Dedoose vs. NVivo vs. Delve: What's The Best Qualitative Data Analysis Software?
How to pick the best QDA software?
NVivo vs. Dedoose vs. Delve
Qualitative data analysis (QDA) software is a powerful tool for researchers who work with non-numerical data, such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, and social media posts.
Using QDA software, also called computer-assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) software, helps organize, code, and analyze data to identify patterns and themes. Some tools also help streamline collaborative qualitative data analysis, particularly when co-researchers work remotely on the same project files. However, choosing the best software can be daunting.
Dedoose, NVivo, and Delve are three widely used QDA software programs. This article compares the trio and highlights their respective strengths and weaknesses.
How to Choose a Qualitative Data Analysis Software
Beginner qualitative researchers usually require different research tools than their more experienced counterparts. Other times budget plays a larger role in the decision. When choosing a QDA software, here are a few approaches to help you compare the options:
Coding tools: What features are important to you in a coding tool? Some coding tools offer a wide range of complex features, such as text mining and sentiment analysis, while others have more functional coding features
Learning curve: How easy or intuitive is the coding tool to learn and use? If you are new to qualitative analysis, you may choose a tool specifically designed for beginners.
Intercoder reliability: How do you ensure that different coders agree on the codes they assign to data? Some QDA software automates intercoder reliability.
Collaboration features: Are you working with a team? Do you need a coding tool with robust collaboration features? Some coding tools allow you to collaborate with other researchers on your projects, while others do not. Some QDA options offer them as expensive add-ons, while others include them.
Pricing: How much are you willing to spend on a coding tool? Coding tools can range in price from hundreds to several thousand dollars each year.
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Comparing Dedoose vs. NVivo vs. Delve
Now, let's delve into a thorough comparison of Dedoose, NVivo, and Delve. While these well-established QDA programs all share common functions, their distinctive user interfaces, features, pricing, operating systems (OS), and collaborative capabilities set them apart.
Dedoose Overview
Dedoose is a web-based qualitative data analysis (QDA) software program that was founded in 2006. It is known for its intricate coding tools and its ability to handle large datasets. Dedoose is a manageable tool for new researchers, but users do not find the interface intuitive to learn.
Users give Dedoose fairly lackluster marks across the board, particularly when it comes to streamlining tedious aspects of project or data management. Dedoose includes collaborative tools, but clunky project management features tend to create bottlenecks during research.
Also, Dedoose is web-based and doesn't offer an offline desktop version. You’ll require an internet connection to use the program, which isn’t an issue for most users.
Best For
Ideal for mixed multimedia research projects, especially those involving video or photo datasets. It can be a robust coding tool if you have enough time to learn the ins and outs of the software.
Licensing Model
Web-version
Price
Base $220/year (various plans with different features)
Student pricing available
NVivo Overview
NVivo, a QDA software renowned for handling especially large datasets, is favored by qualitative and mixed-methods researchers. It supports various file formats, including text, audio, and video.
While NVivo suits experienced researchers with sizeable budgets, it's often deemed cumbersome, complex, and time-consuming by most users seeking user-friendly coding software. The software has a learning curve and a high entry barrier for new users.
NVivo's limited collaboration capabilities have also drawn criticism. While a web-based collaboration add-on exists, it's costly and prone to file corruption when transitioning from the desktop version, resulting in potential data loss and costly research setbacks.
Best For
NVivo is for well-funded academics and research professionals dealing with exceptionally large datasets. It's most suitable for individual researchers rather than collaborative analysis.
Licensing Model
Desktop (device-specific)
NVivo Cloud Collaboration (web-based add-on to desktop version)
Price
$1195+/year
Delve Overview
Delve stands out as a user-friendly CAQDAS software, catering to students and researchers alike. It offers ease of use, collaboration capabilities, and affordability, making it a top choice for those new to qualitative data analysis or seeking a cost-effective coding solution.
A few of Delve's notable features:
A user-friendly, intuitive interface
Web-based connectivity akin to a QDA-focused Google Drive
Side-by-side coding comparisons for enhanced analysis
Automated intercoder reliability scores for accuracy
Delve offers data visualization tools like co-occurrence matrices, but complex diagramming like word clouds is limited. Most novice researchers do not require these bells and whistles but the Delve team does continuously update the platform based on user feedback. It's also worth noting that Delve, like Dedoose, is web-based and doesn’t offer an offline desktop version.
We cover more about Delve features and user feedback in subsequent sections.
Best For
Delve caters to a wide range of users, including students, academics, market researchers, analysts, and social science professionals. It is ideal for those new to qualitative data analysis or seeking an efficient, budget-friendly alternative focused on collaborative qualitative analysis.
Licensing Model
100% web-based (accessible from any device)
Price
$432/year (with annual discount)
$50/month (commercial pricing)
$18 / month or $200 / year (with academic discount)
This table summarizes how these CAQDAS software stack up:
| Feature | Dedoose | NVivo | Delve |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal Pricing | $220/year | $1195+/year | $432/year (with annual discount) |
| Education Pricing | $156/year | $1,019+/year (desktop only) | $200/year |
| Upgrades | No upgrade required | $1,519+/year (desktop with web-based add-on) | No upgrade required |
| Software performance | Clunky, error-prone | Fast, error-prone | Fast, reliable |
| Ease of use | Low | Cumbersome | Intuitive |
| Customer support ratings | Poor | Okay | Excellent |
| Best for | Experienced researchers who want to work with video/image files | Solo researchers who work with huge amounts of data. | Researchers who are new to qualitative data analysis, work in groups, or work remotely. |
[Check out how Delve and NVivo stack up against ATLAS.ti, another popular QDA tool. ]
User Reviews: Dedoose vs. NVivo vs. Delve
Now let’s take a look at what actual users of Dedoose, NVivo, and Delve say about each QDA software. To make it easier to compare quickly, we organize these comparisons based on what most researchers consider important when they pick the right QDA tool for themselves.
Collaboration
✅ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“Dedoose allows you to work together on a project simultaneously.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“If you want to work in a team look elsewhere.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“Delve is very easy to learn and use individually or as a team. Using Delve has shortened our time to process text for coding and organizing for presentations. Used with time codes, it can also shorten video editing times. We've used several other products and found Delve to be a perfect complement to our workflow.” Read more.
“We were up and running with Delve within minutes. It was very intuitive to use, with very quick setup. We were able to easily collaborate and facilitate our thematic analysis process without a steep learning curve and at a very reasonable price.” Read more.
“Wonderful user interface and coding process, loved how easy it is to collaborate with others.” Read more.
“Most importantly, Delve makes it easy and intuitive to share my results with my collaborators.” Read more.
User Interface
❌ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“I do not like how the home page of Dedoose is actually quite hard to navigate when you first start using it. There are a lot of components, features, and things going on with the home page dashboard. And there are multiple tabs as well. This setup makes it a bit hard for someone who is new to using Dedoose and needs to figure out how to navigate through the tabs.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“The design seemed quite old-fashioned and difficult to navigate.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“The UI is very straightforward and simple to use. Coding text is very easy and tags are automatically compiled into a list for easy access. You can navigate/sort your transcripts by code, meaning it's easy to cross reference.” Read more.
“I continue to be impressed by the ease of use and the many ways I can integrate the coding and quotes into my dissertation.” Read more.
“Feature set is very intuitive to learn and start using right away. Interface makes it very easy to construct codes, highlight and code text and view excerpts in different ways. Being able to code as little as a word or as much as a paragraph (or multiple paragraphs) results in more robust coding. Knowing that I can focus solely on coding and let the platform categorize the data for me means coding takes much less time than doing it by hand. Once I have coded everything, I can then view the data in different ways, start my analysis and find the story.” Read more.
“Other tools that I have used can be pretty elaborate, but they are clunky and don't follow an intuitive design. Delve was definitely built with the end user in mind.” Read more.
“It is easy to use, doesn't take a long time to pick up on how to use it, there are handy videos also to help you and it is a well thought out and efficient piece of software well worth using as a student or researcher.” Read more.
Lost Work vs. Reliability
❌ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“More often than not, you get some very slow system to work with. It is as if the software itself is slow and 'heavy.' I have lost some progress because of not having a save button.” Read more.
“I always get user errors and sometimes that software does not work well in general. I find it more frustrating to use as compared to other qualitative software. ” Read more.
“I've lost all of my codes. 748 qualitative responses from a recent survey, GONE in the blink of an eye.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“I spend more time troubleshooting than coding because the software (which requires a yearly license, and prevents me from sharing data with teammates) is so buggy. Frequently crashes, losing unsaved data. The auto-save feature on Mac is not reliable. NOTHING on the Mac version is reliable - it should never have shipped in the current state.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“Since I use the software to analyze my data directly through the website, I don't need to worry about losing my progress when my computer breaks down. It happened several times during my dissertation, but the work on Delve was always perfectly saved.” Read more.
Operating System & Accessibility
✅ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“Web-based access is a good feature of Dedoose.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“The biggest problem with NVivo for our team was incompatibility between NVivo versions. As a team, we used different versions of NVivo on both Windows and Mac, and it turned out that exchanging the data was not so easy.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“I enjoy the ease of use and the ability to access my projects from anywhere. There is no need to download software and no need to worry about not being able to work on your project on the go.” Read more.
Customer Support
❌ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“I have had a lot of trouble with customer service. They do not answer the phone so you can not talk to a live person. It takes them days to respond to emails. Frankly, it has disrupted my research.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“I believe that it is totally unacceptable to run a company with NO access to software support.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“The customer support is superb! Support from Delve was so responsive, I was extremely pleased with the level of services I received.” Read more.
“There is an extensive resource library for questions/how to's but also highly responsive customer service if you need help.” Read more.
“One of the things that I like most about this software is that the support team is incredibly responsive and helpful. They answer questions quickly.” Read more.
Tutorials
❌ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“Needs a better training system. It is very hard to learn how to use, having an example project is not enough training.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“I understand there is always learning curves to be expected when it comes to using a new tool, but I would expect more build-in example, guideline within NVivo for that.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“The easy step-by-step tutorials are a wonderful resource.” Read more.
“The webinars Delve offers on coding were invaluable to my own coding process.” Read more.
“It has very good tutorials that explain in detail how to use the product. Also, the tutorials are short so you don't have to spend lots of time to understand how the tool works. This aspect was very important for me, as I didn't had lots of time to work with the data.” Read more.
“Delve offers a training course and a follow along training to help beginners who are coding for the first time.” Read more.
“I liked the tutorial videos about research methods, very accessible!” Read more.
“I love the educational videos and pages complete with references!” Read more.
Learning Curve
❌ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“Setting up a project is a massive time sink. The onerous process has catalyzed many many many moments of procrastination and frustration and searching for an alternative.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“It is not very user friendly, there are plenty of options but you need a whole course to learn to work with it.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“Delve has made coding qualitative data so simple and fast. The user-friendliness makes it a must-have for any qualitative researcher.” Read more.
“Delve was very easy to use and it was quick to pick up. All of the functions I used were user-friendly and perfect for my research project.” Read more.
“There is no steep learning curve involved. You simply upload or paste your transcripts and start coding.” Read more.
“I saved a tons of hours learning a complex software and using it. Also price is very competitive for student version." Read more.
“This tool cut HOURS of time sorting through qualitative data! I love the “snippets” feature and how easy it made analyzing themes for my dissertation! You will love this product.” Read more.
Academic Pricing
❌ What Customers Say About Dedoose
“If you are looking to commit to a project, for longer periods of time, there are other, more affordable options.” Read more.
❌ What Customers Say About NVivo
“NVivo is pricy especially for graduate students and early career researchers, if their institutions or organizations do not provide access to it.” Read more.
✅ What Customers Say About Delve
“The education pricing is so inexpensive that Delve would be highly appropriate for students just learning how to code as well as seasoned researchers. It's also flexible enough that you only pay for the time that you're using the program - in my case I used it all the time at first, then paused my membership and reopened it when I had new data and analysis to do.” Read more.
“The price is very reasonable as it has an offer for Academia.” Read more.
“It is an amazing value for the cost.” Read more.
“Excellent price.” Read more.
Unlock the Potential of Delve Qualitative Analysis Tool
User-Friendly Interface for Effortless Coding
Delve takes pride in its intuitive design, ensuring users can code without extensive training. You won't need to master complex terminology or invest time in learning. Instead, you can easily dive into your projects, saving valuable time that you can invest in your research.
Enhanced Collaboration, Anywhere You Are
Delve is a web-based tool that adapts to the rising trend of remote research, enabling you to collaborate seamlessly with your team from anywhere. It simplifies file sharing and serves as a central hub for your research so that you and your team stay organized and focused.
Effortless Project Sharing
Collaborative research demands simple tools for sharing projects. Delve streamlines this
process, allowing you to easily share your work with co-researchers and reviewers. You are in total control of who can join or leave your team and what they can do with a few simple clicks.
Automated Intercoder Reliability Scoring
Simplify your coding process with Delve's automated intercoder reliability scores. This feature saves time and enhances the accuracy and consistency of your qualitative analysis, making it easy to stay on the same page with your fellow researchers as you code the same data.
Simple Side-By-Side Coding Comparisons
Foster collaborative coding with side-by-side comparisons on the same transcript. Delve lets users code separately and easily compare their coding approaches without initially seeing each other's work. This feature streamlines your coding processes while maintaining collaboration.
Responsive Customer Support
Delve's top-notch customer service ensures you get the help you need promptly. Reach out via email or live chat whenever questions or challenges arise. Timely support with minimal delays keeps your research on track, helping you finish your research on time and in confidence.
Comprehensive Qualitative Analysis Learning Resources
Qualitative analysis doesn't have to be complex. Delve offers many learning resources to simplify the process. Whether you seek coding tips, Delve YouTube tutorials, or introductions to qualitative research methods, the Delve Learning Center equips you with the right knowledge.
Flexible Account Management
Delve understands the financial challenges students face. That's why it offers a flexible account policy, allowing you to pause or cancel your account as needed. This student-friendly approach aligns with any budget constraints, providing peace of mind as you manage your finances.
Seamless Performance Across All Platforms
Delve's consistent performance across all operating systems sets it apart from the rest. Whether you're on Windows, macOS, or Linux, Delve’s web-based platform ensures you can work across different devices. No device-specific limitations and it’s available on any OS.
Always Up-to-Date
Delve’s web-based program always keeps you updated with the latest system features and performance enhancements. When improvements are made, you'll have immediate access to them, ensuring your research tools are always at their best—no waiting necessary.
No IT Requirements
No need for complicated IT setups or IT assistance. With Delve, there's no need for extensive technical configurations on local servers. Simply launch Delve, and you're ready to delve into your research—no IT expertise or knowledge is required.
Why Users Switch From Dedoose, NVivo to Delve
Capterra, a top software review site, showcases user stories of those who switched to Delve due to issues with Dedoose and NVivo.
Switched from Dedoose to Delve:
See Kim’s review.
Switched from NVivo to Delve:
See JJ’s review.
See Kellen’s review.
See Anne’s review.
Final Verdict: Delve
Delve is the top choice for those who value simplicity and effectiveness. As researchers seek QDA software alternatives to Dedoose and NVivo, Delve stands out. You can spend hours learning a new QDA software or get right to work using an intuitive alternative like Delve.
Here’s a bit more of what happy Delve users are saying:
Join the growing community of researchers who trust their research to Delve, letting you work more efficiently and confidently on a coding platform designed to streamline your research.
For straightforward coding and richer research results, try Delve free for 14 days.
Delve: The Top-Ranked, Affordable QDA Software
Watch this two-minute demo to see how easy it is to streamline your qualitative analysis with Delve. When you’re ready to get started, check out Delve’s 14-day free trial. Get started today.