--- description: Comparison Table Various SDLC Models - Know Difference between Waterfall Model and Spiral Model, Incremental Model, Spiral Model and Rad Model. title: Difference Between Waterfall vs Spiral and Incremental Model --- [Skip to content](#main) To manage the level of complexity during the software development cycle, various SDLC model is implemented by the software companies. Their aim is to deliver a quality software product, however each model is unique in terms of their software development approach. To effectively learn the SDLC models we will compare the various models of [Software Engineering](https://www.guru99.com/software-engineering-tutorial.html). Here we will see how each model differs from other in terms of cost, time duration, requirements, maintenance etc. ## Waterfall vs. Incremental vs. Spiral vs. Rad Model: Comparison of Various SDLC Models The following [SDLC models](https://www.guru99.com/software-development-life-cycle-tutorial.html) comparison table presents the differences between Water-Fall Model Vs. Incremental Model Vs. Spiral Model and Rad Model. | Properties of Model | Water-Fall Model | Incremental Model | Spiral Model | Rad Model | | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------- | | Planning in early stage | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Returning to an earlier phase | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Handle Large-Project | Not Appropriate | Not Appropriate | Appropriate | Not Appropriate | | Detailed Documentation | Necessary | Yes but not much | Yes | Limited | | Cost | Low | Low | Expensive | Low | | Requirement Specifications | Beginning | Beginning | Beginning | Time boxed release | | Flexibility to change | Difficult | Easy | Easy | Easy | | User Involvement | Only at beginning | Intermediate | High | Only at the beginning | | Maintenance | Least | Promotes Maintainability | Typical | Easily Maintained | | Duration | Long | Very long | Long | Short | | Risk Involvement | High | Low | Medium to high risk | Low | | Framework Type | Linear | Linear + Iterative | Linear + Iterative | Linear | | Testing | After completion of coding phase | After every iteration | At the end of the engineering phase | After completion of coding | | Overlapping Phases | No | Yes (As parallel development is there) | No | Yes | | Maintenance | Least Maintainable | Maintainable | Yes | Easily Maintainable | | Re-usability | Least possible | To some extent | To some extent | Yes | | Time-Frame | Very Long | Long | Long | Short | | Working software availability | At the end of the life-cycle | At the end of every iteration | At the end of every iteration | At the end of the life cycle | | Objective | High Assurance | Rapid Development | High Assurance | Rapid development | | Team size | Large Team | Not Large Team | Large Team | Small Team | | Customer control over administrator | Very Low | Yes | Yes | Yes | #### Summarize this post with: ChatGPT Perplexity Grok Google AI **Stay Updated on AI** **Get Weekly AI Skills, Trends, Actionable Advice.** ##### Sign up for the newsletter Subscribe for Free You have successfully subscribed. 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