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IBM SPSS Modeler vs IBM SPSS Statistics vs KNIME comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Modeler is 18.1%, up from 16.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM SPSS Statistics is 16.6%, up from 12.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KNIME is 24.7%, down from 27.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Mining
 

Featured Reviews

PeterHuo - PeerSpot reviewer
Good tool for extracting data from data warehouses, creating streams, and manipulating logic to extract final data
There are performance issues. Extracting data from many combined tables can take hours and occasionally crash the server due to memory leaks. This performance problem bothers people. The performance issue seems to be related to the server. We design streams on the client and submit them to the server, which generates a large SQL statement. There are two potential bottlenecks: one in the server and another in data extraction. I'm unsure about the exact mechanics of data splitting when fetching from the database. When streams become larger, performance bottlenecks may occur in the IBM SPSS Modeler server or the database. Sometimes the server crashes and needs to be restarted to release memory on both sides. I'm not sure exactly where the problem is caused, as I focus on stream design rather than server issues. The problem could be on the IBM SPSS Modeler server and database.
Laurence Moseley - PeerSpot reviewer
Delivers reliable results for academic research and keeps you close to your data.
SPSS is perfectly adequate if all you want are some results. If you only need the results, you do not require the trail of evidence on how you obtained those results. I mainly used it for cross tabs, correlation, regression, chi-squared tests, and similar analyses often seen in published papers; I used it for my papers as well. For wider uses I find Knime keeps me in touch with my data, however much I transform them.
Laurence Moseley - PeerSpot reviewer
Has a drag-and-drop interface and AI capabilities
It's difficult to pinpoint one single feature because KNIME has so many. For starters, it's very easy to learn. You can get started with just a one-hour video. The drag-and-drop interface makes it user-friendly. For example, if you want to read an Excel file, drag the "read Excel file" node from the repository, configure it by specifying the file location, and run it. This gives you a table with all your data. Next, you can clean the data by handling missing values, selecting specific columns you want to analyze, and then proceeding with your analysis, such as regression or correlation. KNIME has over 4,500 nodes available for download. In addition, KNIME offers various extensions. For instance, the text processing extension allows you to process text data efficiently. It's more powerful than other tools like NVivo and Palantir. KNIME also has AI capabilities. If you're unsure about the next step, the AI assistant can suggest the most frequently used nodes based on your previous work. Another valuable feature is the integration with Python. If you need to perform a task that requires Python, you can simply add a Python node, write the necessary code,

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a great product for running statistical analysis."
"It's very easy to use. The drag and drop feature makes it very easy when you are building and testing the streams. That's very useful."
"You take two quarters and compare them and this tool is ideal because it gives you a lot of visibility on the before and after."
"It scales. I have not run into any challenges where it will not perform.​"
"I was familiar with using IBM SPSS Modeler separately in the private sector before that. It's a good tool for extracting data from data warehouses, creating streams, and manipulating logic to extract final data."
"Automation is great and this product is very organized."
"In the solution, I like the virtualization of data flow since it shows what goes where, which is mostly the strength of the tool."
"It gives you a GUI interface, which is a lot more user-friendly and easier to use compared to writing R scripts or Python."
"Most of the product features are good but I particularly like the linear regression analysis."
"The SPSS interface is very accessible and user-friendly. It's really easy to get information in it. I've shared it with experts and beginners, and everyone can navigate it."
"It is a modeling tool with helpful automation."
"Custom tables and macros: They allow us to create useful reports quickly for a broad audience."
"I've found the descriptive statistics and cross-tabs valuable. The very simple correlations and regressions are as well."
"You can quickly build models because it does the work for you."
"The solution is very comprehensive, especially compared to Minitabs, which is considered more for manufacturing. However, whatever data you want to analyze can be handled with SPSS."
"The solution has numerous valuable features. We particularly like custom tabs. It's very useful. We end up analyzing a lot of software data, so features related to custom tabs are really helpful."
"I've tried to utilize KNIME to the fullest extent possible to replace Excel."
"What I like most about KNIME is that it's user-friendly. It's a low-code, no-code tool, so students don't need coding knowledge. You can make use of different kinds of nodes. KNIME even has a good description of each node."
"The product is user-friendly."
"It has allowed us to easily implement advanced analytics into various processes."
"It also has very good fundamental machine learning. It has decision trees, linear regression, and neural nets. It has a lot of text mining facilities as well. It's fairly fully-featured."
"This solution is easy to use and especially good at data preparation and wrapping."
"The solution allows for sharing model designs and model operations with other data analysts."
"I was able to apply basic algorithms through just dragging and dropping."
 

Cons

"Expensive to deploy solutions. You need to buy an extra deployment unit."
"When you are not using the product, such as during the pandemic where we had worldwide lockdowns, you still have to pay for the licensing."
"Time Series or forecasting needs to be easier. It is a very important feature, and it should be made easier and more automated to use. For instance, for logistic regression, binary or multinomial is used automatically based on the type of the target variable. I wish they can make Time Series easier to use in a similar way."
"I can say the solution is outdated."
"​I would like better integration into the Weather Company solution. I have raised a couple of concerns about this integration and having more time series capabilities.​"
"We would like to see better visualizations and easier integration with Cognos Analytics for reporting."
"The platform's cloud version needs improvements."
"It would be helpful if SPSS supported open-source features, for example, embedding R or Python scripts in SPSS Modeler."
"The solution could improve by providing a visual network for predictions and a self-organizing map for clustering."
"I would like SPSS to improve its integration with other data-filing IBM tools. I also think its duration with data, utilization, and graphics could be better."
"The reports could be better."
"I'm unsure if SPSS has a commercial offering for big servers, unlike KNIME, which does."
"I know that SPSS is a statistical tool but it should also include a little bit of analytical behavior. You can call it augmented analysis or predictive analysis. The bottom line is it should have more graphical and analytical capabilities."
"I feel that when it comes to conducting multiple analyses, there could be more detailed information provided. Currently, the software gives a summary and an overview, but it would be beneficial to have specific details for each product or variable."
"One of the areas that should be similar to Minitabs is the use of blogs. The Minitabs blog helps users understand the tools and gives lots of practical examples. Following the SPSS manual is cumbersome. It's a good, exhaustive manual, but it's not practical to use. With Minitabs, you can go to the blogs and find specific articles written about various components and it's very helpful. Without blogs, we find SPSS more complicated."
"Each algorithm could be more adaptable to some industry-specific areas, or, in some cases, adapted for maintenance."
"KNIME is not good at visualization."
"The dynamic column name feature could be improved. When attempting to automate processes involving columns, such as with companies, it becomes difficult to achieve the same result when we make changes."
"The documentation needs a proper rework. ​"
"There are a lot of tools in the product and it would help if they were grouped into classes where you can select a function, rather than a specific tool."
"The documentation is lacking and it could be better."
"Compared to the other data tools on the market, the user interface can be improved."
"​The data visualization part is the area most in need of improvement."
"I've had some problems integrating KNIME with other solutions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"$5,000 annually."
"Having in mind all four tools from Garner’s top quadrant, the pricing of this tool is competitive and it reflects the quality that it offers."
"It got us a good amount of money with quick and efficient modeling."
"I am using the free version of IBM SPSS Modeler, it is the educational edition version."
"Its price is okay for a company, but for personal use, it is considered somewhat expensive."
"It is a huge increase to time savings."
"When you are close to end of quarter, IBM and its partners can get you 60% to 70% discounts, so literally wait for the last day of the quarter for the best prices. You may feel like you are getting robbed if you can't receive a good discount."
"It is an expensive product."
"The price of IBM SPSS Statistics could improve."
"SPSS is an expensive piece of software because it's incredibly complex and has been refined over decades, but I would say it's fairly priced."
"More affordable training for new staff members."
"It's quite expensive, but they do a special deal for universities."
"While the pricing of the product may be higher, the accompanying service and features justify the investment."
"The price of this solution is a little bit high, which was a problem for my company."
"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."
"The pricing of the modeler is high and can reduce the utility of the product for those who can not afford to adopt it."
"KNIME assets are stand alone, as the solution is open source."
"While there are certain limitations in functionality, you can still utilize it efficiently free of charge."
"The price for Knime is okay."
"I use the open-source version."
"KNIME Business Hub is expensive for small companies."
"This is a free open-source solution."
"This is an open-source solution that is free to use."
"It is free of cost. It is GNU licensed."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Educational Organization
11%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM SPSS Modeler?
Compared to other tools, the product works much easier to analyze data without coding.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM SPSS Modeler?
The government has funds and a budget, it's hard to say if it's expensive or cheap. In Canada, they have a yearly bud...
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Modeler?
There are performance issues. Extracting data from many combined tables can take hours and occasionally crash the ser...
What do you like most about IBM SPSS Statistics?
The software offers consistency across multiple research projects helping us with predictive analytics capabilities.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM SPSS Statistics?
SPSS is horrendously expensiver. On a laptop Knime is free of charge (Windows, Mac, Linux)
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Statistics?
Better guidance both in producing programs and interpreting their output.
What do you like most about KNIME?
Since KNIME is a no-code platform, it is easy to work with.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for KNIME?
I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.
What needs improvement with KNIME?
I have seen the potential to interact with Python, which is currently a bit limited. I am interested in the newer ver...
 

Also Known As

SPSS Modeler
SPSS Statistics
KNIME Analytics Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Reisebªro Idealtours GmbH, MedeAnalytics, Afni, Israel Electric Corporation, Nedbank Ltd., DigitalGlobe, Vodafone Hungary, Aegon Hungary, Bureau Veritas, Brammer Group, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, InSites Consulting, Fortis Turkey
LDB Group, RightShip, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Capgemini Consulting, TEAC Corporation, Ironside, nViso SA, Razorsight, Si.mobil, University Hospitals of Leicester, CROOZ Inc., GFS Fundraising Solutions, Nedbank Ltd., IDS-TILDA
Infocom Corporation, Dymatrix Consulting Group, Soluzione Informatiche, MMI Agency, Estanislao Training and Solutions, Vialis AG
Find out what your peers are saying about Knime, Weka, IBM and others in Data Mining. Updated: May 2025.
855,080 professionals have used our research since 2012.