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IBM SPSS Statistics vs MathWorks Matlab comparison

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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 Statistics
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
41
Ranking in other categories
Data Mining (2nd), AI Data Analysis (14th), AI Research (6th)
MathWorks Matlab
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
16th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Statistics is 3.5%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MathWorks Matlab is 1.8%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM SPSS Statistics3.5%
MathWorks Matlab1.8%
Other94.7%
Data Science Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

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.
RB
Business Owner at SASS GmbH
Versatile system empowers users with advanced algorithm development and seamless integration capabilities
The application is pretty good, and I don't really complain. For my purposes, MathWorks Matlab is perfect because it's very versatile; it is not out-of-the-box of course, and you have to program everything yourself. If you are experienced enough, you can do many things which other programs, for instance, SPSS, cannot do, as you need to program it—it's a fourth-generation programming language. In the future of MathWorks Matlab, I would appreciate the addition of many AI features, as there are a lot of machine learning capabilities and many AI features in the visual scene, although I don't need those because I use this feature data and don't work on pictures or images. However, you can work on images and can then do deep learning and that stuff, which is one of the real strengths of MathWorks Matlab.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 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."
"Custom tables and macros: They allow us to create useful reports quickly for a broad audience."
"Both of them produce more accurate, reliable, and easy-to-generate results than any other tool that's around."
"Capability analysis is one of the main and valuable functions, and we also do some hypothesis testing in Minitab and summary stats; these are the functions that we find very useful."
"The best part is that they have an algorithm handbook, so you can open it up and understand how it works, and if it is useful, this is very important."
"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 is very stable."
"The tool's most valuable feature is the Simulink environment. This feature provides an incredible capability to visually represent the system behavior before creating the code. It allows you to see the flow and interactions of the system, which is extremely beneficial for software development. With this visual representation, you can better understand the system's behavior, make necessary adjustments, and ensure maintenance and updates. This capability is why I love working with the product."
"Personally for me, because I do a lot of development, I like that it is easy to test mathematical algorithms with several matrix calculations. It's perfect for that."
"This solution is pretty good, I truly enjoy it."
"What I appreciate about MathWorks Matlab is that it is the most versatile program system I know; there are so many toolboxes which I don't need, as I mostly work with statistics, but it's amazing how many functions there are."
"The platform's most valuable feature is its field-specific packages, which make it very easy to use."
"Making digital twins saves significant time; checking something in simulation is more cost-effective—for instance, with marine engines, we typically need about 10 years of checking to find misfires, but with MathWorks Matlab, we can complete it in one month."
 

Cons

"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."
"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."
"The solution needs more planning tools and capabilities."
"The statistics should be more self-explanatory with detailed automated reports."
"Improvements are needed in the user interface, particularly in terms of user-friendliness."
"The areas of SPSS Statics that have room for improvement — where it can be simplified to make it better — have to do with how you connect the SPSS solution with the data."
"Better documentation on how to use macros."
"I do think that the design of the experience can be improved."
"One area where the product could improve is in the ease of learning."
"In the area of improvement, sometimes there are issues with the speed of MathWorks Matlab, particularly in the Simulink environment. The tool's latest versions can be slow to open, taking significant time to load. Additionally, saving data and integrating models can also be time-consuming processes."
"To make use of the GPU, you have to have an Nvidia card. What I would want it to do is to run in Next Generation with Intel or AMD, and not just with Nvidia."
"The cost is a significant concern; while university pricing is reasonable, a cheaper version with fewer libraries would be beneficial."
"It is not out-of-the-box of course, and you have to program everything yourself."
"To make use of the GPU, you have to have an Nvidia card."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While the pricing of the product may be higher, the accompanying service and features justify the investment."
"We think that IBM SPSS is expensive for this function."
"The pricing of the modeler is high and can reduce the utility of the product for those who can not afford to adopt it."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"If it requires lot of data processing, maybe switching to IBM SPSS Clementine would be better for the buyer."
"The pricing for the software itself is reasonable, and I didn't encounter any additional costs beyond the initial purchase or license."
"We have a single user license. Support and add-ons are an extra fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
University
7%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
12%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

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 can purchase the license. Most of our customers are paying every year for a type ...
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Statistics?
One of the frustrations I have with IBM SPSS Statistics is the licensing, which is more of a company issue because we have limited licenses and have to ask someone to get off IBM SPSS Statistics so...
What is your primary use case for IBM SPSS Statistics?
My main use case for IBM SPSS Statistics involves data cleaning and tabulation. I also use it sometimes for data validation. I use IBM SPSS Statistics to perform correlations, check data, remove re...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for MathWorks Matlab?
Regarding the pricing part and licensing cost for MathWorks Matlab, it is not cheap, but it depends on the functions you need. You don't need all of them; you may just require a few and then it's r...
What needs improvement with MathWorks Matlab?
The application is pretty good, and I don't really complain. For my purposes, MathWorks Matlab is perfect because it's very versatile; it is not out-of-the-box of course, and you have to program ev...
What is your primary use case for MathWorks Matlab?
I am working with MathWorks Matlab for statistics and machine learning, though I don't know which version I have, but I guess it is 21 or so. I don't care because the things I'm doing haven't chang...
 

Also Known As

SPSS Statistics
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SPSS Statistics vs. MathWorks Matlab and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
913,924 professionals have used our research since 2012.