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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

"It has simplified compliance with regulations and company standards."
"One of the biggest plus points of the product stems from the fact that I have never seen any glitches in it."
"The solution's most beneficial feature is the 360 approach, where documentation, process mining, simulation, and automation capabilities are in one solution."
"We found the technical support to be helpful."
"This product fulfills ninety percent of our needs, and we're happy as users of it."
"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."
"The solution is very stable."
"Simulation is most valuable."
"Scalable solution for modeling, project sharing, and collaboration. Support for it is good."
"It's easy to search within the solution."
"Provides a single repository for all architecture work."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports multiple modeling languages like ArchiMate for database design, software lifecycle visualization, and team management."
"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."
"Ability to maintain cross-references for all models in all levels - great tractability."
"There are a couple of things. Price is one thing, but we also like the scriptability of it. We got into scripting it and automating tasks with it, and it is super duper easy to do and helpful. The API has improved over the years. We automate everything, and I love the automation aspects of it."
"Customizable and tailored to the environment. Several template frameworks are provided."
 

Cons

"With iGrafx, the implementation and the licensing were pretty complex."
"The look and feel, along with the ease of use of the solution's web modeling version, is an area with certain shortcomings."
"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."
"One of the areas in the product with certain shortcomings where improvements are required includes the tool's reporting capabilities."
"The price could be more competitive."
"It would be helpful to be able to do more analytics and generate reports on historical documents that have already been uploaded to the server."
"Dragging and dropping shapes is not as user-friendly as in Visio. In Visio, it's very easy to work with shapes and in very few minutes you can plot a whole, multi swim-lane, cross-functional process."
"It would be nice to have a Spanish user interface available to us."
"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."
"In general, we now have a problem with Sparx Enterprise Architect because many analysts think it's too complicated to use in a giant environment."
"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."
"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."
"I have found the solution is lacking options. The general usability needs improvement and more compliance to CML definitions."
"Inconsistent UI elements must be tidied up with the toolbox gaps removed."
"The UI is a little bit outdated. It should be more fresh and clean."
"Sparx can be a bit slow. If you are trying to design software architecture, sometimes we run into issues and need to refresh."
 

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."
"My company is trying to replace iGrafx because the license is a little bit expensive."
"The licensing part is one of the problems. Its licensing depends on the number of users, so it sometimes gets 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."
"I have heard that the solution's pricing is very competitive."
"It's reasonably priced for large organizations."
"It’s the best deal in town, by far."
"The license I use is on-premise. We haven't gone to the cloud where we have to pay monthly or something like that. Sparx is cheaper than most similar tools."
"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."
"The licensing is not as expensive as some of the other data modeling tools such as Erwin."
"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."
"Its price is very good for the value that you get with it."
"The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
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.
870,623 professionals have used our research since 2012.