IBM SPSS Statistics vs Weka comparison

IBM and Weka are both solutions in the Data Mining category. IBM is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8, while Weka is ranked #4. IBM holds a 18.5% mindshare in DM, compared to Weka’s 9.3% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 78% of Weka users who would recommend it.

IBM SPSS Statistics

Read 40 IBM SPSS Statistics reviews

3,441 Views
1,548 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

Weka

Read 14 Weka reviews

1,550 Views
1,364 Comparison Views

78% willing to recommend

IBM SPSS Statistics

Weka

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

IBM SPSS Statistics and Weka compete in the data analysis domain. While SPSS has an edge in statistical analysis, Weka shines in data mining and machine learning with its user-friendly interface and algorithm integration.

Features: IBM SPSS provides comprehensive statistical functions, supporting large datasets and complex statistical tests such as ANOVA and regression analysis. It is well-suited for high-accuracy quantitative analysis. Weka offers a variety of machine learning algorithms and does not require programming skills, making it appealing for beginners. It provides seamless integration of new algorithms, ideal for rapid testing and classification tasks.

Room for Improvement: IBM SPSS is costlier and could enhance data visualization and integration with big data tools. Users suggest improvements in data preparation automation and better guides for statistical methods. Weka could improve its scalability and performance in handling large datasets. Enhancements in documentation and visualization options are also recommended to improve the user experience.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both products support on-premises deployment, with IBM SPSS also available in the cloud. IBM's customer service receives positive feedback but some users report delays. Weka relies mainly on community support due to its open-source nature.

Pricing and ROI: IBM SPSS is considered expensive with various licensing levels and special deals for educational institutions. Its comprehensive service is seen as worth the investment, yielding significant ROI for some users. Weka, being free and open-source, appeals to organizations with budget constraints but the choice often depends on advanced feature requirements.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM SPSS Statistics vs. Weka Report (Updated: February 2026).

Buyer's Guide

IBM SPSS Statistics vs. Weka

February 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 881,733 peers since 2012

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

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Science Platforms (9th), AI Data Analysis (14th), AI Research (2nd)

Weka

Ranking in Data Mining

4th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Anomaly Detection Tools (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Data Mining category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Statistics is 18.5%, up from 16.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Weka is 9.3%, down from 21.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Mining Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM SPSS Statistics	18.5%
Weka	9.3%
Other	72.2%

Data Mining

Featured Reviews

EzzAbdelfattah

Associate Professor Of Statistics at a university with 10,001+ employees

Advanced predictive analytics have supported my research and student projects across many methods

The only function I may need to be added or hope to be added to IBM SPSS Statistics is how to treat unstructured data. This mainly exists with IBM SPSS Modeler, but I do not think it is able to treat something like videos and similar content unless you are using languages like Python inside IBM SPSS Modeler or inside IBM SPSS Statistics. For the menu itself, for the selection, it does not exist. Thinking of the future, I believe that the owners of IBM SPSS Statistics should think about improving the package itself to be able to treat unstructured data.

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Xavier Suriol

Manager at XS AMSAFIS DATASETS, S.L.

A good solution offering a range of tools but is limited by its user-handling capacities

In a new machine learning job, if the method is a bit foreign to me, if I have to do it in R, it could be a tedious task. First, I need to identify the libraries required for the new methodology. This can involve identifying two, three, or even four libraries. Then, I need to read their manuals thoroughly. This is time-consuming. In Weka, as all machine learning tools are on my desktop, I easily find out the method. As a freelancer, people send me datasets, and I work on the statistics at home before providing the solution. When a solution needs to be implemented on a server, server programmers install it on the server. This is similar to Power BI, where I prepare files on my desktop, and someone else uploads them to the server for others to access. I think I cannot send a Weka solution to a server programmer. In Weka, anyone can run the program without being a programmer, which is a good feature since the entry cost is very low.

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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

"SPSS is perfectly adequate if all you want are some results."

"You can quickly build models because it does the work for you."

"The biggest benefit of the IBM SPSS Statistics tool for my customers and me is that it's very old, meaning they have more experience; when the tool was first released, we had customer service that created surveys with the customers asking which way they wanted to go, what they would see within the tool, and what would be helpful—IBM basically created the tool according to this knowledge."

"The best part is that they have an algorithm handbook, so you can open it up and understand how it works, and if it is useful, this is very important."

"It has the ability to easily change any variable in our research."

"Most of the product features are good but I particularly like the linear regression analysis."

"I've found the descriptive statistics and cross-tabs valuable. The very simple correlations and regressions are as well."

"in terms of the simplicity, I think the SPSS basic can handle it."

More IBM SPSS Statistics pros

"With clustering, if it's a yes, it's a yes, if it's a no, it's a no. It gives you a 100% level of accuracy of a model that has been trained, and that is in most cases, usually misleading. Classification is highly valuable when done as opposed to clustering."

"The interface is very good, and the algorithms are the very best."

"There are many options where you can fill all of the data pre-processing options that you can implement when you're importing the data. You can also normalize the data and standardize it in an easier way."

"Weka is a very nice tool, it needs very small requirements. If I want to implement something in Python, I need a lot of memory and space but Weka is very lightweight. Anyone can implement any kind of algorithm, and we can show the results immediately to the client using the one-page feature. The client always wants to know the story. They want the result."

"I mainly use this solution for the regression tree, and for its association rules. I run these two methodologies for Weka."

"Working with complicated algorithms in huge datasets is really easy in Weka."

"Weka eliminates the need for coding, allowing you to easily set parameters and complete the majority of the machine learning task with just a few clicks."

"It is a stable product."

More Weka pros

Cons

"SPSS is a tool that's been around since the late 60s, and it's the universal worldwide standard for quantitative social science data analysis. That said, it does seem a bit strange to me that the graphical output functions are so clunky after all these years. The output of charts and graphs that SPSS produces is hideous."

"Improvements are needed in the user interface, particularly in terms of user-friendliness."

"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."

"I recently moved away from SPSS and started using KNIME since it is particularly easier for students."

"I'm unsure if SPSS has a commercial offering for big servers, unlike KNIME, which does."

"I feel that when it comes to conducting multiple analyses, there could be more detailed information provided. Currently, the software gives a summary and an overview, but it would be beneficial to have specific details for each product or variable."

"The design of the experience can be improved."

"In developing countries, it would be beneficial to provide certain features to users at no cost initially, while also customizing pricing options."

More IBM SPSS Statistics cons

"The product is good, but I would like it to work with big data. I know it has a Spark integration they could use to do analysis in clusters, but it's not so clear how to use it."

"A few people said it became slow after a while."

"Weka could be more stable."

"Weka is a little complicated and not necessarily suited for users who aren't skilled and experienced in data science."

"I believe is there are a few newer algorithms that are not present in the Weka libraries. Whereas, for example, if I want to have a solution that involves deep learning, so I don't think that Weka has that capability. So in that case I have to use Python for ... predict any algorithms based on deep learning."

"The visualization of Weka is subpar and could improve. Machine learning and visualization do not work well together. For example, we want to know how we can we delete empty cells or how can we fill in the empty cells without cleaning the data system and putting it together."

"The filter section lacks some specific transformation tools. If you want to change a variable from a numeric variable to a categorical variable, you don't have a feature that can enable you to change a variable from a numeric variable to a categorical variable."

"If there are a lot more lines of code, then we should use another language."

More Weka cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While the pricing of the product may be higher, the accompanying service and features justify the investment."

"The price of IBM SPSS Statistics could improve."

"We think that IBM SPSS is expensive for this function."

"More affordable training for new staff members."

"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."

"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 this solution is a little bit high, which was a problem for my company."

More IBM SPSS Statistics pricing and cost advice

"Currently, I am using an open-source version so I don't know much about the price of this solution."

"The solution is free and open-source."

"We use the free version now. My faculty is very small."

"As far as I know, Weka is a freeware tool, and I am not aware if they have an online solution or if it is a commercial product."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

University

Educational Organization

16%

University

15%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	20

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	2

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.

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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 ...

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What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Statistics?

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Comparisons

IBM SPSS Modeler vs IBM SPSS Statistics

Compared 44% of the time

Databricks vs IBM SPSS Statistics

Compared 4% of the time

KNIME Business Hub vs IBM SPSS Statistics

Compared 4% of the time

Anaconda Business vs IBM SPSS Statistics

Compared 4% of the time

TIBCO Statistica vs IBM SPSS Statistics

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM SPSS Statistics Competitors

KNIME Business Hub vs Weka

Compared 35% of the time

IBM SPSS Modeler vs Weka

Compared 12% of the time

Elastic Search vs Weka

Compared 8% of the time

DataRPM vs Weka

Compared 8% of the time

SAS Enterprise Miner vs Weka

Compared 7% of the time

More Weka Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM SPSS Statistics

January 2026

Download IBM SPSS Statistics product report

Buyer's Guide

Weka

January 2026

Download Weka product report

Also Known As

SPSS Statistics

No data available

Overview

IBM SPSS Statistics is a powerful data mining solution that is designed to aid business leaders in making important business decisions. It is designed so that it can be effectively utilized by organizations across a wide range of fields. SPSS Statistics allows users to leverage machine learning algorithms so that they can mine and analyze data in the most effective way possible.

IBM SPSS Statistics Benefits

Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy IBM SPSS Statistics include:

Ease of use. SPSS Statistics enables users to simply and intuitively take control of their statistical needs. The solution is designed so that analysts who do not know how to code can easily make full use of the various tools and capabilities that SPSS Statistics has to offer. Its command language is so straightforward that it does not require users to undergo special training before they use it.

Comprehensive and flexible build. SPSS Statistics is designed to be both a comprehensive and highly flexible analytics solution. It enables users to utilize a variety of integrations that make it easy for users to add features that they might feel they are missing.

Automation. SPSS Statistics makes it simple for users to automate basic tasks that they might otherwise devote too much time worrying about. Tasks like calculation or data gathering can be delegated to the system while more conceptual tasks like data analysis are given to an organization’s analysts to handle.

IBM SPSS Statistics Features

Intuitive user interface. SPSS Statistics enables users to deploy an intuitive interface that makes the process of system management simple. Among the other components of this interface is a drag-and-drop feature that makes analysis and management possible for anyone who wants to use it.

Advanced data visualizations. Analysts that employ SPSS Statistics gain access to tools that empower them to create and export data visualizations. These visualizations can be formatted in many different ways depending on what the user needs.

Local data storage. SPSS Statistics has the ability to securely store data on a user’s computer. This enables them to add layers of security that would not necessarily be present if the data was stored in the cloud.

Reviews from Real Users

IBM SPSS Statistics is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are the wealth of functionalities that it provides and its high level of accessibility.

An Emeritus Professor of Health Services Research at a university writes, "The most valuable feature of IBM SPSS Statistics is all the functionality it provides. Additionally, it is simple to do the five-way analysis that you can in a multidimensional setup space. It's the multidimensional space facility that is most useful."

A Director of Systems Management & MIS Operations at a university, says, “The SPSS interface is very accessible and user-friendly. It's really easy to get information from it. I've shared it with experts and beginners, and everyone can navigate it.”

IBM

Weka is a collection of machine learning algorithms for data mining tasks. The algorithms can either be applied directly to a dataset or called from your own Java code. Weka contains tools for data pre-processing, classification, regression, clustering, association rules, and visualization. It is also well-suited for developing new machine learning schemes.

Weka

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

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Buyer's Guide

IBM SPSS Statistics vs. Weka

February 2026

Free Report: IBM SPSS Statistics vs. Weka

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SPSS Statistics vs. Weka and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.

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