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IBM SPSS Statistics 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

IBM SPSS Statistics
Ranking in Data Mining
3rd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
Data Science Platforms (8th)
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 April 2025, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Statistics is 16.6%, up from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Analytics is 6.1%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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.
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

"SPSS is quite robust and quicker in terms of providing you the output."
"The features that I have found most valuable are the Bayesian statistics and descriptive statistics."
"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."
"The software offers consistency across multiple research projects helping us with predictive analytics capabilities."
"It offers very good visualization."
"SPSS is perfectly adequate if all you want are some results."
"The most valuable feature is its robust statistical analysis capabilities."
"I use it to replicate our entire financial system to verify/duplicate calculations."
"The team immediately resolves the issues."
"They have provided virtually everything we have needed to accomplish our task, as well as continuously improving our accuracy."
"It has also been around for an extremely long time, has a strong history, and good market penetration."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to handle large data sets."
"All of the data analytics features in SAS Analytics are valuable to us since we're using them daily across our entire analytics team."
"It is able to connect to all major platforms, and all the smaller platforms that I have come across."
"I use SAS daily to analyze data, produce reports, and other outputs."
 

Cons

"I recently moved away from SPSS and started using KNIME since it is particularly easier for students."
"The solution needs to improve forecasting using time series analysis."
"The solution needs more planning tools and capabilities."
"It could allow adding color to data models to make them easier to interpret."
"The technical support should be improved."
"SPSS slows down the computer or the laptop if the data is huge; then you need a faster computer."
"In some cases, the product takes time to load a large dataset. They could improve this particular area."
"The design of the experience can be improved."
"The graphing and visualization features could be enhanced, in my opinion. I would especially stress improving the visualization capabilities."
"They could enhance the AI capabilities of the product."
"This solution should be made more user-friendly."
"​Support at universities used to be limited, but I hear this is changing.​"
"The installation could also be easier, and the price could be better."
"The natural language querying and automated preparation of dashboards should be improved."
"The training for SAS Business Intelligence is often difficult to arrange. It is often cancelled due to not enough people being enrolled."
"I would like to see their interface to R added to either Base SAS or SAS Analytics."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of this solution is a little bit high, which was a problem for my company."
"We think that IBM SPSS is expensive for this function."
"More affordable training for new staff members."
"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."
"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."
"The price of IBM SPSS Statistics could improve."
"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."
"Prices were comparable with alternative solutions."
"I think that the cost-benefit ratio is okay."
"Our licensing covers the usage for around 50 data analysts."
"​Setup costs were quite reasonable."
"It is relatively expensive. It is not an easy software to afford."
"I rate the product’s pricing a one out of ten."
"​The cost for SAS Business Intelligence can prove to be a little prohibitive.​"
"Licensing was rather straightforward."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
17%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Insurance Company
8%
Educational Organization
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
SPSS is horrendously expensiver. On a laptop Knime is free of charge (Windows, Mac, Linux)
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Statistics?
Better guidance both in producing programs and interpreting their output.
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?
The natural language querying and automated preparation of dashboards should be improved. The cost and accessibility should be improved. For a $900 USD/user/annual license you have to set up a $12,...
What is your primary use case for SAS Analytics?
This is an application I use for data prep, data exploration, BI reporting, and some basic automated analytics.
 

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
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 IBM SPSS Statistics vs. SAS Analytics and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.