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FME vs SAS Data Management comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

FME
Ranking in Data Integration
32nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAS Data Management
Ranking in Data Integration
27th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Data Quality (8th), Data Governance (23rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Data Integration category, the mindshare of FME is 1.0%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Data Management is 1.2%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Integration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
SAS Data Management1.2%
FME1.0%
Other97.8%
Data Integration
 

Featured Reviews

Gert Booysen - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Solutions Leader at GE Vernova
Extensive format support and reliable integration enhance data management while new pricing model requires reassessment
I haven't had any input or requirements from any customers that are not currently covered, so I don't have any additional needs that were identified or raised to me. Regarding pricing, with the model changes that they've implemented a while back, it actually made it more expensive to use, especially on the server side. They changed the licensing model, and that made customers think it is overpriced. Some customers were actually looking at alternatives. Pricing with the model changes was perceived negatively. I work primarily with enterprise customers, Vodacom, Eskom, so it's tier-one customers. For small customers, this solution is a bit too expensive. They don't really use it and just do direct integration on smaller implementations. This is basically used by tier-one customers. FME is still able to save time and money for clients. It's still a good investment. Regarding similar products to FME, GE developed a product called Data Fabric. That is a real-time operational integration platform, Data Fabric Network Connect, which is a GE Grid OS product. It is actually more expensive than FME, but the purpose is different as it's operational. The vendor in this case is GE, and it's a company that we bought that used to be called Greenbird. In current use scenarios, FME is still leading compared to Data Fabric. The GE product has a different application.
Namanjbaraiya Baru - PeerSpot reviewer
Biostatistician at Lambda Therapeutic Research Ltd.
Data management has ensured compliant clinical trial datasets and supports reliable analysis
SAS Data Management's best feature is first, data reliability because SAS Data Management is a very trusted platform. The other valuable feature is data cleaning and the compliance that SAS Data Management provides. I can connect SAS Data Management with other SAS applications, as I am using SAS Viya, SAS 9.4, and SAS Enterprise Guide. The data query functionality of SAS Data Management is also very useful. Since I am using SAS Data Management, and SAS Data Management is well trusted by all regulatory authorities, the audit trails and security checks are very good. It is very reliable, very time-saving, and the chances of error are minimal.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We make minor subtle changes to the workbenches to improve it. We can share the workbenches. We don't have to use GitHub or anything else."
"FME is spatially aware and understands how to deal with the conversion of spatial objects and their attributes."
"It has standard plug-ins available for different data sources."
"The most valuable feature of FME is the graphical user interface. There is nothing better. It is very easy to debug because you can see all steps where there are failures. Overall the software is easy to optimize a process."
"The most valuable feature of FME is the graphical user interface."
"All spatial features are unrivaled, and the possibility to execute them based on a scheduled trigger, manual, e-mail, Websocket, tweet, file/directory change or virtually any trigger is most valuable."
"FME's features that I have found most valuable are that it has a very friendly user interface, you don't need to use a lot of code, it has a lot of connectors and few forms, and it has a strong facial aspect that can do a lot of facial analysis."
"From my reseller perspective, the best features in FME are the ease of operation and the fact that it works."
"DataFlux in my opinion is an excellent high end solution for enterprise wide data management."
"I think the product is very stable, I think it's a marvelous product, it is very widely used by many people and I never hear people complain."
"The monitoring capabilities are very good."
"The data integration tools with SAS Data Management were quite good because they allowed me to do all lineage, to manage and see all the variables, find the libraries where the data is, and understand the data in just one tool."
"This is an established product with powerful data analysis and varied options for user entry points."
"In terms of which features I have found most valuable, I would say the importing and exporting features. Additionally, the data sorting, categorizing and summarizing features, especially how it can summarize based on categories. These are the key features."
"The SAS Data Management software has enabled us to have a single source of truth for any data that was earlier being fetched from multiple source systems at multiple times."
"If you compare it to SQL, the memory and development times are very quick."
 

Cons

"FME's price needs improvement for the African market."
"FME can improve the geographical transformation. I've had some problems with the geographical transformations, but it's probably mostly because I'm not the most skilled geographer in-house. The solution requires some in-depth knowledge to perform some functions."
"We are looking at the possibility of using Glue instead of FME, using the native AWS product."
"The one thing that always appears in the community is the ability to make really easy loops to loop through data efficiently. That needs to be added at some point."
"To get a higher rating, it would have to improve the price and the associated scalability. These are the main issues."
"Regarding pricing, with the model changes that they've implemented a while back, it actually made it more expensive to use, especially on the server side."
"Improvements could be made to mapping presentations."
"FME is a great tool, but I don't know if we can scale it up since the prices are high and we would need to convince the decision makers to provide more budget."
"SAS Data Management can be improved in terms of the learning curve."
"The pricing of the solution needs to be improved. They need to work to make it more affordable."
"Costly. Not great for non-ETL use cases."
"We implemented it a while ago, and we are trying to improve the data delivery performance. We are looking into how to get faster and automated reporting. We would need better designs and workflows."
"I would like the tool to include the ability to automate the modifications of the integrations."
"The solution is quite expensive and hard to install/configure."
"We find we often have to go back and re-train users when there are changes made to the solution because the changes are not intuitive."
"The stability could be a bit better. It's lacking in this area right now."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's price is reasonable."
"FME Server used to cost £10,000; now it can cost over £100,000."
"We used the standard licensing for our use of FME. The cost was approximately €15,000 annually. We always welcome less expensive solutions, if the solution could be less expensive it would be helpful."
"The solution is expensive."
"While it is even free for personal use on the cloud, it can be expensive for desktop installations and enterprise use."
"The tool is a bit expensive."
"The licensing model for vCenter is a perpetual license with yearly payments."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
25%
Energy/Utilities Company
12%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
5%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with FME?
I haven't had any input or requirements from any customers that are not currently covered, so I don't have any additional needs that were identified or raised to me. Regarding pricing, with the mod...
What is your primary use case for FME?
The use cases for FME are mainly integration to the GE Smallworld product. GE Smallworld is a GE product, and we are using it to integrate with other third-party products into GE Smallworld and ADM...
What advice do you have for others considering FME?
The overall rating for FME is eight out of ten, and I prefer the feedback to be anonymous. My job title is Senior Solutions Architect.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Data Management?
From my experience, SAS Data Management is an expensive tool.
What needs improvement with SAS Data Management?
SAS Data Management can be improved in terms of the learning curve.
What is your primary use case for SAS Data Management?
My main use case for using SAS Data Management is data cleaning for my clinical trial data because my data is very large, and I need clean, reliable, and regulatory compliance data. My data comes f...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SAS Data Management Platform, Data Management Platform, DataFlux
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Shell, US Department of Commerce, PG&E, BC Hydro, City of Vancouver, Enel, Iowa DoT, San Antonio Water System
Data Management, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Absa, Aegon, Allianz Global Corporate & SpecialtyAusgrid, Bank of Queensland, Bell, BMC Software, Canada Post, Ceska pojistovna, Chantecler, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Credit Guarantee Corporation, Cr_dito y Cauci‹n, Delaware State Police, Deutsche Lufthansa, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DSM, Enerjisa, ERGO Insurance Group, Florida Department of Corrections, Generali Hellas, Gitanjali Group, Gloucestershire Constabulary, GS Home Shopping, HealthPartners, IAG New Zealand, iJET, Invacare, Livzon Pharmaceutical Group, Los Angeles County, Miami Herald Media Company, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Nippon Paper, North Carolina Office of Information Technology Services, Orlando Magic, OTP Group, PITT OHIO, Plano Independent School District, RWE Poland, Spanish Air Force, Stockholm County Council, Telus, The Travel Corporation, Transitions Optical, Triad Analytic Solutions, UNIQA, US Census Bureau, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, West Midlands Police, XS Inc., Zenith Insurance
Find out what your peers are saying about FME vs. SAS Data Management and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.