Make the case

Replacing Minitab, JMP, SigmaXL, QI Macros, Sigma Magic or Excel

Everything you need to put the case to your finance team in one place. A feature by feature comparison, today's published prices from each vendor, and a five year cost for a team of twenty.

Competitor prices read from each vendor's own pricing page on 29 September 2026. Sources are listed below every table.

Five years, twenty people

List price, twenty users, five years, no discounts applied to anyone. Perpetual licences are shown at their purchase price with no maintenance added, which is the most generous reading for them.

Ci Flow

US$5,940

US$99 a month covers all twenty people

Minitab

US$239,400

US$2,394 per user per year, twenty users

JMP

US$139,000

US$1,390 per user per year, twenty users

Sigma Magic

US$25,000

US$250 per licence per year, twenty licences

Excel alone

US$12,000

US$10 per user per month, and no Six Sigma tooling

SigmaXL

US$6,780

US$339 each at twenty seats, bought once, maintenance not added

QI Macros

US$6,380

US$319 each at twenty seats, bought once, Excel not included

What each tool gives you

A tick means the capability is part of the product as sold. A dash means it is not, or needs another product, another licence or a spreadsheet beside it.

Statistics and analysis

Capability	Ci Flow	Minitab	JMP	SigmaXL	QI Macros	Sigma Magic	Excel alone
Hypothesis tests (t, ANOVA, chi-square, proportions)
Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon, Friedman)
Regression, multiple regression and logistic regression
Control charts (Xbar-R, Xbar-S, I-MR, p, np, c, u, EWMA, CUSUM)
Process capability (Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk)
Measurement system analysis (Gage R&R)
Designed experiments with effects, p-values and alias structure
Monte Carlo simulation with correlated inputs

Running the improvement project

Capability	Ci Flow	Minitab	JMP	SigmaXL	QI Macros	Sigma Magic	Excel alone
Guided phase structure (RDMAICS, A3, Kaizen, Just Do It)
Tollgate reviews with gate approval and evidence
Project charter, problem and goal statements, benefit tracking
Portfolio view across every project in the business
Risk and issue register attached to the project
Audit trail of who changed what and when

Working as a team

Capability	Ci Flow	Minitab	JMP	SigmaXL	QI Macros	Sigma Magic	Excel alone
One shared workspace rather than a per-seat licence
Project-level access control
Up to 50 people on one subscription
Works in a browser with nothing to install
Runs on Mac without a workaround

Getting the answer out

Capability	Ci Flow	Minitab	JMP	SigmaXL	QI Macros	Sigma Magic	Excel alone
Plain-language interpretation of every result
Export to Word, Excel, PDF and PowerPoint
Executive tollgate presentation generated from the project
BPMN 2.0 process modelling built in
Value stream mapping built in
Built-in knowledge hub and worked examples

Commercials

Capability	Ci Flow	Minitab	JMP	SigmaXL	QI Macros	Sigma Magic	Excel alone
Unlimited improvement projects
Priced for a team rather than per seat
Cancel monthly with no annual lock-in
14-day trial with every feature open
No separate spreadsheet licence needed underneath

Published prices, 29 September 2026

Taken from each vendor's own pricing page. Follow the link in the last column to check any figure yourself.

Tool	Published price	Licence	Detail	Source
Ci Flow	US$29 per user per month, or US$99 a month for up to 50 users	Monthly subscription, cancel any time	Freelancer US$29 a month for one user. Company US$99 a month for up to 50 users. Unlimited projects on both plans.	ciflow.app
Minitab	US$2,394 to US$2,793 per user per year	Annual subscription, single named user	Solution Center Core US$2,394, Analytics US$2,593.50, Copilot US$2,793. Industry modules are US$528 each per year on top and need a Core licence.	minitab.com
JMP	US$1,390 per user per year	Annual subscription, per user	JMP US$1,390 per user per year. JMP Pro, which adds the advanced modelling, is US$8,820 per user per year.	store.jmp.com
SigmaXL	US$399 per seat, one-off	Perpetual, single user	US$399 for one. Volume from US$359 each (2 to 20) down to US$299 (71 to 99). Optional maintenance at 20 percent a year after the first year.	sigmaxl.com
QI Macros	US$379 per computer, one-off	Perpetual, one user on one computer	US$379 for one. Volume from US$339 each (2 to 9) down to US$295 (50 to 99). No annual fee. Needs Excel underneath it.	qimacros.com
Sigma Magic	US$250 a year, or US$500 one-off	Annual or perpetual, single computer	Annual US$250. Perpetual US$500 with optional 20 percent a year maintenance. Shared licence for five computers US$625 a year. Needs Excel underneath it.	sigmamagic.com
Excel alone	US$10 per user per month	Annual commitment, per user	Microsoft 365 Apps for business US$10 per user per month paid yearly. Business Standard with Copilot is US$23.50. No Six Sigma tooling is included at any tier.	microsoft.com

Prices change. Check the source before you put a figure in a business case.

What Ci Flow does that a desktop tool cannot

The whole project, not one dataset

Minitab and JMP analyse a dataset. Ci Flow carries the whole project: phases, tollgates, evidence, gate approvals and the audit trail behind them. Your statistics sit inside the project that used them instead of in a file on someone's laptop.

A team, not a seat

Desktop licences are per user or per computer, so the analysis lives with the person who ran it. Ci Flow is one workspace up to fifty people share, with project-level access control, so the work survives the person leaving.

The statistics you actually use

Twenty eight inferential tools, control charts from Xbar-R to CUSUM, Gage R&R, capability with Cp, Cpk, Pp and Ppk, and designed experiments with effects, p-values and alias structure.

An interpretation with every result

Every tool can explain what its result means in the language of your project, and says plainly when the evidence does not support a conclusion. A p-value with no interpretation is where most Green Belts stall.

Unlimited projects

No cap on how many improvement projects you run, on either plan. Your portfolio is not a licensing decision.

Nothing to install

No IT ticket, no version drift, no licence server, no laptop rebuild losing someone's work. It runs in the browser and updates for everyone at once.

Take the case to your finance team

The same comparison, the same prices and the same five year numbers, ready to attach to an email or present in a meeting. No form, no email address, just the files.

The business case, as a PDF

Comparison tables, today's published prices with sources, five year cost for a team of twenty, and the questions procurement will ask. Attach it to an email or print it.

Download the PDF

The same case, as slides

An editable PowerPoint deck. Put your own logo on it and present it internally. Same numbers, same sources, built to be shown rather than read.

Download the deck

Try it against your own data first

Fourteen days, every feature open, no card. Run one real project through it and decide from that rather than from a comparison table.

Questions about migrating from a tool you already own? Talk to us.