ATLAS.ti alternative
An ATLAS.ti alternative built for thematic analysis
ATLAS.ti is a capable workbench. It codes text, images, audio and video, draws networks, and now proposes codes with AI. If you need all of that, keep it. Most students searching for an alternative need something narrower: a stack of interview transcripts turned into themes they can defend, before a deadline, without a semester licence or ID checks.
That is what thematicanalysis.ai does. Paste or upload your transcripts and you get codes with definitions, named themes, and the verbatim quote behind every code, checked against your own text. You stay in charge of the interpretation. The tool does the slow first pass.
No account. The first 3 participants are free.
ATLAS.ti and thematicanalysis.ai side by side
They are different kinds of tool. ATLAS.ti is a full qualitative analysis workbench. thematicanalysis.ai does one job: getting from transcripts to themes you can defend.
| ATLAS.ti | thematicanalysis.ai | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A full qualitative analysis workbench for text, PDFs, images, audio and video | A browser tool for thematic analysis of text: interview and focus group transcripts, open survey answers, published studies |
| Getting access | Student licence (one year) or semester licence (six months), with a student ID and a second photo ID sent within five days of purchase | Nothing to verify. Free tier: 2 runs a month, up to 3 participants each; a pass covers 30 days |
| Price | Discounted student rate; see ATLAS.ti's shop for current prices | Free to start · $9 for up to 20 sources · $15 for up to 50 |
| Setup | Desktop app (Windows, Mac) or ATLAS.ti Web, then a project to set up | Open the page, paste or upload. No account |
| AI coding | AI Coding (built on OpenAI's GPT) proposes open, descriptive codes for you to review | Codes, definitions and named themes, each code tied to a verbatim quote that is checked against your text |
| Method | Method-neutral: you build the approach yourself | Reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke) by default; framework analysis, thematic synthesis, grounded theory, content analysis or your own codebook as options |
| What you take away | Your ATLAS.ti project, reports and network views | Codebook, themes, theme-by-participant table, thematic map (PNG/SVG), Word report, Excel tables and a REFI-QDA (.qdpx) project file |
Which one should you use?
Stay with ATLAS.ti if
- you need to code audio, video or images directly, not just transcripts
- your supervisor or team expects a shared ATLAS.ti project and its network views
- you want to build every code by hand, with full control over the workspace
- your university already pays for a campus licence, so cost isn't the question
Use thematicanalysis.ai if
- your data is text and the deliverable is themes for a dissertation, report or paper
- you have days, not a semester, to get from transcripts to a findings chapter
- you don't want to learn a new program or send ID documents to start
- you want a first pass to argue with: every code shows the quote it came from, and you can rename, merge or delete anything
Using both: first pass here, project in ATLAS.ti
You don't have to choose. Some students run the first pass here, check it against the transcripts, then export a REFI-QDA (.qdpx) project file to keep working in ATLAS.ti, where the university licence or the supervisor expects the final project to live.
Before you switch tools entirely, our comparison of thematic analysis software covers ATLAS.ti, NVivo, MAXQDA, Delve, Quirkos and Taguette on price and learning curve.
See what it makes of your own data
Paste or upload a transcript. Codes, themes and the quotes behind them in under 5 minutes.
Questions people ask before switching
Is this a free ATLAS.ti alternative?+
Partly. The free tier gives you 2 runs a month of up to 3 participants or studies each, with no account. Larger projects need a pass: $9 for 30 days and up to 20 sources per analysis, or $15 for up to 50 sources plus the Advanced tools. There is no subscription and nothing renews.
ATLAS.ti has AI Coding now. What's the difference?+
ATLAS.ti's AI Coding proposes open, descriptive codes inside a general-purpose workbench, and you take it from there. Here the whole run is built around thematic analysis: codes come with definitions, they are grouped into named themes with a short account of each, and every quote is checked against your uploaded text so a quote that isn't in your data gets flagged instead of slipping into your findings.
Can I move my work into ATLAS.ti later?+
You can export a REFI-QDA project file (.qdpx), the exchange format ATLAS.ti, NVivo and MAXQDA use for importing projects from other software.
Will my supervisor accept AI-assisted thematic analysis?+
Many do, as long as you report it honestly and the interpretation is yours. Treat the output as a first pass: check codes against the transcripts, rewrite themes in your own terms, and describe the tool's role in your methods section.
Does it handle audio or video?+
No. It works with text: transcripts (Word, PDF, TXT, VTT), survey exports (CSV, Excel) and published papers. If you need to code recordings directly, ATLAS.ti is the better tool.
What happens to my transcripts?+
We keep no copy, and your participants' words are never used to train an AI model. The privacy page has the details an ethics application usually asks for.