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Lucidchart vs erwin Data Modeler comparison

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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

erwin Data Modeler
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
54
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (1st), Business Process Design (7th), Data Governance (10th)
Lucidchart
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Mind Mapping Software (2nd), Visual Collaboration Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

erwin Data Modeler and Lucidchart aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. erwin Data Modeler is designed for Enterprise Architecture Management and holds a mindshare of 8.4%, down 8.9% compared to last year.
Lucidchart, on the other hand, focuses on Mind Mapping Software, holds 18.1% mindshare, down 22.9% since last year.
Enterprise Architecture Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
erwin Data Modeler8.4%
SAP PowerDesigner8.6%
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect8.6%
Other74.4%
Enterprise Architecture Management
Mind Mapping Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Lucidchart18.1%
Visio18.7%
Xmind14.3%
Other48.900000000000006%
Mind Mapping Software
 

Featured Reviews

Sushree Panigrahi - PeerSpot reviewer
Snowflake Data Engineer| Senior PLSQL Developer |Data Modeler|Assitant Vice Pre at Jp Morgan Chase & Co.
Data modeling has transformed regulatory reporting and collaboration across cloud environments
In erwin Data Modeler, areas that have room for improvement include performance improvements. I see that large models sometimes cause it to be slow when opening. Impact analysis can lag as well. Version control is another aspect. If we have developed a current version, it is not integrated with Git where we can easily compare different versions. UI modernization is also something we cannot utilize as it is primarily for development. Additionally, cloud-specific optimizations are needed when it comes to Snowflake or Databricks. When it comes to AI aspects, auto-suggestions for normalization or identifying primary, foreign, or surrogate keys are areas that can be improved.
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

"One of the ways Data Modeler has benefited our company is that it gives us the ability to engage with the business alongside IT, because it's friendly."
"The tool is also very intuitive and easy to use."
"We use the Forward and Reverse Engineering tools to help us speed things up and create things that would have to be done otherwise by hand. E.g., getting a database into a data model format or vice versa."
"The solution's ability to compare and synchronize data sources with data models is fantastic."
"We find that its ability to generate database code from a model for a wide array of data sources cuts development time. The ability to create one model in your design phase and then have it generate DDL code for Oracle or Teradata, or whichever environment you need is really nice. It's not only nice but it also saves man-hours of time. You would have to take your design and just type in manually. It has to take days off out of the work."
"The value of understanding your data in a graphical way has been very rich in communicating to developers and testers when they recognize the relationships and the business rules."
"It has centralized storage so that a data model can be shared by different teams."
"The biggest lesson I have learned from erwin is the old cliche, that a picture is worth a thousand words, and when a person asks for a set of tables and they actually see that diagram visually, it really assists in any meeting that you will have."
"I can see that using LucidChart is going to save us time in project development, collaboration, and brainstorming."
"The architecture and brainstorming features worked exceptionally well for me; no one in the organization had used it for brainstorming, and my implementation really helped with the visuals and capturing people's opinions and divergent thought processes."
"This is the one tool I want to use; I don't care how much it costs; it's the best tool for the stuff I'm working on, it fulfills my needs, and for this sake, it can cost 10 times more."
"The templates are quite valuable, as is the fact that you can export to PDF, to a Visio document, or as a picture. These are valuable features for me because they give me the ability to make changes in any other product that I'm using. I'm not bound by one platform."
"It gives information about the roles and responsibilities of any architecture system and the exact system flow, business flow, or process flow. It also gives information about how the development team should take it forward. It shows the gap analysis in the flow charts and makes it easy to define the actor and his roles and responsibilities in the organization."
"Creating flowcharts and documentation is easy to do and the results are very nice."
"It is important to me that the solution accommodates both Mac and PC users because the developers in our company use Mac, then the business people use Windows. The technical people create the technical architecture using Lucidchart. So, it is important that it is compatible with both the systems."
"Lucidchart is a reliable and effective tool for visualizing ideas and improving workflow clarity, and it stands out for its ease of use, drag-and-drop features, a large collection of templates, and strong collaboration features, making it suitable for both individual and team-based work."
 

Cons

"While I do not have knowledge about pricing for erwin Data Modeler, I think it could improve by having a feature that allows the publishing of models, similar to how Power BI allows for dashboard publishing for different users within an organization, not just data modelers."
"I find the UI very clunky and very difficult to use. If I add columns to a table the whole workflow could be so much easier. I get frustrated using it. I've tried other tools. I've tried to get off of erwin a few times. I always come back to it because every tool has its own set of problems, and it seems like if I have to pick my poison, I stay with erwin. But so many things that are clunky with it."
"In erwin Data Modeler, areas that have room for improvement include performance improvements. I see that large models sometimes cause it to be slow when opening."
"I would like the solution to be less rigid in terms of its theory."
"In terms of new features, it would be great to have a cloud base. We should be able to put it on the cloud for better collaboration and data models sharing."
"We can only get licenses through partners."
"It does not have a cloud application."
"The solution's model mark could be better because it crashes sometimes."
"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."
"When I was using the free version last summer, I don’t remember there being an option to change the look of the arrow."
"When you want to add text to a connector arrow, I have not figured out how to position the text vertically. It always wants the text to stay horizontal."
"Adding dark mode would be a great improvement for Lucidchart."
"In terms of improvement, they should make it very clear, whether it's a single A4 page or two A4 pages, it should be mapped out. Either I don't know how to use it, or it's not there, but having to stick to margins so I can see what's going to be on different pages when I print it or move it to a PDF has been my only challenge so far."
"Another thing that somewhat irritated me is the fact that there is a paste function in the menu, but when you right-click and select paste, it tells you that you can't use paste."
"It can have more colors or graphics. Currently, it is a little boring. It can have a little bit more fun factor."
"It would be nice to be able to import not just contacts from Salesforce but also leads. In the beginning, when I was still learning the ropes and my way around it, I couldn't find such an option. There might be an option, but I just don't know about it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The pricing of the solution is cheap. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"Price-wise, erwin Data Modeler is okay. You can purchase a single license and it is not very expensive."
"erwin Data Modeler by Quest is an expensive solution."
"It is not a very expensive solution. Only the licensing and maintenance fee needs to be paid."
"I don't specifically know what we're paying now. About three years ago, in another organization, I have this memory of 6,000 AUD a seat or something like that, but I am not sure. In the mid-2000s, it was something like 1,200 AUD a seat. I get the impression that there was a price jump when it was spun off from CA as a separate company, which is understandable, but it could sometimes be a barrier in some organizations picking it up. I haven't talked to erwin people yet, but I'm going to suggest to them that they could perhaps think of having an entry-level product that is priced a bit lower, and then, you can buy the extra suite."
"erwin has this option where you pay a one-time fee and you have the license for six years, which makes sense because I don't upgrade my database engine every other year. I have an application that depends on it. This is something weird about PowerDesigner. There are no additional costs beyond the standard licensing fee."
"The tool is expensive."
"I was using the paid version, but at $12 USD per month, I canceled the plan because it was a little bit too expensive for me."
"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."
"At €167 per user per year, the pricing is slightly higher than Visio, but it's worth it."
"Lucidchart's pricing model is not excessive, as compared to similar products. It is pretty much in line with everyone else."
"The pricing and licensing are fine, though I wish they didn't require you to buy the licenses in batches of five."
"The price and licensing are good."
"We chose Lucid based on the price comparison between it and draw.io... Lucidchart was about 15 percent cheaper per user... I was surprised to learn that it came with a separate subscription model and was not included in my existing Lucidchart subscription."
"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."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Marketing Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise43
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise29
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the licensing process is painful and quite onerous. The setup is okay, but there is room for improvement.
What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
erwin Data Modeler could improve in a few ways, starting with the ability to not have to go out to the external Maven files to import and export the metadata from a different format. It could also ...
What is your primary use case for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?
My main use case for erwin Data Modeler varies, but I use it for forward engineering and reverse engineering and documenting databases.I work with something that requires forward engineering or dat...
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.
 

Also Known As

erwin DM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

 Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples
Google, Salesforce, Adobe, Whirlpool, Uber, Wal Mart, Pearson, Twitch, Riot Games, Western Union, Trimble, Starbucks
Find out what your peers are saying about Quest Software, SAP, SAP LeanIX and others in Enterprise Architecture Management. Updated: September 2026.
913,683 professionals have used our research since 2012.