PLS-SEM Studio: free online PLS-SEM and fsQCA software
Data
One row per respondent, one column per survey item. CSV, TSV and Excel files are read on your device.
Need to recode, reverse-code or clean your data first? Use the free data cleaning and coding tool, then send the clean data straight back here.
No data yet
Try the app with a sample survey of 300 respondents measuring technology acceptance.
Model
Group your items into constructs, then draw arrows from causes to effects. Mediation is detected for you.
Paths
0Moderation
0Choose a moderator and the path whose strength it changes.
Mediation
0Indirect routes found in your paths. Each is tested automatically.
Syntax
# reflective construct (items reflect it) TRUST =~ TR1 + TR2 + TR3 # formative construct (items form it) QUAL <~ Q1 + Q2 + Q3 # paths: outcome ~ causes SAT ~ QUAL + TRUST # moderation: TRUST changes SAT -> LOY LOY ~ SAT + SAT*TRUST
Edits here update the visual builder, and the reverse. Lines starting with # are comments.
Run
The defaults follow current reporting guidance (Hair et al., 2022). Most studies can run them as they are.
Starting
Advanced settings
Measurement model
Indicator reliability, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity.
Structural model
Path coefficients, hypothesis tests, explanatory power, effect sizes and model fit.
Mediation
Every indirect route, tested with bootstrap confidence intervals and classified after Zhao, Lynch & Chen (2010).
Moderation
Two-stage interaction terms, simple slopes at ±1 SD and moderated mediation.
Predictive power
Blindfolding Q² and out-of-sample PLSpredict against a linear-model benchmark.
Diagram
The figure keeps the layout from the builder. Drag constructs or single items, click a construct to change its item side, and zoom with the buttons in the corner.
Solid arrows are significant at the chosen level; dashed arrows are not. * p < .05 · ** p < .01 · *** p < .001.
fsQCA
Turn the construct scores into fuzzy sets and find which combinations of conditions lead to the outcome.
Conditions
How it works
Each construct score becomes a fuzzy set with Ragin's direct method: the full-membership anchor maps to 0.95, the crossover to 0.5 and the non-membership anchor to 0.05. Percentiles of 95, 50 and 5 are common for LV scores (Pappas & Woodside, 2021). On the indicator scale you can also type theory-based anchors such as 6, 4 and 2 on a 7-point scale.
The intermediate solution uses your directional expectations. In the configuration chart, large symbols are core conditions (also in the parsimonious solution) and small ones are peripheral.
Export
All tables, the diagram and the scores, in the format your manuscript or next tool needs.
Please cite PLS-SEM Studio
This tool is free. If you use it in a thesis, article, conference paper or report, please cite the software and the website. Created by Bibin Xavier.
Methods paragraph
A starting point for your write-up. Check it against your study and add the citations your field expects.