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Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs iGrafx Process360 Live Platform 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

iGrafx Process360 Live Plat...
Ranking in Business Process Design
18th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (24th), Process Mining (9th)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Business Process Design
5th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of iGrafx Process360 Live Platform is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 9.1%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect9.1%
iGrafx Process360 Live Platform1.6%
Other89.3%
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

Ganesh-Iyer - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps simplify processes of a business
One of the more important updates that have happened lately in the tool is related to the tool's ability to process data mining. What I mean by data mining is that now you have the ability to take the timestamp of the data from the ERP or transactional data, create your process maps, and then try to see how much compliance is actually happening within your processes. The aforementioned area is one capability that has been added to the tool over the last few years. You can now tell with the tool how much of your process is actually following the required path where everything is approved and where it goes for exception handling, how many transactions are going, what type of transactions really get into exceptions, and then take care of the management and make improvements. One of the areas in the product with certain shortcomings where improvements are required includes the tool's reporting capabilities. The ability to get into customer template requirements and then create different reports from the data they have is one area which can be improved.
Milan Sterba - PeerSpot reviewer
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 solution's technical support is of good quality since they offer fast and seamless services."
"We found the technical support to be helpful."
"Another good feature is that the numbering of the shapes in iGrafx is much easier and more convenient, in comparison to what is found in Visio. So far I haven't found anything similar to what I have with iGrafx, in that regard."
"Finding the right symbol and creating links, horizontal and vertical are the features I use."
"iGrafx gives you the capability of documenting your process and then the ability to use it as a tool for analysis to identify the loopholes and shortcomings of your process."
"Provides a valuable BPMN feature."
"The solution is very stable."
"Simulation is most valuable."
"Artifact templates are most valuable."
"The best thing about the tool is that its database is open."
"Sparx has got a range of modeling features, and I am comfortable with all its offering. I've used a lot of tools over the phone. I found EA Spark, probably the most feature rich product all in all compared to other products. The solution is very cost-effective and that is its best feature. It's a very good delivery architecture tool, which also has enterprise architecture capabilities, and it's got full life cycle processes and software development. So for me, it's a pretty comprehensive tool"
"It's a stable and scalable solution. I like that it's similar to Rational Rose."
"Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."
"The profiles and ready-made templates are an extremely helpful feature. This is one of the biggest features that I find very useful in Sparx."
"The advantages of Enterprise are that it's cheaper and much more practical than MagicDraw."
"The installation was very easy."
 

Cons

"The solution could benefit from improvements to its interface. More specifically, when compared to other tools, the process modeling features lack symbols or object types that are used to represent the information or data within the process."
"I would love to see a template and shapes for customer journey mapping."
"If customers want to change the color or the logo, they have to go through every page to verify everything is right."
"One of the areas in the product with certain shortcomings where improvements are required includes the tool's reporting capabilities."
"In the next release, I would like to see more layers like three, four, and five. It might be possible but I haven't seen it yet."
"The look and feel, along with the ease of use of the solution's web modeling version, is an area with certain shortcomings."
"It would be nice to have a Spanish user interface available to us."
"It can be more user-friendly."
"From a practical point of view, we need speed and reliability for creating a model and doing some really meaningful tasks such as application landscape, refactoring, etc. These are two primary criteria. Sometimes, when you import something, it creates the object duplicates, or it allows you to do something that you're not supposed to do. For example, validation is missing. This could be frustrating because when you work at a high speed, you need to come back and start fixing things that the tool allowed you to go with, which is not quite good. So, there should probably be some internal mechanisms to advise you about what you're doing and what is probably not the best idea."
"The templates for documentation should be enhanced to include complex documents such as template RFP, or Non functional requirements template."
"The documentation could be better. Where I work, we speak French and we don't speak English, so we don't have anything in French. It's perfect in English, but we need something in French."
"The database management area was not usable."
"This solution has some limitations from a business perspective."
"I would like the system to more "intellectually" build a scheme, place icons, and connect lines on the schemes."
"When the model is large, it is a bit slow to render."
"The solution's interface could be more straightforward."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Earlier, the licensing part was complex because there were so many modules and elements in the tool. Over the last one and a half years, a lot of work has gone into how the product has priced and positioned its tools in the market."
"The licensing part is one of the problems. Its licensing depends on the number of users, so it sometimes gets expensive."
"I have heard that the solution's pricing is very competitive."
"My company is trying to replace iGrafx because the license is a little bit expensive."
"Our license is a subscription-based model that is per user. The solution is not expensive, I believe a subscription-based model is $10 per user."
"There is no license required for this solution."
"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"The licensing is not as expensive as some of the other data modeling tools such as Erwin."
"We paid 1200 euros as a once-off cost. All add ons and integrations come at an additional cost."
"It’s the best deal in town, by far."
"It is cheap."
"I think our license costs roughly $1,000 a year, but I could be wrong."
"The pricing is reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business38
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise58
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iGrafx?
I have heard that the solution's pricing is very competitive.
What needs improvement with iGrafx?
If customers want to change the color or the logo, they have to go through every page to verify everything is right. We have a strategic approach for the customer. I was involved in almost 100 sess...
What is your primary use case for iGrafx?
The solution is used for the documentation and visualization of the main processes. The customers have hundreds or thousands of processes, but they start with the top 20 processes. The next step is...
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 ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Multinational Bank
OmniLink
Find out what your peers are saying about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. iGrafx Process360 Live Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
872,706 professionals have used our research since 2012.