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IBM Watson Studio vs KNIME 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
7.0
Organizations saw positive ROI from IBM Watson Studio due to improved efficiency, scalability, sales, and reduced staffing needs.
Sentiment score
7.9
KNIME offers substantial ROI through low costs, ease of use, and a transparent licensing model, enhancing productivity and cost-efficiency.
The product offers a significant return on investment through its scalability and integration capabilities.
My customers have seen returns on investment through increased efficiency, automated calculations, improved accuracy in pricing, and reduced staffing needs due to the automation.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
IBM Watson Studio customer service is praised for efficiency and responsiveness, though support quality varies by subscription plan and community resources.
Sentiment score
6.8
KNIME's support is efficient; users benefit from active community forums, though direct support has mixed reviews due to time zones.
The support quality depends on the SLA or the contract terms.
The community access is weak, which limits the ability to engage in discussions and find documentation and examples of similar cases effectively.
While they cannot always provide immediate answers, they are generally efficient and simplify tasks, especially in the initial phase of learning KNIME.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.5
IBM Watson Studio is scalable with excellent integration, but its resource intensity may increase costs for extensive scaling.
Sentiment score
6.9
KNIME scales well on servers but may struggle with desktops, requires licenses for better scalability, and supports big data extensions.
Watson Studio is very scalable.
I rate IBM Watson Studio seven out of ten for scalability because while it scales, it requires significant resources to do so, making it expensive compared to some competitors.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
IBM Watson Studio is praised for stability and reliability, comparable to or better than competitors, with effective optimization for large tasks.
Sentiment score
7.6
KNIME is praised for stability and efficiency with large files, though performance may vary depending on hardware and updates.
Expertise in optimization is necessary to manage such issues effectively.
 

Room For Improvement

IBM Watson Studio needs a more intuitive interface, better support, and reduced setup complexity for wider adoption.
KNIME needs improved visualization, large dataset handling, better UI, enhanced support, integration with AWS, and machine learning libraries.
IBM should work on optimizing the user interface and enhancing the product's accessibility for medium and small enterprises.
One area that could be improved is the backup and restoration of the database and the overall database configuration.
For graphics, the interface is a little confusing.
The machine learning and profileration aspects are fascinating and align with my academic background in statistics.
 

Setup Cost

IBM Watson Studio's pricing varies, offering a free light edition, yet considered expensive by some, especially in Africa.
KNIME offers a free open-source desktop and competitively priced server, appealing to enterprises for cost-effective data solutions.
IBM Watson Studio is considered rather expensive, with a rating of six or seven.
 

Valuable Features

IBM Watson Studio excels in automation, predictive analytics, and integration, offering comprehensive AI capabilities for diverse data-driven tasks.
KNIME enhances productivity with its visual tools, supporting integration, automation, and complex modeling without extensive coding skills.
This capability saves a significant amount of time by automating processes that typically involve manual work, such as data cleaning, feature engineering, and predictive analytics.
It integrates well with other platforms and offers good scalability.
KNIME is simple and allows for fast project development due to its reusability.
KNIME is more intuitive and easier to use, which is the principal advantage.
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Watson Studio
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
AI Development Platforms (10th)
KNIME
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Data Mining (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM Watson Studio is 2.1%, down from 2.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KNIME is 12.0%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Abilio Duarte - PeerSpot reviewer
A highly robust and well-documented platform that simplifies the complex world of AI
The main challenge lies in visibility and ease of use. Providing training sessions can be immensely helpful in helping users navigate and understand the tool's potential. This approach would empower users to explore and make the most of the tools and technologies at their disposal. Another area where IBM could enhance its offering is by providing more visibility to end users regarding the vast potential that Watson offers.
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,
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Watson Studio?
IBM Watson Studio is considered rather expensive, with a rating of six or seven. The pricing could be optimized relative to the features and capabilities of the product.
What needs improvement with IBM Watson Studio?
IBM Watson Studio, while powerful, lacks user-friendliness. It is not easy to use, particularly for medium or small enterprises or less experienced staff. Another aspect that requires improvement i...
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 version, 5.4, when it becomes available. The machine learning and profileration asp...
 

Also Known As

Watson Studio, IBM Data Science Experience, Data Science Experience, DSx
KNIME Analytics Platform
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GroupM, Accenture, Fifth Third Bank
Infocom Corporation, Dymatrix Consulting Group, Soluzione Informatiche, MMI Agency, Estanislao Training and Solutions, Vialis AG
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Watson Studio vs. KNIME and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.