jamovi vs SPSS: Which Should You Use for Your Thesis?

If your course or supervisor works in SPSS (menus, syntax, .sav files and SPSS-style output), stay as close to SPSS as you can, either with your university's licence or with a free tool that keeps those paths. If you're free to choose, jamovi is an excellent thesis tool: free, open source, easy to learn, and strong on the analyses most theses need.

That's the short version. Below is a fair comparison of the two, what to ask your supervisor before you decide, and a middle option if you need SPSS habits without SPSS. Facts were checked on jamovi.org and ibm.com in October 2026. This page is published by the team behind TRTT, which is the middle option we mention; jamovi is not our product.

The short answer

Two interface philosophies

SPSS separates things. You enter or open data in the Data Editor, open a dialog from the Analyze menu, move variables into boxes, click OK, and the result lands in a separate Viewer window. To change an option you open the dialog again and produce a new table.

jamovi puts the data and results side by side and drops the OK button. You choose an analysis, drag variables into it, tick options, and the results table updates as you go. Change your mind about an option and the table changes in place. jamovi's site quotes instructors who switched their teaching from SPSS and found students more confident with it; that matches the design goal, though it's the project's own selection of quotes.

Neither approach is objectively better. SPSS's model suits building a long output log and rerunning dialogs; jamovi's suits exploring and learning what each option does.

Analyses

For the typical thesis (descriptives, t tests, ANOVA, correlations, regression, chi-square, reliability, factor analysis), both have you covered.

jamovi built-in: descriptives and plots, t tests (one-sample, independent, paired), ANOVA including repeated measures and ANCOVA, correlation, linear and logistic regression, proportions and contingency tables, reliability, principal components, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.

jamovi modules: the project says its library has more than 70 add-on modules, covering things like mixed models, meta-analysis and Bayesian methods. They install from inside jamovi.

SPSS: a broader catalogue, split by edition and module. IBM's subscription has a Base tier plus paid add-on bundles (for example, one for regression, advanced statistics and custom tables; another for forecasting and decision trees). Mixed models, survival analysis, complex samples, custom tables and many specialist procedures are there if your licence includes them.

If your thesis needs something unusual, check that the specific procedure exists in jamovi (or one of its modules) before you commit.

Files and .sav support

jamovi opens .sav files directly, along with SAS, Stata, CSV and Excel files. It saves its own .omv format, which keeps the data, the analyses and the results together in one file. If someone needs a .sav back, jamovi can export one.

A few practical notes:

• Labels: value labels come through when you open a .sav. Check them after export too, especially variable names with characters SPSS doesn't allow.
• Weights: jamovi added weights in version 2.4 (2023), later extended to non-integer weights in contingency tables and descriptives. If your survey data rely on weights across many procedures, test the exact analyses you need.
• Sharing with SPSS users: send the .sav export, not the .omv file; SPSS can't open .omv.

SPSS reads and writes .sav natively, which is why survey platforms and other researchers so often hand you one.

Syntax and reproducibility

Both can be reproducible, in different languages.

SPSS: every dialog has a Paste button that writes the command into a syntax window. Your .sps file is a full record you can rerun, and SPSS can embed Python or R code in BEGIN PROGRAM blocks.

jamovi: the .omv file stores your analyses with the data, so reopening it reproduces the results. Syntax mode shows the R code behind each analysis, and the jmv R package lets you run the same analyses in R. jamovi doesn't run SPSS syntax, so existing .sps files won't help you there.

If your supervisor expects a syntax file in an appendix, find out whether R code from jamovi is acceptable.

Learning curve

jamovi is generally quicker to start with: one window, results that react to clicks, and fewer places to look. jamovi also publishes "From SPSS to jamovi" guides that map SPSS procedures to their jamovi equivalents.

SPSS takes longer to find your way around, mainly because it has so much in it, but it's what most statistics textbooks and university handouts were written for. If your course materials are full of SPSS screenshots and menu paths, that familiarity is worth something, even if jamovi itself is easier.

What supervisors expect

Ask before you start the analysis, not the week before submission. Useful questions:

1. Does the department require SPSS output, or just correct statistics reported in APA style?
2. Will you be sent .sav files and expected to return them? Then you need a tool that writes .sav (jamovi via export, SPSS, PSPP, TRTT).
3. Is a syntax appendix required? If so, is SPSS syntax mandatory, or is R code acceptable?
4. Will anyone rerun your analysis? If a co-author only has SPSS, keep everything in .sav and document your steps.
5. Do you have SPSS access? Many universities provide SPSS to students for free; IBM's 14-day trial won't last a thesis. See is SPSS free for students?

If the answers are "APA style is fine, no SPSS files required", jamovi is a very good choice.

A middle path

Sometimes the answers are mixed: the course teaches SPSS menus and syntax, your supervisor sends .sav files, but you don't have a licence at home, or you work on a Mac, a Chromebook or an iPad.

That's the gap TRTT is built for. It's free in a desktop browser with no install and no account, and the calculations run on your own computer. The Analyze menu mirrors SPSS 32, so the menu paths in your handouts work; it opens and saves .sav files with their labels; and it runs procedures, transformations and labels from .sps files. Its limits are real: it doesn't run DO IF, IF, LOOP, TO ranges, AGGREGATE, MATCH FILES or logistic regression yet, the web version has no PDF export and isn't designed for phone screens, and it isn't open source. On iPhone and iPad there's an app that's free for data sets up to 100 cases.

You can also combine tools: keep the .sav as your master file, learn and explore in jamovi, and use SPSS or TRTT where the SPSS paths matter. For other free options, including JASP and PSPP, see free SPSS alternatives, JASP vs SPSS and JASP vs jamovi vs PSPP.

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FAQ

Is jamovi better than SPSS?

For learning and for standard thesis analyses, many people find jamovi easier, and it's free. SPSS has a broader range of procedures and is what many courses are built around. "Better" depends on what your course and supervisor expect.

Can jamovi open SPSS files?

Yes. jamovi opens .sav files directly and can export data back to .sav. SPSS can't open jamovi's own .omv files, so use the .sav export to share with SPSS users.

Does jamovi run SPSS syntax?

No. jamovi shows the R code behind each analysis instead. If you need to run .sps files, use SPSS, PSPP, or TRTT for the commands it supports.

What is jamovi Cloud?

jamovi in a web browser, usable on Chromebooks and tablets. The free Guest plan has queued, time-limited sessions, and your data are processed on jamovi's servers during the session. Paid plans remove the session limits.

Can I use jamovi for my thesis if my supervisor uses SPSS?

Usually yes, as long as you report the statistics correctly and can share data as .sav when asked. Check first whether SPSS output or SPSS syntax is formally required.

TRTT is an independent product. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by IBM. IBM and SPSS are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.