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IBM SPSS Modeler vs SAS Enterprise Miner comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 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

IBM SPSS Modeler
Ranking in Data Mining
4th
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAS Enterprise Miner
Ranking in Data Mining
7th
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
18th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Modeler is 17.9%, up from 16.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Enterprise Miner is 4.7%, up from 4.4% 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.
reviewer1352853 - PeerSpot reviewer
A stable product that is easy to deploy and can be used for structured and unstructured data mining
We use the solution for predictive analytics to do structured and unstructured data mining I like the way the product visually shows the data pipeline. The product must provide better integration with cloud-native technologies. I have been using the solution for 20 years. The product is very…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"​It works fine. I have not had any stability issues; it is always up.​"
"It makes pretty good use of memory. There are algorithms take a long time to run in R, and somehow they run more efficiently in Modeler."
"We have integration where you can write third-party apps. This sort of feature opens it up to being able to do anything you want."
"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 is a great product for running statistical analysis."
"It continues to be a very flexible platform, so that it handles R and Python and other types of technology. It seems to be growing with additional open-source movement out there on different platforms."
"The supervised models are valuable. It is also very organized and easy to use."
"Extremely easy to use, it offers a generous selection of proprietary machine learning algorithms."
"The solution is able to handle quite large amounts of data beautifully."
"Most of the features, especially on the data analysis tool pack, are really good. The way they do clustering and output is great. You can do fairly elaborate outputs. The results, the ensembles, all of these, are fantastic."
"I like the way the product visually shows the data pipeline."
"The technical support is very good."
"Good data management and analytics."
"The solution is very good for data mining or any mining issues."
"The setup is straightforward. Deployment doesn't take more than 30 minutes."
"I found the ease of use of the solution the most valuable. Additionally, other valuable features include: the user interface, power to extract data, compatibility with other technologies (specifically with PS400), and automation of several tasks."
 

Cons

"It would be helpful if SPSS supported open-source features, for example, embedding R or Python scripts in SPSS Modeler."
"Formula writing is not straightforward for an Excel user. Totally new set of functions, which takes time to learn and teach."
"Dimension reduction should be classified separately."
"Expensive to deploy solutions. You need to buy an extra deployment unit."
"We would like to see better visualizations and easier integration with Cognos Analytics for reporting."
"It would be beneficial if the tool would include more well-known machine learning algorithms."
"I would not rate the technical support very well. The technicians have accents. When you do find someone, it is very hard to get somebody able to answer the technical questions."
"The forecasting could be a bit easier."
"Technical support could be improved."
"The solution is much more complex than other options."
"The visualization of the models is not very attractive, so the graphics should be improved."
"The user interface of the solution needs improvement. It needs to be more visual."
"The ease of use can be improved. When you are new it seems a bit complex."
"The solution needs an easier interface for the user. The user experience isn't so easy for our clients."
"While I don't personally need tutorials, I can't say that it wouldn't be helpful for others to have some to help them navigate and operate the system."
"The product must provide better integration with cloud-native technologies."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The government has funds and a budget, it's hard to say if it's expensive or cheap. In Canada, they have a yearly budget. They used to encourage people to use the modeler for development. If ten users use the server with ten licenses, it runs faster. But if forty users use the same appliance, everything slows down. People then think it's not easy to do things and prefer using remote tools like Python to extract data from the database. It's not about being expensive or cheap, but about people's knowledge and experience in how to do the work."
"I am using the free version of IBM SPSS Modeler, it is the educational edition version."
"The scalability was kind of limited by our ability to get other people licenses, and that was usually more of a financial constraint. It's expensive, but it's a good tool."
"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."
"$5,000 annually."
"Its price is okay for a company, but for personal use, it is considered somewhat expensive."
"It got us a good amount of money with quick and efficient modeling."
"If you are in a university and the license is free then you can use the tool without any charges, which is good."
"The solution must improve its licensing models."
"The solution is expensive for an individual, but for an enterprise/institution (purchasing bulk licenses), it is not a high price for the use that will come from it."
"This solution is for large corporations because not everybody can afford it."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Educational Organization
11%
Government
10%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
24%
Educational Organization
12%
University
12%
Manufacturing Company
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 budget. They used to encourage people to use the modeler for development. If ten us...
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Modeler?
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 performanc...
What do you like most about SAS Enterprise Miner?
I like the way the product visually shows the data pipeline.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Enterprise Miner?
The solution must improve its licensing models. It bundles all the products into smaller products. We can only have a subset of the functionality available according to our license. I rate the pric...
What needs improvement with SAS Enterprise Miner?
The product must provide better integration with cloud-native technologies.
 

Also Known As

SPSS Modeler
Enterprise Miner
 

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
Generali Hellas, Gitanjali Group, Gloucestershire Constabulary, GS Home Shopping, HealthPartners, IAG New Zealand, iJET, Invacare
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SPSS Modeler vs. SAS Enterprise Miner and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.