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ARIS Architect and Designer vs Visio 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

ARIS Architect and Designer
Ranking in Business Process Design
16th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Visio
Ranking in Business Process Design
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
106
Ranking in other categories
Mind Mapping Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS Architect and Designer is 0.8%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visio is 12.4%, down from 13.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

BPMexp67 - PeerSpot reviewer
Users have extensive control over methodology and offers the ability to create custom elements or modify the standard ones
At this moment, we are moving all of these features to the web, which makes it easier to use in a browser. It can be improved because Architect and Designer are the core models of the suite, where you design your processes, your data, your applications, and so on. From this base, you have other features to implement improvements. For instance, to improve a process, we have a specific model, the simulation module, where we can create different scenarios and show the customer the benefits of each. But Architect and Designer are just tools to capture and administer the method, the filters, the templates, and so on. This is important, but for me, it's not enough to bring value to the customer. We need to identify improvements, implement them, and demonstrate the benefits. We need to control the benefits. Thus, the main area for improvement means bridging the gap between creating process models and actually realizing tangible benefits from process optimization. In future releases, I would like to see more features around AI.
Tugrul TASCI - PeerSpot reviewer
We have seen return on investment in the form of time savings but should have more design tools
I am generally using Visio to create some diagrams Visio should implement more complex tools or graphics to facilitate processing and use flexible templates. It should allow users to easily drag and drop some previously created diagrams. The tools supplied or provided are very basic, and there…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One of the standout features for me is its synchronization to a publication server. It makes sharing diagrams and links with non-users easy."
"Its user interface is highly regarded, especially when compared with Visual Paradigm."
"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's really fast. It's much faster compared to Enterprise Architect."
"We use the product for modeling, conducting process checks, doing process flow, running, and analyzing the report."
"The user interface is easy to work with."
"One of the most valuable features is how user-friendly ARIS is, compared to other BPM tools. This tool has very diverse types of assets available. ARIS also has a lot of customizable options, different model types, object types, a number of attributes, and a lot of customization is possible. In comparison, Signavio is very limited in terms of model types and object types. So these customizations ARIS offers are really valuable to any client who wants to create a BPM repository."
"It is suitable for banks, insurance companies, public administration, etc. The method is very adaptable and can be applied independently of the business."
"The task sequencing, the process level views, and the ability to communicate between lanes are valuable features in Visio."
"It's easy to embed Visio in a Word document."
"The solution is very user-friendly."
"Visio has allowed us to create good diagrams for our technical employees to consume. The solution provides templates, is straightforward, and has tools for the easy creation of diagrams."
"The solution makes it very easy to make exciting pictures and designs. Everything is very intuitive and simple to figure out."
"The fact that it's on-premises allows you to get fantastic speed. It's got a faster response rate, it doesn't lag, and it doesn't have any latency when you're working on it."
"It is ideal for putting out flowcharts and swim charts. It's really good. It has all the various options to use, particularly depending on what kind of audience you have. It provides you different kinds of options to insert the pictures and explain things."
"We are all familiar with it, and it is easy to use. There is a lot of flexibility, and you can add shapes if you want."
 

Cons

"The product is not flexible."
"You can have a collaboration feature, but it's necessary to have ARIS Connect which is a separate, costly product."
"We face problems when the product's capacity is increased."
"Even with a formal modeling language, users can still draw freely and make a bit of a mess in your repository. It should also improve usability."
"The customer service of ARIS Architect and Designer was disappointing. It took forty days to conclude that partial data restoration was not possible, and it was suggested that the data might have been accidentally deleted, despite evidence to the contrary."
"The support team takes a long time to respond to our queries."
"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."
"This product could be improved by lowering the licensing cost. More organizations could use ARIS if they slashed the licensing costs even a little bit."
"As a user, it, unfortunately, lacks recognition by Microsoft products."
"Integration with other applications need improvement. Having the functionality to integrate with databases will also make this solution better."
"We need the place and route capability for the lines when we have a database. I use it for architectures, and between the boxes, there are lines or interfaces from one tool to another. I wish those lines could be easily drawn without having to place them mechanically. I wish that there was some kind of place and route capability, so I just press a button, and all the lines get drawn."
"Some of the improvements that have been made in Visio have not been beneficial, at least to me, personally. Too many things have been added to it, and it makes it kind of clunky sometimes. There is an overwhelming desire or competition to continue to improve it when the product is and has been pretty good, and some of what is done tends to clutter it. In some cases, the updates make it more difficult to use. It is already pretty feature-heavy and continuing to add stuff is not productive from my perspective."
"System architecture could be improved."
"The product's installation phase can be a difficult process if you don't have the deployment script with you since it is very important to know what you are doing when you are dealing with the setup process."
"Visio can be more user-friendly."
"Microsoft should include Visio as part of their Office 365 offering."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 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."
"The tool is a little bit expensive."
"We probably have an M-365 E3 license."
"The product is inexpensive if you already have Microsoft products in your environment. The license encompasses all the required services."
"Visio is a pricey tool. It's a five out of ten, cost-wise. It would be great if it had a pay-per-use licensing model because my company uses it sparingly."
"My organization has paid for the solution. However, I have used it personally without payment. There is a free option available."
"The pricing is reasonable and I would rate it 6 out of 10."
"Visio is included with our Microsoft enterprise license."
"I don't have any issue with the pricing. It has a subscription-based model, and the subscription is done on a yearly basis. Of course, we need internal approvals in place."
"We have an enterprise license. I'm not sure what the cost is."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
20%
Insurance Company
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with ARIS Architect and Designer?
At this moment, we are moving all of these features to the web, which makes it easier to use in a browser. It can be improved because Architect and Designer are the core models of the suite, where ...
What is your primary use case for ARIS Architect and Designer?
ARIS Architect is like a nuclear product in the suite. Users have the Designer and the administration module as well. But in the future, maybe in two years, we are going to have everything on the w...
How easy is it to migrate process flow charts (modeled using tools like Visio) into Bizagi?
I have been using Bizagi with a major project for a state government agency for about four years now. It is pretty straightforward to load in files that are BPMN 2.0 compliant. The option to load V...
What do you like most about Visio?
The diagrams Visio creates are quite impressive in the sense that we can cooperate with more colleagues in one task and see the flow of the process.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visio?
One of the main problems with Visio is its licensing options and associated issues, which lead to discussions about the price with a Microsoft representative. If asked to rate the price, I would gi...
 

Also Known As

ARIS Architect & Designer, ARIS Architect, ARIS Designer
Microsoft Visio
 

Overview

 

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.
Thomas College, Hamburg Port Authority, Portigon AG, Conseil G_n_ral du d_partement des Hautes-Alpes, AAA Auto a. s., Commonwealth Financial Network, ICA, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company
Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS Architect and Designer vs. Visio and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
839,319 professionals have used our research since 2012.