IBM SPSS Modeler vs MathWorks Matlab comparison

IBM and MathWorks are both solutions in the Data Science Platforms category. IBM is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.5, while MathWorks is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.7. IBM holds a 2.5% mindshare in Data Science Platforms, compared to MathWorks’s 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 86% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of MathWorks users who would recommend it.

IBM SPSS Modeler

Read 40 IBM SPSS Modeler reviews

2,148 Views
1,418 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

MathWorks Matlab

Read 5 MathWorks Matlab reviews

576 Views
547 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM SPSS Modeler

MathWorks Matlab

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

IBM SPSS Modeler and MathWorks Matlab compete in the field of data analysis and predictive analytics. MathWorks Matlab usually has the advantage due to its comprehensive features, despite IBM SPSS Modeler being more competitively priced and supported.

Features: IBM SPSS Modeler is known for its intuitive workflow, ease of data preparation, and advanced statistical capabilities. MathWorks Matlab is recognized for its powerful computational engine, diverse toolboxes for various applications, and strong data visualization strengths. MathWorks Matlab's extensive features provide an edge in versatility and performance.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM SPSS Modeler offers a straightforward deployment process and strong customer support, ensuring efficient implementation. MathWorks Matlab, while having a steeper learning curve due to its comprehensive nature, provides extensive resources and support to assist in deployment. The decision may hinge on whether users prioritize expedited deployment or extensive computational capabilities.

Pricing and ROI: IBM SPSS Modeler generally has a lower initial setup cost and provides a solid return on investment for businesses with specific analytical needs. MathWorks Matlab may require a higher initial investment but offers substantial ROI through its extensive functionalities and adaptability across numerous fields. The choice between the two depends on budget flexibility and long-term analytical requirements.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM SPSS Modeler vs. MathWorks Matlab Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM SPSS Modeler vs. MathWorks Matlab

July 2025

Download the complete report

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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 SPSS Modeler

Ranking in Data Science Platforms

17th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Data Mining (4th)

MathWorks Matlab

Ranking in Data Science Platforms

18th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

5.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Modeler is 2.5%, up from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of MathWorks Matlab is 1.1%, 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 (%)
IBM SPSS Modeler	2.5%
MathWorks Matlab	1.1%
Other	96.4%

Data Science Platforms

Featured Reviews

PeterHuo

Application Architect at Canada Border Services Agency

Good tool for extracting data from data warehouses, creating streams, and manipulating logic to extract final data

There are performance issues. Extracting data from many combined tables can take hours and occasionally crash the server due to memory leaks. This performance problem bothers people. The performance issue seems to be related to the server. We design streams on the client and submit them to the server, which generates a large SQL statement. There are two potential bottlenecks: one in the server and another in data extraction. I'm unsure about the exact mechanics of data splitting when fetching from the database. When streams become larger, performance bottlenecks may occur in the IBM SPSS Modeler server or the database. Sometimes the server crashes and needs to be restarted to release memory on both sides. I'm not sure exactly where the problem is caused, as I focus on stream design rather than server issues. The problem could be on the IBM SPSS Modeler server and database.

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Ioannis Kalathas

It Consultant/Administrator at International Hellenic University

Creating digital twins significantly reduces time for marine engine diagnostics

MathWorks Matlab has numerous libraries, making it challenging to have a holistic understanding of all of them. I can only speak about the libraries I have used. Additional GUIs and add-ons for MathWorks Matlab would help, especially for users who are not familiar with the software. The cost is a significant concern. While university pricing is reasonable, a cheaper version with fewer libraries would be beneficial. In Greece, we struggle to purchase licenses, and we also use Ansys. There are technical differences in simulation, but the price of MathWorks Matlab is too high for a Greek mechanic to use it. A license with fewer features would be more appropriate.

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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

"The ease of use in the user interface is the best part of it. The ability to customize some of my streams with R and Python has been very useful to me, I've automated a few things with that."

"Some basic form of feature engineering for classification models. This really quickens the model development process."

"It makes pretty good use of memory. There are algorithms take a long time to run in R, and somehow they run more efficiently in Modeler."

"We are creating models and putting them into production much faster than we would if we had just gone with a strict, code-based solution, like R or Python."

"I was familiar with using IBM SPSS Modeler separately in the private sector before that. It's a good tool for extracting data from data warehouses, creating streams, and manipulating logic to extract final data."

"I think it is the point and drag features that are the most valuable. You can simply click at the windows, and then pull up the functions."

"We use analytics with the visual modeling capability to leverage productivity improvements."

"It is very scalable for non-technical people."

More IBM SPSS Modeler pros

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

Cons

"Neural networks are quite simple, and now neural networks are evolving to these architecture related to deep learning, etc. They didn't incorporate this in IBM SPSS Modeler."

"The integration with sources and visualisation needs some improvement. The scalability needs improvement."

"I think mapping for geographic data would also be a really great thing to be able to use."

"The standard package (personal) is not supported for database connection."

"The time series should be improved."

"Unstructured data is not appropriate for SPSS Modeler."

"If IBM could add some of the popular models into the SPSS for further analysis, like popular regression models, I think that would be a helpful improvement."

"Time Series or forecasting needs to be easier. It is a very important feature, and it should be made easier and more automated to use. For instance, for logistic regression, binary or multinomial is used automatically based on the type of the target variable. I wish they can make Time Series easier to use in a similar way."

More IBM SPSS Modeler cons

"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."

"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."

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

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a huge increase to time savings."

"$5,000 annually."

"When you are close to end of quarter, IBM and its partners can get you 60% to 70% discounts, so literally wait for the last day of the quarter for the best prices. You may feel like you are getting robbed if you can't receive a good discount."

"I am using the free version of IBM SPSS Modeler, it is the educational edition version."

"The scalability was kind of limited by our ability to get other people licenses, and that was usually more of a financial constraint. It's expensive, but it's a good tool."

"This tool, being an IBM product, is pretty expensive."

"If you are in a university and the license is free then you can use the tool without any charges, which is good."

"Having in mind all four tools from Garner’s top quadrant, the pricing of this tool is competitive and it reflects the quality that it offers."

More IBM SPSS Modeler pricing and cost advice

"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%

Educational Organization

11%

Government

10%

University

Computer Software Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	32

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

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM SPSS Modeler?

Compared to other tools, the product works much easier to analyze data without coding.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM SPSS Modeler?

The government has funds and a budget, it's hard to say if it's expensive or cheap. In Canada, they have a yearly budget. They used to encourage people to use the modeler for development. If ten us...

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What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Modeler?

The customer comes to you and says they want to deploy it and make a production out of this, which is very difficult and expensive with IBM SPSS Modeler. With MATLAB, there is no problem. I have a ...

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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?

The pricing for the software itself is reasonable, and I didn't encounter any additional costs beyond the initial purchase or license.

See all answers

What needs improvement with MathWorks Matlab?

See all answers

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Compared 17% of the time

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Compared 16% of the time

KNIME Business Hub vs MathWorks Matlab

Compared 13% of the time

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Compared 9% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM SPSS Modeler

September 2025

Download IBM SPSS Modeler product report

Buyer's Guide

MathWorks Matlab

August 2025

Download MathWorks Matlab product report

Also Known As

SPSS Modeler

No data available

Overview

IBM SPSS Modeler is an extensive predictive analytics platform that is designed to bring predictive intelligence to decisions made by individuals, groups, systems and the enterprise. By providing a range of advanced algorithms and techniques that include text analytics, entity analytics, decision management and optimization, SPSS Modeler can help you consistently make the right decisions from the desktop or within operational systems.

Buy
https://www.ibm.com/products/spss-modeler/pricing

Sign up for the trial
https://www.ibm.com/account/reg/us-en/signup?formid=urx-19947

IBM

Information not available

MathWorks

Sample Customers

Reisebªro Idealtours GmbH, MedeAnalytics, Afni, Israel Electric Corporation, Nedbank Ltd., DigitalGlobe, Vodafone Hungary, Aegon Hungary, Bureau Veritas, Brammer Group, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, InSites Consulting, Fortis Turkey

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Buyer's Guide

IBM SPSS Modeler vs. MathWorks Matlab

July 2025

Free Report: IBM SPSS Modeler vs. MathWorks Matlab

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SPSS Modeler vs. MathWorks Matlab and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

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