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 7.9, while Sparx Systems is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.2. Software AG holds a 7.0% mindshare in BPD, compared to Sparx Systems’s 9.1% 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 68 ARIS BPA reviews

5,397 Views
3,724 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Read 99 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect reviews

8,412 Views
5,384 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 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect has a steep learning curve and an outdated user interface, which may deter new users.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: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

September 2025

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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 BPA

Ranking in Business Process Design

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (8th)

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 (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 7.0%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 9.1%, down from 12.2% 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	9.1%
ARIS BPA	7.0%
Other	83.9%

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

Tamer Eldamanhouri

Software Engineering & Manager at Arab Infromation Management Services

Empowers teams with robust business process modeling capabilities

They should examine competitor solutions to identify differentiators. One issue related to ARIS BPA is its integration with AI; it has AI features for cloud solutions, yet many in the government sector in Kuwait do not view the cloud as viable. Software AG should focus on developing AI models for ARIS BPA on-premises, particularly in user interfaces, as well as creating predefined business processes for common areas such as HR and finance. This aspect is crucial for adapting to the market's needs and streamlining custom solutions. While they have been helpful regarding pricing, I cannot compare ARIS BPA to other business process modeling tools because I understand some competitors have significantly lower costs than ARIS BPA. To maintain market share, good discounts should be provided to customers.

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.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The simulation engine and SAP integration are technically very robust."

"The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are the centralized repository and the automatic rendering of diagrams."

"ARIS BPA provides very good visibility and control of processes because we have a concurrent license system. As a result, every person in our company and group is able to look at the published processes."

"The most valuable feature is the process documentation. For us, ARIS is a lifestyle more than a tool. It helps us learn how to think and how to plan for our system."

"Good at controlling the workflow and relevant key processes."

"The tool has good navigation."

"ARIS BPA covers many or all blueprints and functions that I need."

"ARIS provides the basic foundation for any digital transformation an organization decides to take."

More ARIS BPA pros

"It's easy to search within the solution."

"Features good reporting facilities coupled with a concrete database."

"It is a useful tool for modeling and testing automated processes."

"Sparx has got a range of modeling features, and I am comfortable with all its offering. I've used a lot of tools over the phone. I found EA Spark, probably the most feature rich product all in all compared to other products. The solution is very cost-effective and that is its best feature. It's a very good delivery architecture tool, which also has enterprise architecture capabilities, and it's got full life cycle processes and software development. So for me, it's a pretty comprehensive tool"

"Using Sparx Enterprise Architect allowed my customer to detail and make the company's IT strategy visible and accessible to all. The system provided clear roadmaps for IT development and helped to keep up-to-date documentation of systems and processes."

"Its ability to reference and link to components from any diagram."

"It has led some teams to do better code reviews - to be less focussed on coding conventions (syntax) and more focussed on the semantics because of the abstraction level clear design affords."

"The solution allows us to quickly present designs and concepts to customers and get their feedback, thereby moving the project forward step by step."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pros

Cons

"The standard out-of-the-box solutions for modeling are not so good. You have to do some configuration to make it easier and more user-friendly."

"The areas of ARIS where we see room for improvement are actually related to the background services that support it. Over the last number of years, Software AG has moved from an on-premises solution into deploying a SaaS solution to their enterprise base. That has been really successful from my point of view, as I have been a customer of ARIS, managing the relationship, for a couple years. Certain support functions around the knowledge base, customer service, and the cross and upselling of modules within the core ARIS component are lagging behind the SaaS movement."

"The governance mechanism could be better, as could automation."

"The Risk and Compliance Management tool is rather complex and moreover, it needs to be customized if you want to use it."

"The usability. Others tools are easier to manage without same complexity that ARIS has."

"I had this decentralization mission where I had some friendly fights with the consultants of Software AG. My opinion was the business department should be able to publish their processes and do all their evaluation stuff in ARCM themselves. It has to be a one stop shop. I want a one stop shop to go from ARIS BPM to ARIS ARCM, because having everything go through that would be an improvement due to the inputs that we made with Software AG. They will make it possible that the trigger sent from BPM to ARCM will start their object generation."

"Regarding stability, when there are any customized settings being done at customer end - post upgrade to newer versions - it makes the customer environment unstable for a short duration."

"Since this is a design tool, seamless interface to make the process flows executable."

More ARIS BPA cons

"Greater OMG UML and XMI compliance"

"I would like it to be less of a general tool. Currently, it is not a Swiss army knife that can do everything. It is not specialized for our purposes. We are a civil engineering company. We build things. We work mostly in what is known as Infra world in the Netherlands, which comprises objects such as bridges, locks, and water management. We would like to see more focus on such types of projects. It would be nice if it has more specializations. At the moment, it is very generic, and you have to create everything yourself. Our focus is more on user requirement management, which is currently very basic. I would like to see a lot more functionality in this area. Its basic functions for adding user requirements are perfect, but we need more features. Currently, it has limited possibilities for our requirements. I would also like to see better contract management and have it managed in a certain way."

"The presentation graphics need to be improved in future builds."

"They should make the Save button easier to find. A simplified user interface for a lighter user would probably be useful. I am not sure if such an interface is already there."

"The fact that you can do a lot yourself is a plus point, but it also becomes a challenge because you need an understanding of the programming languages to get things to work. It becomes challenging for those who are not very good at programming. You have standard reports, but if you want to make your own reports, you have to program it. Similarly, if you want validations rules, you have to take care of them yourself."

"The solution needs to offer better support for the mobile-based system. Right now, it's not working."

"More challenging than other tools to maintain documents and document versions for an architecture board review."

"When the model is large, it is a bit slow to render."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From my point of view, no, it is not cheap, but it is not too expensive because you get this big organization behind it, technical support, and all those things. It's not so expensive to use. It's a Rolls Royce in this field, I know that. Even for small organizations, they can get so much effect from using this tool, in a very fast way, so the money will be back in the customer's pocket very fast."

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

"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."

"ARIS enables you to start small and grow the use of the solution over time, although it's quite expensive. So if you want to start small, it's quite an investment for a small company."

"Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay."

"Their license model is really difficult to understand, and licenses are quite expensive."

"ARIS has different licensing mechanisms for different modules, but they are perpetual licenses. So you pay once."

"We have a concurrent license system."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"We paid 1200 euros as a once-off cost. All add ons and integrations come at an additional cost."

"We had a yearly license."

"Pricing and licensing are suitable even for small companies."

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

"I use my own license. So, I just bought the professional version, which costs $800 or something like that. In the company where I am working, we have floating licenses. They are probably more expensive. Its licensing is affordable, but we are talking about a large organization, and there could be modelers or viewers of the models. We don't know how much that would cost us."

"There is a license for this solution. When comparing this solution to others it is priced well."

"Enterprise licensing is competitive. What would be helpful if they load the pricing for consultants, you know, people who are consultants for clients. So the license is fine for end-user organizations. Still, they should consider lowering the license to support this adoption, particularly for people who are consultants like myself."

"The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Financial Services Firm

13%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	32
Midsize Enterprise	8
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.

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

Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?

ARIS BPA needs to be more accurate when generating documents. While it covers many blueprints and functions that I need, the document generation feature could be enhanced for better accuracy.

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...

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What needs improvement with Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

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Comparisons

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs ARIS BPA

Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

LeanIX vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 8% of the time

Avolution ABACUS vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

October 2025

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

October 2025

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

September 2025

Free Report: ARIS BPA vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

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