jamovi: What It Is and How It Works

jamovi

jamovi is a free, open-source statistical software application that provides a spreadsheet-style graphical interface to analyses executed by R packages underneath it (the jmv R package for its core menu), distributed under the AGPL-3.0 licence (select components GPL-2.0-or-later) for Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus a browser-based cloud version, with no licence fee, seat count, or activation step required.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 1 Sept 2026

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Worked examples

Is an instance

A psychology lab facing an expiring SPSS site licence installs jamovi on lab computers, imports its existing .sav data files directly, and runs the same t-tests and ANOVAs with no licence renewal.

Is an instance

A researcher enables the Rj module inside jamovi to write a short R script for a permutation test that has no built-in menu equivalent, without leaving the jamovi application.

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance

A lab that specifically needs a Bayesian counterpart to every classical test as a first-class option is better served by JASP, not jamovi -- see the jamovi vs JASP comparison.

Not an instance

Writing raw R script in RStudio with no spreadsheet interface at all is using R directly, not jamovi, even though jamovi's own analyses run on R underneath.

jamovi is a free, open-source statistical software application that provides a spreadsheet-style graphical interface to analyses executed by R packages running underneath it. It reproduces the point-and-click workflow researchers already know from commercial packages — menus for t-tests, ANOVA, regression, correlation, factor analysis, and reliability statistics — while the actual computation runs on the same open-source R code the wider statistics community tests and maintains. Results update live as data or options change, and every analysis can show the underlying R syntax it ran.

jamovi vs SPSS: what’s actually different

jamovi was built as a direct, no-cost alternative to SPSS, and it shows: the interface is deliberately familiar to SPSS users, and jamovi opens SPSS’s native .sav files directly, which matters if you’re migrating an existing dataset or inheriting a colleague’s. The practical differences are licensing and engine, not workflow. SPSS is commercial, licensed per seat or by subscription, and runs its own proprietary statistical engine. jamovi is free with no seat count, and every analysis is backed by an R package (the jmv package for jamovi’s core menu-driven tests), so a jamovi analysis can be reproduced or extended in plain R code if you ever need to. For labs that already have SPSS procedures documented, that overlap is close enough that a workflow written for running a t-test in SPSS, computing Cronbach’s alpha in SPSS, or an exploratory factor analysis maps onto the equivalent jamovi menu with very little relearning.

Is jamovi free?

Yes — the jamovi desktop application is free for any use, including commercial and institutional use, with no licence key, seat count, or renewal. The source code is released under the AGPL-3.0 licence, with some bundled components under GPL-2.0-or-later. That open licensing is also why jamovi can be redistributed, audited, and extended by anyone, which is the same reasoning behind its module system: additional analyses (Bayesian methods, meta-analysis, structural equation modelling, and more) are published as community modules you install from inside the application, rather than being sold as paid add-ons.

Downloading and installing jamovi

jamovi is downloaded from the project’s own site (jamovi.org) as a desktop installer for Windows, macOS, and Linux, and there is also a browser-based cloud version for use without a local install. Installation requires no licence activation step — download, install, and the full application is available immediately. Researchers who need to run custom R code that isn’t exposed as a built-in analysis can enable the Rj module from jamovi’s module library, which opens an R syntax editor inside the application itself, so the point-and-click and code-based workflows sit side by side rather than requiring a separate tool.

jamovi vs JASP

jamovi and JASP are the two realistic free, open-source alternatives to SPSS, and they overlap heavily: both are built on R, both are free, and both produce APA-style output tables. The clearest differentiator is that JASP offers a Bayesian counterpart to nearly every classical test as a first-class, equally easy option, while jamovi’s signature strength is extensibility — its module library and the Rj module for direct R access. CASRAI’s full jamovi vs JASP comparison walks through the complete list of differences, including file formats and which one fits a given lab’s needs. For a broader look at where commercial packages still stand relative to open-source options, see SAS vs. SPSS for research analysis.

References

The jamovi Project, jamovi desktop and cloud software, jamovi.org.
jamovi Project, LICENSE.md (GitHub repository) — AGPL-3.0 licence, select components GPL-2.0-or-later.

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

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Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

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