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reviewer2382516 - PeerSpot reviewer
Student at a performing arts with 201-500 employees
Real User
Simplifies data modeling but needs to add longer training videos
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool's analytic capabilities are good."
  • "I wish there were more video training resources for KNIME. The current videos are very short, and most learning is text-based. Longer training sessions would be helpful, especially for complex flowchart use cases. Webinars focusing on starting projects and analyzing data would also be beneficial."

What is our primary use case?

I use KNIME to simplify the modeling process. 

What is most valuable?

The tool's analytic capabilities are good. 

What needs improvement?

I wish there were more video training resources for KNIME. The current videos are very short, and most learning is text-based. Longer training sessions would be helpful, especially for complex flowchart use cases. Webinars focusing on starting projects and analyzing data would also be beneficial.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. 

Buyer's Guide
KNIME
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about KNIME. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
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How are customer service and support?

I haven't contacted the tool's support yet. 

How was the initial setup?

The tool's deployment is easy. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I use the tool's free version. 

What other advice do I have?

It takes some time to get familiar with it. I'm not sure how long it will take in the meantime. If one person learns it but the whole institution doesn't use it, that's a problem. Some people in our department use QuickSight, I use Tableau. We speak different languages, and it's hard for us to work together. Some use KNIME. We use it and then stop. We switched to Tableau, but it's expensive, so they're trying QuickSight. I don't know which platform we'll end up using.

We're still exploring KNIME for data manipulation, though Tableau or Power BI might be more convenient. I've used Alteryx before, and KNIME seems similar. I mainly use KNIME for machine learning, not as much for data manipulation.

I rate the overall product a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Asst Professor at Women's christian college
Real User
Top 20
User-friendly, and you don't need coding knowledge to make it work; scalable and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "What I like most about KNIME is that it's user-friendly. It's a low-code, no-code tool, so students don't need coding knowledge. You can make use of different kinds of nodes. KNIME even has a good description of each node."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

I'm a professor, and I learned about KNIME from a data science course. I use KNIME for data visualization, manipulation, and generation.

What is most valuable?

What I like most about KNIME is that it's user-friendly. It's a low-code, no-code tool, so students don't need coding knowledge. You can make use of different kinds of nodes. KNIME even has a good description of each node.

It's also helpful to learn more about the different concepts in KNIME, such as data mining, neural networks, and other visualization nodes for generation. You can gain a lot of insight from the tool as a data scientist.

What needs improvement?

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. This is an area for improvement because not all nodes appear in the 64-bit system. In other systems, you get to use all nodes or features. It should be uniform in all systems, though I have no idea if it's a software problem or a corruption in the system that's in the college lab. At home, I can see and access the image reader node, but in school, that node is missing.

What I want to be added to KNIME is the feature of extracting data from social media platforms, whether structured or unstructured and for that data to be automatically converted into a CSV file that I can use. I want a data cleaning and collection process from KNIME that works for social media platforms because datasets in social media can serve as business intelligence or can aid businesses. Social media is the trend nowadays, so I want a KNIME node to analyze data from social media platforms.

For how long have I used the solution?

I'd been using KNIME for three months now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In my three months of using KNIME, its stability has been okay, but I want to explore the tool more. Stability-wise, it's a seven out of ten. When the network is stable, then KNIME is okay to use.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

KNIME is a scalable product, so I'm rating it as nine in terms of scalability.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've not used any other tool besides KNIME, but I'm planning to try RapidMiner, which I've not yet installed.

How was the initial setup?

KNIME was easy to set up, so it's a ten out of ten, setup-wise.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

KNIME is an open-source tool, so it's free to use.

What other advice do I have?

At the moment, only ten students use KNIME. The course just started.

In my three months of experience with KNIME, it's an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
KNIME
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about KNIME. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
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reviewer1260093 - PeerSpot reviewer
Professor of Health Services Research (now Emeritus) at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Simple to learn, useful no code platform, and quick and efficient
Pros and Cons
  • "It's a very powerful and simple tool to use."
  • "One area that could be improved is increasing awareness and adoption of KNIME among organizations. Despite its capabilities, it is not as well-known as other tools. The advertising and marketing efforts to reach out to companies and universities have not been very successful."

What is our primary use case?

I am promoting the use of KNIME because of my background as a computer scientist and my experience programming in languages, such as Pascal, Python, and R. Many of my junior colleagues at the university lack proficiency in computing, and KNIME is an effective tool for introducing beginners to programming. The platform is user-friendly and does not require coding, making it accessible for those who can learn the basics in just an hour through video tutorials.

How has it helped my organization?

One way KNIME has improved our organization is by allowing us to perform analyses that we previously couldn't. We often start with data in Excel or CSV format, and the process of importing data from other software, such as SPSS or STATA can be challenging. With KNIME, the process is simplified, as we can easily import the data with a single node, making it quick and efficient.

What is most valuable?

There are many valuable features in KNIME. One of the most useful aspects is that it can read a wide variety of data file types. Additionally, the ability to manipulate data, such as deleting rows or columns, is very helpful. I also use many of the nodes for analyzing data, such as doing frequencies and cross tabs. I have used it for machine learning tasks, like decision trees and random forests. It also has neural network capabilities, but I am not an expert in that area, so I cannot comment on it.

It's a very powerful and simple tool to use.

KNIME has met all of my needs so far. It has excellent data visualization capabilities. Additionally, it has a text analysis package, which I haven't used. However, I am satisfied with the features currently available and it has a strong support community.

What needs improvement?

One area that could be improved is increasing awareness and adoption of KNIME among organizations. Despite its capabilities, it is not as well-known as other tools.  The advertising and marketing efforts to reach out to companies and universities have not been very successful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using KNIME for approximately two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

KNIME is highly stable, it's been working for over 10 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of scalability, I haven't personally pushed KNIME to its limits. I have used it to work with tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of cases and it has performed well on my own Microsoft Windows 10 PC. It has completed everything I wanted to do within a maximum of 10 seconds, but usually much less, often taking only a second or two. It sometimes seems immediate, but I have not tested it with hundreds of thousands or millions of cases.

The server version is certainly scalable. However, I am not using that version. I am using the desktop version, known as the Workbench. The server version can handle large datasets, such as those found in genomics, proteomics, and chemistry databases that are in the millions, so it is clearly capable of scaling. I am not able to comment on the performance of the server version as I have not personally used it.

How are customer service and support?

I have not contacted the company for technical support. They have a community hub where many users contribute and I have used that for assistance and it has worked well for me. I am not commenting on the company's specific support services, but rather on the facility provided by the company for users to communicate with each other. Often, you can't distinguish whether the person providing the advice is an official representative of the company or a fellow user.

The support provided by the community hub is excellent. You can post questions and usually receive a reply within 24 hours. Sometimes you even receive workflow that can be easily integrated into your own work, saving you the time and effort of retyping it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of KNIME is trivial. I only needed to download and it run.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

For beginners, the free desktop version is very attractive, but the full server version can be more expensive. I have only used the free version and it offers a fair pricing system. I have been promoting it to others without any compensation or request from the company, simply because I am enthusiastic about it. I am not aware of the pricing for the server version, but it seems to be widely used.

What other advice do I have?

My advice to others starting out with the solution is for them to look up videos on the solution because there are hundreds of them, but start with the small ones.

You can begin using KNIME with a one-hour introduction, which provides enough knowledge to complete most research tasks, but it does not cover all the fine details of the platform. KNIME offers tens of thousands of packages, or nodes, that are available for download to perform various tasks such as text processing or regression. It is not possible to learn all of it at once, it's best to start with analyzing data that interests you and then expanding your knowledge as you go along. The platform is reliable, as new features are thoroughly tested and it has never failed me in the many times that I have used it.

I rate KNIME a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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NagendraVuppala - PeerSpot reviewer
Tax Manager at RSM
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
A fast, cost-effective, and scalable solution, but its documentation is not strong
Pros and Cons
  • "There are a lot of connectors available in KNIME."
  • "KNIME's documentation is not strong."

What is our primary use case?

We use KNIME for tax technology. We want to implement technology in our tax domain.

What is most valuable?

KNIME is very fast and scalable. There are a lot of connectors available in KNIME.

What needs improvement?

KNIME is less secure than Alteryx. KNIME's documentation is not strong. I cannot make good documentation on a KNIME workflow like in Alteryx. Alteryx has more color options where I can put tools into different containers and write some annotations. I felt that was missing in KNIME.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have worked with KNIME for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

KNIME is a stable solution. However, you have to be mindful while working with any open software because it's open to anything.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

KNIME is very easy to scale because it's an open source solution. There are a lot of professionals who continuously put some effort into introducing scripts because it is easy to integrate with other technologies. So the add-ons are easily available for KNIME.

How are customer service and support?

KNIME's customer support is good. In three and a half years, I found solutions to 99% of my questions.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

KNIME's installation is very easy. All you have to do is log on to the website, check for the latest version, and hit the download button to get it.

What about the implementation team?

KNIME's deployment takes around five to ten minutes. Maintaining the designer version of KNIME is more or less the same as maintaining Alteryx.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

KNIME is a cost-effective solution because it’s free of cost.

What other advice do I have?

Small, medium, or enterprise businesses can use KNIME. You have to be more careful in downloading because it is an open-source solution, and anybody can even spread a virus. It's up to the users whether they want to take that risk. But I don't see such problems working with the Alteryx community, where all the information is much safe to download and upload.

I would suggest KNIME to someone with a low budget looking for a cost-effective solution. However, I would also give a disclaimer that they should be careful while downloading the connectors from the KNIME community because it's more open. Since it is an open-source solution, there are high chances of having some security issues.

Overall, I rate KNIME seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Data Analytics Consultant at Optivia
Real User
Good workflow tools, supports Python and R integration
Pros and Cons
  • "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."
  • "I would like to see better web scraping because every time I tried, it was not up to par, although you can use Python script."

What is our primary use case?

This solution is primarily used for various data analytics in an enterprise environment. 

The reality of any data analytics project including Data Science is that 90% of the effort goes into data sourcing and preparation. Data usually comes from multiple sources including data warehouses, web scraping, Excel input, free text, etc. KNIME allows you to do the 90% plus other predictive functionality.

How has it helped my organization?

It is a free open-source tool that performs very similarly to other expensive tools. KNIME has been great for me over the years. It allows me to connect to various sources including data warehouses, then put the processing logic together (ETL-like), which can be quite complex and produce the required output. Ultimately, it would go into Excel or Tableau for presentation.

What is most valuable?

The features that I find most valuable are:

  1. 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.
  2. Unlimited volume of data; you are only limited by the machine you run on.
  3. Python and R integration.
  4. Predictive functionality and text analytics. If it is not enough then you can use custom Python and R scripts.
  5. Looping functionality.
  6. Variables allow you to parameterize your flows.
  7. Run one node at a time, which is something that Alteryx users dream of doing.
  8. Managing (collapsing) sub-flows, which is another thing that Alteryx container users also dream of.

What needs improvement?

The areas that I feel need improvement are:

  • It needs support for a joiner node to have three outputs (left unmatched, matched, right unmatched), as competitors do (have not checked 2019/20 releases).
  • I need the ability to add additional comparison conditions to a join. For example, in SQL you can specify only rows with a date fitting within a date range from the joined file. At the moment in KNIME, you should allow a join explosion to take place and filter what you need later, but sometimes the output becomes too big.
  • It would be helpful to have more examples of Java code for nodes, like Java Snippet.
  • I would like to have this solution show row counts on canvas, as it would improve the control and speed to build the workflow.
  • The pseudo-code types could be rationalised into one (e.g. only Java).
  • I would like to see better web scraping because every time I tried, it was not up to par, although you can use Python script.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using KNIME for between four and five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

My system occasionally may crash like other similar tools, although autosave is available.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is limited to a desktop application.

How are customer service and technical support?

Obviously, as an open-source application, your options are limited but I have found answers on forums when I needed help.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Recently I have been using Alteryx so I have collected a few points on differences in both tools. Both are good, I can conclusively say I could go back to KNIME and be as effective data professional as I am with Alteryx.

I have to use Alteryx due to my client's tool choice, but I know that what I am doing with Alteryx right now could be done better in KNIME. Of course, Alteryx has its own advantages for certain areas.

How was the initial setup?

It is a relatively simple install. You can even avoid installing it and run from a directory.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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. The fact that KNIME is open source may create challenges from an IT security view in an enterprise environment.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

For this review, I would include Alteryx and Lavastorm (the latter is no longer available).

What other advice do I have?

If you need a good Visualisation functionality, you should use Tableau or something of that caliber. However, the data prep can be done KNIME, which would give you extra confidence that what goes into your Visualisation layer is correct.

Overall, KNIME is definitely worth considering.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Senior Vice President at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Visually appealing, user-friendly and intuitive in creating workflows and automating tasks
Pros and Cons
  • "From a user-friendliness perspective, it's a great tool."
  • "If they had a more structured training model it would be very helpful."

What is our primary use case?

I am a basic user, doing a data science course.

I am using Knime more from a study perspective, rather than a practical work application.

I am fairly competent with creating workflows and automating some basic things in Knime.

How has it helped my organization?

NA

What is most valuable?

From a user-friendliness perspective, it's a great tool.

What needs improvement?

I think some of the online training content could be better, although I have been able to find all of the information. At times they're quite lengthy, and for me to go through everything and then get a resolution takes a good amount of time.

They could have a more structured node-wise training model, where I can simply get into it. For example, if I need to understand a node to create pivot tables, I have to go through the training mode to understand what the functionality is.

If they had a more structured training model it would be very helpful.

It would be helpful to launch more certification programs online. 

There could be better marketing. The awareness of Knime is limited, especially for small organizations. When you compare with PowerBI, there is a lot of active marketing put into their product, also, having Microsoft associated with it is an advantage.

They have to step up on the marketing aspect and the ability to digitize using Knime. Many are aware of other tools such as PowerBI.

In the next release, I would like to see the certification available for active users.

Also the costing aspect of the certification, there could be more local impact time zone programs with a bit of costing dissension to encourage more active users in Knime who can then move to the server version in their organization.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Knime for approximately one year.

We are in the testing phase of this solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is quite stable. I have not been faced with any issues since I have been using this solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Knime is a scalable product.

We have five power users who are test prototype users at the moment. We are trying to sell that prototype to the management so that we can deploy it on a larger scale.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have never had the need to reach out to technical support.

At some point when I move on with the server versions, I might need some help.

The desktop version, it's more of an install and then just run it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?


At this time, I am using the free version of Knime.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did look at Tableau and was considering it to some extent. I felt Knime was more user-friendly and more versatile to automate tasks (most of them excel based).

What other advice do I have?

I am quite supportive of this product. It has been helpful in automating a few of my accounting activities.

Digital groups such as Knime have great potential, but there needs to be more aggressiveness with marketing. There are many executives that do not know what Knime is.

My journey starts by explaining what Knime is and what the functionalities are.

I like Knime, and I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Júlio César Gomes Fonseca - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Scientist at Orys
Real User
Top 10
User-friendly tool with efficient integration features
Pros and Cons
  • "It is possible to configure the system to effectively manage memory and space requirements."
  • "Sometimes, we needed more space to handle larger operations, especially since our machines had limited space and memory due to Kubernetes clusters."

What is our primary use case?

We used the product to prepare data for our team. I would prepare SQLs and check them in Oracle Developer, then create workflows in KNIME to manage and process the data, creating specific tables for modeling.

What is most valuable?

The product is a great alternative because it is not an open-source tool and offers simplicity, making it easier for our large team to use.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes, we needed more space to handle larger operations, especially since our machines had limited space and memory due to Kubernetes clusters. Breaking up SQLs was necessary to handle the data flow better.

For how long have I used the solution?

I extensively used KNIME for about one year and at least two months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is quite stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The platform is scalable. It is possible to configure the system to effectively manage memory and space requirements. 

I rate the scalability a seven out of ten. 

How are customer service and support?

The community support is good, and plenty of shared knowledge is available.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We had licensing issues with other tools, but KNIME worked well as an alternative.

What other advice do I have?

We integrated KNIME with Oracle, Apache, and other tools. It allowed us to pull data from various sources, such as Oracle, CSV, and Excel, into one consolidated table, which was very efficient.

Overall, I rate it an eight. It is a good tool, especially for our current requirements. However, there were limitations, such as space issues and occasional process slowdowns due to memory constraints. Despite these challenges, it is a solid product.

I recommend it to other professionals, particularly those who work with diverse datasets and require a flexible tool to manage data flows. It is user-friendly, especially for individuals with a background in Java or Python, as it allows for custom operations and automation, which I found very helpful in my experience.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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reviewer2230581 - PeerSpot reviewer
SAP Fi Consultant at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Allows integration of data from multiple sources but complexities in integrating with certain systems
Pros and Cons
  • "I've tried to utilize KNIME to the fullest extent possible to replace Excel."
  • "I've had some problems integrating KNIME with other solutions."

What is our primary use case?

It's mostly data preprocessing, handling, and processing (ETL) processes, as well as expanding the transport load. 

Additionally, we also work on various machine learning tasks, such as regression models and other small topics related to machine learning.

What is most valuable?

I've tried to utilize KNIME to the fullest extent possible to replace Excel. Our company has been heavily reliant on Excel for generating reports and performing data transformations. With KNIME, I've been able to combine data from Excel, SQL Server, and various other resources efficiently.

What needs improvement?

There are a few aspects that I am not entirely satisfied with. For instance, when integrating KNIME with our SAP system ERP and HANA, it's not as straightforward as expected. We need to find alternative connectors like the Teradata connector, which adds complexity.

So far, I've had some problems integrating KNIME with other solutions. Thus, it could be an area of improvement. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using KNIME for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Overall, the product has been stable. It has efficiently handled the tasks we have encountered so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There are two end-users using KNIME in our organization. Because we are still beginners, we are only using it to learn how it works and get a better understanding of the system. We are not yet certain if we will use it extensively for all topics.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy. 

What about the implementation team?

I deployed the solution myself. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We use the free version only. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are working with KNIME on some small projects, but we are also looking for an alternative solution to explore.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate KNIME a seven out of ten because we faced a problem with the integration with other products, like SAP.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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