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No Magic MagicDraw vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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

No Magic MagicDraw
Ranking in Business Process Design
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Business Process Design
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of No Magic MagicDraw is 3.2%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 10.9%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Q&A Highlights

it_user699090 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 14, 2017
 

Featured Reviews

DiegoRangel - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhanced team communication and design exploration with integrated simulation tools
I was using No Magic MagicDraw to model operations, such as using different kinds of operations with ships or crafts and other systems No Magic MagicDraw facilitated great communication within the team and allowed for the exploration of different designs and architectures, which was beneficial…
Milan Sterba - PeerSpot reviewer
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

"The technical support is very good."
"There is a lot of documentation available on the Internet to understand its functionality."
"When you look at it, No Magic is an all-encompassing tool. You can use it for business architecture design. You can use it for deploying an ERP system across your enterprise. However, it was initially designed and developed for model-based systems engineering. That's the systems engineering required to either produce an IP system or product. It takes away the mounds of paper and puts it into a model. It enables you to generate significant savings by modeling that new product or that system before you ever start developing a prototype."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to quickly build multiple layers within the organizational and business process environments, as well as in the SysML product environments, and converting to files that can be accessed by clients who do not have a system and a teamwork server access."
"The most valuable features are the visibility, standard compliance, and interface."
"The most valuable feature is the amount of flexibility that one has to model, which is great for an individual."
"No Magic has the tools and capability to model a complete enterprise and all product lines."
"I think one of the key things is the plugins for integration with requirements management tools like Doors"
"It's like a repository. So far, we use it only for Information Modelling."
"I like Sparx's BPM features and the way it lets you create the diagram."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports multiple modeling languages like ArchiMate for database design, software lifecycle visualization, and team management."
"This is a useful tool for IT people who need to design their solution architecture."
"Its traversability is most valuable. I can use ArchiMate, and I can create a UML model. ArchiMate is for logical enterprise architecture, UML is for software engineering, and BPMN is for business processes. I can build it to have multiple models, and they are also traversable, which is not something that every tool allows. If there is a huge organization, you can segment it and have separate models for business technology or internal resource management system. You don't need to keep them in one model, and you can decide to segregate them."
"Large variety of profiles and frameworks available out-of-the-box without the need for customization."
"There are a couple of things. Price is one thing, but we also like the scriptability of it. We got into scripting it and automating tasks with it, and it is super duper easy to do and helpful. The API has improved over the years. We automate everything, and I love the automation aspects of it."
"We could capture the process models around 24 countries with all their local variations."
 

Cons

"There are some technical features that you have to study and do research on to be able to understand."
"When I am working with my Mac and I right-click to copy and paste, it doesn't work."
"The documentation for MagicDraw and the video tutorials compared to other competitors is an area for improvement."
"The licenses are expensive compared to similar tools. At the moment, the user is open to using MagicDraw if it's 15% more than other solutions. If it were to cost any more, they wouldn't use it."
"There's lots of documentation. They process multiples of guides. They've got all kinds of guides and documentation out there, but it's kind of hard to find. There are a lot of videos. You can go to YouTube and find videos on how it's been used in different ways, but it just kind of scratches the surface."
"The cost of upgrading the product should be lower."
"Some of No Magic MagicDraw's most valuable features were its integration with other simulation tools, such as MATLAB, the seasonal plugin, and the Rangel simulation toolkit."
"The technical support is not very good."
"In a future release, they should improve portfolio planning."
"No way to implement data integrity and referential integrity constraints."
"The UI is a little bit outdated. It should be more fresh and clean."
"The integration could be improved."
"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."
"When collaborating with other people, it needs to be more user-friendly."
"It should be made Windows compatible."
"I think that collaboration can be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would say licensing would be anywhere from $3,500 to $6,500 per person or per seat (it's a per seat style license)."
"The price of No Magic MagicDraw could improve. The price of the solution is too expensive for smaller-sized companies. There should be a better pricing model."
"I rate the pricing a ten out of ten. It is an expensive product compared to software for model-based system engineering."
"The licensing is on a yearly basis, and it's expensive."
"In addition to the initial cost, you have to pay annually for support in order to get the upgrades."
"The licence has a costly upfront fee which gets you access. You have to pay an annual maintenance fee, which is less."
"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"The licensing is not as expensive as some of the other data modeling tools such as Erwin."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is priced well. The price we pay is approximately $20 per month. Other solutions I have found to be much more expensive."
"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."
"Licenses are pretty low cost compared to, for example, ARIS."
"It is cheap."
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Answers from the Community

it_user699090 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 14, 2017
Jul 14, 2017
Hi, You mentioned prices and I don't really know the difference between those two products. If you can, tell me what product has the reputation to be less expensive. I'm using MagicDraw with NIEM and I pay for the maintenance. NIEM is only usable on the LTD 18.0 version which is their long term version supposed to be more stable. NIEM plugin is in version 1.00. I also use the feature rich ve...
2 out of 5 answers
it_user502215 - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 13, 2017
I do not know about plug-in but Sparx has six NIEM tagged values (architecture meta data)
Jul 13, 2017
I only worked in testing Sparx Enterprise Architect as a replacement for ERwin data modeler. I did not work with No Magic so I don’t know the differences. However, I found this pdf: http://www.uwm.edu.pl/wnt/technicalsc/tech_12/B15.pdf I searched on differences between no magic and sparx enterprise architect. Hope this helps. Good luck!
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
21%
Government
15%
Aerospace/Defense Firm
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Educational Organization
18%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about No Magic MagicDraw?
There is a lot of documentation available on the Internet to understand its functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for No Magic MagicDraw?
Maybe the price is a little bit high for a small company to acquire this tool. However, they offer trial versions and trial licenses for members of INCOSE.
What needs improvement with No Magic MagicDraw?
I don't think there are areas that need improvement.
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 ...
 

Also Known As

MagicDraw
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Northrop Grumman, Labcorp, Deposco, ClearView Training, IT Services Promotion Agency, Intelligent Chaos, Metalithic Systems Inc., Sodifrance
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Find out what your peers are saying about No Magic MagicDraw vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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