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BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

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

BiZZdesign HoriZZon
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
6th
Ranking in Business Process Design
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
5th
Ranking in Business Process Design
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of BiZZdesign HoriZZon is 5.2%, up from 4.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 8.6%, down from 14.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect8.6%
BiZZdesign HoriZZon5.2%
Other86.2%
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

Maamoun Hasuneh - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Enterprise Architect at EVC
Architecture repository has strengthened data‑driven decisions and supported risk‑aware planning
BiZZdesign HoriZZon needs to publish its integration scenarios and integration points with other digital transformation tools such as IT service management, risk management, asset management, customer service, and ERP. The company should first build the scenario and define its integration points in business and technology to make customers more confident about having a complete solution. Currently, there is a challenge with the company to offer transparent and documented integration. They offer five integration points at a fixed price, but other things come at additional costs. However, specific information about what those additional items are, what the scenarios entail, what the schemas are, what the workflows include, and what the application integration involves is not provided. The learning portal does not include integration documentation at a high level or in detail. The portal does have comprehensive resources explaining how to make their website, how to create dashboards, and how to publish EA content, which are clear. The high-end tool on the laptop is also explained in detail, covering elements, relations, and everything as standard.
Milan Sterba - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Enterprise Architect at Deepview S.r.o.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of BiZZdesign HoriZZon, from my experience, include its out-of-the-box connectors, such as integration with ServiceNow, Excel, and SQL databases, making data repository management more efficient."
"The most valuable features of BiZZdesign HoriZZon include the diagrammatic representation of BPMN models, which I find good for modeling, and things such as capability maps."
"The feature I find most valuable is that the start times and loading times are short. It takes only a few seconds to load the repository and whenever I want to open diagrams, they are there almost immediately."
"The most valuable feature is that it allows you to work with different methods, using the same tool."
"One of the main advantages of this solution is that they have representation in the Open Group Forum, which means that any changes in ArchiMate are immediately implemented in BiZZdesign."
"BiZZdesign HoriZZon stands out from other solutions on the market due to its uniqueness in conformance with the standard."
"I like the flexibility of the modeling part for standards like ArchiMate and, at the same time, BPMN. It allows us to connect elements from different areas and to have a single repository and a single source of truth. It gives us one place to do analysis throughout the organization."
"The tool's most valuable feature is that its collaboration part is very good."
"It's a stable and scalable solution. I like that it's similar to Rational Rose."
"It is simple to build the first model for the solution."
"Ability to maintain cross-references for all models in all levels - great tractability."
"Modeling is a part of my work, and it has a lot of standard modeling languages. It is quite wide, and a lot is possible in it. We are not programming it ourselves, but if you are into programming and developing software yourself, you can go further and do a lot with Sparx. You can work from the framework and go into the details. With this solution, you get a lot of value at a low cost. It is also quite intuitive in terms of use. I like the use of it."
"The solution is easy to use, supports SysML and UML, and is able to connect to MATLAB. This is very important for us."
"The product offers very good support for all mainstream modeling notations and architectural frameworks."
"A feature I like most about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is its ease of use."
"I like that there is support for software patterns."
 

Cons

"We tested it, and we had support from BiZZdesign, including patches, but it just didn't do what we wanted."
"This tool is something of a beast - it takes a long time to learn, and it isn't possible for casual users and most architects. Unless a person spends 500 or 1,000 hours on the tool or does very concentrated sessions using all its functionalities, it's very difficult to master."
"One area where BiZZdesign HoriZZon could use some improvement is in its REST APIs."
"It lacks capabilities with regard to infrastructure modeling."
"It should be more open to integrating with other existing tools. Although there has been progress in the past."
"The ability to generate charts and deal with a use case involving Kibana was quite difficult."
"The repository of duplicate objects is bad."
"The users of BiZZdesign should be able to enter their data or make modeling changes via HoriZZon."
"The areas of improvement should be focused on utility service such as producing better graphics, perhaps having a wider image library set and producing better models for working directly with customers."
"The dashboard and connectivity could be improved."
"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."
"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."
"When the model is large, it is a bit slow to render."
"It can be improved in the area of shared documentation. The idea is that the architecture tool can call back to an enterprise asset, pull that information, and link that as a sub-artifact."
"One room for improvement in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is that it's not very friendly. Another room for improvement in the tool is that it doesn't enable you to import the metadata from a database very easily, so reverse engineering of a database was very difficult. Its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement."
"It would be great if we could decrease the use of different parts of the Toolbox."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of this particular product usage, my clients currently only use per-user licenses."
"If one is very cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a seven out of ten."
"First and foremost within the scope of improvement for the solution would be the cost. It's very costly..."
"The price is reasonable."
"I haven't found any issues with the scalability and licensing parts that are access-related."
"The pricing model is slightly on the high side and could be more competitive for long-term partnerships."
"We were customers and bought licenses from them. We used their remote instance initially but upgraded to the on-device version due to lag. For pricing, we paid about 2200 pounds a year per seat for the client installation at an educational rate. I'm not sure about commercial rates. I managed to get a free copy at BBC since it was for evaluation purposes."
"[The] Orbus... pricing model was based on every single functionality having a price. The pricing was comparable but if we wanted to scale, it would have ended up being a lot more expensive. BiZZdesign gave us one price with all of the functionality, and we could scale as much as we needed."
"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."
"The solution is quite expensive."
"It is cheap."
"The licensing is not as expensive as some of the other data modeling tools such as Erwin."
"The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."
"They have the price on their site for the enterprise version, and we do receive a small discount."
"It is very economical and low cost. You have to pay for a one-time license, and it is active forever."
"The license for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is paid yearly, but I don't handle that area. It's good for its price, so I'm rating it a five out of five, but I'm not using it much. I also don't have information regarding additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Retailer
5%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise10
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise58
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BiZZdesign HoriZZon?
This is one of the best tools, especially because of its collaborative nature. Anyone using it can access previous projects and related data. It's definitely a strong collaborative tool.
What needs improvement with BiZZdesign HoriZZon?
BiZZdesign HoriZZon needs to publish its integration scenarios and integration points with other digital transformation tools such as IT service management, risk management, asset management, custo...
What is your primary use case for BiZZdesign HoriZZon?
BiZZdesign HoriZZon is primarily used as a repository for Enterprise Architecture and is also utilized in broad portfolio management including project management and other applications, but the mai...
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-performance ratio. While it might be cumbersome to learn, it still delivers exc...
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 straightforward. Although it's a powerful product with plenty of features, it's not ...
 

Also Known As

HoriZZon
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

T-Mobile, Shell, HSBC, Erasmus University, VIVAT Insurance
OmniLink
Find out what your peers are saying about BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,665 professionals have used our research since 2012.