IBM SPSS Statistics vs jamovi

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.

jamovi is a free, open-source statistical analysis program for working with data through point-and-click controls or scripting. It supports statistical tests, regression models, and Bayesian analysis, and imports SPSS (.sav), SAS, Stata, CSV, and Excel files. The spreadsheet-style interface lets users choose variables and settings, with results updating as they work; analysis does not require writing code. The desktop application runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and works offline after installation. Cloud access runs in a browser without installation or setup, including on modern browsers, Chromebooks, lab computers, tablets, and other devices. The free Cloud Guest plan requires no credit card, but guest sessions lack queue skipping, unlimited session length, longer idle timeouts, and larger datasets. jamovi is powered by R and displays the R syntax behind analyses. Data, analyses, and results can be saved together in a shareable, reproducible file. Cloud can connect to OneDrive to open and save jamovi files; Cloud plans include the full module library.