The operational processes in a business evolve to become more efficient and sustainable. Process modeling is pivotal in identifying and eliminating bottlenecks, streamlining workflows, and enhancing efficiency to contribute to its evolution.
What is process modeling?
Process modeling is a pictorial or graphical representation of business processes or workflows within a specific business environment. They can be linear or non-linear. Think of individual steps of a process drawn out in the form of a flow chart or a similar representation to capture the entire process in one visual.
Process modeling is also known more formally as business process modeling notation.
Does all of this sound a little too complex? Process modeling software breaks down the complexity for you.
With this curated list, we’ve highlighted the 10 best process modeling software in 2024. Explore the range of process modeling software based on features, limitations, pricing, and user ratings.
What Should You Look for in Business Process Modeling Software?
Before examining the list of recommended tools, let’s break down the crucial features you must consider when choosing a process modeling tool.
- Usability: Choose an intuitive process modeling tool that lets your team create and modify business process models like workflow diagrams and organizational charts without hassle
- Customization: Pick a solution with features that allow you to customize your views for your business needs, such as role-specific views or industry-specific templates
- Integration capabilities: Your process modeling software must seamlessly connect with your CRM or ERP systems for comprehensive data management
- Real-time collaboration: Select a process modeling tool that enhances collaboration among your team and enables faster decision-making.
- Reporting and analytics: Detailed insights to identify inefficiencies and optimize workflow processes are critical when selecting a solution
- Scalability: Opt for software that will adapt to your growing business demands, save costs, and ensure long-term usability
- Cost-effectiveness: Evaluate the software’s pricing against its features to ensure value for money
- Customer support: Assess the customer support services to get prompt software assistance and troubleshooting solutions
The 10 Best Process Modeling Software to Use in 2024
The market is flooded with so many tools and platforms that it is challenging to find a reliable one. However, we have made it easy for you by doing some groundwork. These 10 business process modeling tools have the best of today’s features to match a diverse range of business requirements.
1. ClickUp
ClickUp stands out in this list of process modeling software for its features and versatility. The platform offers various features, such as ClickUpChat, ClickUpDocs, and ClickUpTasks, which help you accomplish multiple tasks.
However, two features take the spotlight when it comes to process modeling: ClickUp Mind Maps and ClickUp Whiteboards.
ClickUp Mind Maps allows you to create workflow diagrams using tasks or nodes and, through that, a visual, step-by-step process for projects.
This feature enhances planning and lets your teams view their entire workflow on one screen, focus on individual tasks, and collaborate effectively in real-time. This is especially beneficial for brainstorming and project planning.
As for ClickUp Whiteboards, it serves as a visual collaboration tool for teams. It provides a dynamic and flexible digital canvas for brainstorming, planning, and collaborating on ideas, tasks, and projects.
ClickUp Whiteboards are helpful to map the phases of your project’s lifecycle. Additionally, you can use Whiteboards to collaborate with your teams in real-time, brainstorm new ideas visually, and develop agile workflows.
Move from ideation to execution by creating ClickUp Tasks from within your Whiteboards.
ClickUp best features
- Track progress in real-time using ClickUp Dashboards
- Simplify complex workflows with ClickUp Automation, with customizable triggers to minimize manual tasks
- Enhance productivity with daily tasks and priority lists via ClickUp To-Do Lists
- Capture and integrate ideas and notes into your workflow with ClickUp Notepad
- Generate tasks, summarize notes, and create reminders to save your time with ClickUp AI
- Access pre-designed and customizable ClickUp Templates for various project types and workflows
ClickUp limitations
- Some users have reported a steep learning curve
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp AI: $5 per Workspace on all paid plans
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (9000+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (2000+ reviews)
2. Creatio
Creatio offers a no-code platform, Studio Creatio, designed for automating workflows and building applications. This platform allows users to create complex applications and processes without coding skills, making it ideal for small businesses.
Creatio best features
- Streamlined workflow to build applications in its Application Hub
- Provides a set of no-code design tools to create and modify pages, data models, and workflows
- Offers a library of predefined views, widgets, and templates
- Enables the creation of complex processes with no-code tools
Creatio limitations
- Restricted customization and limited no-code options
- It lacks an intuitive interface
- Outdated documentation and resources
Creatio pricing
- Growth: $25/month for workflow automation to SMBs
- Enterprise: $55/month for full-scale automation
- Unlimited: $85/month for limitless automation
Creatio ratings and reviews
- G2: NA
- Capterra: NA
3. Lucidchart
A versatile diagramming and business process modeling tool, Lucidchart allows users to create and collaborate on various visual documents. It has an intuitive design and a robust feature set to help visualize complex processes and ideas.
Lucidchart best features
- Supports data import and linking, making integrating and visualizing complex information easier
- Offers a range of templates and real-time updates for easy diagram creation
- Mobile application and access management to work on-the-go
Lucidchart limitations
- No option for a one-time purchase
- Limited annotation features
Lucidchart pricing
- Basic: Free
- Individual: $7.95 per month/user, cloud-based, for individual professional use
- Team: $9.00 per month, cloud-based, requires a minimum of 3 users
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Lucidchart ratings and reviews
- G2: NA
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (2000+ reviews)
4. Jira
Jira, developed by Atlassian, is a dynamic business process modeling software for issue and project tracking, primarily designed for agile teams.
It supports a variety of project-tracking methodologies and offers a range of features for planning, tracking, and releasing software.
Jira best features
- Offers interactive timelines and roadmaps for planning and tracking
- Provides agile boards (Scrum and Kanban) for project breakdown and workflow visualization
- Capable DevOps visibility
- Designed for security and scalability, with features like disaster recovery
Jira limitations
- Integrating various tools and ensuring their smooth operation can be complex
- Performance issues with large-scale deployments
Jira pricing
- Basic: Free (up to 10 users)
- Standard: $81.50/month (up to 35000 users)
- Premium: $160/month (unlimited storage, 24/7 support, and a 99.9% uptime SLA) at
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Jira ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.3/5 (5610 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (13760 reviews)
5. Miro
Miro is a smooth visual collaboration platform designed for individuals, teams, and enterprises to brainstorm, plan, and execute projects.
It offers a range of features like digital whiteboards, interactive mind-mapping templates, and integrations with various apps for business process mapping.
Miro best features
- Provides a workspace with three editable boards in the free plan and unlimited boards in the paid plan
- Has 2500+ templates for various use cases
- Offers over 100 apps and integrations, including Zoom, Slack, Google Drive, and Sketch
- Contains built-in timer, voting, video chat, and other features for efficient meetings
Miro limitations
- Large boards can lead to slow loading and degraded performance
- The offline mode is minimal
- Users cannot create and save their custom templates
- Sessions may expire unexpectedly, causing potential loss of unsaved work
Miro pricing
- Basic: Free (For individuals and teams with unlimited team members)
- Starter: $8 per member/month billed annually or $10 monthly for teams
- Business: $16/member/month billed annually or $20/month for professionals
- Enterprise: Custom pricing
Miro ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (5211 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (1410 reviews)
6. Figma
A favorite with UI/UX designers, Figma is a cloud-based process prototyping and modeling tool that facilitates collaborative creation, testing, and delivery of product designs.
Figma offers advanced features like version history, team libraries, audio conversations, content management, overlays, on-canvas commenting, and automated provisioning.
Figma best features
- Provides cloud-based collaborative design environment
- Supports vector networks and arc designs through a pen tool
- Enhances collaboration with audio conversations and on-canvas commenting
- Mobile application support for iOS and Android
- Offers integrations with third-party applications like Maze, Zeplin, Pendo, Confluence, and more
Figma limitations
- Limited storage space, requiring teams to create new files regularly
- Performance tends to lag on Windows systems
- Adding images in design can be tricky for users accustomed to Photoshop and XD
Figma pricing
- Starter: Free (up to two editors and three projects)
- Professional: $12 per editor/month (annual billing) or $15 per editor/month (monthly billing)
- Organization: $45 per editor/month (yearly billing)
- Enterprise: $75 per editor/month (annual billing only)
Figma ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (996 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (689 reviews)
7. Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Visio is perfect for creating various diagrams, such as flowcharts, org charts, floor plans, network diagrams, UML diagrams, and mind maps.
It’s known for its robust data visualization capabilities. Users can create diagrams from Excel data and embed Visio diagrams through Power BI dashboards.
Microsoft Visio best features
- Supports a wide range of diagram types
- Offers advanced data visualization capabilities
- Enhanced data representation through integration with Excel and Power BI
- Includes additional templates, diagrams, and other advanced capabilities in the Professional edition
- Integrates well with other Microsoft applications
Microsoft Visio limitations
- Finding specific icon sets for non-general use could prove difficult
- Limited interoperability with other diagramming applications
- The reverse engineering functionality present in earlier versions has been removed
Microsoft Visio pricing
- Visio Plan 1: $5.00 per user per month for basic creation and detailed diagramming
- Visio Plan 2: $15.00 per user per month for specialized diagramming needs
Microsoft Visio ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.2/5 (657 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (3070 reviews)
8. Process Street
Process Street is a process modeling platform for teams to create, manage, and track their standard operating procedures, checklists, and workflows.
It transforms team knowledge into actionable workflows and is an operational knowledge repository.
Process Street best features
- Provides unlimited workflows and pages in all plans
- Data storage capacity ranges from 5,000 records in the Startup plan to customizable limits in the Enterprise plan
- Offers unlimited file storage across all plans
Process Street limitations
- The software can be a bit buggy at times
- Unsatisfactory inbox design
- Lack of complex conditional programming and better-tailored experiences
Process Street pricing
- Startup: $100 per month or $1,000 per year
- Pro: $415 per month or $5,000 per year
- Enterprise: $1,660 per month or $20,000 per month
Process Street ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.6/5 (387 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (617 reviews)
9. ProcessModel
Businesses regularly require in-depth insights into their processes, and ProcessModel is a process analysis and improvement tool designed for just that.
By allowing users to create a digital twin of their process, ProcessModel makes improving process efficiency across teams and testing potential improvements easier.
ProcessModel best features
- Model, simulate, and analyze complex business processes before real-world implementation
- Customized training for process improvement
- Versatile tool with applications across sectors
- Dedicated support channels
ProcessModel limitations
- Complexities in software may require significant learning
- Compatibility with different operating systems could become an issue
ProcessModel pricing
- Single Package: $2,995
- Project Team Package: $12,995
- Process Team Package: $25,995
ProcessModel ratings and reviews
- G2: NA
- Capterra: NA
10. Modelio Open Source
Modelio is an open-source modeling solution primarily catering to developers, analysts, and architects. Since it’s open source, developers can customize the tool to suit their requirements.
However, getting the tool up and running does take time, and it misses out on various helpful features such as model simulation and integrations.
Modelio Open Source best features
- Offers a wide range of business process models and diagrams with model assistance and consistency-checking
- Integrates business process management (BPM) with UML for business process modeling
- Supports Java code generation and Javadoc generation
- Allows exchanging UML2 models between different business process management tools
Modelio Open Source limitations
- User experience (UX) may prove mediocre
- It does not support basic model simulation
- Issues with XMI interoperability with competitive tools
- Users report several bugs that make operating the system difficult
Modelio Open Source pricing
Free: It is open source and can be downloaded from GitHub
Modelio Open Source ratings and reviews
- G2: NA
- Capterra: NA
Finding Your Process Modeling Match Is No More a Challenge!
Finding and picking the best process modeling software for your business is overwhelming, but it’s clear that there’s a tool out there for every need.
Whether you’re a small team or a large organization with complex processes, these top 10 business
process modeling tools offer a range of features to streamline and enhance your workflow.
Among these tools, ClickUp stands out for its excellent process modeling capabilities and the suite of functionalities that help you create and maintain critical business processes from a single platform.
Remember, the best software is the one that fits your specific requirements, so consider your team’s unique needs before making a decision.
Who knows? The perfect tool for your process modeling is one click away!