IBM Watson Studio vs MathWorks Matlab comparison

IBM and MathWorks are both solutions in the Data Science Platforms category. IBM is ranked #18 with an average rating of 7.0, while MathWorks is ranked #14 with an average rating of 9.0. IBM holds a 2.2% mindshare in Data Science Platforms, compared to MathWorks’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of MathWorks users who would recommend it.

IBM Watson Studio

Read 17 IBM Watson Studio reviews

2,182 Views
1,418 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

MathWorks Matlab

Read 5 MathWorks Matlab reviews

779 Views
756 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Watson Studio

MathWorks Matlab

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

IBM Watson Studio and MathWorks Matlab are products in the data science and analytical field. IBM Watson Studio is preferred for cost-effectiveness and support, while MathWorks Matlab often leads in features and perceived value.

Features: IBM Watson Studio offers cloud-based data science workflows, automation tools, and collaboration features. MathWorks Matlab provides advanced mathematical functions, specialized toolboxes, and comprehensive technical computing resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM Watson Studio allows straightforward cloud deployment and strong integration with IBM services, paired with excellent customer support. MathWorks Matlab, while traditionally on-premise, offers cloud options and maintains detailed technical support.

Pricing and ROI: IBM Watson Studio has flexible pricing tiers for entry cost reduction, enhancing ROI through scalability. MathWorks Matlab has higher initial costs, offset by high returns due to its comprehensive analytics suite.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Watson Studio vs. MathWorks Matlab Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Watson Studio vs. MathWorks Matlab

December 2025

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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 Watson Studio

Ranking in Data Science Platforms

18th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

AI Development Platforms (17th)

MathWorks Matlab

Ranking in Data Science Platforms

14th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM Watson Studio is 2.2%, up from 2.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MathWorks Matlab is 1.6%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Science Platforms Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
MathWorks Matlab	1.6%
IBM Watson Studio	2.2%
Other	96.2%

Data Science Platforms

Featured Reviews

Altan_Atabarut

Director, Channel and Alliances at Akinon

Automated processes improve efficiency while user interface and accessibility need enhancements

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 is the complexity involved in computer vision tasks. The integration capabilities have not significantly impacted workflow since there are simpler tools like Alteryx and Nine. The platform is associated with a complicated setup process and demands heavy hardware, making it expensive to scale. IBM should work on optimizing the user interface and enhancing the product's accessibility for medium and small enterprises.

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Prof. Dr. Rudolf Bisping

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable, reliable product."

"It is a very stable and reliable solution."

"The system's ability to take a look at data, segment it and then use that data very differently."

"IBM Watson Studio consistently automates across channels."

"Stability-wise, it is a great tool."

"It has a lot of data connectors, which is extremely helpful."

"Technical support is great. We have had weekly teleconferences with the technical people at IBM, and they have been fantastic."

"In my experience, AutoML is the most valuable feature of IBM Watson Studio."

More IBM Watson Studio pros

"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."

"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."

"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."

"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."

"The platform's most valuable feature is its field-specific packages, which make it very easy to use."

Cons

"It's sometimes easy to get lost given the number of images the solution opens up when you click on the mouse and the amount of different tabs."

"IBM Watson Studio, while powerful, lacks user-friendliness. It is not easy to use, particularly for medium or small enterprises or less experienced staff."

"I think maybe the support is an area where it lacks."

"Initially, it was quite complex. For us, it was not only a matter of getting it installed, that was just a start. It was also trying to come up with a standard way of implementing it across the entire organization, which had been a challenge."

"Some of the solutions are really good solutions but they can be a little too costly for many."

"So a better user interface could be very helpful"

"More features in data virtualization would be helpful. The solution could use an interactive dashboard that could make exploration easier."

"The decision making in their decision making feature is less good than other options."

More IBM Watson Studio cons

"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."

"It is not out-of-the-box of course, and you have to program everything yourself."

"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."

"One area where the product could improve is in the ease of learning."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Watson Studio is a reasonably priced product"

"IBM Watson Studio is an expensive solution."

"The pricing is generally reasonable and straightforward but can vary significantly depending on the specific workloads in use."

"Watson Studio's pricing is reasonable for what you get."

"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

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Educational Organization

Computer Software Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	5

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	4

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Watson Studio?

I think IBM Watson Studio can be improved. I wish learning IBM Watson Studio could be easier and more gradual, as it is a complex task. Also, I think pricing is a bit high.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for IBM Watson Studio?

My main use case for IBM Watson Studio is the end-to-end ML life cycle. A specific example of a project where I used IBM Watson Studio for the end-to-end machine learning life cycle is that I built...

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What do you like most about MathWorks Matlab?

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

What needs improvement with MathWorks Matlab?

See all answers

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Compared 13% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Watson Studio

January 2026

Download IBM Watson Studio product report

Buyer's Guide

MathWorks Matlab

January 2026

Download MathWorks Matlab product report

Also Known As

Watson Studio, IBM Data Science Experience, Data Science Experience, DSx

No data available

Overview

IBM Watson Studio provides tools for data scientists, application developers and subject matter experts to collaboratively and easily work with data to build and train models at scale. It gives you the flexibility to build models where your data resides and deploy anywhere in a hybrid environment so you can operationalize data science faster.

IBM

Information not available

MathWorks

Sample Customers

GroupM, Accenture, Fifth Third Bank

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

IBM Watson Studio vs. MathWorks Matlab

December 2025

Free Report: IBM Watson Studio vs. MathWorks Matlab

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