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KNIME vs SAS Analytics comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

KNIME
Ranking in Data Mining
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (2nd)
SAS Analytics
Ranking in Data Mining
5th
Average Rating
9.2
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of KNIME is 25.2%, down from 27.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Analytics is 6.6%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Mining
 

Featured Reviews

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,
AltanAtabarut - PeerSpot reviewer
Good interactive reports and dashboards but expensive to run
You need to constantly jump from data prep to visualization, then back to data for fixing quality, enriching, and visualizing again. Then you start modeling and need to switch back and forth again. Eventually, you have to democratize the results so that anyone can look and interactively question the underlying insights. For all of these purposes - data to BI or data to AI to BI - it is never a linear one way relationship; it's rather a closed loop for continuous analysis monitoring and sharing. If used this way, SAS Visual analytics can enable continuous improvement and innovation in a corporation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This open-source product can compete with category leaders in ELT software."
"The most valuable features of KNIME are its ability to convert your sub-workflow into a node. For example, the workflow has many individual native nodes that can be converted into a single node. This representation has simplified my workflow to a great extent. I can present my workflow in a very compact way."
"Overall KNIME serves its purpose and does a good job."
"One of the greatest advantages of KNIME is that it can be used by those without any coding experience. those with no coding background can use it."
"I've never had any problems with stability."
"There are a lot of connectors available in KNIME."
"What I like the most is that it works almost out of the box with Random Forest and other Forest nodes."
"It also has very good fundamental machine learning. It has decision trees, linear regression, and neural nets. It has a lot of text mining facilities as well. It's fairly fully-featured."
"SAS Business Intelligence is well-suited for our large corporation. We have demand for scalable and reliable insights into information which is housed in our large systems."
"It has facilitated timely analysis results with quality work and meaningful output."
"I use SAS daily to analyze data, produce reports, and other outputs."
"It has also been around for an extremely long time, has a strong history, and good market penetration."
"The technical support is okay."
"It is able to connect to all major platforms, and all the smaller platforms that I have come across."
"It's very easy to use once you learn it."
"Modeling ones and figures, such as PROC LIFETEST, PROC LOGISTICS, PROC GPLOT. PROC FREQ and PROC MEANS, are also among the valuable features."
 

Cons

"I would prefer to have more connectivity."
"For graphics, the interface is a little confusing. So, this is a point that could be improved."
"It's pretty straightforward to understand. So, if you understand what the pipeline is, you can use the drag-and-drop functionality without much training. Doing the same thing in Python requires so much more training. That's why I use KNIME."
"KNIME's licensing and data management aren't as straightforward relative to Alteryx. Alteryx's tools are more sophisticated, so you need fewer to use it compared to KNIME. I think tab implementation could be easier, too."
"KNIME doesn't handle large datasets or a high number of records well."
"The current UI is primarily in English. Analyzing data in local languages might present challenges or issues."
"There are a lot of tools in the product and it would help if they were grouped into classes where you can select a function, rather than a specific tool."
"Occasionally, when using the GET object, there might be issues due to the velocity of the lines or the IT system of the commission."
"One of the things that can be simplified is self-service analytics, especially for a citizen developer or a citizen data scientist."
"I would like to see their interface to R added to either Base SAS or SAS Analytics."
"The installation could also be easier, and the price could be better."
"The training for SAS Business Intelligence is often difficult to arrange. It is often cancelled due to not enough people being enrolled."
"This solution should be made more user-friendly."
"The natural language querying and automated preparation of dashboards should be improved."
"Once a SAS figure is produced one would like to modify things, such as titles, legends, and incorporate risk sets as a footer on the plots."
"The graphing and visualization features could be enhanced, in my opinion. I would especially stress improving the visualization capabilities."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is a free open-source solution."
"There is no cost for using KNIME because it is an open-source solution, but you have to pay if you need a server."
"KNIME desktop is free, which is great for analytics teams. Server is well priced, depending on how much support is required."
"I use the tool's free version."
"KNIME Business Hub is expensive for small companies."
"KNIME is an open-source tool, so it's free to use."
"There is a Community Edition and paid versions available."
"KNIME is a cheap product. I currently use KNIME's open-source version."
"I think that the cost-benefit ratio is okay."
"​Setup costs were quite reasonable."
"SAS is very expensive."
"Licensing was rather straightforward."
"Our licensing covers the usage for around 50 data analysts."
"​The cost for SAS Business Intelligence can prove to be a little prohibitive.​"
"Prices were comparable with alternative solutions."
"I rate the product’s pricing a one out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Educational Organization
8%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What do you like most about SAS Analytics?
I like that it is quickly embedding interactive reports and dashboards into a website, Outlook Mail, or even a mobile app.
What needs improvement with SAS Analytics?
SAS Analytics could improve in areas such as handling stress tests and workloads, as well as predicting financial movements, specifically profit and loss movements.
What is your primary use case for SAS Analytics?
I use SAS Analytics ( /products/sas-analytics-reviews ) in my work to analyze data, such as selecting credits for traditional securitization. Recently, I used SAS Analytics ( /products/sas-analytic...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

KNIME Analytics Platform
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Infocom Corporation, Dymatrix Consulting Group, Soluzione Informatiche, MMI Agency, Estanislao Training and Solutions, Vialis AG
Aegon, Alberta Parks, Amway China, Axel Springer, Bank of America, Belgium Special Tax, CAP Index, CareSource, CBE Group, Cemig, Center for Responsible Lending, CESCE, Ceska sporitelna, Chantecler, Chico's, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, CIGNA Thailand, City of Wiesbaden, Germany, Confused.com, Creditreform, Des Moines Area Community College, Deutsche Lufthansa, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, DIRECTV, Dow Chemical Company, Dow Chemical Company, Dun & Bradstreet, EDF Energy, Electrabel GDF SUEZ, ERGO Insurance Group, Erste Bank Croatia, Farmers Mutual Group, Finnair, Florida Department of Corrections, Geneia, Generali Hellas, Genting Malaysia Berhad, Grameenphone, Grandi Salumifici Italiani, HealthPartners, Highmark, Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, HP, Hyundai Securities, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family ServicesInc Research, ING-DiBa, Institut Pertanian Bogor, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), IOM, Kelley Blue Book, Lenovo, Lillebaelt Hospital, Los Angeles County, Maspex Wadowice Group, National Bank of Greece, New Zealand Ministry of Health, New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, Nippon Paper, NMIMS, North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Office of Information Technology Services, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC), Oberweis Dairy, ODEC, Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, Oklahoma State University, OneBeacon, Orange Business Services, Orange County Child Support Services, Organic, Orlando Magic, OTP Bank, Plano Independent School District, Project Odyssey, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, RSA Canada, SCAD, Scotiabank, Singapore National Library Board, Sobeys Inc., SRA International, Staples, Statistics Estonia, Swisscom, SymphonyIRI Group, Telecom Italia, Telef‹nica O2, Town of Cary, Transitions Optical, TrueCar, Turkcell Superonline, UniCredit Bank Serbia, University of Alabama, University of Missouri, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Find out what your peers are saying about KNIME vs. SAS Analytics and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.