ARIS BPA vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

Software AG and Sparx Systems are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.0, while Sparx Systems is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.0. Software AG holds a 6.7% mindshare in BPD, compared to Sparx Systems’s 8.0% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 87% of Sparx Systems users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 69 ARIS BPA reviews

5,300 Views
3,498 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Read 99 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect reviews

7,841 Views
4,940 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

ARIS BPA and Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect compete in the business process modeling and enterprise architecture domains, respectively. ARIS BPA seems to have an edge in process modeling and comprehensive analysis, whereas Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect offers more flexibility and support for multiple modeling standards, which could be advantageous depending on user requirements.

Features: ARIS BPA provides extensive business process modeling capabilities with tools for thorough process analysis and optimization. It includes a robust integration framework and advanced relational database management, allowing enterprises to effectively manage IT, processes, and organizational elements. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports diverse modeling standards, such as UML, BPMN, and ArchiMate. It enables detailed code engineering and project management and excels at managing and reverse-engineering intricate software models for enterprise architecture.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA lacks a built-in execution engine, limiting its potential in automation. Its integration with other tools can be challenging and costly, suggesting a need for streamlined integration. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect has a steep learning curve and an outdated user interface, which may deter new users. Enhancements are needed in its data modeling capabilities and support for documentation generation and diagram consistency.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA supports various deployment infrastructures, including Hybrid Cloud, Public Cloud, and On-premises, enhancing flexibility but sometimes complicating the setup. Customer service is generally good, although support inconsistencies are reported. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is mostly On-premises with cloud options, known for competitive pricing and ease of setup, though its support may be inconsistent, needing improvements in responsiveness and clarity.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA is expensive, using complex licensing schemes suited for large enterprises, potentially limiting accessibility for smaller firms. While process optimization can lead to significant ROI, it requires time. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is valued for its cost-effectiveness and lower licensing expenses, offering significant functionality which can lead to a faster ROI. Its affordability makes it an appealing option for organizations with budget constraints.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

December 2025

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Helped 881,176 peers since 2012

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 BPA

Ranking in Business Process Design

6th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (10th)

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Ranking in Business Process Design

5th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 6.7%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 8.0%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect	8.0%
ARIS BPA	6.7%
Other	85.3%

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

BeenishMustafa

Consultant at KAFD DMC

Has improved process modeling and analysis while supporting integration with organizational data

The process design in ARIS BPA does help with our operational efficiency. What we are doing is object library management for various kinds of objects that we are using in ARIS BPA during our process modeling. We are using that to do a lot of analysis on how many times a system is being used in how many processes, who are the major stakeholders, and if we enhance one system, how is it going to impact other processes and integrated processes. This is helping us a lot. Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual. We are doing a lot of things with regards to the processes as it is at our heart. Processes are one thing and then we have different kinds of things which are related to it, such as SLAs, guidelines, and policy. We are identifying areas of improvement in other documents as well.

Read full review

Milan Sterba

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.

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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

"The capability to integrate all information of the business and to generate simulations of processes. It can analyze the model of operations quickly."

"The solution's basic features are easy to use, overall designed well, and it has good process mining analysis."

"Process Modeling or Process Mapping/Documentation. This is the most comprehensive tool for capturing the process details. Any organization who wants to embark on a BPM journey, process mapping/documentation, lays the foundation for the BPM led implementation."

"It has allowed us to model our enterprise process architecture."

"The most valuable feature in the latest versions is the connect portal, where you can do very simple modeling using the web-based portal."

"Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual."

"Visualizes processes which helps the business see pain points."

"The whole ARIS BPM solution is a bit special, because from the very beginning it was targeted more to Business users and the Management."

More ARIS BPA pros

"It is a handy tool for visual modeling that provides opportunities for analysis, design, and support of models using ArchiMate, UML."

"It is an EA tool that is approved by Open Group. It is in the tool register of Open Group."

"There are a lot of features in Enterprise Architect. It allows us to take on a lot of tasks."

"The installation was very easy."

"For the most part, we find that it is remarkable how inexpensive it is."

"Scalability is not a problem. You can always increase the footprint of what the thing can do because it's so powerful."

"The advantages of Enterprise are that it's cheaper and much more practical than MagicDraw."

"The initial setup is easy."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pros

Cons

"There are reports available in ARIS and you can modify them a bit if you want something more specific, but it's not that easy to adjust them and make modifications. It would be nice to have some kind of tool to do that, something that is more user-friendly for people who are not too technical, so that they could create reports the way they want them."

"One of the biggest challenges is to realistically enable the defined structures of the processes that you have in ARIS documented, and then actually implement them in the business."

"I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying."

"There is a lot of room for improvement. They need to increase the performance of the system flow. They need to support it more. ARIS Process Governance is still quite basic, and they are using an old BPM and process automation module."

"Integration with third-party tools should be improved (e.g. based on APIs)."

"One of the issues is, when you are defining databases, the way they use entities and relationship diagrams, the way we can define data, like data models, there is still a part they could improve."

"Improvement should be made as per customer requirements."

"In terms of improvement, the app could use some small details and functionalities."

More ARIS BPA cons

"The UI could be improved and made a little bit more presentable."

"This solution has some limitations from a business perspective."

"It really did not work for logical modeling. The look is very old-fashioned. You can't make the diagrams easy on the eye, so we ended up drawing them again in Visio anyhow."

"The Portfolio Management features can be added in the next release. As it helps you to manage more portfolio of projects and architectures of cost projects on a portfolio level. This would be an important feature in the next release."

"It would be nice to have it supported on the Linux operating system."

"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."

"I have found the solution is lacking options. The general usability needs improvement and more compliance to CML definitions."

"The initial setup of the Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect It's very complicated. It's very difficult to start with the right templates because there are many possibilities. The deployment took approximately two days."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of pricing, it would be nice if it were more affordable."

"Prices are high. However, they are worth it if the organization utilizes the tool to its full potential."

"The pricing and licensing costs are available on their website. They will assign a relationship manager to assist if you show further interest in their products."

"You will never get a fixed price for this product because they will go in and ask you what kind of environment would you like to set up? How many people will you work with? How big is your organization? Today, they have a fixed price to say, "Okay, just to start the business area, buy two licenses for modeling and eight people that can look into the product." They have this kind of fixed price. It's 50,000 Danish Krone. If you divided that by about six, then you get the pricing in dollars. Still, when you are going out, negotiate and find the right price. You will never get a fixed price: "It costs this and, if you take ten of these, seven of these and eight of these, and then it costs this." No, you negotiate every time."

"It is on the higher side."

"If you can afford it, it's the best so far."

"It is well worth the investment in the enterprise."

"Usually, our company buys technical support from the Software AG site. We bought the technical support for the first year of usage for ARIS version 6 and 7. So, when we migrated to ARIS version 7, we bought support only for the first year. Then, we didn't use it the next year. Our experience was that we use it only one to three times during the first year. Therefore, there wasn't much value for us to buy this service because we have no problem with using ARIS after the first year."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"The pricing is reasonable."

"The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."

"The solution is quite expensive."

"It is cheap."

"This product has a paid license, with a yearly subscription option."

"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"It's reasonably priced for large organizations."

"There is no license required for this solution."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	47

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	38
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	58

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS BPA?

The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?

It is a bit expensive regarding ARIS BPA. However, ARIS BPA does save a lot of effort because this is one tool which can be used for multiple purposes and the viewers have the capability to perform...

See all answers

What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?

We are not using any what-if scenario features in ARIS BPA. Currently, we are not using the performance monitoring and compliance checks features in ARIS BPA. We have plans to use them, but current...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 19% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 8% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

Visio vs ARIS BPA

Compared 4% of the time

More ARIS BPA Competitors

Visual Paradigm vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 12% of the time

No Magic MagicDraw vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 8% of the time

Visio vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 8% of the time

Lucidchart vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 7% of the time

Camunda vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 3% of the time

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

January 2026

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

January 2026

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect report

Download Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

No data available

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

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is an enterprise solution that helps streamline, accelerate, and integrate software, system, and business development. With this intuitive modeling and design solution, enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, enable collaboration, support their teams and colleagues, and manage complex projects. Software architects, business analysts, project managers, developers, support staff, and testers can unite under a single repository. Through numerous view points and potential sub-systems, users are offered a unified view in a complex environment.

With Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, users are also offered a shared model option which can be accessed quickly and securely by in-office and remote team members through the Enterprise Architect’s Pro Cloud Server. Building a coherent, verifiable model can be done by connecting and integrating a variety of behavioral and structural information in visual form. As a result, Enterprise Architect offers high performance, flexibility, and the ability to model, manage, and trace every stage of the business development and modeling process.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Features

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect assists in creating a unified and accessible vision in business development by offering a flexible platform with a unique set of rich features. These features include:

Test and debug - Streamline software development and visualize software with the simulation process. Users can test and confirm correct behavior, set and oversee test points, and debug and examine software.

Track tasks - Track, prioritize, and assign individual and group tasks to assist in the model’s development. Users can visually monitor their progress through the Gantt chart.

Open standards - Users can visualize and analyze running software with integrated custom tools. They can also run advanced simulations, team-based repositories, testing tools, and version control. In addition, the solution supports enterprise architecture frameworks such as UPDM and TOGAF.

Simulation - Create and debug embedded solutions by simulating behaviors and state models. Users can specify events, triggers, constraints, and more. Users can also specify extensive and complex structural systems and create custom domain-specific solutions.

Reviews from Real Users

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect merges high-end tools, online availability, a dedication to open standards, and accessible pricing so enterprises can stay in control of their workplaces, whether remote or in-office. Users particularly like the architectural frameworks and the scalability.

Marc L., a principal architecture enterprise solution adviser at Cronomagic Canada, notes, "The product offers very good support for all mainstream modeling notations and architectural frameworks."

An enterprise architect at a manufacturing company writes, "Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."

Sparx Systems

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.

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Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

December 2025

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