What MAXQDA does

MAXQDA is a proprietary qualitative and mixed methods data analysis (QDA) software platform developed and sold by VERBI – Software. Consult. Sozialforschung. GmbH, a privately held German company headquartered in Berlin. The core product is a desktop application available for both Windows and Mac from a single license, providing tools for coding, analyzing, visualizing, and reporting qualitative data including interviews, focus groups, surveys, literature, and multimedia content. Built-in modules include MAXDictio for quantitative text analysis and Visual Tools (MAXMaps) for concept mapping and code-matrix visualization, while paid add-ons extend the platform into statistical analysis (Analytics Pro), automated speech-to-text (Transcription), cloud-based team collaboration (TeamCloud), AI-driven coding, summarization, memo chat, translation, and reporting (AI Assist), and a standalone AI summarization product (MAXQDA Tailwind).

The platform serves four primary segments: academic researchers (across 192 countries, including at Oxford, LMU Munich, University of Tokyo, NYU, and University of Vienna), graduate students, enterprise and corporate research teams (Microsoft, Amazon, Meta), and government and NGO research organizations (Destatis, UN Women, Plan International, World Vision). The AI Assist layer uses an interpretivist-aligned assist-and-review approach that is purpose-built for reflexive thematic analysis and is constrained to user-supplied data to eliminate hallucinated content. A peer-reviewed comparison by Ayik et al. (2026) found MAXQDA AI Assist outperformed ChatGPT-4o, QInsights, and ATLAS.ti AI on thematic analysis exact-match rates. The AI uses open-source Tesseract for OCR and supports transcription in 30+ languages.

Revenue is generated primarily through recurring software subscriptions and perpetual licenses sold direct via a cleverbridge-powered online shop, supplemented by paid add-on modules, discounted academic and student licensing, multi-year enterprise network licenses, and a free 14-day trial that drives product-led acquisition. Indirect distribution is delivered through more than 300 certified Professional Trainers worldwide, a partner/reseller program, and community channels including the MAXDAYS annual conference, Research Network community, MAXQDA Press publishing program, and free course licenses for universities. Company leadership consists of co-CEOs Anne Kuckartz and Isabel Kuckartz; the firm has been independently operating since 1989 (LEG entity VERBI GmbH since 1995) with no disclosed external investors, M&A activity, or public offering.

Name

MAXQDA

Legal name

VERBI – Software. Consult. Sozialforschung. GmbH

Website

https://maxqda.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MAXQDA is a Berlin-based qualitative and mixed methods data analysis software platform serving academic researchers, graduate students, enterprise research teams (Microsoft, Amazon, Meta), and government/NGO organizations (Destatis, UN Women) in 192 countries. Recurring subscriptions plus AI Assist and TeamCloud add-ons are sold through a self-serve online shop, academic licensing, and a 300+ trainer network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Qualitative Data Analysis Software

NAICS

Information (51)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Augmented Analytics & AI-Assisted BI (NLQ/NLG, Insights) (HDAEAMAD)

Keywords

• Qualitative data analysis
• Mixed methods research
• Research software tools
• Qualitative coding software
• Computer assisted qualitative data

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses and Subscriptions: Primary revenue from selling MAXQDA software licenses and subscriptions. The company transitioned from numbered versions (e.g., MAXQDA 26) to continuous improvement model where subscribers receive ongoing updates. Offers perpetual licenses as well as subscription options for individuals and organizations.
2. Add-on Products: Additional revenue from AI Assist (Free and Premium tiers), TeamCloud collaboration add-on, and MAXQDA Tailwind AI summarization tool sold as add-ons to base software.
3. Academic and Student Licensing: Specialized pricing and licensing programs for universities, academic institutions, and students including free course licenses for teaching purposes.
4. Enterprise Network Licensing: Network licenses for large organizations and enterprises enabling multiple concurrent users, as demonstrated by Microsoft and Amazon implementations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

MAXQDA is a purpose-built qualitative and mixed methods data analysis software package for Windows and Mac, offering tools for coding, transcription, visualization, and AI-assisted analysis of interview, survey, focus group, multimedia, and literature data. The core desktop application is extended with paid add-on modules (AI Assist, Analytics Pro, TeamCloud, Transcription) and a standalone AI summarization product (MAXQDA Tailwind).

Product overview

MAXQDA is a comprehensive qualitative data analysis software platform developed by VERBI GmbH (Berlin, Germany). The product portfolio consists of a core desktop application (MAXQDA) available for Windows and Mac, which provides the main qualitative analysis environment with built-in modules including MAXDictio for quantitative text analysis and Visual Tools/MAXMaps for data visualization. Additional paid add-on modules include MAXQDA Analytics Pro (statistical analysis extension), MAXQDA Transcription (automated speech-to-text), TeamCloud (cloud-based team collaboration), and AI Assist (AI-powered analysis features). MAXQDA Tailwind operates as a separate standalone AI summary generation product. The software supports mixed methods research, works with diverse data types including text, audio, video, and images, and is used by academic researchers, government institutions, and businesses across 192 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MAXQDA Analytics Pro: Qualitative research meets statistical analysis - an enhanced version of the software with statistical data analysis capabilities.
• MAXQDA Transcription
• MAXQDA AI Assist
• MAXQDA TeamCloud
• MAXQDA Tailwind
• MAXDictio

Products and services

• MAXQDA Core qualitative and mixed methods research software for Windows and Mac, providing coding, analysis, visualization, transcription, and reporting tools for interviews, surveys, literature, focus groups, and multimedia.
• MAXQDA Analytics Pro Add-on module that extends MAXQDA with statistical data analysis capabilities, combining qualitative research with quantitative statistical analysis for mixed methods projects.
• MAXQDA Transcription Automated AI-powered transcription service that converts audio and video recordings to text, available with or without a MAXQDA license and supporting multiple languages.
• TeamCloud Secure cloud workspace add-on that enables multi-user team collaboration on qualitative research projects with integrated workflow.
• AI Assist AI-powered virtual assistant add-on providing coding suggestions, document summarization, AI Chat with documents/segments/memos, AI Reports, and AI Translation, marketed as GDPR-compliant.
• MAXQDA Tailwind Standalone AI-driven document summary generation tool that creates concise summaries with one click, including AI Chat for conversational interaction with content.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 150 hours of manual analysis reduced to fraction of time with AI assistance
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability10 records

Feature8 records

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• NVivo (Lumivero): NVivo is the closest direct competitor in qualitative data analysis software, offering coding, visualization, and mixed methods capabilities across Windows and Mac. Like MAXQDA, it serves academic and enterprise researchers and was historically owned by QSR International before the Lumivero acquisition.
• ATLAS.ti: ATLAS.ti is a long-standing direct competitor in QDA software, with comparable coding, query, and visualization features plus AI-assisted analysis. It targets the same academic and qualitative research customer base as MAXQDA and was benchmarked alongside it in the 2026 thematic-analysis peer review.
• Dedoose: Dedoose is a web-based mixed methods research application supporting qualitative and quantitative analysis. It competes directly with MAXQDA for social and behavioral science research budgets, particularly in academic and nonprofit settings.
• QDA Miner (Provalis Research): QDA Miner is qualitative data analysis software with content analysis and text mining capabilities, competing directly with MAXQDA in academic and market research use cases. Provalis Research also offers WordStat and SimStat as analytics companions.
• Quirkos: Quirkos is a lightweight qualitative analysis tool focused on ease of use for novice researchers. While smaller and more focused than MAXQDA, it competes for the same academic and graduate student buyer at lower price points.

Emerging players

• Otter.ai: Otter.ai is an AI-powered transcription and meeting-notes platform. It overlaps with MAXQDA Transcription and broader AI-assist functionality and could evolve into a more direct QDA competitor as it expands from transcription to analysis.
• NotebookLM (Google): Google NotebookLM is an AI notebook for document Q&A and synthesis. It does not yet match MAXQDA's qualitative coding depth, but as a free or low-cost AI research assistant it competes for the same researcher workflows, particularly among AI-curious academics.

Broad incumbents

• IBM SPSS Statistics: SPSS is an established statistical analysis platform with broad enterprise and academic adoption. It competes with MAXQDA Analytics Pro in the statistical/mixed methods segment, particularly for quantitative-heavy research workflows in social sciences.
• SAS: SAS provides enterprise analytics, text mining, and statistical software. It overlaps with MAXQDA's quantitative text analysis (MAXDictio) and analytics modules, particularly in regulated industries and large enterprise research environments.

Others

• Qualtrics: Qualtrics is an experience management and survey research platform used by academic and enterprise researchers. While not a direct QDA competitor, it overlaps with MAXQDA's survey analysis and questionnaire analysis use cases in market and social research.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MAXQDA