Which Stata is right for me, my computer and my research?

Whether you’re a student or a seasoned research professional, there is a edition designed to suit your needs:

  • Stata/MP: The fastest edition of Stata (for dual-core, quad-core, and multi-core/multi-processor computers) that can analyse the largest datasets.  

  • Stata/SE: Standard edition; for large datasets

  • Stata/BE: Basic edition; for mid-sized datasets

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Stata feature
Stata/BE (Basic edition)
Stata/SE (Standard edition)
Stata/MP2
Stata/MP4
Maximum number of variables
2,048
32,767
120,000
120,000
Maximum Variables
2,048
32,767
120,000
120,000
Max. independent variables
798
10,998
65,532
65,532
Complete suite of statistical features
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Maximum Observations
2.14 billion
2.14 billion
Up to 20 billion
Up to 20 billion
Maximum number of observations
2.14 billion
2.14 billion
Up to 20 billion
Up to 20 billion
Multicore support: time to run logistic regression with 5 million observations and 10 covariates
1-Core -> 10.0 seconds
1-Core -> 10.0 seconds
2-Core -> 5.0 seconds
4-Core -> 2.6 seconds
Multi-core support
1-core
1-core
2-cores
4-cores
Maximum number of independent variable
798
10,998
65,532
65,532
Processing time (Time to run logistic regression with 5 million obs and 10 covariates)
10.0 seconds
10.0 seconds
5.0 seconds
2.6 seconds
Publication quality graphics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Complete set of statistical features
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Matrix programming language
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Publication quality graphics
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
64-bit version
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Mata: The matrix programming language
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Includes within-release updates
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Complete documentation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Exception technical support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Exceptional technical support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Complete PDF documentation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
64-bit available
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Windows, macOS, and Linux
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Same licence on platforms
Windows / MacOS / Linux
Windows / MacOS / Linux
Windows / MacOS / Linux
Windows / MacOS / Linux
Memory requirements
1 GB
2 GB
4 GB
4 GB
Disk space requirements
2 GB
2 GB
2 GB
2 GB

Stata/MP is the fastest and largest edition of Stata. Most current computers can take advantage of the advanced multiprocessing of Stata/MP. This includes the Intel i3, i5, i7, i9, Xeon, and Celeron, and AMD multi-core chips. On dual-core chips, Stata/MP runs 40% faster overall and 72% faster where it matters, on the time-consuming estimation commands. With more than two cores or processors, Stata/MP is even faster.

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Stata/MP, Stata/SE, and Stata/BE run on any computer with supported operating systems, but Stata/MP runs faster. You can purchase a Stata/MP licence for up to the number of cores on your machine (maximum is 64). For example, if your machine has eight cores, you can purchase a Stata/MP licence for eight cores, four cores, or two cores.

 

Stata/MP can also analyse more data than any other edition of Stata. Stata/MP can analyse 10 to 20 billion observations given the current largest computers, and is ready to analyse up to 1 trillion observations once computer hardware catches up.

 

Stata/SE and Stata/BE differ only in the dataset size that each can analyse.  They have the same statistical tools, data management and graphics abilities. Stata/SE and Stata/MP can fit models with more independent variables than Stata/BE (up to 10,998). Stata/SE can analyse up to 2 billion observations.

 

Stata/BE allows datasets with as many as 2,048 variables and 2 billion observations. Stata/BE can have at most 798 independent variables in a model.

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All the above Stata editions have the same complete set of features and include PDF documentation.