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Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs Visio vs Visual Paradigm 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 Business Process Design category, the mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 10.9%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visio is 12.5%, down from 13.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visual Paradigm is 6.4%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

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.
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…
Angie Ibrahim Eissa - PeerSpot reviewer
A software application designed for software development teams to model business information systems and manage development processes
Setting up Visual Paradigm is easy. There's hardly any configuration needed, unlike some other tools. You just choose your method and diagram type, and you're good to go. As for improvements, integrating project management features with diagrams could be better. Viewing outputs could also be smoother, especially when working with multiple files.Deployment is quick and painless. It practically takes no time at all to set up. And because I also teach at the university, I use Visual Paradigm for my classes and case studies. It's easy to switch between products, and my students have no trouble using it on their own.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution allows us to quickly present designs and concepts to customers and get their feedback, thereby moving the project forward step by step."
"It's a stable and scalable solution. I like that it's similar to Rational Rose."
"For the most part, we find that it is remarkable how inexpensive it is."
"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"
"Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."
"Some of the business processes are very easy to compare when you have the diagrams."
"It's a very practical solution. You don't need to do an advanced course to start using this tool."
"Ability to maintain cross-references for all models in all levels - great tractability."
"The solution is finely stable."
"Visio makes it easier than with other tools to do such tasks as changing things or coming up with one's own visual style for presentation purposes."
"The initial setup is pretty straightforward."
"Installing Visio is straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of this product is its versatility."
"Very interactive with an intuitive interface."
"The product is stable."
"The interface of the solution is very good. It's easy to navigate."
"It is easy-to-use and it helps understand its data modeling structure through the intuitive user interface."
"The pricing model is attractive."
"The most valuable feature of the Visual Paradigm that I use is process modeling. Additionally, the solution has a complete set of features."
"The solution is stable. It hasn't crashed, stopped or caused any issues in any way."
"The most valuable feature of Visual Paradigm is the ability to design form flows, add libraries, create organizational charts, and connect them all together."
"I love Visual Paradigm because it has many different types of diagrams. For any field of engineering, we can find a diagram."
"It is a scalable solution since it can be used at an individual level as well as for enterprise-sized businesses."
"The solution is very user-friendly. It's easy to just open it and start working."
 

Cons

"Its best features are not intuitive or easy to learn. Most companies I have worked with, when I see what they are doing with it , are not using more than 5% of what they could and should be doing with it."
"The presentation graphics need to be improved in future builds."
"Because its easy to create diagrams one needs to be vigilant on the housekeeping of orphaned fragments - I have written my own scripts to do this, maybe they are available now."
"This solution should have better ease of use for the uninitiated."
"It could be more user-friendly. The tools could be more simple to use. It's a very complex solution. Because I am a business analyst, I use these tools to manage requirements, and I make models in UML, BPMN, and ArchiMate, and it's complex. In the next release, I would like to see more integrations."
"Not visually appealing."
"Weak in regards to data modelling. No logical or physical modelling or migration from conceptual to physical."
"If you just want to create some diagrams with shapes and arrows, then use Visio."
"Lacks an interface with workflow capability."
"One thing that I always felt was missing was the ability to integrate with other Microsoft products, particularly with things like SharePoint or other Excel Office tools. It may be available, but it is not as good as it could be."
"When I create an organization chart in Visio, and I want to show it to management, I shouldn't have to copy and paste it into a PowerPoint presentation or put it into a PDF file."
"An area for improvement in Visio is pricing. It's a costly tool for my company because it only uses Visio occasionally."
"Microsoft should include Visio as part of their Office 365 offering."
"Visio could improve by simplifying the application to allow the business user more understanding. This will allow us to bring the solution deeper into the organization for use. It can be difficult to navigate and some users tend to rely on third-party applications for auditing, compliance, and policy configuration."
"Its integration with other vendors can be better and support for other formats. For example, when we import a JPEG, we cannot customize it. Similarly, we can't utilize the BPML kind of diagrams."
"There are a lot of patches that sometimes change how one version will interact compared to another."
"I would like to see something for visualizing innovation work maps."
"Visual Paradigm is heavier and has more complexity than one of its competitors, e.g. Lucidchart. It could have been better if it was more simplified."
"Visual Paradigm is much better now. But each project has its own challenges, which is why I'm exploring different tools for my new projects. For instance, designing reports can be tough, especially with the costly intervention of professional services from vendors."
"The product can always get better as the industry changes."
"There is a certain inherent complexity when creating UML diagrams."
"Visual Paradigm can improve by having better process mining tools and model integration."
"More flexibility when choosing the type of diagram would be nice."
"The solution's technical support can be improved and accessible for our company location since Visual Paradigm follows a remote support model with some challenges."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is cheap."
"The license I use is on-premise. We haven't gone to the cloud where we have to pay monthly or something like that. Sparx is cheaper than most similar tools."
"This product has a paid license, with a yearly subscription option."
"I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"They have the price on their site for the enterprise version, and we do receive a small discount."
"There is a license for this solution. When comparing this solution to others it is priced well."
"Licenses are pretty low cost compared to, for example, ARIS."
"I rate the price of Visio a six out of ten."
"I believe Visio to be priced pretty reasonably."
"Personally, I think the price of this solution is too high."
"If I want to buy Visio for myself, I think it will be around 80 to 120 USD, though it is important to consider that I am unsure of its actual costs."
"You have to purchase a license to use the solution."
"Our license for Visio is including with the Office 365 subscription."
"I know you can pick it up in retail for under a thousand per person. You can also pick it up for cheaper than that. Microsoft has about 7,000 licensing models, and you get certain percentages off specific licensing. If you're a partner, you get specific numbers of licenses with the partnership price."
"While I don't recall the exact price I do recall that it was quite high."
"I rate the pricing a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"This is an open-sourced solution, it is free to use."
"You can use Paradigm on a subscription basis and you can choose from different tiers of subscription."
"This product is fairly cheap, but if you want more complex features, e.g. integration with other products, it does require an additional cost."
"You can move between the tiers from month to month so you are not restricted to one pricing model."
"Visual Paradigm's pricing is not expensive."
"The pricing of Visual Paradigm is very appropriate and affordable. There are no hidden costs involved."
"Over the years I've seen an increase in price, and it makes it difficult for a single person company, like me, to decide whether to extend the license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Educational Organization
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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 st...
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 a...
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 t...
What do you like most about Visual Paradigm?
The solution is the best application for data modeling. It helps to architect business processes. Its best features a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visual Paradigm?
I purchased Visual Paradigm on my own, and it was competitively priced, so I was fine with the pricing.
What needs improvement with Visual Paradigm?
The product can always get better as the industry changes, however, I didn't necessarily feel it was lacking for what...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Microsoft Visio
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

OmniLink
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
Adobe, Apple, at&t, Caterpillar, Intel, NASA, Nokia, Toyota
Find out what your peers are saying about Camunda, Microsoft, Sparx Systems and others in Business Process Design. Updated: April 2025.
849,210 professionals have used our research since 2012.