Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Altair RapidMiner vs KNIME vs SAS Enterprise Miner 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Data Science Platforms category, the mindshare of Altair RapidMiner is 7.7%, up from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KNIME is 11.7%, up from 9.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Enterprise Miner is 0.7%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Science Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Laurence Moseley - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers good tutorials that make it easy to learn and use, with a powerful feature to compare machine learning algorithms
When I started using RapidMiner, I found it difficult to get it to read the metadata. I wanted to use, for example, a pivot table, and it did not have the variable or the attribute names in it. There were no values. It took a long while to figure out how to do that, although it tends to do it automatically nowadays. RapidMiner is not utterly intuitive for beginners. Sometimes people have trouble distinguishing between a file in their own file system and a repository entry, and they cannot find their data. This is an area where this solution could be improved. It would be helpful to have some tutorials on communicating with Python. I found it a bit difficult at times to figure out which particular variable, or attribute, is going where in Python. It is probably a simple thing to do but I haven't mastered it yet. I'd like them to do a video on that. There are a large number of videos that are usually well-produced, but I don't think that they have one on that. Essentially, I would like to see how to communicate from RapidMiner to Python and from Python to RapidMiner. One of the things I do a lot of is looking at questionnaires where people have used Likert-type scales. I don't recommend Likert-type scales, but if they're properly produced, which is a lot of hard work and it's not usually done, they're really powerful and you can do things like normalizing holes on the Likert scale. That's not the same as normalizing your data in RapidMiner. So, I would want to get results with these Likert scales, pass it through RapidMiner, do a normalization and pass back both the raw scores and the normalized scores and put in some rules, which will say if it's high on the raw score and on the normalized score and low on the standard deviation, then you can trust it.
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,
reviewer1447110 - PeerSpot reviewer
Good technical support but too complex and not open-source
We're using Enterprise Guide simultaneously with Enterprise Miner. From my perspective, I believe that open-source analytics tools are closer to fitting our needs. We prefer open-source options like Anaconda. They offer good support and features. Anaconda also integrates well with Jupyter NET, which is important for us. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I'd rate the solution at a five. If there were better protocols and wasn't as complex as it is, I'd rate it a bit higher.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Using the GUI, I can have models and algorithms drag and drop nodes."
"The solution is stable."
"The data science, collaboration, and IDN are very, very strong."
"The documentation for this solution is very good, where each operator is explained with how to use it."
"The most valuable feature of RapidMiner is that it can read a large number of file formats including CSV, Excel, and in particular, SPSS."
"The most valuable feature is what the product sets out to do, which is extracting information and data."
"The most valuable feature of RapidMiner is that it is code free. It is similar to playing with Lego pieces and executing after you are finished to see the results. Additionally, it is easy to use and has interesting utilities when preparing the data. It has a utility to automatically launch a series of models and show the comparisons. When finished with the comparisons you can select the best one, and deploy it automatically."
"I like not having to write all solutions from code. Being able to drag and drop controls, enables me to focus on building the best model, without needing to search for syntax errors or extra libraries."
"I've never had any problems with stability."
"Easy to use, stable, and powerful."
"It is possible to configure the system to effectively manage memory and space requirements."
"The product is very easy to understand even for non-analytical stakeholders. Sometimes we provide them with KNIME workflows and teach them how to run it on their own machine."
"I was able to apply basic algorithms through just dragging and dropping."
"Usability, and organising workflows in very neat manner. Controlling workflow through variables is something amazing."
"We have found KNIME valuable when it comes to its visualization."
"The visual workflow tools for custom and complex tasks always beat raw coding languages with the agility, speed to deliver, and ease of subsequent changes."
"The solution is able to handle quite large amounts of data beautifully."
"The most valuable feature is the decision tree creation."
"he solution is scalable."
"Most of the features, especially on the data analysis tool pack, are really good. The way they do clustering and output is great. You can do fairly elaborate outputs. The results, the ensembles, all of these, are fantastic."
"The technical support is very good."
"The solution is very good for data mining or any mining issues."
"The most valuable feature is that you can use multiple algorithms for creating models and then you can compare the results between them."
"Good data management and analytics."
 

Cons

"The product must provide data-cleaning features."
"If they could include video tutorials, people would find that quite helpful."
"Improve the online data services."
"The biggest problem, not from a platform process, but from an avoidance process, is when you work in a heavily regulated environment, like banking and finance. Whenever you make a decision or there is an output, you need to bill it as an avoidance to the investigator or to the bank audit team. If you made decisions within this machine learning model, you need to explain why you did so. It would better if you could explain your decision in terms of delivery. However, this is an issue with all ML platforms. Many companies are working heavily in this area to help figure out how to make it more explainable to the business team or the regulator."
"RapidMiner would be improved with the inclusion of more machine learning algorithms for generating time-series forecasting models."
"The price of this solution should be improved."
"It would be helpful to have some tutorials on communicating with Python."
"RapidMiner isn't cheap. It's a complete solution, but it's costly."
"The most difficult part of the solution revolves around its areas concerning machine learning and deep learning."
"Though I can use KNIME in a 64-bit platform in the lab, it's missing some features. For example, from my laptop, I can use the image reader feature of KNIME. However, in the lab, the image reader node is missing."
"The visualization functionalities are not good (cannot be compared to, for instance, the possibilities in R)."
"The program is not fit for handling very large files or databases (greater than 1GB); it gets too slow and has a tendency to crash easily."
"There should be better documentation and the steps should be easier."
"It's very general in terms of architecture, and as a result, it doesn't support efficient running. That is, the speed needs to be improved."
"The documentation needs a proper rework. ​"
"Both RapidMiner and KNIME should be made easier to use in the field of deep learning."
"The user interface of the solution needs improvement. It needs to be more visual."
"Virtualization could be much better."
"The solution is very stable, but we do have some problems with discrepancies involving SAS not matching with the latest Java versions. It's not stable in cases where SAS tries to run on a different version because SAS doesn't connect with the latest Java update. Once a month we need to restart systems from scratch."
"Technical support could be improved."
"The product must provide better integration with cloud-native technologies."
"While I don't personally need tutorials, I can't say that it wouldn't be helpful for others to have some to help them navigate and operate the system."
"The solution needs an easier interface for the user. The user experience isn't so easy for our clients."
"The solution is much more complex than other options."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Although we don't pay licensing fees because it is being used within the university, my understanding is that the cost is between $5,000 and $10,000 USD per year."
"For the university, the cost of the solution is free for the students and teachers."
"I'm not fully aware of RapidMiner's price because we had licenses provided, but from my analysis, it's moderately priced, not too high or too low. It's worth the investment."
"I used an educational license for this solution, which is available free of charge."
"The client only has to pay the licensing costs. There are not any maintenance or hidden costs in addition to the license."
"There is a Community Edition and paid versions available."
"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 offers a free version"
"KNIME is a cost-effective solution because it’s free of cost."
"KNIME is a cheap product. I currently use KNIME's open-source version."
"This is an open-source solution that is free to use."
"KNIME is free as a stand-alone desktop-based platform but if you want to get a KNIME server then you can find the cost on their website."
"It's an open-source solution."
"The solution is expensive for an individual, but for an enterprise/institution (purchasing bulk licenses), it is not a high price for the use that will come from it."
"The solution must improve its licensing models."
"This solution is for large corporations because not everybody can afford it."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Data Science Platforms solutions are best for your needs.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Educational Organization
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
8%
Financial Services Firm
26%
University
12%
Educational Organization
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about RapidMiner?
RapidMiner is a no-code machine learning tool. I can install it on my local machine and work with smaller datasets. I...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for RapidMiner?
I'm not fully aware of RapidMiner's price because we had licenses provided, but from my analysis, it's moderately pri...
What needs improvement with RapidMiner?
Altair RapidMiner needs updates to its examples, particularly in business and marketing areas, and to the tool itself...
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?
For graphics, the interface is a little confusing. So, this is a point that could be improved.
What do you like most about SAS Enterprise Miner?
I like the way the product visually shows the data pipeline.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Enterprise Miner?
The solution must improve its licensing models. It bundles all the products into smaller products. We can only have a...
What needs improvement with SAS Enterprise Miner?
The product must provide better integration with cloud-native technologies.
 

Also Known As

No data available
KNIME Analytics Platform
Enterprise Miner
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

PayPal, Deloitte, eBay, Cisco, Miele, Volkswagen
Infocom Corporation, Dymatrix Consulting Group, Soluzione Informatiche, MMI Agency, Estanislao Training and Solutions, Vialis AG
Generali Hellas, Gitanjali Group, Gloucestershire Constabulary, GS Home Shopping, HealthPartners, IAG New Zealand, iJET, Invacare
Find out what your peers are saying about Databricks, Knime, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and others in Data Science Platforms. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.