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Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs Visual Paradigm comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

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

Sparx Systems Enterprise Ar...
Ranking in Business Process Design
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Architecture Management (2nd)
Visual Paradigm
Ranking in Business Process Design
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Business Process Design category, the mindshare of Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is 10.5%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visual Paradigm is 5.8%, down from 6.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Business Process Design
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Angie Ibrahim Eissa - PeerSpot reviewer
A software application designed for software development teams to model business information systems and manage development processes
Setting up Visual Paradigm is easy. There's hardly any configuration needed, unlike some other tools. You just choose your method and diagram type, and you're good to go. As for improvements, integrating project management features with diagrams could be better. Viewing outputs could also be smoother, especially when working with multiple files.Deployment is quick and painless. It practically takes no time at all to set up. And because I also teach at the university, I use Visual Paradigm for my classes and case studies. It's easy to switch between products, and my students have no trouble using it on their own.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution saved a lot of time, about 30%."
"Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect supports multiple modeling languages like ArchiMate for database design, software lifecycle visualization, and team management."
"The stability has been good and satisfactory. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten."
"Scalability is not a problem. You can always increase the footprint of what the thing can do because it's so powerful."
"There are a lot of features in Enterprise Architect. It allows us to take on a lot of tasks."
"The initial setup is easy."
"Sparx technical support is good."
"The installation was very easy."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"Visual Paradigm allowed me to create UML diagrams efficiently."
"Visual Paradigm is simple and easy to use."
"I find it very user-friendly for my purposes, which is creating business process models that I can publish as HTML pages. It has worked flawlessly for my project, and my clients are able to utilize it as an internal web portal for their process documentation and other needs."
"The most valuable feature of the Visual Paradigm that I use is process modeling. Additionally, the solution has a complete set of features."
"Visual Paradigm is simple and easy to use."
"Visual Paradigm allowed me to create UML diagrams efficiently."
"The pricing model is attractive."
 

Cons

"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."
"One room for improvement in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is that it's not very friendly. Another room for improvement in the tool is that it doesn't enable you to import the metadata from a database very easily, so reverse engineering of a database was very difficult. Its database modeling and entity-relationship modeling functions need improvement."
"When collaborating with other people, it needs to be more user-friendly."
"The database management area was not usable."
"I struggled with most of the features for this tool, as did the rest of our architecture team."
"If you just want to create some diagrams with shapes and arrows, then use Visio."
"The documentation needs a bit of improvement. What I find is that when I'm trying to do something specific for some part of a project, in terms of documentation, it's kind of hard to get at figuring out if you don't use it all the time."
"Insufficient control of metadata and standards."
"The solution's technical support can be improved and accessible for our company location since Visual Paradigm follows a remote support model with some challenges."
"There is room for improvement in the licensing model. I would suggest implementing country-specific pricing, as many other products in India do. This would make Visual Paradigm more affordable and accessible."
"The solution can improve by updating the user interface, and graphics."
"The product can always get better as the industry changes."
"Visual Paradigm can improve by having better process mining tools and model integration."
"The user interface is not easy to navigate, so it should be made easier."
"Takes up a lot of resources."
"It's still early for me to comment since I've only been using it for two months, but the responsiveness when diagramming needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Corporate Edition, or one of the bundles, is the way to go."
"There is a license for this solution. When comparing this solution to others it is priced well."
"This product has a paid license, with a yearly subscription option."
"In terms of cost, Sparx EA is probably one of the cheapest tools I have ever used."
"It is cheap."
"It's reasonably priced for large organizations."
"It is cheaper than other solutions. Its cost is around $686 per year. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees."
"Enterprise licensing is competitive. What would be helpful if they load the pricing for consultants, you know, people who are consultants for clients. So the license is fine for end-user organizations. Still, they should consider lowering the license to support this adoption, particularly for people who are consultants like myself."
"This is an open-sourced solution, it is free to use."
"I rate Visual Paradigm's pricing a five out of ten."
"I rate the pricing a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."
"You can move between the tiers from month to month so you are not restricted to one pricing model."
"You can use Paradigm on a subscription basis and you can choose from different tiers of subscription."
"Over the years I've seen an increase in price, and it makes it difficult for a single person company, like me, to decide whether to extend the license."
"The pricing of Visual Paradigm is very appropriate and affordable. There are no hidden costs involved."
"This product is fairly cheap, but if you want more complex features, e.g. integration with other products, it does require an additional cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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 ...
What do you like most about Visual Paradigm?
The solution is the best application for data modeling. It helps to architect business processes. Its best features are pricing and functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visual Paradigm?
I purchased Visual Paradigm on my own, and it was competitively priced, so I was fine with the pricing.
What needs improvement with Visual Paradigm?
The product can always get better as the industry changes, however, I didn't necessarily feel it was lacking for what I did with it.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

OmniLink
Adobe, Apple, at&t, Caterpillar, Intel, NASA, Nokia, Toyota
Find out what your peers are saying about Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs. Visual Paradigm and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,390 professionals have used our research since 2012.