ARIS Cloud vs Visio comparison

Software AG and Microsoft are both solutions in the Business Process Design category. Software AG is ranked #15 with an average rating of 7.2, while Microsoft is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.0. Software AG holds a 2.1% mindshare in BPD, compared to Microsoft’s 12.6% mindshare. Additionally, 87% of Software AG users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

ARIS Cloud

Read 14 ARIS Cloud reviews

1,101 Views
897 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

Visio

Read 106 Visio reviews

7,369 Views
5,936 Comparison Views

80% willing to recommend

ARIS Cloud

Visio

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Visio and ARIS Cloud are competitors in the diagramming and business process modeling software category. Based on the analysis, ARIS Cloud appears to have the upper hand due to its strength in BPMN 2.0 validation and collaborative capabilities.

Features: Visio offers seamless integration with Microsoft Office, a wide range of templates, and an intuitive library of shapes, making it ideal for quick diagram creation. It supports BPMN diagrams and is suitable for users familiar with other Microsoft products. ARIS Cloud stands out with its BPMN 2.0 validation, enabling effective business process standardization, and offers a collaborative BPM portal that allows diverse teams to work together efficiently.

Room for Improvement: Visio lacks support for XPDL file import/export and struggles with pen input on devices like Microsoft Surface, affecting usability. Additionally, it requires more intuitive layer management and better collaboration platform integration. ARIS Cloud could enhance its cost management by offering clearer license transparency and making the platform more user-friendly for non-technical users, although its pricing is generally competitive.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Visio is used across various environments, including on-premises and cloud setups, but its technical support is inconsistent, leaving users to rely on documentation and forums. ARIS Cloud benefits from flexible deployment options across public and hybrid clouds, with license models focused on functionality, although more straightforward customer onboarding could improve user experience.

Pricing and ROI: Visio provides multiple pricing options, with the Professional version being more expensive, but users often find the cost justified by its features and integration capabilities. ARIS Cloud offers a leaner licensing model that can deliver more features for the price compared to competitors, with significant ROI demonstrated through improved process management and flexibility.

To learn more, read our detailed ARIS Cloud vs. Visio Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Cloud vs. Visio

April 2025

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Helped 849,963 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 Cloud

Ranking in Business Process Design

15th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (22nd)

Visio

Ranking in Business Process Design

2nd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

Mind Mapping Software (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of ARIS Cloud is 2.1%, up from 1.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visio is 12.6%, down from 13.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Process Design

Featured Reviews

BPMexp67

BPM Expert at a consultancy with 1-10 employees

The dynamic and flexible approach, akin to outsourcing, is beneficial for both small and large enterprises

Security is a consideration when migrating to the cloud. It's crucial to address potential risks and include security measures in the contract with the cloud provider. While there haven't been issues so far, acknowledging the risks is essential, especially when dealing with applications like ARIS. With the increasing capabilities and advancements in technology, many current challenges are likely to be resolved in the future. Despite security concerns, utilizing opportunities in the cloud and the internet offers significant advantages. Regarding areas for improvement, security remains a key consideration, especially when deploying ARIS in the cloud. However, this is not solely a product-specific concern but also pertains to the cloud environment. Beyond security, the strength of ARIS lies in its ability to serve as a unified repository for enterprise architecture. Having all information in one place facilitates alignment with the company's vision, strategy, and business objectives. Reducing redundancies across departments is crucial for maintaining service quality and minimizing costs. It ensures that everyone is on the same page, fostering collaboration and preventing discrepancies in information and services. While I currently use Guardis for this purpose, the concept of enterprise architecture is applicable, and ARIS stands as a valuable tool to support business processes and technology alignment within the company.

Read full review

Tugrul TASCI

IT Professor at Sakarya University

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…

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

"The cloud version has the advantage that you can work on it from anywhere."

"Aris Connect opens collaboration opportunities between team members within the organization where they can actually submit change requests, navigate processes, and offer comments. It opens up the potential for BPM within the organization. I didn't see such an angle of a BPM portal with any other products. So I would say that's the best selling feature."

"It has proved that it also works in complex circumstances."

"Signavio is more intuitive, allowing users with no prior knowledge to navigate and understand its functionality more readily."

"In terms of UX design, somebody who has not had experience with ARIS will be able to use it very easily."

"In terms of using the cloud version, if you're somebody who, like myself, has got a lot of experience and understands measures and notations and things, basically it's unrestricted. You can do so many things. You can do your Archimaze, you can do BPMN. There's lots of stuff you can do in there and if you're a good field person and you cause yourself re-using things or whatever, then it's very nice, it's very easy to use."

"The most valuable feature is GUI; it is very intuitive and easy to use."

"ARIS Cloud offers easy query writing for retrieving information and includes a user-friendly Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) part that aids risk managers effectively."

More ARIS Cloud pros

"It is a scalable solution."

"They provide continual enhancements which are always very useful."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to draw models quickly."

"It is easy to learn and implement."

"It works really well for flowcharting, it can label."

"I could jump into it and learn the basics pretty quickly."

"The primary functionality revolves around the creation of flow diagrams and diverse Building Information Modeling (BIM) using contemporary and pre-established notations. In my perspective, these ready-made notations prove highly beneficial. Despite being a compact tool, it is effective for tasks such as drawing organizational charts, making it a straightforward and uncomplicated tool."

"It is a useful tool to map data flows, network objects, and computer science technology and show to clients. It does what I need it to do. It's a tool I've used the longest, so I know it the best, and that's probably the claim to fame."

More Visio pros

Cons

"The price of ARIS Cloud is relatively high and not every firm can afford it, especially if the company is not mature enough to require such extensive process modeling and optimization."

"There is room for improvement in the support."

"I would like to see more support for architectural diagrams."

"I encounter challenges, and I am using Yuri to establish principles, define rules, conduct training sessions, and offer coaching to application owners, SMEs, and individuals responsible for technologies. This aids in providing support during these migrations. Security is a consideration when migrating to the cloud. It's crucial to address potential risks and include security measures in the contract with the cloud provider. While there haven't been issues so far, acknowledging the risks is essential, especially when dealing with applications like ARIS. With the increasing capabilities and advancements in technology, many current challenges are likely to be resolved in the future. Despite security concerns, utilizing opportunities in the cloud and the internet offers significant advantages. Regarding areas for improvement, security remains a key consideration, especially when deploying ARIS in the cloud. However, this is not solely a product-specific concern but also pertains to the cloud environment. Beyond security, the strength of ARIS lies in its ability to serve as a unified repository for enterprise architecture. Having all information in one place facilitates alignment with the company's vision, strategy, and business objectives. Reducing redundancies across departments is crucial for maintaining service quality and minimizing costs. It ensures that everyone is on the same page, fostering collaboration and preventing discrepancies in information and services. While I currently use Guardis for this purpose, the concept of enterprise architecture is applicable, and ARIS stands as a valuable tool to support business processes and technology alignment within the company."

"The price is quite high. This is one weak point of the solution."

"On an enterprise level, the ability to onboard somebody quickly is cumbersome because it just has too many things in it. It's got something like a hundred or more techniques and things in it."

"The stability was poor due to frequent outages."

"The stability was poor, with frequent outages."

More ARIS Cloud cons

"Transferring data was one of the issues that I expected Visio to have resolved. I use the older version."

"Lacks an interface with workflow capability."

"When you use a BPA solution you can open an end-to-end process in one window, go down, or go up between layers to different places. You should be able to see descriptions of the steps of the process."

"It thinks that it knows what you want to do, but it doesn't. It has a way of behaving that can be very frustrating from time to time. Either it moves things about because it thinks its placement should be at a certain place, or it's keeping track of things that you don't necessarily see, so it moves something elsewhere."

"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."

"I would like to see traceability. It doesn't have it. You cannot find one object amongst several sheets of Visio diagrams."

"The user interface could be more robust."

"Integration with other software would be an area of improvement, so that it's not just used to document but also as a center plane for information sharing."

More Visio cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a student version of this solution that can be used for free."

"The cloud deployment is not more expensive. In the cloud, you pay for what you use, and there's no need for maintaining infrastructure or additional personnel, making it cost-effective. On-premises deployment, on the other hand, involves infrastructure costs and maintenance expenses."

"The licensing model of ARIS Cloud is leaner and more beneficial to the customer. The new license model is great. With the on-premise, you needed to subscribe to many more types of licenses. Now there are licensed bundles available on the cloud."

"Visio is about a $180 dollars to purchase. It is a one-time licensing fee."

"The product is inexpensive if you already have Microsoft products in your environment. The license encompasses all the required services."

"It's cheaper than other solutions."

"The price is reasonable for individual use but for an organization, the costs is high."

"The product is expensive, but it is cheaper if you buy it as a part of a bundle or an enterprise-level agreement."

"Visio is the cheapest solution because it has the basics. Everyone starts with Visio for designing processes because doing it in PowerPoint is a mess. I'm still a student, so I don't pay for licensing."

"Visio is included with our Microsoft enterprise license."

"We have about 10 to 15 people with Visio licenses in my company, but I wasn't involved in the direct negotiation of the prices since this was taken care of by my administrative office."

More Visio pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

14%

Energy/Utilities Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ARIS Cloud?

The solution's most valuable feature stems from its being very easy to use, making it a very user-friendly tool.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ARIS Cloud?

The price of ARIS Cloud is relatively high and not every firm can afford it, especially if the company is not mature enough to require such extensive process modeling and optimization.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ARIS Cloud?

It would be beneficial for ARIS Cloud to add more customization options, such as having a landing page. Improving the importation script from Microsoft Visio ( /products/visio-reviews ) would also ...

See all answers

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 straightforward to load in files that are BPMN 2.0 compliant. The option to load V...

See all answers

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 and see the flow of the process.

See all answers

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 the price with a Microsoft representative. If asked to rate the price, I would gi...

See all answers

Comparisons

ARIS Architect and Designer vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 20% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 19% of the time

IBM Blueworks Live vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 18% of the time

Salesforce Platform vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 8% of the time

Bizagi vs ARIS Cloud

Compared 5% of the time

More ARIS Cloud Competitors

Bizagi vs Visio

Compared 21% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs Visio

Compared 12% of the time

Visual Paradigm vs Visio

Compared 9% of the time

IBM Blueworks Live vs Visio

Compared 8% of the time

SAP Signavio Process Manager vs Visio

Compared 8% of the time

More Visio Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Cloud

April 2025

Download ARIS Cloud product report

Buyer's Guide

Visio

April 2025

Download Visio product report

Also Known As

Process Live, ARIS Simulation, ARIS Aware, ARIS Connect

Microsoft Visio

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

Visio is an innovative collaborative solution that enables users to quickly visualize data-connected business process flows with a host of integrated intuitive features that bring the power of Microsoft 365 to Visio. Visio allows users to easily create professional diagrams, graphs, and other visual data, easily anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Users are able to confidently and easily transform data into creative powerful visuals. Visio provides dozens of easy-to-use templates along with thousands of customizable colorful shapes that bring a user's best ideas to life. Visio is available for all Microsoft 365 commercial users and is available on desktop and Web applications.

Visio Features

Visio can easily create visual data for today’s business needs. Some of its most useful visual data include:

Flowcharts: Users can easily bring business concepts to fruition with Visio’s robust flowchart features. Visio provides a huge library of shapes, stencils, and templates to transform numbers and data into impactful, easy-to-understand business stories.
Organizational charts: Visio makes it easy to design articulate org charts to better visualize team, reporting, and hierarchy structures. Users are then able to seamlessly share the charts with stakeholders, teams, and employees.
Network diagrams: Users are able to creatively display how a system design processes function and visually illustrate how devices and networks interact with each other using a variety of network shapes, templates, and connector tools.
Brainstorming: Visio makes brainstorming simple and actionable with a wide range of templates designed specifically for interpreting problems and mapping out solutions, including fishbone and Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) diagrams.
Floor plans: Users can design ergonomic workspaces, retail store layouts, new homes, and more with accurate, scalable templates and tools to help them better visualize function, flow, and overall aesthetic appeal.
Accessible: Visio is able to integrate with a wide variety of accessibility tools, such as Narrator, Accessibility Checker, and high-contrast support, to ensure Visio diagrams are available to your entire team.

Reviews from Real Users

“Visio has improved my workflow by making it easy to create charts, diagrams, and essential illustrations to use in my client reports and proposals. It has saved me a lot of time I would otherwise spend creating visuals for clients manually.” - Michael B., Principal Consultant at Lexington Consulting

“I use it for diagramming networks, racks, data centers, data flow applications, etc. It is a useful tool to map data flows, network objects, and computer science technology and to show to clients. It does what I need it to do. It's a tool I've used the longest, so I know it the best, and that's probably the claim to fame.” - Greg S., Director of Solution Architecture at Winslow Technology Group

“We use Visio for architecture modeling. We also use it to facilitate communication with other people. The feature I like most about Visio is that it acts as a facilitator of communication, as it displays information in a way that's easier to understand.” - Guy M., IT/Business Architect at a financial services firm

Microsoft

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 and 10 million users worldwide, from 1 user companies to the Fortune 500.

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

Buyer's Guide

ARIS Cloud vs. Visio

April 2025

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