Looking for a Dragon1 Alternative?
What is the best alternative to the Dragon1 visualization platform? Discover the benefits of Boldo for companies seeking a collaborative and intuitive enterprise architecture solution.
Why Modern Enterprises Are Switching from Dragon1 to Boldo
Dragon1
Dragon1 is an established name in Enterprise Architecture, particularly recognized for its ability to produce visual atlases and its proprietary methodology. The platform appeals to organizations committed to an academic and structured approach to data visualization. However, this power comes with significant technical complexity and an interface often described as dated, creating a barrier to entry for non-experts and slowing adoption beyond the circle of certified architects.
Boldo shares this commitment to rigor but offers a radically different philosophy: architecture as a communication tool. By replacing methodological complexity with a 'Consumer-Grade' user experience, Boldo enables teams to model and communicate business strategy without friction. The platform prioritizes real-time agility and collaboration, making architectural assets accessible, understandable, and actionable for all decision-makers, without the need for intensive training.
Get Up and Running Instantly
While Dragon1 offers significant functional depth for experts trained in its method, its interface suffers from information density that can paralyze new users. The requirement to master abstract concepts before producing any visuals leads to a slow learning curve.
In contrast, Boldo focuses on a clean and intuitive interface, inspired by modern web standards. This accessibility drives viral adoption within teams: users are operational in minutes, drastically reducing the Time-to-Value for architecture projects.
Break Down Silos Between IT and Business
While Dragon1 allows for the generation of views intended for management, the construction process often remains siloed and technical. The platform is designed as a tool for experts to present to the rest of the company, which limits co-creation and data maintenance by information owners.
Boldo transforms architecture into a shared workspace. With real-time collaboration features (comments, mentions, simultaneous editing), the platform invites business experts to contribute directly to the repository. Architecture becomes a living, common language, rather than static documentation.
Free Yourself from Methodological Rigidities
Although Dragon1 supports major market frameworks, its approach remains heavily influenced by its own methodology, sometimes imposing a rigid structure that doesn't always align with the operational reality of agile companies or specific rapid modeling needs.
Boldo offers total flexibility through an evolving 'No-code' metamodel. Organizations can define their own object types and relationships without constraints, allowing the tool to perfectly align with the business vocabulary and the specificities of the organization, all while ensuring global consistency.
Compare Boldo with 10+ other Enterprise Architecture modelling and mapping solutions.
Designed for collaboration across all stakeholders
Architecture should not live in silos. With Boldo, business teams, IT and leadership work on the same views, in a shared and living workspace. Everyone explores, comments and aligns in real time. Architecture becomes a collective alignment tool, directly understood and adopted across the organization.
Built on European data sovereignty
Boldo is a French platform, with data hosted in Europe on Scaleway, a trusted sovereign cloud infrastructure. Your architecture repository stays fully under your control, in an environment designed to meet regulatory requirements. No ambiguity, no hidden dependencies: clear hosting, clear rules, full transparency.
A flexible metamodel that adapts to your reality
Every organization has its own constraints and maturity. Boldo relies on a flexible and evolving metamodel that adapts to your context instead of forcing a rigid framework. Start simple, enrich progressively, and let your architecture evolve at your own pace.
Visual storytelling at the core of the experience
In Boldo, diagramming is not an afterthought, it's the heart of the product. Views are intuitive, visually refined and immediately readable. Clear hierarchies, smooth navigation and embedded diagrams make architecture easy to grasp and easy to share, from executive committees to hands-on workshops.
Fair and transparent pricing
Boldo offers Pro and Team plans in self-service, with public and predictable per-user pricing. No opaque licenses, no hidden bundles, no constant renegotiation. From day one, you know what you pay, what you get, and how it scales.
We are here to drive adoption and value
Customer Success is central to our approach. We work closely with teams to build an architecture governance that is useful, alive and truly adopted. Responsive support, continuous exchanges and a long-term vision ensure architecture becomes a concrete decision-making asset, not a theoretical exercise.
Dragon1 vs Boldo
| Dragon1 | Boldo | |
|---|---|---|
Pricing | ||
| Pricing model | Based on users | User and modelled asset packs |
| Price positioning | $$$ | $$$ |
| Free trial | ||
| Self-service offering | ||
| Enterprise offering | ||
User experience | ||
| Modern interface | ||
| Consistency across views | ||
| Time to implement | ~ 3 to 9 months | ~ 1 to 6 weeks |
| Learning curve for architects | Steep | Very fast |
| Learning curve for business / C-level users | Moderate | Very fast |
Collaboration | ||
| Access rights management | Fine grained (asset level) | Very fine grained (fields and relationships) |
| Real-time multi-user modelling | ||
| Comments linked to objects and views | ||
| Mentions and notifications | ||
| Object-level history and versioning | ||
Modelling | ||
| Custom object type creation | ||
| Object hierarchies | ||
| Custom properties per object type | ||
| Custom relationships | ||
| Process modelling | ||
| ArchiMate metamodel support | ||
| Framework-agnostic modelling | ||
Storytelling and visualisation | ||
| Dynamic views (auto-synchronised) | ||
| Nested maps and diagrams | ||
| Data visualisation | ||
| Auto-generated diagrams | ||
| Diagram in ""conception"" mode | ||
| Bi-directional data ↔ visuals synchronisation | ||
| Storytelling mode and scripted views | ||
| Multi-dimensional impact analysis | ||
Data and automation | ||
| Public API | ||
| Batch imports (CSV) | ||
| Native connectors | ||
| Data validation rules | (Q4 2026) | |
| Automatic triggers on changes | (Q4 2026) | |
| SaaS hosting | ||
| Sovereign hosting | ||
| On-premise hosting | ||
Other alternatives
LeanIX
LeanIX is an Enterprise Architecture and IT portfolio management platform designed to help large organizations document, analyze and govern their application landscape. Widely adopted by enterprises, LeanIX focuses on Application Portfolio Management (APM), technology risk, and transformation initiatives, often in close alignment with ERP programs such as SAP.
The platform is primarily used by architecture and transformation teams looking to structure, rationalize and govern complex IT environments at scale. LeanIX emphasizes data consistency, standardized reporting and integration with existing enterprise systems, making it a strong choice for mature, governance-driven organizations.
Ardoq
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Bizzdesign Horizzon
Bizzdesign Horizzon is a European business design and enterprise architecture platform that connects strategy, business capabilities, operating models and IT architecture within a single, unified environment.
The platform is primarily designed for large organizations looking to structure, govern and steer complex transformation initiatives at scale.
Bizzdesign HOPEX
Bizzdesign HOPEX is a European enterprise architecture and governance platform originally developed by MEGA International, and acquired by Bizzdesign in 2024.
It is widely used in regulated industries and the public sector to formalize Enterprise Architecture, governance, risk and compliance through structured models and reference frameworks.
The platform is designed for organizations seeking exhaustive coverage, strong methodological discipline and long-term governance across IT, business processes and compliance domains.
BlueDolphin
BlueDolphin is an Enterprise Architecture platform developed by ValueBlue. It helps organizations align strategy, business processes, information systems, and data within a shared repository, with strong capabilities for current and target state modeling, impact analysis, and stakeholder collaboration.
