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IDERA ER/Studio vs erwin Data Modeler comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.4
erwin Data Modeler enhances productivity with automation, standardization, and efficiency in data management, benefiting organizations with significant time savings.
Sentiment score
5.2
Users appreciate IDERA ER/Studio for ease, graphical presentation, and efficiency, despite not fully utilizing its capabilities.
It replaces manual charting in Visio with a structured tool, providing significant return on investment.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
If the modeling is compromised, then the entire structure will be compromised.
Senior Data Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.9
Erwin Data Modeler offers helpful support with some response delays; users value assistance despite technical and version challenges.
Sentiment score
7.0
IDERA ER/Studio's customer support is praised for responsiveness and professionalism, despite occasional delays, especially for East Coast users.
The quality and speed of their support are excellent; everyone is very helpful, and they can solve problems quickly.
Senior Data Scientist at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Quest is committed to keeping the product robust.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Erwin Data Modeler requirements function at a standard level.
Data Modeler at Capgemini
The documentation is more robust than Erwin's, but their interface is not as intuitive.
Data Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
There is plenty of documentation available online for assistance, making it straightforward to address any issues.
Managing Partner at DXC Technology
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.5
Erwin Data Modeler is adaptable, supporting diverse platforms and handling large data volumes efficiently despite minor performance issues.
Sentiment score
7.1
Most users find it scalable; performance improves in new versions, especially using cloud environments for large data models.
I would rate it probably a nine, making it a leader in data modeling.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
erwin Data Modeler had a very good standardization infrastructure and supported a controlled multi-user environment with check-ins and check-outs.
Data Metrics Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Regarding scalability, erwin Data Modeler is performing well; from a few tables to 100 tables, it is working effectively so far.
Senior Data Scientist at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
It scales well to teams of one hundred plus people.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
5.9
erwin Data Modeler is evolving, stable, with performance variations, lacks autosave, but features responsive support and frequent updates.
Sentiment score
7.8
IDERA ER/Studio is generally stable, though occasional issues exist with older versions, complex models, and server performance.
This lack of an auto-save methodology can be improved so that if a system crash occurs, work can be saved and rework can be avoided.
Data Modeler at Capgemini
New versions often introduce enhanced features but may cause model crashes due to memory exhaustion.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Sometimes when I want to open the attribute editor, it stops working and the whole application freezes.
Senior Data Scientist at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Erwin is a very stable product.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
 

Room For Improvement

Erwin Data Modeler users seek better big data compatibility, improved UI, and enhanced support for integration, performance, and collaboration.
IDERA ER/Studio needs deployment, licensing, documentation, performance, and feature enhancements for better user experience and functionality.
The previous version of erwin Data Modeler used to crash unaccountably, but this one hasn't ever crashed on me, so it's been a lot more stable than the previous version that we had.
Data Warehouse Architect at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
There are many features, and I would expect good documentation detailing each feature, including when and how to use it, to be very useful because data modeling is not very popular in the data area and there aren't many educational videos regarding erwin Data Modeler.
Senior Data Scientist at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
Erwin Data Modeler could improve in areas such as the interface, as there are features like copy and paste, creating duplicates, and the visualization elements and toolbars which feel quite old.
Data Modeler at Capgemini
Both Erwin and ER/Studio do not have AI or machine learning features for automation.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Erwin's metadata management is better in how it handles data.
Data Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

Erwin Data Modeler is costly but its features and scalability justify the price for large organizations despite regional price differences.
IDERA ER/Studio is costly and complex to license, but many find its features offer valuable returns.
It is more targeted toward an enterprise level since organizations looking to store business information and relationship values may consider the pricing.
Data Modeler at Capgemini
The setup cost may have been around $1500 to $2000.
Data Modeler at Ascendion
In terms of pricing, ER/Studio is slightly more expensive compared to Erwin, by about five to ten percent.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

Erwin Data Modeler excels in visualizing complex data structures, integrating cloud databases, and enhancing collaboration and data governance.
IDERA ER/Studio enables comprehensive data modeling, collaboration, and automation with user-friendly interfaces and integration with versioning tools.
One of the key aspects of data governance is defining the data dictionary and clearly identifying which data is accessible by whom and what is not accessible, particularly regarding PII-related data.
SPM at Infosys
The way the data is organized and you have a visual of that organization helps a great deal in terms of trying to remember what you did and trying to retrieve the information.
Data Metrics Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability.
Data Architect at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
When we built an application, it facilitated the development process by providing the skeleton of the application and the foundation for functions.
Managing Partner at DXC Technology
It has strong versioning support and can even integrate with third-party versioning tools like GitHub.
Works at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
IDERA ER_Studio does a lot more and performs model comparison much better than Erwin.
Data Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
 

Categories and Ranking

erwin Data Modeler
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.8
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Design (8th), Data Governance (15th)
IDERA ER/Studio
Ranking in Enterprise Architecture Management
7th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Database Development and Management (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler is 8.3%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IDERA ER/Studio is 3.5%, down from 4.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Architecture Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
erwin Data Modeler8.3%
IDERA ER/Studio3.5%
Other88.2%
Enterprise Architecture Management
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer2795649 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Data Architect at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Data modeling has enabled end-to-end designs and has improved collaboration between teams
Areas of erwin Data Modeler that I think could be improved or enhanced include a few things. I have not worked in erwin for the past four to five years, but based on my 20 years of career experience, I worked with erwin one or two years on an earlier project and currently am working with it again. Based on my overall 20 years of career experience, I have worked with erwin modeling for four to five years. I am not a master of the tool, but I cannot identify significant flaws. The price should be reduced. That could be one area of improvement. Additionally, the licensing system could be enhanced. In our current project, there are five licenses within the business. If anyone is moving to erwin, the other person cannot enter the erwin solution. There should be a message indicating that five persons are involved in erwin, and you cannot use it at that time. However, that is a minor issue.
reviewer2796111 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Improved data modeling has reduced system footprint and strengthened finance workflows
I assess the benefits of IDERA ER_Studio's metadata management for my organization as not as good as Erwin's. Erwin's metadata management is better in how it handles data. There is a lot more user involvement in managing the metadata, primarily because in IDERA ER_Studio, the logical and physical models are separately defined in the same file, so you have to map them every single time. In Erwin, it has a unified structure, so if you make a change in the logical model, it automatically shows up in the physical model. You have to go through a couple of steps in the IDERA model to make sure everything has moved over. While that is not that inconvenient when you are actually doing development, as far as metadata management, that is prone to things getting dropped and missed. The collaboration tools in IDERA ER_Studio are adequate, but I think with Erwin, there is more of an opportunity for things to crash. Changes can be merged in IDERA more fluidly; however, the locking and sharing are a little bit more defined in Erwin. I think the learning curve for Erwin might be easier than IDERA ER_Studio, especially with connecting to different models and systems.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Performing Arts
5%
Energy/Utilities Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise34
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise26
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
Regarding pricing, I am unsure what the exact price is for erwin Data Modeler, but I believe it is not useful for an individual. It is more targeted toward an enterprise level since organizations l...
What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
I write code and I write code accessing erwin Data Modeler's API, the Application Programming Interface, so that I can use Excel to update erwin Data Modeler and then get those updates and put them...
What is your primary use case for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
I work for CVS with a pretty big database as a data modeler on the PBMs, the Caremark PBM side, which is the Pharmacy Benefits Manager. There's a retail side too for all the stores, but our data wa...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IDERA ER Studio?
In terms of pricing, ER/Studio is slightly more expensive compared to Erwin, by about five to ten percent.
What is your primary use case for IDERA ER Studio?
I have been working with data modeling tools. Personally, I have been working with Erwin for many years now. ER/Studio is something I am currently trying to evaluate for acquiring it for our organi...
What advice do you have for others considering IDERA ER Studio?
I would strongly recommend ER/Studio for large teams. Erwin is a very stable product, but for smaller teams, it's okay. If I had to rate ER/Studio, I would give it nine out of ten because the absen...
 

Also Known As

erwin DM
IDERA ER Studio, ER/Studio, ER/Studio Enterprise Team Edition
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

 Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples
Newmont Mining, Entrust, Accolade, TalkTalk, Catalina, Protective Life, NTT Data, dir systèmes, Microsoft; American Express, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Coriant, Fedex, GlaxoSmithKline, PepsiCo, Prudential, Wells Fargo
Find out what your peers are saying about IDERA ER/Studio vs. erwin Data Modeler and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,844 professionals have used our research since 2012.