The capability of the five add-ins listed below vary considerably. XLSTAT is the most extensive product set, but also the most expensive. On the other hand Statistician and WinSTAT offer broad functionality for a very modest price (both under US$ 100). Analyse-it and StatTools6 sit in the middle. It all depends on what you need.
Two versions are offered by Analyse-it. The Standard Edition includes descriptive statistics, histograms, box-whisker plots, normal plots, CDF plots, parameter estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation, scatter plot matrices, simple linear regression, multiple linear regression, logistic regression and other functions. The Method Evaluation Edition is designed to support laboratory compliance demands and features method comparison with Bland-Altman, linear regression, Deming regression, Weighted Deming regression, Passing-Bablok regression, verification of within-device/within-laboratory precision and repeatability and medical decsions levels with ROC curves and reference intervals. The Standard Edition comes in at US$ 249 per user and the Method Evaluation Edition at US$ 649 per user.
A free Excel add-in that performs multivariate descriptive data analysis and multiple linear regression, and it offers a number of features that are designed to promote good modeling practices and high-bandwidth communication. The output for each descriptive analysis or regression model is stored on a separate worksheet within the same workbook. All chart output is presentation-quality and in native Excel format that can be edited, and all table output is intelligently formatted to show enough decimal places of precision but not too many. The descriptive analysis procedure can draw very detailed scatterplot matrices (each element of which is a separate chart that may include a regression line and center-of-mass point) and parallel time series plots of many variables, in addition to summary statistics and correlation matrices. The regression procedure makes it simple to explore variations on previously fitted models, it provides ample chart output with good support for testing model assumptions, and it offers several options for generating out-of-sample forecasts. A separate variable transformation procedure makes it easy to apply nonlinear and time transformations to variables in a systematic way. The program also includes a number of audit trail features (date/time/username stamps on all worksheets, unique model names in all table and chart titles, and an additional worksheet with side-by-side comparisons of models) that help to organize and authenticate the results of fitting many models to the same data.
Statistician (Lite version is free)
The Standard version of Statistician is moderately priced at US$ 95 and a cut down Lite version available for free. Most importantly Statistician allows the user to store a data set and perform multiple analyses on it – typically lacking in other products. Summary statistics, correlation and covariance, autocorrelation, sort and rank, sampling, test population mean, test difference in population means, test population proportion, test difference in population proportions, and regression analysis are supported in both Standard and Lite versions. Basic statistical tables are also supported in both, but more advanced features are only available in the Standard Edition. Variance tests, normality tests, non parametric tests, Chi square tests, ANOVA, binary models, count models, multivariate analysis and time series analysis are only supported in the Standard Edition. Quite a lot of features for the low price.
StatTools 6
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StatTools 6 from Palisade consists of a set of Excel functions that address most commonly needed statistics functionality. These are quite separate to the built in Excel statistical calculations. Forecasts, time series, descriptive statistics, normality tests, group comparisons, correlation, regression analysis, quality control and nonparametric tests are all addressed. The ‘hot-link’ facility allows spreadsheets to be automatically updated when the dataset is changed. Palisade also offers a full suite of analysis tools including Monte Carlo simulation, decision trees, neural networks and optimisation.
WinSTAT is a low price, high functionality statistics package supporting a broad range of statistics functions. These include regression (linear, multiple and polynomial), correlation, ANOVA, survival analysis, Cox regression, discriminant analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, t-tests, Mann-Whitney U-test, Wilcoxon test, box plot, scatter plot, histogram, probit charts, crosstabs, tests of normality and randomness, outlier tests. Pareto diagrams, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Shapiro-Wilk and Chi-square tests. Extensive functionality for US$ 99 and a free trial to try it out.
XLSTAT provides a very broad suite of modules to address every conceivable statistics requirement. These include core statistics, 3-D visualisation, data analysis on multiple tables, conjoint analysis, correlated component analysis, correlated component regression, design of experiment, survival analysis, market research and sensory analysis, pivot table, partial least squares regression, PLS path modelling, simulation, statistical process control and time series analysis. A number of solutions are also available for medical, forecasting and marketing tasks. Each module is sold separately and averages around US$ 500 for a perpetual license. Annual licenses are also available.