LeanIX vs Planview Portfolios vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect comparison

SAP LeanIX and Planview are both solutions in the Enterprise Architecture Management category. SAP LeanIX is ranked #2 with an average rating of 7.9, while Planview is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.5. SAP LeanIX holds a 7.6% mindshare in AM, compared to Planview’s 2.8% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of SAP LeanIX users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 91% of Planview users who would recommend it.

LeanIX

Read 25 LeanIX reviews

6,210 Views
5,154 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Planview Portfolios

Read 71 Planview Portfolios reviews

6,053 Views
1,453 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

Read 99 Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect reviews

10,217 Views
5,313 Comparison Views

87% willing to recommend

LeanIX

Planview Portfolios

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between LeanIX, Planview Portfolios, and Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Quest Software, SAP LeanIX, SAP and others in Enterprise Architecture Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Enterprise Architecture Management Report (Updated: May 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

May 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Enterprise Architecture Management category, the mindshare of LeanIX is 7.6%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Planview Portfolios is 2.8%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 8.9%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Enterprise Architecture Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
LeanIX	7.6%
Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect	8.9%
Planview Portfolios	2.8%
Other	80.7%

Enterprise Architecture Management

Featured Reviews

SidneyWong

General manager of Enterprise Architecture at Metcash Trading

Has provided a structured way to align business capabilities with IT while showing potential for support improvements

What it does is it creates a register in the documentation of all your applications and technologies. When you align or map it to your business capabilities, this is how you identify duplication of technologies in your business and how you can potentially rationalize and standardize on them. In conjunction with my business policies, LeanIX is quite effective because using it as a tool to determine what is an endorsed technology can prevent other technologies from being used. I would call it effective in preventing technology sprawl in my environment if it is used alongside my business policies. It does assist in aligning IT with business goals.

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Monabi Kingsley

Project Manager at 3M

Centralized planning has improved resource visibility and supports data‑driven financial decisions

The best features Planview Portfolios offers are visibility enhancement, robust system performance, and comprehensive resource management. This enhanced visibility in Planview Portfolios ensures that all users can easily track progress, identify bottlenecks, and make informed decisions to optimize workflow efficiency. When discussing robust system performance, the system's robust performance in meeting our various work requirements effectively and efficiently stands out. It is very stable and reliable, contributing to a seamless user experience, which enables users to focus on their tasks without disruptions. I also love the financial breakdown, planning and prioritization, and attribute collection on projects in Planview Portfolios. Planview Portfolios has positively impacted my organization since I started using it. It has enabled me to gain insights into the full scope of work consuming resources. I am able to know where the resources are being consumed more, especially which resources are consuming the most. I have been able to leverage resources management and resource time reporting, which enabled the generation of $90 million in annual revenue through labor billing to customers.

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Milan Sterba

Senior Enterprise Architect at Deepview S.r.o.

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I do see some return on investment, some ROI, time saving, money saving; it's more than 30%, so ultimately, the work that I do in using LeanIX will pay for itself."

"It offers neat visualization and referencing functionality while enabling the creation of landscape maps and showing the relationship between different applications."

"I like the tool’s integration and maps."

"Interfaces well with downstream systems of data."

"Partnering with LeanIX has given an edge to our Enterprise Architecture Consultants."

"Among the most valuable features are the easy-to-use interface and the ability to get quick results... Many tools that I have seen are great for technical people and for giving technical and business information as well, but they're not as friendly and easy as LeanIX... It works well for both technical and business users. It provides a good combination, enabling you to quickly put valuable information in for both technical and non-technical people and derive results."

"The solution has a very useful assessment tool that automatically populates from input data to produce a detailed analysis of customer's environments."

"Its overall ease-of-use plays a big role in adoption."

More LeanIX pros

"Having a single source of the truth, specifically with the integration with Power BI, enables us to give leadership more relative content for decision-making and it is now being leveraged heavily in the executive decision-making process."

"Enterprise One has been exactly what we need."

"Once you get a good grasp of the principles of Planview, it is a really powerful tool."

"Planview Portfolios helps us manage both investment and execution risk while also ensuring optimal value realization in my organization."

"Now, we have a full view of projects, allocations, and effort to deliver our portfolio projects."

"It has been one of the very good decisions the company has made."

"On a personal level, I actually like Planview Enterprise One, because I know how to use the tool pretty well."

"It gives you the ability to see across a portfolio the cost and resource demands, helping ensure that we're working on the right things with the right amount of resources and giving us visibility into future demand to help us plan for resourcing."

More Planview Portfolios pros

"The platform is stable and reliable."

"Scalability is not a problem; you can always increase the footprint of what the thing can do because it is so powerful."

"The best thing about the tool is that its database is open."

"The UML modeling, Use Case Modeling, ability to import custom graphics and map to UML objects, document templates and generation."

"In terms of product features, I'm very happy with the support for UML 2 diagrams, Archimate, TOGAF and the collaboration capability using a RDBMS back-end."

"The solution is easy to use, supports SysML and UML, and is able to connect to MATLAB. This is very important for us."

"Ability to use a single shared repository and defined languages, using both ArchiMate as the modelling language and the business language based on the repository contents."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to keep an inventory of reusable blocks, and use them in different diagrams with views of various templates that are also available."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pros

Cons

"I think the tool's main issue might be direct integrations."

"Another area for improvement is that when you're starting to look into more advanced information, using the solution's APIs and its customizations, documentation for that specific aspect is not very good. There is not too much support built into the offering for that aspect, for a developer."

"From its functionality, it is extendable at a high level, but to get your full-blown majority in Enterprise Architecture is not so easy."

"Improvements in user interface simplicity could be made, particularly with the reporting and filtering capabilities."

"The solution uses Gartner's time-based framework for application rationalization. One more thing that you can consider is having some add-on frameworks for the same, not just Gartner."

"Adjustments related to specific organizational requirements are complex."

"One of the challenges that I've found, even with working with Subway, was that being able to build that out into a detailed solution for a developer or for new process design was one of the challenges, just making that leap."

"LeanIX has limited in-build diagramming capabilities, requiring the purchase of another tool. That is the main drawback of LeanIX because they don't have a built-in add-on product for diagramming."

More LeanIX cons

"The solution out-of-the-box that we established was insufficient. We had to purchase and set up OData. I don't believe that it's a great solution out-of-the-box but eventually you can get there."

"We have required more time from our resource managers to spend time in the tool. The adoption has been slower than we would have hoped. So, I would think from a rollout perspective, if Planview could help us with material which gets non-Planview users or previously light Planview users to become more heavy users of the system, then this would help us with the rollout."

"From a financial perspective, it is good; from a scheduled perspective, it is not so good, and from an execution perspective, it is even worse."

"The UI needs improvement. The UI should have more possibilities for users who are not specialized in using Planview. At the moment, it is more of a technical UI. I would like it to be an open user UI."

"Its ability to create summary reports across multiple projects is very limited."

"The out-of-the-box reports, as far as I can tell, are weak. We've had to build a lot of reports using Power BI, which we connected to it."

"The number one thing that needs improvement is the UI. It should be easy for a casual project manager. It should provide customizable screens that can be a choice for project managers to choose as a professional level, medium level, and a very easy level."

"I would rate the technical support just slightly below poor."

More Planview Portfolios cons

"I would like it to be less of a general tool. Currently, it is not a Swiss army knife that can do everything. It is not specialized for our purposes. We are a civil engineering company. We build things. We work mostly in what is known as Infra world in the Netherlands, which comprises objects such as bridges, locks, and water management. We would like to see more focus on such types of projects. It would be nice if it has more specializations. At the moment, it is very generic, and you have to create everything yourself. Our focus is more on user requirement management, which is currently very basic. I would like to see a lot more functionality in this area. Its basic functions for adding user requirements are perfect, but we need more features. Currently, it has limited possibilities for our requirements. I would also like to see better contract management and have it managed in a certain way."

"There was some sort of glitch within the last version."

"The tool is, to some extent, clumsy and in some areas slow (especially on mid or low-performance workstations)."

"One of the drawbacks is that it is oriented on architecture and not user-presented."

"The only stability concern I encountered was it not recognising that my laptop has limited resources especially as diagram complexity increases."

"If you just want to create some diagrams with shapes and arrows, then use Visio."

"It would be great if we could decrease the use of different parts of the Toolbox, forcing temporary consultants to use our Profile and no other items from other toolboxes."

"Its side effect is the complexity of getting it all together in this one tool."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's pricing is based on a licensing model that is competitive and in line with other products."

"I would rate the pricing a one out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"LeanIX uses application-based account licensing, where the cost is multiplied by the number of applications in the software implementation."

"It cost me $91,000 a year for 300 applications. For any enterprise, 300 applications are minimal, as many have well over 1,000 applications."

"The pricing is very good. We definitely get good value for the money."

"As the tool is cloud-based, its cost is more affordable."

"The tool needs to include more flexible licensing options. We do not use the tool all the time. So pricing should be considered only when we use the tool."

"There is a sweet spot of where they need to be on pricing right now. They could go up a little bit in pricing, but it has to do with the cost savings, and it has to do with the practitioners using it. I use it where I get cost savings and I can justify it, but they probably have the ability to flex a 10% up channel on their sales on that. So, they could increase their settle price, not their offering price, when they sell. They can probably hold that up a little bit higher than it is because there are cost savings that we can drive from it."

"The cost of other pieces and integrating them in needs improvement."

"We overbought our licenses. We looked at our needs three to four years down the road and tried based our contract on that. However, we were over aggressive. We use about a third of the licenses that we have. We're looking to adjust the makeup so we can start utilizing the amount of money that we are spending. Right now, we're overspending, and my organization is not seeing the value in Planview because we are paying so much for licenses that we're not using."

"We have unlimited licenses for all of our functionalities. Since we went global, we went with that model."

"We have portfolio managers, resource managers, project managers, and time reporting licenses. These are the licenses that we have."

"I don't think we have necessarily purchased everything that I would have liked to have seen."

"I don't know about the actual pricing. I have not come across any costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"The licensing part is a bit costly in comparison with the other available PPM tools."

"We recently did a new bundle for all of Enterprise One. It includes some of the newer pieces, like Projectplace and LeanKit. It bundled our CTM in with it as well. I think the total came out to be about $900,000 a year. This is for unlimited licenses."

More Planview Portfolios pricing and cost advice

"Pricing and licensing is very attractive, simple, and straightforward."

"I use my own license. So, I just bought the professional version, which costs $800 or something like that. In the company where I am working, we have floating licenses. They are probably more expensive. Its licensing is affordable, but we are talking about a large organization, and there could be modelers or viewers of the models. We don't know how much that would cost us."

"The pricing for ultimate version is steeply high."

"The pricing is reasonable."

"We have an annual license, and it's very affordable."

"Licenses are pretty low cost compared to, for example, ARIS."

"I think our license costs roughly $1,000 a year, but I could be wrong."

"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

Marketing Services Firm

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	8
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	13

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	66

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	39
Midsize Enterprise	20
Large Enterprise	58

Questions from the Community

Any experience with Strategic Project Portfolio Management Solutions?

Hi @Cheryl Joseph Looking at the crossover between Project and Portfolio management with EA, then Planview could be ...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for LeanIX?

My experience with pricing is not directly known, as it was handled by others, but it is subscription-based. The tool...

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What needs improvement with LeanIX?

From a pricing perspective, it is not a cheap tool. It is relatively expensive compared to some of its competitors. I...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Planview Portfolios?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been that Planview Portfolios is one of the best and a very...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Planview Portfolios?

Planview Portfolios can be improved as the user interface defaults to the last opened portfolio, which can waste a lo...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Planview Portfolios?

My main use case for Planview Portfolios is to ensure governance and decision auditability by incorporating embedded ...

See all answers

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...

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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 stra...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect?

We are mostly using the ArchiMate language to describe enterprise or solution architecture, along with a bit of use c...

See all answers

Comparisons

ServiceNow vs LeanIX

Compared 11% of the time

Ardoq vs LeanIX

Compared 7% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs LeanIX

Compared 6% of the time

BiZZdesign HoriZZon vs LeanIX

Compared 5% of the time

Planview Barometer vs LeanIX

Compared 3% of the time

More LeanIX Competitors

Broadcom Clarity vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 9% of the time

Planview PPM Pro vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 5% of the time

OpenText Project and Portfolio Management vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 4% of the time

Planisware vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 4% of the time

KeyedIn Projects vs Planview Portfolios

Compared 2% of the time

More Planview Portfolios Competitors

Visual Paradigm vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 6% of the time

MEGA HOPEX vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 5% of the time

Visio vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 5% of the time

No Magic MagicDraw vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 4% of the time

Avolution ABACUS vs Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

Compared 3% of the time

More Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

LeanIX

May 2026

Download LeanIX product report

Buyer's Guide

Planview Portfolios

May 2026

Download Planview Portfolios product report

Buyer's Guide

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

May 2026

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect report

Download Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect product report

Also Known As

No data available

Planview Enterprise One, Troux

No data available

Interactive Demo

SAP LeanIX

Demo not available

Planview

Demo not available

Sparx Systems

Overview

LeanIX offers enterprise architecture solutions to drive IT modernization and continuous business transformation. It empowers organizations to visualize, evaluate, and evolve their architecture for maximum impact.

Known globally, LeanIX provides AI-enhanced SaaS solutions for enterprises, enabling the visualization and evolution of enterprise architecture. From optimizing current IT landscapes to designing future ones, LeanIX equips organizations with necessary insights and flexibility. Its solutions include Application Portfolio Management for an overview of IT and business capabilities, Technology Risk and Compliance for addressing technology obsolescence, and Architecture and Road Map Planning for defining target architectures.

What are the key features of LeanIX?

Application Portfolio Management: Offers a real-time comprehensive overview of business and IT landscapes.
Enterprise Architecture Management: Links between applications and business components for cost optimization and upgrade planning.
Integrations with ServiceNow: Streamlines data management and synchronization.
User-Friendly Interface: Suitable for technical and non-technical users with customizable reports.

What benefits do organizations find in LeanIX reviews?

IT Modernization: Assists in optimizing existing IT landscapes.
Business Transformation: Drives continuous business change and strategic decision-making.
Cost Management: Supports cost optimization through effective technology management.
Risk Assessment: Proactively identifies and addresses technology obsolescence risks.

LeanIX is widely adopted for application portfolio management and rationalization, primarily by organizations seeking to inventory and assess applications. It facilitates the development of business capability models and aligns technology with business needs, aiding in strategic decisions. Teams use it to optimize IT landscapes, manage cloud governance, and link technology with business capabilities effectively across industries.

SAP LeanIX

Planview Portfolios empowers executives, finance, and portfolio leaders by enhancing strategic investments, improving market responsiveness, and connecting strategy and execution for optimal visibility.

Planview Portfolios offers comprehensive strategic and project portfolio management to organizations. Automating and scaling these processes, it enhances speed-to-value, aligns strategic objectives with execution, and connects business and technology planning for optimal funding and resource capacity. Users gain end-to-end visibility, track progress, and improve decision-making by utilizing integrated financial and capacity planning.

What key features does Planview Portfolios offer?

Strategic Alignment: Aligns objectives and OKRs with execution to ensure strategic goals are met.
End-to-End Visibility: Tracks performance across the organization to support timely decision-making.
Dynamic Planning and Funding: Utilizes scenario modeling for flexible strategic investment funding.
Flexible Capacity Planning: Balances programs and staffing levels against available capacity.
Connected Technology Strategy: Aligns technology investments with strategic digital initiatives.
Adaptive Program Management: Manages dependencies, risk, and progress through integrated planning.

What benefits can users find in reviews of Planview Portfolios?

Workflow Efficiency: Enhances efficiency by minimizing bottlenecks and optimizing execution.
Improved Decision-Making: Provides comprehensive insights for better informed strategic decisions.
Financial Insights: Offers detailed financial tracking across projects for greater transparency.
Organizational Agility: Increases productivity and adaptability through a unified platform.

Planview Portfolios is implemented across projects in industries requiring strategic planning, resource allocation, and financial tracking. Organizations manage project lifecycle and integration with ERP systems on a centralized platform, utilizing customizable workflows and reporting tools to enhance efficiency and streamline team processes.

Planview

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports modeling standards like UML, ArchiMate, and TOGAF. Its strengths include collaboration, scalability, and affordability, making it adaptable to enterprise architecture tasks.

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect provides a robust and versatile platform for enterprises by offering comprehensive modeling capabilities and integration with diverse tools. It supports diagram creation, automatic documentation, and reverse engineering, making tasks efficient. Though user interface improvements are needed for intuitiveness, its overall framework support and affordability remain attractive. Users typically integrate it with other solutions for enhanced functionality, benefiting from its version control and adaptability in IT landscapes.

What are the most important features?

Support for Multiple Standards: Offers UML, ArchiMate, TOGAF compatibility.
Collaboration Capabilities: Encourages effective teamwork and data sharing.
Scalable Solutions: Grows with enterprise demands.
Extensive Framework Support: Provides diverse modeling options.
Automatic Documentation: Generates essential documents efficiently.
Reverse Engineering and Code Generation: Supports software development processes.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Affordability: Cost-effective compared to competitors.
User-Friendliness: Easy to navigate for experienced users.
Integration: Works well with existing systems and tools.
User Flexibility: Adapts to specific needs without significant cost.

In specific industries, Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is often implemented for developing detailed architecture frameworks and business process models. Organizations leverage its capabilities in establishing application inventories and managing projects. Its use in data modeling and solution design is particularly valued in sectors requiring comprehensive IT landscape mapping.

Sparx Systems

Sample Customers

Bosch Rexroth, NSW Department of Education, Yamaha Motor Corporation, Tetra Pak, Deutsche Bahn, Flynn, SKF AB, NTT Group, Travis Perkins, SEEK, Haworth, Asahi Beverages, MediaMarktSaturn, KAO USA, Ørsted, The Mark Anthony Group of Companies, AmTrust, Banco Itaú Unibanco, SHL Medical,...

UPS, NatWest, Ingram Micro, Canadian Tire, Viessmann, Volvo, NASCO, UNESCO

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Buyer's Guide

Enterprise Architecture Management

May 2026

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