I am all in with MATLAB. I have my own license and toolboxes that I use for consulting and teaching. I do constantly check out the free alternatives but always stick with MATLAB. MATLAB does have a premium price but it works together, works with my acoustic data collection system, and now with my wifi data collection sensors connected with Thingspeak. Plus, with a license you receive quick help. I told them recently there was a problem with their system identification function. They asked me to send the transfer function data, which I did. They thanked me and agreed there was an issue.
With the free alternatives I can’t get past “it’s almost as good as MATLAB” and “well, the tools are about 15 years behind MATLAB at this point.”
specialtyengineering.org 