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IBM SPSS Modeler vs Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 5, 2024

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
13th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Data Mining (4th)
Microsoft Azure Machine Lea...
Ranking in Data Science Platforms
4th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
AI Development Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM SPSS Modeler is 2.4%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is 5.3%, down from 9.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

PeterHuo - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Takayuki Umehara - PeerSpot reviewer
Streamlined workflows with drag and drop convenience but needs enhancements in AI
I use Machine Learning Studio for system reselling and integration Machine Learning Studio is easy to use, with a significant feature being the drag and drop interface that enhances workflow without any complaints. It provides a return on investment and cost savings, proving beneficial for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use analytics with the visual modeling capability to leverage productivity improvements."
"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."
"​It works fine. I have not had any stability issues; it is always up.​"
"Extremely easy to use, it offers a generous selection of proprietary machine learning algorithms."
"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."
"It's a very organized product. It's easy to use."
"In the solution, I like the virtualization of data flow since it shows what goes where, which is mostly the strength of the tool."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is the ease of use for starting projects. It's simple to connect and view the results. Additionally, the solution works well with other Microsoft solutions, such as Power Automate or SQL Server. It is easy to use and to connect for analytics."
"The solution's most beneficial feature is its integration with Azure."
"The learning curve is very low. Operationalizing the model is also very easy within the Azure ecosystem."
"Regarding the technical support for the solution, I find the documentation provided comprehensive and helpful."
"Visualisation, and the possibility of sharing functions are key features."
"It helps in building customized models, which are easy for clients to use​.​​"
"What I like best about Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio is that it's a straightforward tool and it's easy to use. Another valuable feature of the tool is AutoML which lets you get better metrics to train the model right and with good accuracy. The AutoML feature allows you to simply put in your data, and it'll pre-process and create a more accurate model for you. You don't have to do anything because AutoML in Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio will take care of it."
"The solution is integrated with our Microsoft Azure tenant, and we don't have to go anywhere else outside the tenant."
 

Cons

"The challenge for the very technical data scientists: It is constraining for them.​"
"C&DS will not meet our scalability needs."
"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."
"It would be beneficial if the tool would include more well-known machine learning algorithms."
"We would like to see better visualizations and easier integration with Cognos Analytics for reporting."
"It would be good if IBM added help resources to the interface."
"Dimension reduction should be classified separately."
"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."
"It would be nice if the product offered more accessibility in general."
"A problem that I encountered was that I had to pay for the model that I wanted to deploy and use on Azure Machine Learning, but there wasn't any option that that model can be used in the designer."
"Overall, the icons in the solution could be improved to provide better guidance to users. Additionally, the setup process for the solution could be made easier."
"The price could be improved."
"Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio worked okay for me, so right now, I don't have any room for improvement in mind for it. What I'd like added to Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio in its next version is a categorization for use cases or a template that makes the use cases simple to map out, for example, for healthcare, medical, or finance use cases, etc. This would be very helpful for users of Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio, especially for beginners."
"While ML Studio does give you the ability to run a lot of transformations, it struggles when the transformations are a bit more complex, when your entire process is transformation-heavy."
"When you use different Microsoft tools, there are different pricing metrics. It doesn't make sense. The pricing metrics are quire difficult to understand and should be either clarified or simplified. It would help us sell the solution to customers."
"Using the solution requires some specific learning which can take some time."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 users use the server with ten licenses, it runs faster. But if forty users use the same appliance, everything slows down. People then think it's not easy to do things and prefer using remote tools like Python to extract data from the database. It's not about being expensive or cheap, but about people's knowledge and experience in how to do the work."
"Its price is okay for a company, but for personal use, it is considered somewhat expensive."
"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."
"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."
"$5,000 annually."
"It is a huge increase to time savings."
"It got us a good amount of money with quick and efficient modeling."
"It is an expensive product."
"My team didn't deal with the licensing for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio, so I'm unable to comment on pricing, but the money that was spent on the tool was worth it."
"The solution cost is high."
"When we got our first models and were ready for the user acceptance testing, our licensing fees were between €2,500 ($2,750 USD) and €3,000 ($3,300 USD) monthly."
"I am paying for it following a pay-as-you-go. So, the more I use it, the more it costs."
"The platform's price is low."
"It is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"To use MLS is fairly cheap. Even the paid account is something like $20/month, unless you are provisioning large numbers of VMs for a Hadoop cluster. The main MS makes money with this solution is forcing the user to deploy their model on REST API, and being charged each time the API is accessed. There are several pricing tiers for the API. If you do not use the API, then value of MLS is to create rapid experiments ($20/month). The resulting model is not exportable to use, thus you’ll have to recreate the algorithms in either R or Python, which is what I did. MLS results gave me a direction to work with, the actual work is mostly done in R and Python outside of MLS."
"ML Studio's pricing becomes a numbers game."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Educational Organization
12%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
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...
What needs improvement with IBM SPSS Modeler?
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 performanc...
Which do you prefer - Databricks or Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Databricks gives you the option of working with several different languages, such as SQL, R, Scala, Apache Spark, or Python. It offers many different cluster choices and excellent integration with ...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
The learning curve is very low. Operationalizing the model is also very easy within the Azure ecosystem.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio?
Pricing is considered to be top-segment and should be improved. I rate the pricing as three or four on a scale of one to ten in terms of affordability.
 

Also Known As

SPSS Modeler
Azure Machine Learning, MS Azure Machine Learning Studio
 

Overview

 

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
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Schneider Electric, BP
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM SPSS Modeler vs. Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Studio and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
848,716 professionals have used our research since 2012.