governance: Facilitates effective data governance with structured modeling.

Erwin Data Modeler finds application in industries focused on robust data management, implementing it for enterprise data warehouses, business domain models, and operational systems. It supports architectural design and governance, aligning with business applications demanding precise data representation and visualization.

Quest Software

Sample Customers

Tesco, Weifu, Airbus, Siemens, Proximus, Alicorp, Sekerbank, Bancor, Philips,Sky, Emirates NBD, Dubai Municipality, Suva, U.S. Army, Australia Post, Westfalen Weser Energie - ARIS serves customers across all industries and of every size worldwide. Companies trust ARIS as the market leader for process excellence with more than 30 years of experience in the market, 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.

Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Architect and Designer vs. erwin Data Modeler

February 2026

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