An honest side-by-side. Dedoose has taken mixed methods seriously for a long time, runs in a browser, and costs very little per user, which makes it a natural choice for teams. MM Studio runs on the Mac, does only integration, and treats it as a formal stage of the analysis rather than a reporting step.
| MM Studio | Dedoose | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Native Mac app, plus web and iPad | In the browser, on any platform |
| Where data lives | Locally; analysis runs on your machine | On Dedoose servers, which is what enables collaboration |
| IRB implications | No third-party processing to describe | Requires the usual cloud storage and processing wording |
| Offline use | Yes | Requires a connection |
| Integration in the design | The foundation: eight of nineteen workflow steps | Built in from the start, through excerpts paired with descriptors |
| Joint displays | A primary output, designed as a first-class object | Charts and cross-tabulations of codes against descriptors |
| Evidence-strength ratings | Yes, on each integrated finding | Not a built-in concept |
| Integrated reporting | APA-ready integrated report | Exports you assemble |
| Qualitative coding | Not where you code; receives coded work | Full coding environment included |
| Team coding | No | A core strength, with inter-rater reliability |
| Field collection | iPad Field App included | Not part of the product |
| Price | $15 a month or $129 a year | Low monthly per user, with student rates |
Dedoose does more than MM Studio for less money, because it also codes. If you are one researcher on a budget and you need a single tool for the whole qualitative and mixed methods workflow, Dedoose is a strong answer and MM Studio alone will not replace it.
The two real differences are architectural. First, where the data sits: Dedoose is a cloud service, which is exactly what makes team coding work and exactly what adds a data-transfer section to an ethics protocol. Second, what integration means: in Dedoose it is charting codes against descriptors, and in MM Studio it is a staged process producing joint displays, rated findings and an integrated report.
If your project has one analyst, sensitive data, and a committee that will scrutinize how the strands were joined, MM Studio is built for that. If your project has four coders across three universities, it is not, and Dedoose is.