QualiTaTi vs MAXQDA: free AI interviews with a direct MAXQDA export
QualiTaTi: Universities and research firms seeking self-serve text or voice interviews and researcher-controlled coding. MAXQDA: Desktop qualitative and mixed-methods analysis with code systems, memos and visual tools, plus AI Assist (free from MAXQDA 24, Premium from €132 a year).
Choose by study workflow, evidence access, and total cost. There is no universal winner. MAXQDA: Opens REFI-QDA projects, so interviews collected in QualiTaTi can be coded in MAXQDA.
Published by QualiTaTi, one of the vendors compared. This is a dated review of public product documentation, not independent testing. Vendor descriptions are advertised capabilities; missing information is not evidence that a feature is absent.
Qualitati is best for
Universities and research firms seeking self-serve text or voice interviews and researcher-controlled coding.
MAXQDA is best for
Desktop qualitative and mixed-methods analysis with code systems, memos and visual tools, plus AI Assist (free from MAXQDA 24, Premium from €132 a year).
Qualitati vs MAXQDA: feature-by-feature
| Feature | Qualitati | MAXQDA |
|---|---|---|
| Interviews with participants | AI-moderated text and voice interviews, and live AI-moderated focus groups with real participants, shared by link. | Analyses data you bring: text, audio, video and mixed-methods datasets. The vendor material reviewed does not describe interviewing participants. |
| Analysis | QDA Workspace with manual and AI-assisted coding, codebook management and source-linked references. | Code systems, memos, visual and mixed-methods tools; AI Assist for coding suggestions, summaries and chat with your data. |
| Coder agreement | Optional dual-AI coding reports Cohen's kappa between two AI coders; for agreement between human coders, export to your QDA tool. | Intercoder Agreement compares data coded independently by two coders. |
| Working together | REFI-QDA (.qdpx) export of transcripts, codebook, cases and coded segments since 9 October 2026, with a step-by-step guide for opening it in MAXQDA. | Opens REFI-QDA projects (Open Project, then the .qdpx file). Case variables from other tools are not imported. |
| Price | Free: 30 credits every month. Student €9, Researchers €19, Team €99 per month (up to 15 seats). Text interviews use 1 credit per minute, voice interviews 5. Exports are free. | Base licence prices vary by user type. AI Assist Free is included with MAXQDA 24 and later; AI Assist Premium is from €132 (net) a year for larger daily limits. |
| Platform and data | Runs in the browser. Data stored in the EU (Amsterdam). Global AI is the default and includes US providers under Standard Contractual Clauses; EU Assurance keeps AI processing in the EU on every plan. Public DPA. | Desktop (Windows, Mac). AI Assist data is processed temporarily on EU servers, deleted after processing and not used for training. |
| Evidence and exports Checked: qualitati.com/accuracy | Run the same pilot in both tools. Check transcript fidelity, source references, editable codes, and export completeness; these have not been benchmarked here. | Run the same pilot in both tools. Check transcript fidelity, source references, editable codes, and export completeness; these have not been benchmarked here. |
Choose Qualitati when…
You need to collect interviews or focus groups with participants and get clean transcripts to analyse.
You want to start coding in the browser and continue in MAXQDA when the study needs it.
Choose MAXQDA when…
Your institution licenses MAXQDA and your team already codes in it.
You need mixed-methods tools and visual analysis in a desktop project.
Frequently asked questions
Global pricing: 30 free credits each month, non-cumulative. Team: €99/month or €990/year, up to 15 seats and 9,000 shared monthly credits. Add software, recruitment, participant incentives, analysis usage, seats, exports, taxes, and billing period. Request a written quote for anything not included in the published plan.
Run the same pilot in both tools. Check transcript fidelity, source references, editable codes, and export completeness; these have not been benchmarked here. Review the privacy policy, DPA, subprocessors, retention, deletion, and data residency for your study. A feature listing does not establish certification or compliance.
Sources and review basis
- qualitati.com/pricing
- qualitati.com/trust
- qualitati.com
- QualiTaTi guide: AI interviews to MAXQDA
- maxqda.com: AI Assist
- MAXQDA help: AI Assist Free vs Premium
- MAXQDA help: AI Assist and Tailwind GDPR
- MAXQDA: intercoder agreement
- MAXQDA 24 manual: REFI-QDA projects
- qualitati.com/accuracy
- qualitati.com/privacy-policy
Other comparisons
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