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IBM Blueworks Live vs Visio 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

IBM Blueworks Live
Ranking in Business Process Design
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Visio
Ranking in Business Process Design
1st
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
Mind Mapping Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of IBM Blueworks Live is 3.5%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visio is 12.5%, down from 13.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

AjarMathur - PeerSpot reviewer
An easily scalable and affordable solution that enables users to document and digitize processes with ease
IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts. There is only one kind of BPMN 2.0 diagram. It is a process diagram. It doesn't have the concept of separate tools, which other products offer. If I had to do a hardcore BPMN 2.0 modeling, the product would have its own reservations. There were features we could not explore from a BPMN 2.0 perspective. Most of the time, people who are shifting from Microsoft Office tools to a digitized way of working still want the reporting capabilities to be strong. Some tools, like ARIS or Signavio, offer customized solutions from the reporting perspective. If I have documented my whole finance process and want to fetch out a complete SOP report in a very customized manner, IBM Blueworks cannot provide it. We have to rely on some other services. So that's one area in which we always struggled, how to really customize the reporting aspects. I understand that we need to keep the tool a little more asset-light. It's very difficult to keep adding many options, but at least a few BPMN 2.0 options were needed. We have been suggesting to IBM that we should have some way of customizing the reporting. At least we should get a custom way of reporting it into different formats like Excel or putting up a logo for one of the clients so that their SAP can be printed that way.
Tugrul TASCI - PeerSpot reviewer
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…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution since there has not been any downtime. Everything loads fast."
"The stability is pretty good. It is highly available, which is key. You don't lose your work and can autosave."
"It has a built-in capability to capture process owners and managers against processes along with other process governance roles."
"The licenses are transferrable between different users."
"The business process discovery is excellent. The diagram or blueprinting functionality of the solution are very good. It's quite easy. You can link the sub-processes and get a big overview of the whole process then."
"It enables decisions based upon processes that we do model, and ultimately move forward with."
"IBM Blueworks Live is cloud-based and provides easy access to all your processes in one place."
"The reporting that we can generate from IBM Blueworks Live has been interesting. We found the KPIs, risks, process modeling, format, and colors, to be very good. We use the EY template and it is interesting to generate reporting in this format."
"Putting details into the process flow and being able to link other objects into the diagrams are very helpful features."
"It is a standard and easy-to-use solution from Microsoft, and you benefit from the general functions of Microsoft solutions. It integrates easily with SharePoint, which is a useful tool from Microsoft."
"The product's initial setup is really simple."
"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."
"The fact that you could program in VBA is most valuable."
"The thing I like most about Visio is the stencils. As the product has matured over time, it comes with more stencils and objects that you can just pick out of the menu and go with."
"What I like most about the solution is that It's quite easy to use."
"The solution is very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"We would like the ability to add additional custom colors. We would like to color additional items to add notes to the blueprint."
"The font size is really, really small and it's really not useful to print out process models because you cannot read what's written in different boxes. This makes it necessary for people to have access to the tool. We view licenses to see how the printing or output is. It's not very good."
"I can't insert any images. For example, within the process map, if I want to put it in the box or rectangle, or circle. If I have to use one image or icon, that's not possible."
"In the Blue Works Live software boxes and lines are automatically placed by the programme and can't be easily manipulated."
"IBM Blueworks is BPMN 2.0 compliant, but it does not adapt to the overarching BPMN 2.0 concepts."
"There should be an option to import from and export to Microsoft Visio. Being able to move files back and forth between Blueworks Live and Visio would be good."
"The initial setup is neither straightforward nor complex however you do need to know what you are doing."
"I wish Blueworks Live had simulations built in, but it doesn't. It also lacks a feature of reporting; ad hoc, drag and drop reporting. A lot of senior people are always asking for reports, and there's no reporting feature within IBM Blueworks."
"I would like to see better integration with external data sources."
"Transferring data was one of the issues that I expected Visio to have resolved. I use the older version."
"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."
"It's a very large install that uses many gigabytes."
"I would like to be able to present diagrams in multiple ways, such as a Swimlane diagram."
"There are a lot of patches that sometimes change how one version will interact compared to another."
"I cannot say anything that needs improvement in Visio; it was quite user-friendly, but I think the organization may have found it costly."
"There are too many features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Price wise, IBM Blueworks Live is in the middle range, and I would give it a five out of ten."
"They have a free subscription model that gives a lot of power to the users."
"The solution is not very expensive."
"Based on the licenses purchased, from a footprint perspective, you can have as many people as you want. You have multiple different categories of licenses to keep the cost low."
"There are editor licenses that are around 50 euros per month, and contributor licenses that are around 30 euros per month."
"We are seeing ROI from this solution. The solution has saved us time."
"The solution is very, very cost-effective."
"Making it less expensive would be good."
"It's cheaper than other solutions."
"You can purchase a corporate license for more users to use the solution. We have purchased a stand-alone license and which could be cheaper."
"I think costs are on a per user basis."
"The popularity of a product is an indicator of its price. Because of the popularity of Visio, its price is on the higher side. We need better pricing for it."
"You have to purchase a license to use the solution."
"Personally, I think the price of this solution is too high."
"I haven't looked at the prices lately. We have an older copy, and it was a couple of hundred dollars for this software. That's a huge expense."
"I pay for the license and it is very expensive. If you're only going to use this tool from time to time, you can save money by just using the available online tools. But if you plan on using it heavily, then it's worth it to invest."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution is easy to operate. Also, there is an automatic mode to make the business flow. You don't have to put any lines or arrows in a decision point in IBM Blueworks Live; it's very automatic.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Blueworks Live?
The solution costs around 600-700 dollars/year, which is quite affordable.
What needs improvement with IBM Blueworks Live?
Sometimes, the tool is automatic, which can complicate it, but once you're accustomed to manipulating it, you can use it very effectively.
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...
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.
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Lombardi Blueprint
Microsoft Visio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Cloudsoft Corp. Ltd., Bayer, S¾SS, Essex County Council
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
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Blueworks Live vs. Visio and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.