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IBM SPSS Modeler vs IBM SPSS Statistics vs SAS Analytics 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 May 2026, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Modeler is 16.5%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM SPSS Statistics is 16.8%, up from 16.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Analytics is 8.1%, up from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Mining Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM SPSS Statistics16.8%
IBM SPSS Modeler16.5%
SAS Analytics8.1%
Other58.6%
Data Mining
 

Featured Reviews

RB
Business Owner at SASS GmbH
Support and flexibility enable effective project initiation and meet customer needs but deployment requires enhancement
The customer comes to you and says they want to deploy it and make a production out of this, which is very difficult and expensive with IBM SPSS Modeler. With MATLAB, there is no problem. I have a solution, and then I convert my MATLAB solution to C programming language. This I can deploy, and I can check it, and it is MISRA compatible. It is very easy to deploy it, to go from MATLAB to C or C++, which is actually needed in the car industry. In the car industry, they want to have it in the hardware. You cannot put MATLAB or IBM SPSS Modeler in the hardware of a car, but with C, there is no problem with a microcontroller. They can shoot it into the microcontroller, and I can check it with Polyspace, and it is MISRA compatible, which is an industrial standard. There is nothing similar in IBM SPSS Modeler. I made solutions with IBM SPSS Modeler, and then the customer said they wanted to make a production out of it, and it was not possible. I stopped with IBM SPSS Modeler 18. It is now 18.6 from what I know at the moment. I do not believe that there is a possibility to design a graphic user interface with it. It is itself a graphic user interface, where you put all sorts of little icons into the display.
EzzAbdelfattah - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Professor Of Statistics at a university with 10,001+ employees
Advanced predictive analytics have supported my research and student projects across many methods
The only function I may need to be added or hope to be added to IBM SPSS Statistics is how to treat unstructured data. This mainly exists with IBM SPSS Modeler, but I do not think it is able to treat something like videos and similar content unless you are using languages like Python inside IBM SPSS Modeler or inside IBM SPSS Statistics. For the menu itself, for the selection, it does not exist. Thinking of the future, I believe that the owners of IBM SPSS Statistics should think about improving the package itself to be able to treat unstructured data.
SC
Student at Rochester Institute of Technology
Data management has become faster and clearer but integration and large data handling still need work
SAS Analytics needs to improve for entry-level people in my college because buying licenses is somewhat costly for small businesses. SAS Analytics is also somewhat complex for students who are entering the data field. Additionally, SAS Analytics is not good at integration with other environments, so it should improve on that, and some syntaxes are not good. SAS Analytics has an older architecture in some areas, so it should enhance the UX side and performance in some aspects. SAS Analytics documentation should improve to be clearer for students who are currently using or trying to use SAS Analytics, so the documentation should be simplified. Customer service is pretty good as of now, as they respond in two to four hours on business days, but faster response times may solve many problems and attract more users. I rate SAS Analytics seven or eight out of ten. SAS Analytics should improve in massive data handling, as I mentioned earlier. SAS Analytics struggles when it handles massive data, and it should also get top-tier support. The support should improve from two to four hours down to one hour or even thirty minutes. SAS Analytics should also offer more low-code options for those who do not know how to code or to save more time, and they should consider reducing their pricing. Currently, SAS Analytics has limited flexibility and very limited integration, so improvements in those areas are necessary. SAS Analytics student version does not handle long or lengthy data well right now, so it should improve on that point. As I have mentioned, it struggles with larger data sets, but for current small or medium data sets, it is very good. Customer support should improve to fifteen to thirty minutes or immediate live agents during business hours. The two to four hours wait can sometimes take more than one day, and that does not make sense. We have to stop all our work until they reply if we encounter critical problems, so they should improve for certain.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is very scalable for non-technical people."
"We have a local representative who specializes in SPSS. He will help us do the PoC."
"It has provided us a lot of small wins that we could bring to our leadership and it has given them confidence with what we were doing in regards to analytics."
"The software is robust with advance statistical tools in hand from time series analysis to logistic regression, it can be used by banks for fraud detection, by convenience stores for market basket analysis, for cluster analysis on customer segmentation."
"I used it mostly for the PCA, the principal component analysis, and I have been using that for my bachelor's thesis."
"It scales. I have not run into any challenges where it will not perform.​"
"We have been able to do some predictive modeling with it"
"It is a great tool even for an individual with no or basic predictive modeling experience."
"I told you I wrote five books about using SPSS, so of course, I'm totally impressed with this package more than any other one."
"The most valuable features are the solution is easy to use, training new users is not difficult, and our usage is comprehensive because the whole service is beneficial."
"Since we are using the software as a statistical tool, I would say the best aspects of it are the regression and segmentation capabilities. That said, I've used it for all sorts of things."
"SPSS can handle whatever you throw at it, whether your data set contains 10,000, 100,000, or a million objects. It's like the heavy artillery of analytical tools."
"I absolutely like the product, and that's the reason I recommend all of my students buy SPSS."
"The learning curve to using this product is not steep. The program is appropriate for those who do not have a lot of background in programming, yet have to perform basic statistical analysis."
"I think that IBM SPSS Statistics is a very powerful analytical tool, even for multivariate statistics."
"In terms of the features I've found most valuable, I'd say the duration, the correlation, and of course the nonparametric statistics. I use it for reliability and survival analysis, time series, regression models in different solutions, and different types of solutions."
"All of the data analytics features in SAS Analytics are valuable to us since we're using them daily across our entire analytics team."
"I use it to replicate our entire financial system to verify/duplicate calculations."
"They have provided virtually everything we have needed to accomplish our task, as well as continuously improving our accuracy."
"The most valuable aspect of SAS Analytics is the ability to automate work using macros without heavily relying on technology teams."
"It has also been around for an extremely long time, has a strong history, and good market penetration."
"We have noticed at least a thirty to forty percent saving in time and a thirty to forty percent increase in the efficiency of our work."
"The technical support is okay."
"It has improved the level of efficacy and validity of our reports."
 

Cons

"C&DS will not meet our scalability needs."
"It's not as user friendly as it could be."
"The platform that you can deploy it on needs improvement because I think it is Windows only. I do not think it can run off a Red Hat, like the server products. I am pretty sure it is Windows and AIX only."
"I understand that it takes some time to incorporate some of the new algorithms that have come out in the last few months, in the literature. For example, there is an algorithm based on how ants search for food. And there are some algorithms that have now been developed to complement rules. So that's one of the things that we need to have incorporated into it."
"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."
"It would be beneficial if the tool would include more well-known machine learning algorithms."
"It would be good if IBM added help resources to the interface."
"​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.​"
"The solution could improve by providing a visual network for predictions and a self-organizing map for clustering."
"The solution needs to improve forecasting using time series analysis."
"Needs more statistical modelling functions."
"IBM SPSS Statistics is mostly working with structured data. However, if you are having unstructured data, IBM SPSS Statistics is not able up to now to work with it."
"The output of charts and graphs that SPSS produces is hideous."
"The technical support is not very useful. You can find help on the internet but if you really have a problem then it can take a while before you get a solution."
"It breaks under the weight of a moderate amount of data."
"In comparing the price of other products, SPSS Statistics is too expensive."
"SAS is very expensive. The challenge with them is that you have to pay for a license with every module you buy."
"The graphing and visualization features could be enhanced, in my opinion. I would especially stress improving the visualization capabilities."
"The natural language querying and automated preparation of dashboards should be improved."
"The training for SAS Business Intelligence is often difficult to arrange. It is often cancelled due to not enough people being enrolled."
"They could enhance the AI capabilities of the product."
"The graphing and visualization features could be enhanced, in my opinion."
"I would like to see their interface to R added to either Base SAS or SAS Analytics."
"This solution should be made more user-friendly. It needs a better visual output to explain logic to senior executives."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"$5,000 annually."
"I am using the free version of IBM SPSS Modeler, it is the educational edition version."
"It got us a good amount of money with quick and efficient modeling."
"Its price is okay for a company, but for personal use, it is considered somewhat expensive."
"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."
"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."
"If you are in a university and the license is free then you can use the tool without any charges, which is good."
"The pricing of the modeler is high and can reduce the utility of the product for those who can not afford to adopt it."
"Our licence is on a yearly renewal basis. While pricing is not the primary concern in our evaluation, as products are assessed by whether they can meet our user needs and expertise, the cost can be a limiting factor in the number of licences we procure."
"The price of IBM SPSS Statistics could improve."
"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."
"If it requires lot of data processing, maybe switching to IBM SPSS Clementine would be better for the buyer."
"It's quite expensive, but they do a special deal for universities."
"The price of this solution is a little bit high, which was a problem for my company."
"More affordable training for new staff members."
"SAS is very expensive."
"​The cost for SAS Business Intelligence can prove to be a little prohibitive.​"
"I rate the product’s pricing a one out of ten."
"Our licensing covers the usage for around 50 data analysts."
"It is relatively expensive. It is not an easy software to afford."
"Licensing was rather straightforward."
"​Setup costs were quite reasonable."
"I think that the cost-benefit ratio is okay."
report
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
10%
University
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
6%
Financial Services Firm
25%
University
14%
Construction Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise32
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise11
 

Questions from the Community

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?
The customer comes to you and says they want to deploy it and make a production out of this, which is very difficult ...
What is your primary use case for IBM SPSS Modeler?
I have been using IBM SPSS Modeler for a long time. I am using IBM SPSS Modeler mainly for ETL. Sometimes I use it to...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM SPSS Statistics?
I think the price of the solution is very reasonable. The cost depends; you have the option for subscription or you c...
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Statistics?
The only function I may need to be added or hope to be added to IBM SPSS Statistics is how to treat unstructured data...
What is your primary use case for IBM SPSS Statistics?
I do use IBM SPSS Statistics, and even my students are using it for their projects and reports while working on PhD o...
What needs improvement with SAS Analytics?
With SAS Analytics, I find that the graphs are very poor, and since I use Power BI, I think SAS Analytics needs to en...
What is your primary use case for SAS Analytics?
I work with SAS Analytics solutions, specifically with SAS Data Mining, because I extract information from the core s...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Analytics?
As a student, I do not pay anything for pricing; my college gives me credentials, and SAS Analytics is free for stude...
 

Also Known As

SPSS Modeler
SPSS Statistics
No data available
 

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
Aegon, Alberta Parks, Amway China, Axel Springer, Bank of America, Belgium Special Tax, CAP Index, CareSource, CBE Group, Cemig, Center for Responsible Lending, CESCE, Ceska sporitelna, Chantecler, Chico's, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, CIGNA Thailand, City of Wiesbaden, Germany, Confused.com, Creditreform, Des Moines Area Community College, Deutsche Lufthansa, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DIRECTV, Dow Chemical Company, Dow Chemical Company, Dun & Bradstreet, EDF Energy, Electrabel GDF SUEZ, ERGO Insurance Group, Erste Bank Croatia, Farmers Mutual Group, Finnair, Florida Department of Corrections, Geneia, Generali Hellas, Genting Malaysia Berhad, Grameenphone, Grandi Salumifici Italiani, HealthPartners, Highmark, Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, HP, Hyundai Securities, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family ServicesInc Research, ING-DiBa, Institut Pertanian Bogor, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), IOM, Kelley Blue Book, Lenovo, Lillebaelt Hospital, Los Angeles County, Maspex Wadowice Group, National Bank of Greece, New Zealand Ministry of Health, New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, Nippon Paper, NMIMS, North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Office of Information Technology Services, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC), Oberweis Dairy, ODEC, Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, Oklahoma State University, OneBeacon, Orange Business Services, Orange County Child Support Services, Organic, Orlando Magic, OTP Bank, Plano Independent School District, Project Odyssey, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, RSA Canada, SCAD, Scotiabank, Singapore National Library Board, Sobeys Inc., SRA International, Staples, Statistics Estonia, Swisscom, SymphonyIRI Group, Telecom Italia, Telef‹nica O2, Town of Cary, Transitions Optical, TrueCar, Turkcell Superonline, UniCredit Bank Serbia, University of Alabama, University of Missouri, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
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