gretl vs IBM SPSS Statistics

gretl is a free, open-source desktop package for econometric analysis, available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It includes statistical tests and regression models, with estimators such as least squares, maximum likelihood, GMM, and regularized methods including LASSO, Ridge, and elastic net. Time-series tools cover ARIMA, GARCH-type models, VARs, VECMs, unit-root and cointegration tests, and the Kalman filter. It also supports panel-data estimators and limited dependent-variable models, including probit and dynamic panel methods based on GMM. Users can script in hansl and export models as LaTeX tables or equations. Data formats include CSV, Excel, OpenDocument, Stata, SPSS, EViews, and others. gretl exchanges data and results with GNU R, GNU Octave, Python, Julia, Ox, and Stata, and supports machine learning via LIBSVM and mixed time-series frequencies via MIDAS. It is distributed under the GNU GPL, which permits redistribution and modification. The maker notes its statistical-method coverage is less comprehensive than GNU R's.

IBM SPSS Statistics is desktop software for statistical analysis, data preparation, predictive modeling, forecasting, and automated analysis. Its methods include statistical testing, regression, mediation analysis, multivariate time-series analysis, bootstrapping, decision trees, neural networks, and complex-sample analysis. The AI Output Assistant, powered by watsonx.ai, analyzes selected results and presents plain-language insights. Python and R plug-ins let users work with those languages inside SPSS Statistics. IBM lists subscription, perpetual, campus, and student licenses. The Base subscription is $99 a month per authorized user and includes Statistics Base, data preparation, and bootstrapping. Three other named subscriptions are each $79 a month, with features for custom tables and advanced statistics, forecasting and decision trees, or complex sampling and testing. A 14-day trial requires no credit card to create an account, and there is no free plan. IBM says the desktop software is not supported on Linux; an authorized-user license also cannot run remotely through multi-session environments.