We use the application for process mapping through architecture. It helps visualize the activities and interactions between 3,000 different systems on the network.
Principal Delivery Lead at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Intuitive product with easy deployment and maintenance processes
Pros and Cons
- "The product efficiently visualizes various business processes, including building and networking architecture."
- "In terms of features, it could provide more automation to display data flowing through architecture."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The product efficiently visualizes various business processes, including building and networking architecture. It is quite intuitive, and there is a lot of training documentation available. We can import an Excel Spreadsheet with all the essential data, and Visio can build the diagram using it.
What needs improvement?
In terms of features, it could provide more automation to display data flowing through architecture. It should give a real-time data update.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using Visio for 20 years.
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January 2026
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable application.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have 30 Visio users in our organization, but soon, we will roll out the product for about 200 users. It is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
I take help from our internal IT staff in case of technical issues. If they need further assistance, they approach Visio’s technical support team.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Draw.io before. It is free software and designs diagrams quickly. However, it has very limited functionality and is not suitable for enterprises. I would recommend Visio for working on business processes on a day-to-day basis.
How was the initial setup?
The product is easy to deploy and maintain. It takes a few minutes to complete the process and requires one admin executive to work on it. It received automated updates.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is inexpensive if you already have Microsoft products in your environment. The license encompasses all the required services.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend Visio to others and rate it a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Lead Enterprise Domain Architects at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
A very easy-to-use tool that provides stability to its users at an affordable price
Pros and Cons
- "Visio is a very easy tool in general, making it easy for anyone to understand."
- "The export and import functionality from Visio to other tools and the import and export functionality from other tools to Visio are areas with shortcomings."
What is our primary use case?
Visio is used as a diagramming software for ITM.
What is most valuable?
Visio is a very easy tool in general, making it easy for anyone to understand.
What needs improvement?
Visio is a very good product.
The export and import functionality from Visio to other tools and the import and export functionality from other tools to Visio are areas with shortcomings. Widening the export and import functionality of Visio will be a great improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Visio for twenty years. I am using the solution's latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Visio is a very stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is used to buy a single user at a time because it is meant to be client-side software, so scalability does not apply to it.
For my company, we have around one hundred licenses.
I don't know what the license cost is, but we are not planning to extend the usage of the solution in our company.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I had previously used Sparx Enterprise Architect. Every company has its own standards, which is why you use what is meant for the company, provided by the company, which is not a big deal.
How was the initial setup?
Visio's setup phase was very straightforward and easy. I bought a license to use Visio at my home.
An hour at the most was needed to deploy the solution.
One needs just to purchase the license and download it from the internet as a part of the deployment process.
The solution is deployed on-premises.
What about the implementation team?
The installation phase of Visio was carried out in-house.
What was our ROI?
I never calculated the ROI, but Visio provides me with far better than what I am paying.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My company does pay toward the licensing costs of Visio. It is a cheap product based on my experience, and since I purchased Visio for my own use.
What other advice do I have?
To those planning to use it, I would say that it is the simplest tool.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Visio
January 2026
Learn what your peers think about Visio. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
881,036 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Integration developer at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees
Initial setup is straightforward, but customer support service needs to be improved
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is finely stable."
- "Its support team could be well-equipped with the required information."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution mainly for designing purposes. It helps us design activity charts, sequential charts, and other diagrams.
What needs improvement?
They should improve the solution's customer support service.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using the solution for more than twenty years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is finely stable.
How are customer service and support?
The solution's customer service team could be well-equipped with the required information.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used PowerDesigner earlier.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You have to purchase a license to use the solution.
What other advice do I have?
I rate the solution as a six.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
SQL Server Developer at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Stable and lets you create data models and diagrams
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of Visio is diagram creation. If you have a presentation, you can create your data model using Visio."
- "An area for improvement in Visio is pricing. It's a costly tool for my company because it only uses Visio occasionally."
What is our primary use case?
The company uses Visio for a maintenance project occasionally. I use Visio for infrastructure architecture and create data models on it.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Visio is diagram creation. If you have a presentation, you can create your data model using Visio. The tool has Microsoft components you can find in Microsoft Power BI, particularly the drag-and-drop functionality and link creation between the two components.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement in Visio is pricing. It's a costly tool for my company because it only uses Visio occasionally.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've only used Visio four or five times in the ten years it's been in my company.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability-wise, Visio is an eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I didn't see the option to scale Visio because it's one user at a time and installed on your local machine, so I'm not sure about its scalability.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Visio is easy because it's a Microsoft product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Visio is a pricey tool. It's a five out of ten, cost-wise. It would be great if it had a pay-per-use licensing model because my company uses it sparingly. If Visio had a two-day use license, that would be helpful.
What other advice do I have?
My company uses Visio, but not very frequently.
My rating for Visio is eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Executive Director at a non-profit with 51-200 employees
It's stable and the setup is straightforward, but the price is too high for some South American markets
Pros and Cons
- "Installing Visio is straightforward."
- "The price could be lower because it is too expensive in South America when paying in dollars or euros."
What is our primary use case?
I use Visio to go to meetings on Zoom.
For how long have I used the solution?
I use Visio all the time.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Visio is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Visio is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
Installing Visio is straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price could be lower because it is too expensive in South America when paying in dollars or euros.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT/Business Architect at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Stable diagramming and modeling software, but lacks database integration
Pros and Cons
- "Architecture modeling software with satisfactory standard features. It's also stable and effective in facilitating communication with others."
- "Integration with other applications need improvement. Having the functionality to integrate with databases will also make this solution better."
What is our primary use case?
We use Visio for architecture modeling. We also use it to facilitate communication with other people.
What is most valuable?
The feature I like most about Visio is that it acts as a facilitator of communication, as it displays information that's easier to understand.
What needs improvement?
The only area for improvement we see in Visio is its integration. It could be improved, but in terms of features, we are really satisfied with the standard features of this solution.
An additional feature I'd like to see in Visio in the future is database integration. It would be good if it could be integrated with a database or data system to better manage the data, which would also help it communicate better with other applications.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Visio for seven years now.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We didn't experience any performance issues with Visio. It's a stable solution.
How was the initial setup?
The setup and implementation of Visio went smoothly.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The popularity of a product is an indicator of its price. Because of the popularity of Visio, its price is on the higher side.
What other advice do I have?
I don't have an intensive experience with Visio on architecture.
Within our organization, there are more than 20 users of this solution.
We are satisfied with Visio, but we are not intensive users of it. We have not been able to try out all of its features.
We didn't have a chance to contact technical support because we have not experienced any performance issues from this solution.
My advice to people who would like to try Visio is that it may not be the best solution in the market for architecture modeling, or for other modeling purposes, but it is effective in facilitating communication with others.
With one being the worst and ten being the best, I'm rating Visio a seven.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Facility director at a aerospace/defense firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
Very fluid, very interactive, designed to reduce the manual work for basic flowcharts
Pros and Cons
- "Very interactive with an intuitive interface."
- "As a user, it, unfortunately, lacks recognition by Microsoft products."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case of this solution is for process mapping and a little for organizational charts. We are customers of Visio.
What is most valuable?
The solution has a fairly intuitive interface. When it comes to process mapping, the best thing about it is that it's already configured for swim lanes and for drag and drop and easy manipulation of the objects and connection lines. It makes it a very easy-to-use solution. In comparison, if you're using PowerPoint, you have to manually size things and then adjust the font and it's very tedious trying to get everything connected. In contrast, Visio is very fluid, very interactive, and designed with features that reduce the manual work for basic flowcharts.
What needs improvement?
As a user, it would be helpful if Visio was in a native format recognized by Microsoft Word products, but that's not the case.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have been using this product for 20 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. We're a global company although I'm not sure how many in the company use this product on a regular basis.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward and the solution is intuitive enough that you can begin using it immediately.
What other advice do I have?
I rate this solution eight out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Power Electronics Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
User-friendly with a good interface and fairly simple installation
Pros and Cons
- "The scalability is good. We can reuse it as a model. It can be modified."
- "I can't speak to any missing features. It's been fine so far."
What is our primary use case?
I'm using only this tool for our full architecture block diagram development. We're using it for our action projects, what are we are running.
How has it helped my organization?
It's a part of our process where architecture and detailed document development are needed. That's it. From the architecture and flow diagram preparation perspective, when it comes to detailing the documentation before implementing other components can be done in Visio.
What is most valuable?
The solution is stable.
The scalability is good. We can reuse it as a model. It can be modified.
The tool is user-friendly.
We are able to bring out what we want in terms of our architectural or detailed block diagrams.
The installation is easy.
I'm now used to the user interface. I like it.
What needs improvement?
I can't speak to any missing features. It's been fine so far.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for a while.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's reliable and the performance is good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have found the solution to be scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.
Most people in our organization use the solution. It is meant for all engineers and then architects. Managers also use it when it comes to representing some project flow processes from the point of view of management.
How are customer service and support?
We haven't dealt with technical support. I cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they are.
How was the initial setup?
The initial implementation is very easy. However, I cannot recall how long it took to actually deploy it.
What about the implementation team?
Our IT team handled the implementation in-house. We did not need outside assistance from integrators or consultants.
What was our ROI?
It's just a supporting tool. I can't speak to any direct ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
While I know that we do have to pay a licensing fee, I can't speak to the exact details. I don't handle that aspect. I'm not sure if there are extra costs on top of the license itself.
What other advice do I have?
We're a customer and an end-user.
We're using the latest version of the solution.
I'd recommend the solution. It's always a useful tool. Instead of using other drawing tools, I'd say that this one is likely the best option.
I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Updated: January 2026
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