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SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer vs SAP PowerDesigner vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of SAP Enterprise Architecture Designer is 0.8%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP PowerDesigner is 8.9%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 13.9%, down from 18.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Artur Chyziewicz - PeerSpot reviewer
Great training available with traceability a key feature
I use this solution to model enterprise software architecture. We are customers of SAP and an educational organization in Poland.  Traceability is a fantastic feature.  They should upgrade the algorithm. The solution currently has an old algorithm and there are now free tools on the market that…
JorgeSanz - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective in terms of validating everything, but sometimes they don't allow us some flexibility and GUI could improve
I would recommend SAP PowerDesigner to others for data architecture management. It provides all the functionalities in terms of data modeling, so it's also a good tool for that. I see trends in terms of data classification, but I don't see this tool with the intelligence to do that automatically. So, like, with artificial intelligence. Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten because there are too many validations. Also, I found some gaps in terms of relationships; they didn't appear when you do reverse engineering. Also, this tool lacks artificial intelligence that should be very good in terms of automatically identifying the classification of elements and maybe also to incorporate some artificial intelligence in providing descriptions for each data element included in the solution.
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

"Traceability is a fantastic feature."
"In terms of operational efficiency and cause savings or return on investment, I can say that with SAP PowerDesigner, our company saves a lot of time."
"It offers a lot of features in one solution. You would have to get multiple other products to bundle together all of the capabilities that you get in just this product."
"The most valuable features of SAP PowerDesigner are the creation the flow charts and folders. It is a powerful tool."
"I like the connectivity or the lineage between the models and usability."
"It has helped me to develop the as-is state, design its to-be state, and track the capital investment according to gap analysis."
"This solution has good tools for big data, where you can manage large and complex databases."
"I've used the reverse engineering feature a lot. I can take a look at the structure of the database and what relationships it has."
"The most valuable feature of SAP PowerDesigner is the testing of the models, it has the best function. Reverse engineering is very helpful too."
"I have found the Meta Model tuning feature useful as it provides me with an overview of all my work needs."
"Customizable and tailored to the environment. Several template frameworks are provided."
"The solution saved a lot of time, about 30%."
"I like that there is support for software patterns."
"The initial setup is easy."
"It is a very flexible product. It can do a lot. It is also a reliable product."
"It is a handy tool for visual modeling that provides opportunities for analysis, design, and support of models using ArchiMate, UML."
"We use it to develop and maintain the Enterprise Conceptual Model, migrated from erwin a couple of years ago."
 

Cons

"The algorithm is outdated and should be upgraded."
"Not very intuitive or user-friendly."
"In the future, I would like to see data manipulation capability where you can actually write SQL queries and manipulate data from directly within the tool."
"UI could be improved by enabling simpler navigation."
"There are many areas of this solution that needs to be changed."
"Connectivity can be improved because it's not very good."
"Pricing for small consultancies needs improvement. They sustain prices to competing tools. The competing tools tend to do special offers. PowerDesigner SAP doesn't pay much attention to the pricing of it and there are no special offers."
"One disadvantage of SAP PowerDesigner is that you cannot reverse engineer the ALTER statements, so that's an enhancement or area for improvement I'm looking forward to seeing from the SAP team in the future. That should directly reflect on the physical data models my company builds."
"The tool lags in the area of customer service."
"There should be a MATLAB-specific toolbox added to the solution with better compatibility. The connections currently are good but in the future, it needs a huge improvement."
"It would be nice to have it supported on the Linux operating system."
"The UI could be improved and made a little bit more presentable."
"The documentation could be better. Where I work, we speak French and we don't speak English, so we don't have anything in French. It's perfect in English, but we need something in French."
"I would like the system to more "intellectually" build a scheme, place icons, and connect lines on the schemes."
"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."
"Using EA involves a steep learning curve if you want to understand its capabilities and functionality."
"This solution is quite complex to use. It would be nice if the learning curve wasn't so steep."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"I bought the software outright and do not pay a licensing fee."
"Regarding costs, SAP PowerDesigner is pricey, as I've heard from my team manager, which is why the company has been thinking of bringing another solution on board."
"The pricing varies based on functionality and users."
"SAP PowerDesigner is cheaper than eriwin."
"PowerDesigner is not the cheapest solution on the market, so make sure that you are using it to its full potential."
"I would like SAP to prove free licenses to professionals that are using the solution. The free version is limited."
"The price of the solution is low."
"The ROI has been 43%."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."
"This product has a paid license, with a yearly subscription option."
"Licenses are pretty low cost compared to, for example, ARIS."
"We had a yearly license."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"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."
"I think our license costs roughly $1,000 a year, but I could be wrong."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
University
12%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Financial Services Firm
26%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about SAP PowerDesigner?
It allows us to have proper documentation in terms of the databases.
What needs improvement with SAP PowerDesigner?
Based on my experience with SAP PowerDesigner, I'd like to see improvements in the DMM feature. Even if I have an ETL...
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...
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 stra...
 

Also Known As

SAP EA Designer
Sybase PowerDesigner
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Medtronic, Cirque du Soleil, Antarc, B&G Manufacturing, EarlySense, eBay, Ferrero, James Austin Company, Lenovo, Sagem, RAK Ceramics, Vodafone
OmniLink
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP LeanIX, Sparx Systems, erwin by Quest and others in Enterprise Architecture Management. Updated: March 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.