Stata
Commercial statistics and econometrics package used widely in economics, health and social science.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Windows, macOS, Linux
Is Stata free?
No, it's a paid product
- Stata/BE student plan:
- $94 USD per year, or $298 USD perpetual
Checked on Stata's site Nov 8, 2026
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About Stata
Stata is a statistics package from StataCorp that has long been the default in applied economics, epidemiology and much of the social sciences. It combines a command language with menus and dialogs, so you can point and click through an analysis and still save the commands to rerun it later. Its strengths are a consistent syntax across estimators, careful documentation, and a strong commitment to backward compatibility: old scripts keep running on new versions. It covers data management, regression and panel models, survival analysis, survey data, time series, Bayesian methods and more, with publication-quality graphs, Word/Excel/PDF reporting, and Python integration through PyStata. It comes in editions sized by dataset and speed (Stata/BE, Stata/SE and multicore Stata/MP), sold as annual or perpetual licences with student and academic pricing. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The main drawback is cost compared with free tools like R or Python.
Best for: Economists, epidemiologists and social scientists who want a documented, stable statistics package.
Stata pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from Stata's own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Student discount | Yes, single-user licenses with proof of student status | Nov 8, 2026 | stata.com |
| Stata/BE student plan | $94 USD per year, or $298 USD perpetual | Nov 8, 2026 | stata.com |
| Stata/SE student plan | $179 USD per year, or $485 USD perpetual | Nov 8, 2026 | stata.com |
| Stata/MP 2-core student plan | $275 USD per year, or $695 USD perpetual | Nov 8, 2026 | stata.com |
Pros and cons
What works
- Consistent command syntax across nearly every estimator
- Point-and-click menus that also record reproducible commands
- Strong backward compatibility for old scripts
- Python integration through PyStata
Why people leave
- Paid licence, priced per edition and core count
- Weaker for general programming and machine learning than R or Python
- Fastest edition (Stata/MP) costs more for each extra core
Stata vs JMP, Minitab Statistical Software and GNU PSPP
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | Stata | JMP | Minitab Statistical Software | GNU PSPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Paid | Paid | Open source |
| Verified price | $94 USD per year, or $298 USD perpetual | $1,390 per user/year | — | — |
| Free plan | No | No | No | Free app |
| Open source | No | No | No | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | No | No | No |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS | Windows, Web | Linux, Windows, macOS |
Top Stata alternatives
See all 5- 1
JMP61.8Point-and-click statistics with interactive graphs that update as you explore, for analysts who prefer menus to Stata's command line.
- 2MiMinitab Statistical Software59.4
Menu-driven stats package strong in quality control and Six Sigma tools, popular in manufacturing and teaching.
- 3
GNU PSPP57.5Free GNU program for regression, ANOVA and crosstabs with syntax files, for users who want no licence costs.
- 4
GraphPad Prism55.9Guides lab scientists through t-tests, curve fitting and survival analysis with publication-ready graphs.
- 5
RStudio50.9Free R environment with packages for nearly any statistical method Stata covers.
Why people left Stata
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
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Stata: common questions
What is Stata?
Stata: Commercial statistics and econometrics package used widely in economics, health and social science. Best for economists, epidemiologists and social scientists who want a documented, stable statistics package. Available for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Is Stata free?
No, Stata is a paid product. Stata/BE student plan: $94 USD per year, or $298 USD perpetual (checked on Stata's own site).
How much does Stata cost?
Stata is a paid product. Student discount: Yes, single-user licenses with proof of student status; Stata/BE student plan: $94 USD per year, or $298 USD perpetual; Stata/SE student plan: $179 USD per year, or $485 USD perpetual; Stata/MP 2-core student plan: $275 USD per year, or $695 USD perpetual. Checked on Stata's own site, November 2026.
Is Stata open source?
No, Stata is not open source. Open-source alternatives include GNU PSPP and RStudio.
What platforms does Stata run on?
Stata is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.
What are the best alternatives to Stata?
The highest-ranked Stata alternatives right now are JMP, Minitab Statistical Software and GNU PSPP. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Stata vs JMP: what's the difference?
Both Stata and JMP are paid products. Verified prices: Stata $94 USD per year, or $298 USD perpetual, JMP $1,390 per user/year. Only Stata runs on Linux.