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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM watsonx.ai

    Score8.8 out of 10
    N/AWatsonx.ai is part of the IBM watsonx platform that brings together new generative AI capabilities, powered by foundation models, and traditional machine learning into a studio spanning the AI lifecycle. Watsonx.ai can be used to train, validate, tune, and deploy generative AI, foundation models, and machine learning capabilities, and build AI applications with less time and data.

    $0

    SAS Viya

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AAn end-to-end platform for AI, data science, and analytics, used for modeling, as well as management and deployment of AI models.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM watsonx.aiSAS Viya
    Editions & Modules
    Free Trial
    $0
    ML functionality (20 CUH limit /month); Inferencing (50,000 tokens / month)
    Standard
    $1,050
    Monthly tier fee; additional usage based fees
    Essentials
    Contact Sales
    Usage based fees
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM watsonx.aiSAS Viya
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPricing for watsonx.ai includes: model inference per 1000 tokens and ML tools and ML runtimes based on capacity unit hours.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM watsonx.aiSAS Viya
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    No answer on this topic
    SAS
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    45 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    36 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    46 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    30 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    33 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    IBM watsonx.aiSAS Viya
    AI Development
    Comparison of AI Development features of IBM watsonx.ai and SAS Viya
    Feature
    IBM watsonx.ai
    6.6
    2 Ratings
    13% below category average
    SAS Viya
    -
    Ratings
    Machine learning frameworks6.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data management6.43 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data monitoring and version control5.83 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated model training6.43 Ratings00 Ratings
    Managed scaling7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Model deployment6.43 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security and compliance7.63 Ratings00 Ratings
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    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    DataRobot
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    User Ratings
    IBM watsonx.aiSAS Viya
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (36 ratings)
    9.1
    (12 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    4.5
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    7.7
    (6 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    6.4
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM watsonx.aiSAS Viya
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    I have built a code accelerator tool for one of the IBM product implementation. Although there was a heavy lifting at the start to train the model on specifics of the packaged solution library and ways of working; the efficacy of the model is astounding. Having said that, watsonx.ai is very well suited for customer service automation, healthcare data analytics, financial fraud detection, and sentiment analysis kind of projects. The Watsonx.ai look and feel is little confusing but I understand over a period of time , it will improve dramatically as well. I do feel that Watsonx.ai has certain limitations from cross-platform deployment flexibility. If an organization is deeply invested in a multi-cloud environment, Watson's integration on other cloud platforms may not be seamless comported to other AI platforms.
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    SAS Advance Analytics is well suited for data that is visual. Data where you want to see multiple graphs and models are good for this software. However, if your data is more descriptive this may not be the best program. SAS is well suited for data where you need to make comparisons on the feasibility of two different programs. Data that can be compared is perfect for this software.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    IBM
    • It allows specialists to apply several base models for specific subtasks in the field of NLP.
    • Gives the availability of many models developed for AI enhancement for different solutions.
    • Has incorporated functionality for data governance and security to support access to AI tools by multiple users.
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    • SAS is can be used as query builder tool which can automate a lot of excel process.
    • There are variety of statistical options available that tie up good visual analytics.
    • There are inbuilt models available for different operations which doesn't require any coding and are easy to run.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    IBM
    • IBM watsonx.ai is expensive than other platforms.
    • Limited integraions though it has many but still some tools integrations not there for medical usecase
    • Its little difficult to learn as right now not many open reseouces
    • Community is not that strong to get any answer
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    • SAS Analytics does not have very good graphic capabilities. Their advanced graphics packages are expensive, and still not very appealing or intuitive to customize.
    • SAS Analytics is not as up-to-date when it comes to advanced analytical techniques as R or other open-source analytics packages.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    I still don't have enough experience, but i have seen a lot of demos and i have made some real world scenarios and so far so long every thing looks fine. I was at IBM Think 2025 and IBM TechXchange 2025 and the labs were really usefull and simple to understand.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    Not only does SAS become easier to use as the user gets more familiar with its capabilities, but the customer service is excellent. Any issues with SAS and their technical team is either contacting the user via email, chat, text, WebEx, or phone. They have power users that have years of experience with SAS there to help with any issue.
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    Usability
    IBM
    I needed some time to understand the different parts of the web UI. It was slightly overwhelming in the beginning. However, after some time, it made sense, and I like the UI now. In terms of functionality, there are many useful features that make your life easy, like jumping to a section and giving me a deployment space to deploy my models easily.
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    If SAS Enterprise Guide is utilized any beginning user will be able to shorten the learning curve. This is allow the user a plethora of basic capabilities until they can utilize coding to expand their needs in manipulating and presenting data. SAS is also dedicated to expanding this environment so it is ever growing.
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    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    SAS probably has the most market saturation out of all of the analytics software worldwide. They are in every industry and they are knowledgable about every industry. They are always available to take questions, solve issues, and discuss a company's needs. A company that buys SAS software has a dedicated representative that is there for all of their needs.
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    Performance
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    Although nothing is perfect, SAS is almost there. The software can handle billions of rows of data without a glitch and runs at a quick pace regardless of what the user wants to perform. SAS products are made to handle data so performance is of their utmost important. The software is created to run things as efficiently as SAS software can to maximize performance.
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    Support Rating
    IBM
    I still don't have enough experience, but i have seen a lot of demos and i have made some real world scenarios and so far so long every thing looks fine. I was at IBM Think 2025 and IBM TechXchange 2025 and the labs were really usefull and simple to understand.
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    SAS is generally known for good support that's one of the main reasons to justify the cost of having SAS licenses within our organization is knowing that customer support is just a quick phone call away. I've usually had good experiences with the SAS customer support team it's one of the ways in which the company stands out in my view.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    SAS has regional and national conferences that are dedicated to expanding users' knowledge of the software and showing them what changes and additions they are making to the software. There are user groups in most of the major cities that also provide multi-day seminars that focus on specific topics for education. If online training isn't the best way for the user, there is ample in-person training available.
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    Online Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    There are online videos, live classes, and resource material which makes training very easy to access. However, nothing is circumstantial so applying your training can get tricky if the user is performing complex tasks. When purchasing software, SAS will also allocate education credits so the user(s) can access classes and material online to help expand their knowledge.
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    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    SAS
    Ask as many questions you can before the install to understand the process. Since a third party does the installation your company is sort of a passanger and it is easy to get lost in the process. It also helps to have all users and IT support involved in the install to help increase the knowledge as to how SAS runs and what it needs to perform correctly.
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    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    IBM watsonx.ai has been far superior to that of Chat GPT AI. the UI elements prompt responses and overall execution of the AI was much better and more accurate compared to the competition. I can not recommend using this platform enough. Great job IBM. I hope the team behind this project continues to grow and prosper.
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    SAS was the incumbent tool, and what the team knew. We did look into using Revolution Analytics enterprise version of R, but the learning curve on that caused us to stick with SAS. In my current position, I've opted for WPS over SAS. I can still leverage my SAS experience, but the price is about 15% of what SAS charges, with extra functionality, such as direct database access. I can supplement WPS with free software, such R for anything that it might be missing.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    IBM
    I still don't have enough experience, but i have seen a lot of demos and i have made some real world scenarios and so far so long every thing looks fine. I was at IBM Think 2025 and IBM TechXchange 2025 and the labs were really usefull and simple to understand.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SAS
    It all depends on the type of SAS product the user has. Scaleability differs from product to product, and if the user has SAS Office Analytics the scaleability is quite robust. This software will satisfy the majority of the company's analytic needs for years to come. In addition, if SAS is not meeting the users needs the company can easily find SAS solutions that will.
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    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • Time saving to set up the infrastructure - without watsonx.ai we would have had to set up everything individually
    • The first point translates directly into cost savings
    • The compliance aspect was a game changer for us and provided us with the confidence to focus all our efforts only on IBM watsonx.ai
    Incentivized
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    SAS
    • SAS is pretty expensive, so a company would need to take that into consideration before purchasing a license.
    • A lot of companies are now starting to use SAS Advance Analytics, it is great for sharing data between departments.
    • Presentations come out better when using SAS, and estimates are more precise to the confidence interval.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    IBM watsonx.ai Screenshots

    Screenshot of the foundation models available in watsonx.ai. Clients have access to IBM selected open source models from Hugging Face, as well as other third-party models, and a family of IBM-developed foundation models of different sizes and architectures.Screenshot of the Prompt Lab in watsonx.ai, where AI builders can work with foundation models and build prompts using prompt engineering techniques in watsonx.ai to support a range of Natural Language Processing (NLP) type tasks.Screenshot of the Tuning Studio in watsonx.ai, where AI builders can tune foundation models with labeled data for better performance and accuracy.Screenshot of the data science toolkit in watsonx.ai where AI builders can build machine learning models automatically with model training, development, visual modeling, and synthetic data generation.