BORIS vs InqScribe

BORIS is free and open-source software for coding video and audio and recording live observations. Media tools include frame-by-frame navigation, playback speeds from 0.1× to 100×, and synchronized playback of up to eight files. Users can define unlimited behaviors, subjects, modifiers, and independent variables, with behaviors recorded as state or point events. Analysis options include Cohen’s Kappa inter-rater reliability, transition matrices, flow diagrams, time-budget analysis, and graphical views of coded data. Coded events can be exported in formats including TSV, CSV, HTML, ODS, XLSX, SQL, Pandas and R dataframes, SDIS, Praat TextGrid, and JWatcher formats. BORIS also imports JWatcher Global Definition Files and Noldus The Observer XT templates. Live event logging is available in the desktop program and Android app. The Android app is version 0.13 and marked beta for testing only. Data is stored in JSON; download files are GPG-signed, with a public key available for integrity checks. The project warns that backward compatibility of project files is not guaranteed and recommends regular backups.

InqScribe is digital media transcription software for annotating, transcribing and analyzing audio and video files on macOS and Windows. Automatic speech-to-text runs on the user's computer rather than in the cloud. The company says user data stays on the computer and is not used to train AI models. Its editor combines transcript editing with free-form notes, clickable timecodes, custom snippets and search-and-replace. Playback can be controlled with keyboard shortcuts or a USB foot pedal. Caption exports include SRT, WebVTT, SCC and XML, for tools and systems such as Premiere, Final Cut Pro, YouTube and broadcast workflows. Automatic transcription supports dozens of languages, with full UTF-8 Unicode support. Supported media includes formats such as H.264, QuickTime, WAV, AAC and MP3. Transcript files are saved locally where specified, and the app does not save copies of audio or video content. A Free Viewer costs nothing. A 10-Day License costs $10 a month, billed as a one-time purchase, while a Perpetual License costs $79 a month as a one-time purchase and includes two years of free updates.