When Polarion is the better choice
- You need on-premise or air-gapped. Polarion ALM installs on your own server; Polarion X is the hosted version¹. Reqlio is hosted; a dedicated or self-hosted instance is an Enterprise conversation, not a product you download today.
- You want to model your own process. Polarion has customisable workflows, a graphical workflow designer, scripting and a REST API⁴. Reqlio is opinionated: the process is built in and adjusted with settings, not scripts.
- You live in the Siemens toolchain. Polarion connects to Teamcenter, MATLAB Simulink, Jira and Azure DevOps, and manages product-line variants with feature models⁴⁵. Reqlio has none of those integrations and no feature-model variant management.
- You want the compliance package from the vendor. Siemens sells a Medical Device solution (FDA 21 CFR 820 and Part 11, ISO 14971)⁸ and a Polarion for Automotive template (ISO 26262, ASPICE)⁹. Reqlio's ISO 26262 and IEC 62304 templates set up the project structure; they are not a validation kit.
- Your documents live in Word. LiveDocs round-trip with Word and Excel⁴. Reqlio exports Word and PDF but does not re-import them.
- Procurement needs a large vendor. Reqlio is one engineer, has no SAML or Microsoft sign-in yet (Google and TOTP today), and is not itself ISO 27001 certified; its hosting provider is.
The comparison
Every claim in the Polarion column is sourced; references are at the bottom of the page. Checked October 2026. What Polarion can do depends on the licence or tier, so the notes say which.
| Siemens Polarion / Polarion X | Reqlio | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting a price | No published price. The product page says "Contact Sales"¹; each Polarion X plan says "Let's connect"². The AWS Marketplace listing shows Polarion X at $24,000 per 12 months for a minimum of 10 users, including startup services³ | On the pricing page. €59 and €99 per editor per month, billed annually |
| Do reviewers cost money? | Yes, but not much. Reviewer is its own licence for commenting, approving and e-signing⁵, advertised at "as low as $29.00 per user"⁶. Polarion X tiers include one, three or five; more are bought separately⁴ | No. Reviewers, approvers, viewers and portal guests are free, without limit |
| Who needs a full licence | On-premise, editing LiveDocs needs REQ, QA or ALM; creating test runs needs QA or ALM⁵. Every Polarion X plan includes both⁴ | One editor role covers authoring, test runs, FMEA, budgets, baselines and AI |
| Test and sign-off | Yes. Test specifications and runs with steps; work item approval, document signing, electronic signatures⁴ | Yes. Four verification methods, campaigns, runs, coverage; review rounds, reviewer versus approver, anchored verdicts |
| Risk and FMEA | Risk specification documents; an FMEA worksheet export template in the project templates (QA and ALM licences on-premise)⁴⁵ | 5×5 risk register and AIAG-VDA FMEA worksheets whose failure modes escalate into the register |
| AI assistance | Polarion Copilot is a paid add-on: INCOSE content validation, consistency and similarity checks, on your own Azure-hosted OpenAI model. On-premise it needs a Hybrid SaaS licence type⁵⁷⁸ | Every plan, at the published price. AI quality checks, 13 AI actions and an MCP server |
| Integrations | Broad. Jira, Azure DevOps, DOORS and Simulink connectors from Standard upwards on Polarion X; Teamcenter from Advanced⁴ | Narrow. ReqIF, CSV, XLSX, Word and PDF, plus the MCP server. No Jira or Azure DevOps |
| Deployment and data location | On-premise, or Polarion X SaaS¹. Polarion X runs on AWS; the listing names European regions among those supported³ | Hosted in Frankfurt, Germany: creoline GmbH (ISO/IEC 27001:2022) in firstcolo FRA4, one database per customer; a dedicated or self-hosted instance by Enterprise arrangement |
| ReqIF | Yes. Native round trip since Polarion 2014¹⁰. Polarion X Standard and up; REQ, QA and ALM on-premise⁴⁵ | Yes. Import and export on every plan, identity on ReqIF.ForeignID |
What the table says. On capability, Polarion is level or ahead in most rows. The difference is packaging: which licence does what, AI as an add-on, a price from a conversation. Reqlio has one paid role and one price list.
Speed and setup: what users report
Quoted, not paraphrased, from review sites you can read yourself. A small sample: Capterra has 19 reviews averaging 4.4 out of 5¹¹.
- On upgrades: the software "needs to reindex all of your data after the update. This process can take several hours, or even days, to complete" — team manager, automotive¹¹.
- On learning curve: "Working with Polarion may require extensive training to fully utilize the tool" — engineer, aviation¹¹.
- On configuration: "The configuration aspect of the solution is not easy" — and on price, "quite expensive for smaller enterprises"¹².
In fairness: other reviewers praise the same flexibility¹¹¹², Siemens says 2512 loads projects in the Project Explorer up to 90% faster⁷, and Polarion X takes setup and maintenance off your hands¹. With a Polarion administrator, most of this is their job. Without one, it is the decision. Reqlio comes configured: specification levels and prefixes, suspect links, review rounds, verification methods, gates, FMEA, ICDs and budgets, with templates for ISO 26262, IEC 62304, ECSS, EN 50126/50128 and INCOSE.
How you move from Polarion
The path is ReqIF. Polarion exports LiveDocs as ReqIF¹⁰ on Polarion X Standard and up or an on-premise REQ, QA or ALM licence⁴⁵. Reqlio imports in two steps: a preview of what it would do, then an apply, with the attribute mapping corrected in between.
- Comes across: requirements, the document hierarchy as sections, links, and mapped attributes. Unmapped attributes are kept as text, not dropped.
- Identity: ReqIF.ForeignID becomes the requirement ID, so a re-import updates rather than duplicates. Check in the preview which attribute your export uses.
- Does not come across: attachments inside a .reqifz, test runs, signatures and workflow history. One import targets one specification.
Do it once with real data: export one LiveDoc, import it, read the preview, export it back and diff.
What it costs
- Polarion X: Siemens publishes no price¹². The one public figure is the AWS Marketplace listing: $24,000 per 12 months for a minimum of 10 users, startup services included, tier not stated³. A reference point, not a quote.
- Reqlio: Team €59, Business €99 per editor per month billed annually (€69 and €119 monthly), Enterprise by quote. A team of ten where four write and six review pays for four: €2,832 a year on Team.
Reqlio prices exclude VAT. Team: 3-editor minimum annually, 2 monthly; Business: 5-editor minimum. 30-day trial without a card; paid pilot for regulated teams €1,500 for 90 days.
Questions people ask before switching
We work to ISO 26262 or IEC 62304. Is Reqlio enough?
The engineering concepts are there: specification levels, traceability with suspect links, four verification methods, baselines, formal reviews, FMEA and full history, with project templates for both standards. What Reqlio does not have is a vendor validation kit or tool qualification package. If your auditor expects one, say so early and we will tell you straight whether it fits.
Can we migrate from Polarion?
Over ReqIF, one specification at a time. Identity is carried on ReqIF.ForeignID, so a re-import updates what Reqlio already has. Test runs, signatures and attachments do not travel in the ReqIF import; plan for them separately.
You are one engineer. What happens if you stop?
It is the right question. ReqIF, XLSX and CSV export on every plan at any time; read-only access to your data for twelve months after cancellation; source-code escrow on Enterprise. Your data is never hostage to anyone's roadmap, including ours.
Sources
Every claim above about Siemens Polarion, with where it came from. Checked 3 October 2026.
- Siemens, Polarion — "Contact Sales"; Polarion ALM on your own server; Polarion X where Siemens oversees "the setup, security and maintenance"; LiveDocs.
- Siemens, Polarion X plans and pricing — Essentials, Standard, Advanced and Automotive plans, each with "Let's connect" and no published price.
- AWS Marketplace, Polarion X — sold by Siemens; $24,000 per 12 months, "Minimum of 10 users inc. startup services"; deployed on AWS, European regions among those supported.
- Siemens, Polarion X 2512 feature matrix (Wayback copy, 6 March 2026; the original now redirects) — Reviewer approves and signs; Reviewer licences included 1/3/5 by tier, more bought separately; test management, Word/Excel round trip, workflow designer, risk documents, FMEA template in every plan; scripting, REST API, connectors and RIF/ReqIF from Standard; variants and Teamcenter from Advanced; Copilot is an add-on.
- Siemens, Polarion 2512 feature matrix (on-premise) (Wayback copy, 6 March 2026) — Reviewer approves and signs ("Signature and Approvals panel only"); documents need REQ, QA or ALM; test runs need QA or ALM; FMEA template with QA and ALM; RIF/ReqIF with REQ, QA, ALM; Variants add-on; Copilot needs a Hybrid SaaS licence plus add-on.
- Siemens, Polarion REVIEWER (Wayback copy, 16 January 2026) — comment, approve, digital signatures; "as low as $29.00 per user".
- Siemens, Polarion ALM 2512: what's new (3 December 2025) — Copilot "a new paid add-on" that lets you "leverage your own Azure-hosted OpenAI LLM", on-premise via "Hybrid SaaS-type licenses"; INCOSE validation, consistency and similarity checks; "Up to 90% faster Project loading".
- Siemens, Polarion X 2512: what's new (10 March 2026) — "Polarion Copilot is a paid add-on"; Medical Device solution for FDA 21 CFR 820, FDA 21 CFR 11 and ISO 14971, requiring Polarion X Advanced or Premium.
- Siemens, Polarion for Automotive — project template and configuration package aligned to ISO 26262 and Automotive SPICE.
- Siemens, Polarion 2014: what's new (11 March 2014) — "Native support for ReqIF round-trip", including LiveDoc export as ReqIF.
- Capterra, Polarion ALM reviews — 4.4 out of 5 from 19 reviews; reindexing (August 2022), training (February 2025), customisability.
- PeerSpot, Polarion ALM reviews — "The configuration aspect of the solution is not easy"; licence model "quite expensive for smaller enterprises"; "Polarion ALM is extremely flexible."
Siemens, Polarion, Polarion X and Teamcenter are trademarks of Siemens or its affiliates. Reqlio is not affiliated with or endorsed by Siemens. Comparisons reflect publicly documented information on the date shown; check the sources before relying on them for a purchasing decision.
Try it against a real specification
Thirty days, every module and the AI included, no card. Export one LiveDoc as ReqIF and see whether it holds up.