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Research · head to head

Aurelius vs NVivo

Aurelius logo

Aurelius

Research

UX research repository for tagging notes, building insights and finding them again years later

From
$49/month
Rated
-
NVivo logo

NVivo

Research

Easy-to-use, collaborative qualitative analysis software

From
On request
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Aurelius aurelius does not recruit participants or run unmoderated studies, so it is always a second tool alongside a testing or recruitment platform and never the whole research budget.; NVivo base plan pricing not displayed on shop page; requires adding to cart or contacting sales
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aurelius and NVivo actually diverge.

Attributes where Aurelius and NVivo differ
AttributeAureliusNVivo
Starting price$49/monthOn request
Pricing modelFlat monthly fee, unlimited usersquote

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Research).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aurelius

  • Research repository
  • Analysis board
  • Tagging
  • Insights and recommendations
  • Transcription
  • AI assist
  • Automatic report builder
  • Universal search

Only in NVivo

Nothing recorded that Aurelius does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aurelius

  • A research team of three whose findings currently live in individual Miro boards and Google Docs that nobody outside the team can find six months laternot NVivo
  • A product organisation that wants every designer and product manager to search past research without paying forty repository seatsnot NVivo
  • A consultancy running discovery for multiple clients that needs tagged evidence kept separate per client but searchable internallynot NVivo
  • A team preparing a repeat study who need to know what was already learned about the same problem two years ago before they recruit anyonenot NVivo

NVivo

  • Qualitative data analysis for researchnot Aurelius
  • Document and interview coding and analysisnot Aurelius
  • Transcription and collaborative research projectsnot Aurelius

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aurelius

  • Aurelius does not recruit participants or run unmoderated studies, so it is always a second tool alongside a testing or recruitment platform and never the whole research budget.
  • Integrations are thin, with Zapier, Jira and Slack rather than direct connections to the call recording and testing tools most teams already run, so getting material in often means manual upload.
  • The tag vocabulary is only as good as the discipline applied to it, and repositories where several researchers invent overlapping tags become unsearchable within a year with no built-in governance to prevent it.
  • Unlimited users is genuinely unlimited but permissions are basic below Enterprise, so a team that needs client-safe or stakeholder-only views has to buy the quoted tier for something that reads as a table-stakes control.
  • It is a small independent vendor competing with much better funded repositories, which is a real procurement risk for an organisation storing years of research in it, and enterprise assurance material such as penetration test reports sits behind the top tier.

NVivo

  • Base plan pricing not displayed on shop page; requires adding to cart or contacting sales
  • Volume licensing (10+ seats) requires sales contact only
  • No free version available, only trials without specified duration

Pricing, plan by plan

Aurelius

$49/month
  • Professional$49/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited projects and storage
    • Notes, tags and documents
  • Premium$199/month
    • Everything in Professional
    • Recommendations
    • Universal search across projects
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Everything in Premium
    • SSO with SAML 2.0
    • IP allowlisting

NVivo

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the NVivo review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Aurelius if

  • You need research repository.
  • You also want analysis board.

Choose NVivo if

Nothing in the data separates NVivo from Aurelius on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Questions people ask

Is Aurelius or NVivo better?
Neither clearly leads. Aurelius starts at $49/month and NVivo at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aurelius or NVivo?
Aurelius starts at $49/month and NVivo at On request.
Does Aurelius or NVivo run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Aurelius best used for?
Aurelius is most often used for a research team of three whose findings currently live in individual miro boards and google docs that nobody outside the team can find six months later, a product organisation that wants every designer and product manager to search past research without paying forty repository seats, a consultancy running discovery for multiple clients that needs tagged evidence kept separate per client but searchable internally, a team preparing a repeat study who need to know what was already learned about the same problem two years ago before they recruit anyone. Of those, a research team of three whose findings currently live in individual miro boards and google docs that nobody outside the team can find six months later and a product organisation that wants every designer and product manager to search past research without paying forty repository seats are not what NVivo is typically brought in for.
What can Aurelius do that NVivo cannot?
Aurelius covers Research repository, Analysis board, Tagging, Insights and recommendations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aurelius: Does the price really include unlimited users?

Yes. Professional at 49 US dollars a month and Premium at 199, both billed yearly, both with unlimited users, projects and storage.

NVivo: How much does NVivo cost?

NVivo pricing is not displayed on the public website. Base plan pricing varies by subscription type and region. Individual/small teams can purchase directly through shop.lumivero.com, while organizations with 10+ licenses must contact sales for quotes.

Source
Aurelius: Can I run usability tests in it?

No. Aurelius stores and analyses research; it does not recruit participants or host sessions. Pair it with a testing tool.

NVivo: What are NVivo add-on costs?

NVivo AI Assistant costs $250 per year. Transcription costs $499 per year (50 hours annually) or $30 one-time (60 minutes). Collaboration Cloud for team sharing costs $99 per year.

Source
Aurelius: What is the difference between Professional and Premium?

Premium adds universal cross-project search, collections, recommendations and Zapier. If your value comes from finding old research, Premium is the tier that delivers it.

NVivo: Does NVivo offer a free version?

No free version of NVivo is available. Free trials are available at the product website, though trial duration is not specified. Individual users can purchase licenses directly through lumivero.com.

Source
Aurelius: Is there single sign-on?

Only on Enterprise, along with IP allowlisting, Jira and advanced permissions. Everything below is quoted separately.

NVivo: Is NVivo AI Assistant included in subscription?

No, NVivo AI Assistant is a paid add-on costing $250 per year. However, through August 18-September 15, 2026, AI Assistant is free with annual NVivo + AI subscriptions using code BTSAI100.

Source
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