8 Best Data Model Builders in 2023

Data is now becoming a differentiator for businesses in the technological era. However, dealing with a large number of data sets can be extremely challenging due to issues like data security, data duplicates, and more. This is when Data Modeling becomes useful. 

Data Modeling allows you to demonstrate how data will be organized and what relationships you want to establish between them. In this article on Top Data Model Builders, we will discuss data modeling in detail and the best Data Model Builders available in the current market.

What is Data Modeling?

Data modeling is the act of generating a visual representation of an entire information system to express relations between data points and structures. The purpose is to show how various types of data are stored in the system, the links between them, and how the data may be categorized and arranged. To meet the demands of businesses, rules and requirements of data models have been developed ahead of time-based on feedback from business stakeholders. Data models may be included in the design of a new system or altered in existing systems.

Types of Data Models

Data models are classified into three types – conceptual, logical, and physical models – based on the level of abstraction. The different types of Data Models are listed below:

• Conceptual: They’re also known as domain models and provide a bigger perspective of the system’s contents – how the data will be organized and which business rules will be involved.
• Physical: Physical data models might incorporate attributes related to a database management system (DBMS), such as performance tuning. Physical data models usually define the format in which data will be physically stored in a database. As a result, these models are the least abstract of the bunch.
• Logical: Logical data models are beneficial in highly procedural implementation contexts or for applications that are data-oriented by nature. For example, data warehouse design or reporting system development. They are less abstract and give more information on the concepts and relationships in the domain.

How to Choose a Data Modeling Software?

While connecting disparate systems that use different forms and formats, data modeling tools provide the diagrams and schemas needed to make the process easy and efficient. However, it is crucial to choose the correct solution for your organization’s data modeling needs. There are five essential factors to consider while selecting a provider and a data modeling solution, listed below: 

• Understanding how data is used in your company: The approach begins with an awareness of how your company consumes and processes data and its unique data modeling requirements. This stage must concentrate on actual business requirements to determine which data is required, desired, or optional.
• Consider the size of the project: It is important for you to ensure that the tool or solution can scale as your organization’s data demands alter and increase.
• Consider the main features: While determining a company’s general needs, it’s critical to understand the characteristics of various solutions and how well they match your present database architecture. Therefore, you must determine whether a tool can manage all relevant data types, how many people it can serve, and if it can handle data effectively.
• Be aware of the resources available to you Data modeling is a difficult task that may quickly become overwhelming. Look for a provider that is devoted to providing excellent customer service. Besides, an active user community may help unlock the full value of and assist in the resolution of different obstacles. 
• Recognize the various importance to ensure that the solution or tool recognizes and manages various formats to deal with costly and time-consuming translations and revisions.

Top Data Model Builders

A list of the Top 8 Data Model Builders is given below: 

• Archi
• Erwin Data Modeler
• DeZign for Databases
• Idera ER/Studio
• Lucidchart 
• MapBusinessOnline
• Navicat
• Toad Data Modeler

1) Archi

Archi is an open-source, cross-platform solution that provides a cost-effective yet robust framework for handling complicated data modeling. This Data Model Builder is based on dynamic visual components constructed on top of the ArchiMate language.

In the ArchiMate® 3.1 language, you can create ArchiMate elements and relations in ArchiMate views quickly. On the other hand, you can create user-defined attributes that help you fine-tune your model and colorize your diagram with your color scheme. You can also easily create ArchiMate Views and Viewpoints for the intended audience and stakeholders. 

Developers and other interested parties can download the Archi application for free on the official website.

2) Erwin Data Modeler

Erwin Data Modeler helps discover, visualize, design, deploy and standardize enterprise data assets. The Data Model Builder provides insights into structured and unstructured data in relational and NoSQL databases, warehouses, and cloud environments. Erwin data modeler consists of a single, easy interface to view complex business and technical data structures while automatically developing data models. Using built-in interfaces, you can also convert the technical format of the central cloud and on-premises database platforms into highly graphical models rich in metadata. 

While the full version of Erwin is approximately $7,725.00, a free “Community Edition” is available for students.

3) DeZign

DeZign for Databases is a platform that provides an easy and effective data modeling tool for developers and database specialists. This Data Model Builder is intended to assist in the creation of new data structures as well as the reverse engineering of current databases. 

DeZign for Databases enables a complete comparison of all differences when the model or database is changed. With the help of this Data Model Builder, You can customize what will be perceived as a difference using the comparison settings.

The features of DeZign Data Model Builder for Databases differ depending on the product edition. DeZign for Databases comes in three different versions to meet your data modeling and database maintenance requirements. It ranges from €19/mo to €99/mo.

4) Idera ER/Studio

Idera ER/Studio is a Data Model Builder that can handle various data assets spanning several platforms. It comes with a wide range of tools for creating corporate glossaries and standard data models for logical, physical, and conceptual models. This Data Model Builder platform supports forward and reverses engineering, data lineage, and “where used” analysis. 

You can create graphical models from existing databases or schemas with ER/Studio Data Architect and simply implement design changes with produced ALTER code. You can also perform native forward and reverse engineering for various RDBMS and extensive data systems on-premises and in the cloud using this Data Model Builder.

The ER/Studio Data Architect workstation starts at  $1,470.40 per user.

5) Lucidchart

Lucidchart is a collaborative online database diagramming tool. Since this Data Model Builder is cloud-based, there’s no need to download any significant software, and changes can be made rapidly in real-time. Individuals and teams may quickly sketch out what they need and how to proceed further. You can also align insights with a shared visual language that helps individuals make better decisions by accelerating cooperation and improving communication.

The Basic version can be accessed for free, whereas the Individual version starts from $7.95, and the Team version is priced at $9.00 per user.

6) MapBusinessOnline

MapBusinessOnline is a cloud-based business mapping software that helps a wide range of companies to create, organize, and analyze their data model on a geographical level. Any large or small firm may use this software to view business data, manage sales regions, discover new markets, and improve logistics.

To create the data model MapBusinessOnline has several filtering options with various sharing and collaboration facilities. 

The Standard version is priced at $600.00/yr, whereas the Pro version is priced at $1,050.0.

7) Navicat Data Modeler

Navicat is a sophisticated and affordable Data Model Builder for modeling data using conceptual, logical, and physical models. The program works on all major platforms and enables forward and reverse engineering.

Navicat Data Modeler is a Power database design tool that helps in the creation of data models. The application can easily create complicated entity connection models and produce SQL scripts with a single click. MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, and SQL Server are among the database systems supported by Navicat Data Modeler.

While the Enterprise version is priced at $229.99/yr, the Non-commercial version is priced at $129.99/yr.

8) Toad Data Modeler

Toad Data Modeler has established itself as a premier multi-platform database modeling tool. It has advanced visualization features that allow data managers and others to evaluate physical and logical models and the essential linkages across databases and other repositories. This Data Model Builder supports multiple databases like Oracle, SAP, MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, DB2, Ingres, and Microsoft Access that can be connected natively and concurrently. You can also create high-quality database structures or make automated updates to existing models and offer documentation across platforms.

You can buy the software from the official website for approximately $683.00.

Conclusion

In this article, you learnt about Data Modeling, how to choose Data Modeling software, and the best Data Model Builder available in the market. Today, due to the extensive usage of data across organizations, implementing a database model has become essential to enhance productivity.

With the help of Data Model Builders, you can study, comprehend and build the data models that will help you make better decisions for your business operations. Data Model Builders also assist in creating a logical, more straightforward Database that removes redundancy and minimizes storage needs. 

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