QualCoder vs Quirkos

QualCoder is free, open-source software for qualitative data analysis on Linux, macOS and Windows. It supports coding text, images, audio and video, organizing codes in hierarchies, and keeping journals and memos alongside analysis. Users can generate reports, most of which can be exported as HTML, ODT, plain text or Excel. Projects and codebooks can be exported using the REFI-QDA standard, while codebooks can be imported from plain text or CSV files. Coding data is stored in a SQLite database in the project's data folder. QualCoder is intended for one person at a time; simultaneous access to a project can corrupt its database. VLC is optional for general use but required for audio or video coding. Optional AI features support topic exploration, assisted coding, text analysis and code chats. AI is off by default, and supported providers include cloud services and local models such as Ollama. Provider API access is pay-per-use and may incur charges for each request.

Quirkos is qualitative analysis software for exploring and interpreting text data. It imports Word documents, plain text, PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, and text pasted from websites or other programs. Codes are displayed visually as users work, with support for groups, hierarchies, color coding, overlap views, and word clouds. Query View can search text, filter by data criteria, and compare data groups side by side. Quirkos Cloud adds live synchronization, editing, and chat, with unlimited collaborators and collaborations at no extra fee. Project data can be exported to Excel for use in SPSS or R, or in REFI-QDA format for other qualitative programs. Quirkos Transcribe converts audio and video into transcripts, accepts files up to 2 GB, and includes 100 free minutes for Cloud users. Transcribe runs in the web app; its five best-supported selectable languages are English, Italian, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Cloud plans include student, academic and nonprofit, public sector, and commercial options. The Student plan costs $5 a month, billed annually; an offline licence for one computer costs 69.00 USD once for lifetime use.