Dedoose vs Transana

Dedoose is a cloud-based application for analyzing and visualizing qualitative and mixed methods data. It handles interviews, focus groups, documents, surveys, video, images, audio, social media, and websites, and lets researchers combine qualitative and quantitative material in an analysis process. Charts, graphs, and matrices help users explore findings, with filters for examining segments. Dedoose supports real-time collaboration with other Dedoose users at no additional cost. The first 30 days of a new individual account are free; paid plans start at $12.95 a month. Student and Individual plans charge for active months, while group plans provide centralized billing. Premier and Enterprise are annual plans with SSO integration and account administration. Dedoose says communications use an AES-256 CBC-encrypted SSL/TLS tunnel, passwords are not stored, and project data remains under customer control rather than being shared with third parties. The publisher says Leviathan Security Group verified its login system. Support includes a 24/7 self-service Learning Center and assistance from trained researchers. The service identifies academic, UX, health, and policy researchers among its users.

Transana is qualitative analysis software for video, audio, image, text, PDF, and survey data on Windows and macOS. It provides automated transcription and manual transcription tools with keyboard shortcuts. Users can categorize and code material, then examine coded data through text and graphical reports, searches, and word clouds. Transana Professional handles up to four simultaneous video files and five transcripts, and supports imports including plain text, Word or RTF documents, online survey data, and still images. Professional can use ChatGPT or Claude with non-confidential data, or embedded Ollama models with confidential data. Speechmatics and Deepgram receive audio for automated transcription only after a user approves sharing each time; Faster Whisper processes audio locally. Basic and Professional store data on the user's computer and do not share user files or database information with Transana.com. Multiuser supports simultaneous work on shared data over an internet connection. The free demo has tight limits and is not intended for real analysis. The fully functional Professional trial costs $25, paid once and expires one month after purchase. Professional costs $395, paid once.