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IBM SPSS Statistics 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 Statistics
Ranking in Data Mining
2nd
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAS Enterprise Miner
Ranking in Data Mining
6th
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
20th
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 September 2025, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Statistics is 14.8%, up from 13.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Enterprise Miner is 5.8%, up from 3.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Mining Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IBM SPSS Statistics14.8%
SAS Enterprise Miner5.8%
Other79.4%
Data Mining
 

Featured Reviews

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.
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

"One feature I found very valuable was the analysis of variance (ANOVA)."
"The most valuable feature is its robust statistical analysis capabilities."
"You can quickly build models because it does the work for you."
"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."
"IBM SPSS Statistics depends on AI."
"SPSS is perfectly adequate if all you want are some results."
"The most valuable features are the small learning curve and its ability to hold a lot of data."
"They have many existing algorithms that we can use and use effectively to analyze and understand how to put our data to work to improve what we do."
"The setup is straightforward. Deployment doesn't take more than 30 minutes."
"The most valuable feature is the decision tree creation."
"The technical support is very good."
"he solution is scalable."
"Good data management and analytics."
"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."
"The solution is able to handle quite large amounts of data beautifully."
"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

"Each algorithm could be more adaptable to some industry-specific areas, or, in some cases, adapted for maintenance."
"It could provide even more in the way of automation as there are many opportunities."
"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."
"It would be helpful if there was better documentation on how to properly use the solution. A beginner's guide on how to use the various programming functions within the product would be so useful to a lot of people. I found that everything was very confusing at first. Having clear documentation would help alleviate that."
"Most of the package will give you the fixed value, or the p-value, without an explanation as to whether it it significant or not. Some beginners might need not just the results, but also some explanation for them."
"Perhaps in terms of visualization. It's not really easy to do some data visualization, just simple, descriptive analysis in SPSS. I think that could be an area for improvement."
"The solution needs to improve forecasting using time series analysis."
"Better documentation on how to use macros."
"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."
"Technical support could be improved."
"The solution is very stable, but we do have some problems with discrepancies involving SAS not matching with the latest Java versions. It's not stable in cases where SAS tries to run on a different version because SAS doesn't connect with the latest Java update. Once a month we need to restart systems from scratch."
"The solution is much more complex than other options."
"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."
"The user interface of the solution needs improvement. It needs to be more visual."
"Virtualization could be much better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The price of this solution is a little bit high, which was a problem for my company."
"While the pricing of the product may be higher, the accompanying service and features justify the investment."
"More affordable training for new staff members."
"The pricing of the modeler is high and can reduce the utility of the product for those who can not afford to adopt it."
"If it requires lot of data processing, maybe switching to IBM SPSS Clementine would be better for the buyer."
"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."
"The price of IBM SPSS Statistics could improve."
"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
17%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
7%
Financial Services Firm
25%
Educational Organization
13%
University
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise19
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

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?
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?
I have faced some challenges with IBM SPSS Statistics; you need to know what you're doing because it's not very user-friendly. It's not something a person can come and intuitively work with. The ba...
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 Statistics
Enterprise Miner
 

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
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 Statistics vs. SAS Enterprise Miner and other solutions. Updated: August 2025.
866,685 professionals have used our research since 2012.