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ARIS BPA vs Lucidchart 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

ARIS BPA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (6th), Business Process Management (BPM) (11th)
Lucidchart
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
65
Ranking in other categories
Mind Mapping Software (2nd), Visual Collaboration Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

ARIS BPA and Lucidchart aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ARIS BPA is designed for Business Process Design and holds a mindshare of 7.2%, down 7.7% compared to last year.
Lucidchart, on the other hand, focuses on Mind Mapping Software, holds 19.7% mindshare, down 23.8% since last year.
Business Process Design Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ARIS BPA7.2%
Bizagi8.4%
Camunda8.0%
Other76.4%
Business Process Design
Mind Mapping Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Lucidchart19.7%
Visio20.4%
Xmind13.9%
Other46.00000000000001%
Mind Mapping Software
 

Featured Reviews

BM
Consultant at KAFD DMC
Has improved process modeling and analysis while supporting integration with organizational data
The process design in ARIS BPA does help with our operational efficiency. What we are doing is object library management for various kinds of objects that we are using in ARIS BPA during our process modeling. We are using that to do a lot of analysis on how many times a system is being used in how many processes, who are the major stakeholders, and if we enhance one system, how is it going to impact other processes and integrated processes. This is helping us a lot. Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual. We are doing a lot of things with regards to the processes as it is at our heart. Processes are one thing and then we have different kinds of things which are related to it, such as SLAs, guidelines, and policy. We are identifying areas of improvement in other documents as well.
AlexMartin1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at Nestlé
Visual collaboration has improved remote workflows and supports faster shared decisions
The best features Lucidchart offers are that it diagrams processes very well. It allows for project management to help with client timelines. It is also easy to use and create diagrams, especially mermaid diagrams. Collaborating is easy. Out of all those features, collaboration stands out to me the most because it is easy to share with team members to do joint design work. Lucidchart has positively impacted my organization by improving productivity and collaboration. In terms of specifics, collaboration helps us come to conclusions. I notice better throughput as it is easy to use. Improved productivity allows us to express ourselves more quickly.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The capability to integrate all information of the business and to generate simulations of processes; it can analyze the model of operations quickly."
"ARIS is the best tool for business from my perspective."
"ARIS BPA provides complete suites when it comes to the discovery, design, and analysis phases of implementation."
"Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual."
"The most valuable feature is that you can relate different aspects of an organization to each other, and you can clearly define the rates seen in the application."
"ARIS is probably the most mature product in terms of modeling an enterprise architecture so that it has context."
"The simulation engine and SAP integration are technically very robust when you consider my segments of expertise (health care, financial, and automotive)."
"Everything related to ARIS BPA is helping us with regards to enhanced processes, strengthened controls, identifying risks, assessing process capabilities, and identifying where the gaps are and what kinds of activities within the processes are automated and manual."
"Based on my experience, Lucidchart is better in terms of functionality and ease of use, and it is the tool to go for."
"The ability for people to look at the diagram rather than reading through written documents saved time, and as a result, money."
"The interface is really good and it is very easy to use."
"Lucidchart has positively impacted my organization by making it very easy for us to create diagrams of any type, and we use it extensively."
"I have observed several advantages overall while using Lucidchart, as it has improved time to decision by at least fifteen percent, created more visibility over the process and decision-making across our business, and enabled collaboration across the team to improve by at least thirteen percent."
"It is a very interesting tool, I love using this tool and have recommended Lucidchart to my colleague and other developers in different companies because it is a good tool that is easy to use with a good UI and is also easy to understand."
"The flow chart is most valuable. It is a very user-friendly and simple-to-use product. Quite quickly, I was able to understand how to use it and just get on with my process flow."
"It is important that Lucidchart accommodates both Mac and PC users because if you support Mac, that means you also support the mobile applications on the iPad... Some of the other employees have access to an iPad, but not all of them do. When we're trying to talk through a process with them on-the-fly, or at the point of occurrence, it's so much nicer if we can both have it up on the iPad. That's why I would say the Mac support is essential."
 

Cons

"The tool needs to improve its support since they take long to respond."
"There are reports available in ARIS and you can modify them a bit if you want something more specific, but it's not that easy to adjust them and make modifications."
"We do experience a lot of glitches with ARIS BPA. In the past one year we have seen issues and the ARIS administrator has raised tickets with Software AG regarding these issues."
"In my experience, once the organization creates the process model in ARIS EPC, it will take approximately two years before most organizations ditch any effort to update it."
"Since ARIS 9.X was released, the product has not been as robust and responsive as the previous versions."
"Create simple data uploader."
"The model graphics can be exported in PDF, but the model is too small to read."
"I have standardized on Vtenext, and I don't use ARIS BPM anymore."
"One of the issues has been that, as far as I understand, even to view it, the other person needs a Lucidchart account unless you send them a PDF. That's been a bit of an issue because some people in our organization don't have Lucidchart accounts, only certain people have logins. If we just want to collect comments from people, that's been a bit complicated."
"If it could be a little more visual, in terms of being able to make it stand out a little bit more, then that would be helpful."
"It can have more colors or graphics. Currently, it is a little boring. It can have a little bit more fun factor."
"When you log in the first time, they ask you a lot of questions, such as what are you going to use it for. Half of the things weren't applicable to me. I couldn't see the skip button, so I picked random things because none of the given options was applicable to me. It is a tech startup, and I am in a consultant role. I use it for a variety of things, but the questions were tailored for HR professionals who are creating org structures or IT professionals who are doing data flow diagrams. What if I do both of them depending on the project I'm working on? I just felt that I am wasting time with those questions and just wanted them to stop asking me these questions and get into charting."
"I would really like to be able to set default appearance settings for new documents because I have a set of appearance settings that I always use."
"They should make it more user-friendly. The only option is either to use the existing template with already existing colors and gradients. If you want to do custom colors and gradients, then it's too complicated to use and should be simplified."
"The main improvement I would like to see is for them to improve the help section on the flow charts or on the formatting."
"What I do find extremely frustrating is that when I've sent the sheet to non-license holders, you have to create an account. You create a username and password. The path taken to create that account is so confusing that everyone thinks that they have to give their credit card number, and then they're reluctant. They don't want to go through the sheet."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"I would recommend the product to only enterprise companies because of the pricing."
"ARIS has different licensing mechanisms for different modules, but they are perpetual licenses. So you pay once."
"Pricing for ARIS BPA is average, not cheap or expensive. It's cost-effective and worth the money we pay."
"The setup cost and pricing depend on the license (Modeler, Viewer, Administrator)."
"It depends on different parameters."
"ARIS is quite expensive."
"This is absolutely not the cheapest solution in the market, but for large companies, the price is fine."
"Its pricing is very affordable and reasonable for the features that it provides. I am using its basic plan, and for my usage, it is perfectly reasonable. It suits perfectly."
"There is a nominal charge for the paid version of the product. They have a free version available and from what I could see, there was not much difference between it and the pro version."
"Pricing comes in at about $100 for a year's subscription, which is very reasonable if this is a tool that you will use more than once."
"The pricing and licensing are fine, though I wish they didn't require you to buy the licenses in batches of five."
"At €167 per user per year, the pricing is slightly higher than Visio, but it's worth it."
"I had a quick glimpse of it. It was about 100 Canadian Dollars a year for just me. I don't know if there are any additional costs."
"The pricing and licensing are fine. It has a lot of features that I prefer over some of the other programs, which is good. Being that it is web-based, I feel that it is acceptable that it's on a monthly pay basis. However, I think I pay on an annual basis, which is fine with me."
"The licensing is pretty cost-effective but I haven't considered it on an enterprise level."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise47
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise28
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS BPA?
It is a bit expensive regarding ARIS BPA. However, ARIS BPA does save a lot of effort because this is one tool which can be used for multiple purposes and the viewers have the capability to perform...
What needs improvement with ARIS BPA?
We are not using any what-if scenario features in ARIS BPA. Currently, we are not using the performance monitoring and compliance checks features in ARIS BPA. We have plans to use them, but current...
What is your primary use case for ARIS BPA?
ARIS BPA is being used for process modeling, and we are planning to upgrade and enhance it for process mining and other purposes. We are using it for everything. Currently, we are doing HRMS integr...
LucidChart vs LucidSpark for brainstorming sessions over Zoom
Hi @Krista Thompson ​ - Yes, LucidSpark is a much more nimble and, in some ways, user-friendly tool than LucidChart. LucidSpark is designed to do a better job managing multiple users participating ...
Do you recommend Lucidchart?
I definitely recommend Lucidchart. I feel it is one of the top visual collaboration platforms that’s available on the market. Out of all the solutions I have tried, it is by far the best for diagra...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Lucidchart?
It is cloud-based, so no setup is required. Currently, we are using a free plan.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

ARIS, ARIS BPM
No data available
 

Overview

 

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.
Google, Salesforce, Adobe, Whirlpool, Uber, Wal Mart, Pearson, Twitch, Riot Games, Western Union, Trimble, Starbucks
Find out what your peers are saying about Camunda, Bizagi, Microsoft and others in Business Process Design. Updated: May 2026.
894,807 professionals have used our research since 2012.