ARIS BPA vs IBM Blueworks Live comparison

Software AG and IBM are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.1, while IBM is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.3. Software AG holds a 7.5% mindshare in BPD, compared to IBM’s 3.5% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of IBM users who would recommend it.

ARIS BPA

Read 68 ARIS BPA reviews

4,223 Views
2,337 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Blueworks Live

Read 20 IBM Blueworks Live reviews

2,080 Views
1,192 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

ARIS BPA

IBM Blueworks Live

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

ARIS BPA and IBM Blueworks Live compete in the business process management and modeling category. ARIS BPA appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set, including robust reporting and integration capabilities.

Features: ARIS BPA offers a robust module design, strong reporting capabilities, and comprehensive process modeling. It excels in object reusability, database structure, and flexibility, which are suitable for process modeling, analysis, and architecture. IBM Blueworks Live provides cloud-based process modeling with easy collaboration features, BPMN 2.0 support, and integration with Microsoft Office, valued for its simplicity and cost-effectiveness.

Room for Improvement: ARIS BPA could enhance its pricing structure and simplify installation. Users seek improvements in report formatting, team activity tracking, and stability, along with a more intuitive scripting language and unified interface. IBM Blueworks Live lacks process execution and simulation features, with users suggesting enhancements in reporting, integrations, and customization options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ARIS BPA offers versatile deployment options across on-premises and cloud environments. Customer support is generally good, though responsiveness varies. IBM Blueworks Live is praised for its simple cloud-based deployment, with user support receiving positive feedback but with room for improvement in communication.

Pricing and ROI: ARIS BPA is considered expensive with complex licensing, yet its robust features are valued by large enterprises for ROI. IBM Blueworks Live is noted for its cost-effectiveness and subscription model, appealing to businesses seeking affordable solutions with quick adoption.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live

June 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 859,687 peers since 2012

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

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (7th)

IBM Blueworks Live

Ranking in Business Process Design

12th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS BPA is 7.5%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

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

AjarMathur

Global Innovation Director at Ernst & Young

An easily scalable and affordable solution that enables users to document and digitize processes with ease

IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts. There is only one kind of BPMN 2.0 diagram. It is a process diagram. It doesn't have the concept of separate tools, which other products offer. If I had to do a hardcore BPMN 2.0 modeling, the product would have its own reservations. There were features we could not explore from a BPMN 2.0 perspective. Most of the time, people who are shifting from Microsoft Office tools to a digitized way of working still want the reporting capabilities to be strong. Some tools, like ARIS or Signavio, offer customized solutions from the reporting perspective. If I have documented my whole finance process and want to fetch out a complete SOP report in a very customized manner, IBM Blueworks cannot provide it. We have to rely on some other services. So that's one area in which we always struggled, how to really customize the reporting aspects. I understand that we need to keep the tool a little more asset-light. It's very difficult to keep adding many options, but at least a few BPMN 2.0 options were needed. We have been suggesting to IBM that we should have some way of customizing the reporting. At least we should get a custom way of reporting it into different formats like Excel or putting up a logo for one of the clients so that their SAP can be printed that way.

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

"It brings transparency and 360-degree views of end-to-end processes."

"It has allowed us to model our enterprise process architecture."

"The whole ARIS BPM solution is a bit special, because from the very beginning it was targeted more to Business users and the Management."

"The ease of use is the most valuable. I have tried a number of BPMN packages, and I find the user interface of ARIS BPM easier and more intuitive than others. If your team is knowledgeable on BPMN, it is really pretty easy to figure out on your own because it adheres to the standards extremely well. I have tried Bizagi, BizFlow, and a variety of such solutions, and I just liked ARIS BPM better."

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

"The technical support is good."

"Collaboration and governance over enterprise artifacts."

"The stability of the ARIS BPM platform is quite good. The nice thing about it is the central database, where we can use all of our data. We can even manage users."

More ARIS BPA pros

"The ease of documenting and digitizing the processes was valuable to us."

"It has the ability to document in different formats. It is not tied to a specific model. You can look at it from different angles and see the intuitive nature of it. It always generates a valid diagram. You cannot create something that is not BPMN compliant."

"It has a built-in capability to capture process owners and managers against processes along with other process governance roles."

"The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic."

"You can use if from your mobile device or you can be on the desktop. It doesn't matter. You are always connected. It is cloud-based, so you don't have to install anything."

"The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave."

"Business users understand it really well, which means we can then help them automate their business processes."

"We are you using the product as a process mapping tool and as part of a larger process improvement project. We use it with IBM BPM and IBM ODM. We get an automated workflow solution for our customers, an improved workflow automation."

More IBM Blueworks Live pros

Cons

"I believe the solutions BPM tools are not very good and need improvements."

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

"ARIS needs to make a better user interface. The user interface sucks. The problem with ARIS is that they have two interfaces for the same product."

"Integration with third-party tools should be improved (e.g. based on APIs)."

"The reporting and the information query features could do with some improvement."

"Improvement should be made as per customer requirements."

"ARIS BPA’s usability could be improved."

"One of the issues is, when you are defining databases, the way they use entities and relationship diagrams, the way we can define data, like data models, there is still a part they could improve."

More ARIS BPA cons

"IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts."

"The APIs are great, except the normal business user doesn't know how to create APIs. So it's hard because IBM comes to us as the business users and tell us to create reporting with APIs, except we don't know that, so we have to turn around and flip it to our IT people."

"I would like to see integration with ERP systems. This would help us to simulate the process and see where the problems are. Though IBM Blueworks Live is a good tool for documenting, it is not good for simulating."

"Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively."

"We would like the ability to add additional custom colors. We would like to color additional items to add notes to the blueprint."

"The font size is really, really small and it's really not useful to print out process models because you cannot read what's written in different boxes. This makes it necessary for people to have access to the tool. We view licenses to see how the printing or output is. It's not very good."

"The ability to create a very structured rule. With the capability that we have right now, Blueworks Live is more process focused. We should be able to enhance it to include a lot more of decisions as well."

"I can't insert any images. For example, within the process map, if I want to put it in the box or rectangle, or circle. If I have to use one image or icon, that's not possible."

More IBM Blueworks Live cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of pricing, it would be nice if it were more affordable."

"The product is inexpensive."

"We have a concurrent license system."

"The price could be better."

"The product is expensive."

"It is well worth the investment in the enterprise."

"The pricing and licensing costs are available on their website. They will assign a relationship manager to assist if you show further interest in their products."

"ARIS is quite expensive."

More ARIS BPA pricing and cost advice

"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."

"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."

"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."

"Making it less expensive would be good."

"The solution is very, very cost-effective."

"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."

"The solution is not very expensive."

"Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Business Process Design solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

859,687 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

19%

Computer Software Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS BPA?

The most valuable features of ARIS BPA are its flexibility and reporting.

See all answers

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?

I find it difficult to access the database as I want with direct querying. I must write scripts, which requires specific knowledge. Software AG could improve this by making the database more open. ...

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Blueworks Live?

The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?

The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?

Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively.

See all answers

Comparisons

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS BPA

Compared 24% of the time

ADONIS vs ARIS BPA

Compared 10% of the time

Camunda vs ARIS BPA

Compared 7% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS BPA

Compared 6% of the time

BIC Platform vs ARIS BPA

Compared 2% of the time

More ARIS BPA Competitors

Visio vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 31% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 23% of the time

Lucidchart vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 13% of the time

ARIS Cloud vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 12% of the time

Camunda vs IBM Blueworks Live

Compared 7% of the time

More IBM Blueworks Live Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA

June 2025

Download ARIS BPA product report

Buyer's Guide

IBM Blueworks Live

June 2025

Download IBM Blueworks Live product report

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM

IBM Lombardi Blueprint

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

IBM Blueworks Live is a cloud-based business process modeling tool that helps you discover, map and document your processes. It is easy to use, allowing you to learn and perform business process modeling in minutes.

With Blueworks Live you can:

Simplify business process modeling
Quickly build business processes in a straightforward, cloud-based interface designed for both IT and business users.

Improve process efficiency and accuracy
A central process repository eliminates version control and consistency issues by providing users real-time access to process workflows.

Enhance cross-team collaboration
A shared team workspace engages all business process owners, encouraging cross-team participation and continuous process improvement.

IBM

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.

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council

Buyer's Guide

ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live

June 2025

Free Report: ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live

Find out what your peers are saying about ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

859,687 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our ARIS BPA vs. IBM Blueworks Live report.

See our list of best Business Process Design vendors.

We monitor all Business Process Design reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.