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R Commander (package name Rcmdr) is a free, point-and-click graphical user interface for the R statistical language, built for basic statistics. You install it as an ordinary R package from CRAN and start it from the R console with library(Rcmdr). This guide is for students and researchers who want to know what it is, where it comes from, how to open it, how to cite it, and which other free tools do a similar job. Facts below were checked against the CRAN package page, the R Commander project site, the official Getting Started manual and the Journal of Statistical Software paper on 2026-11-07.
What R Commander is
CRAN describes Rcmdr, titled “R Commander”, as “a platform-independent basic-statistics GUI (graphical user interface) for R, based on the tcltk package.” Menus and dialog boxes generate R commands, which appear in a script window; results appear in a separate output window. Data sets are R data frames, and one data set is active at a time. John Fox, who created it, describes its aim as supporting basic-statistics teaching, and the interface is extensible through add-on packages (plug-ins).
One point of confusion is worth clearing up. R Commander is an R package that you load inside R, so it is not a separate program with its own installer. It is not RStudio, which is a different, separate application for working with R. The Getting Started manual also states plainly that R Commander “accesses only a small fraction of the capabilities of R”.
Who maintains it and what it covers
- Authors and maintainer: CRAN lists John Fox, Milan Bouchet-Valat and Manuel Munoz-Marquez as authors, with Manuel Munoz-Marquez as maintainer.
- Current release: version 2.15.0, published on CRAN on 2026-09-25 (checked 2026-11-07).
- License: GPL-2 or GPL-3, so it is open source software.
- Requirements: R 3.5.0 or later, plus the packages RcmdrMisc, car and effects; it imports tcltk and tcltk2, among others.
- Project home: r-commander.com, with source code in the RCmdr-Project/rcmdr repository on GitHub.
- Platforms and scope (project site): Windows, macOS and Linux; data import from CSV, Excel, SPSS, Stata and text files; analyses including t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square tests and linear and logistic regression; graphs; and export of results as R Markdown or LaTeX.
How to get it and start it
These steps follow the official “Getting Started With the R Commander” manual (John Fox, version 2.8-0 of 2024-09-30, a PDF vignette on the CRAN package page).
- Install R, then install the Rcmdr package from CRAN.
- At the R console, type
library(Rcmdr)to start the R Commander window. - If supporting packages are missing, R Commander offers to install them.
- On macOS, the tcltk package that R Commander relies on needs X-Windows. On Debian-based Linux the distribution package is installed with
apt-get install r-cran-rcmdr. - On Windows, the manual recommends SDI (separate windows) mode; MDI mode works but makes window arrangement inconvenient.
- Find your way around the window: the upper area has an R Script tab and an R Markdown tab, a second pane shows Output, and a lower gray pane shows Messages. Graphs open in a separate Graphics Device window.
- Use the menus: File, Edit, Data, Statistics, Graphs, Models, Distributions, Tools and Help. The Tools menu loads plug-ins and sets options.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- Menu actions generate R commands that appear in the script window, so users can see and re-run the code rather than only clicking.
- Free, cross-platform and installed from CRAN like any other package.
- Extensible: the project site lists plug-ins such as RcmdrPlugin.Statistics and RcmdrPlugin.QualityControl.
Limits
- It targets basic statistics and, by the manual’s own account, exposes only a small fraction of R.
- It is based on the tcltk toolkit, which is why the macOS X-Windows requirement and the Windows window-mode advice above exist.
- It is a teaching-oriented interface; the manual points to a book (Fox, 2017) and to John Fox’s R Commander website for fuller documentation.
How to cite R Commander
Cite the paper and the package version you used, and report your R version too, in line with the FORCE11 Software Citation Principles.
- Paper: Fox, J. (2005). The R Commander: A Basic-Statistics Graphical User Interface to R. Journal of Statistical Software, 14(9). DOI 10.18637/jss.v014.i09.
- Package: the CRAN package DOI is 10.32614/CRAN.package.Rcmdr; give the version number (2.15.0 as of 2026-11-07).
Alternatives
The table uses only each project’s own description.
| Tool | What its own site says | Relationship to R |
|---|---|---|
| R Commander (Rcmdr) | Basic-statistics GUI based on tcltk; free and open source | An R package loaded inside R |
| jamovi | “a free and open statistical spreadsheet, designed to be easy to use”; desktop download and cloud version | Powered by the R statistical language |
| JASP | Free, cross-platform, open-source statistical software offering standard analyses in classical and Bayesian form; supported by the University of Amsterdam | Stand-alone application |
Whichever tool you use, the choice of analysis still rests on the study design; see statistical test, ANOVA and reproducible research practices.
FAQ
What is R Commander?
A free graphical user interface for R, distributed as the Rcmdr package on CRAN, that lets you run basic statistical analyses from menus while it writes the matching R commands.
Is R Commander the same as RStudio?
No. R Commander is a package you load inside R with library(Rcmdr). RStudio is a separate application for working with R.
Where do I download R Commander?
From CRAN, as the Rcmdr package (version 2.15.0 on 2026-11-07). The project site r-commander.com links to the installation guide, FAQ and complete menu tree.
Is there an R Commander PDF?
Yes. The Getting Started With the R Commander manual is a PDF vignette linked from the CRAN package page.
Is R Commander free?
Yes. It is licensed under GPL-2 or GPL-3.
How do I start R Commander?
Open R and type library(Rcmdr) at the console.
Sources
- CRAN, Rcmdr package page: cran.r-project.org/web/packages/Rcmdr/index.html (read 2026-11-07)
- Fox, J. (2005), Journal of Statistical Software 14(9): jstatsoft.org/article/view/v014i09 (read 2026-11-07)
- Fox, J., Getting Started With the R Commander, v2.8-0: cran.r-project.org/web/packages/Rcmdr/vignettes/Getting-Started-with-the-Rcmdr.pdf (read 2026-11-07)
- R Commander project site: r-commander.com; John Fox’s pages: john-fox.ca/RCommander (read 2026-11-07)
- jamovi: jamovi.org/about.html; JASP: jasp-stats.org (read 2026-11-07)
