Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

OpenClinica vs REDCap

OpenClinica logo

OpenClinica

Healthcare

Clinical trial EDC with a genuinely open source community edition alongside a quoted commercial platform

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
REDCap logo

REDCap

Research

Research data capture licensed free to non-profits, and not licensable at all to companies

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: OpenClinica the free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.; REDCap a for-profit company cannot hold a licence or self-host REDCap, so a biotech or CRO that liked it at university simply cannot deploy it the same way and must buy a commercially licensed hosted version instead.
  • They diverge on capability: OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, REDCap covers Form and survey designer.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpenClinica and REDCap actually diverge.

Attributes where OpenClinica and REDCap differ
AttributeOpenClinicaREDCap
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, iOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, Windows
CategoryHealthcareResearch

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 OpenClinica

  • Open source community edition
  • Electronic data capture
  • eConsent
  • eCOA and ePRO
  • EHR-to-EDC
  • Audit trail
  • Reporting and analytics

Only in REDCap

  • Form and survey designer
  • Longitudinal projects
  • Data quality rules
  • Audit trail and e-signature
  • API and exports

Both cover

  • Randomisation

What people use each for

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

OpenClinica

  • An academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs Part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eClinical budgetnot REDCap
  • A registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over yearsnot REDCap
  • A small device sponsor that needs eConsent and ePRO in the same system as its case report formsnot REDCap
  • An informatics group that wants to self-host the open source edition for a non-regulated internal studynot REDCap

REDCap

  • An academic research group at an institution that already runs REDCap, where a new study database costs nothing beyond the time to build itnot OpenClinica
  • A hospital collecting patient reported outcomes where data must stay on institutional infrastructure rather than a vendor cloudnot OpenClinica
  • An investigator initiated trial that needs randomisation, an audit trail and statistical export without a commercial EDC budgetnot OpenClinica
  • A multi site academic collaboration where each site can be given scoped access to a single longitudinal projectnot OpenClinica

Where each one falls short

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

OpenClinica

  • The free community edition is a different and older product line from the commercial platform, so evaluating the open source build tells you little about what the paid product actually does.
  • The vendor provides no support or services at all for the community edition, which means outages, patching, database upgrades and validation documentation are entirely your problem.
  • Commercial pricing is not published, so you cannot benchmark it against alternatives without entering a sales process, and third-party figures around USD 1,000 a month are indicative rather than contractual.
  • Study build is skilled work: complex edit checks, randomisation schemes and integrations usually mean paying for vendor or consultant configuration services on top of the licence, which is a frequently underestimated line in the budget.
  • As a smaller vendor than the large eClinical suites it has a thinner partner and consultant ecosystem, so finding experienced build staff or a CRO already fluent in the platform is harder than with the market incumbents.

REDCap

  • A for-profit company cannot hold a licence or self-host REDCap, so a biotech or CRO that liked it at university simply cannot deploy it the same way and must buy a commercially licensed hosted version instead.
  • Because each institution hosts its own instance, support, uptime, backup and version currency vary by university, and a researcher has no recourse to Vanderbilt when the local instance is two years out of date.
  • It is free of licence fee but not free of cost: the hosting institution carries server, security, patching and support staffing, which is why some institutions charge internal recharges per project.
  • Validation for regulated use is the deploying institution responsibility, so an instance is not Part 11 compliant simply because REDCap supports the features; someone locally has to produce and maintain the evidence.
  • The interface and reporting are dated compared with commercial survey and EDC tools, and complex logic is built through data dictionary spreadsheets rather than a modern visual builder, which slows non technical study teams.

Pricing, plan by plan

OpenClinica

On request
  • Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Free and open source under the LGPL
    • Self-hosted, on the older 3.x line
    • No vendor support or services of any kind
  • OpenClinica Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Pricing only through a sales process
    • Hosted and validated instance
    • EDC, eConsent, eCOA, randomisation and analytics modules

REDCap

On request
  • REDCap non-profit licence$undefined/year
    • No licence fee to non-profit and government institutions that join the consortium
    • Institution must install and host it on its own infrastructure
    • For-profit organisations may not hold a licence or self-host

Which should you pick?

Choose OpenClinica if

  • You need open source community edition.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android.
  • You also want electronic data capture.
OpenClinica review

Choose REDCap if

  • You need form and survey designer.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Windows.
  • You also want longitudinal projects.
REDCap review

Questions people ask

Is OpenClinica or REDCap better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenClinica starts at On request and REDCap at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OpenClinica or REDCap?
OpenClinica starts at On request and REDCap at On request.
Does OpenClinica or REDCap run on more platforms?
OpenClinica runs on Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android. REDCap runs on Web, Linux, Windows.
What is OpenClinica best used for?
OpenClinica is most often used for an academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eclinical budget, a registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over years, a small device sponsor that needs econsent and epro in the same system as its case report forms, an informatics group that wants to self-host the open source edition for a non-regulated internal study. Of those, an academic coordinating centre running investigator-initiated trials that needs part 11 compliant capture without an enterprise eclinical budget and a registry or observational cohort study collecting structured data across many sites over years are not what REDCap is typically brought in for.
What can OpenClinica do that REDCap cannot?
OpenClinica covers Open source community edition, Electronic data capture, eConsent, eCOA and ePRO. REDCap covers Form and survey designer, Longitudinal projects, Data quality rules, Audit trail and e-signature. Both handle Randomisation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpenClinica: Is OpenClinica free?

There is a genuinely free, LGPL licensed community edition you host yourself with no vendor support. The commercial platform with eConsent, eCOA and a validated hosted instance is quoted and paid.

REDCap: Is REDCap really free?

The licence is free to non-profit institutions and government organisations that join the consortium, but they must host and support it themselves, so there is real internal cost.

OpenClinica: Is the open source version still maintained?

Yes, releases on the 3.x line continued through 2025, but it is a separate and older architecture from the commercial product.

REDCap: Can my company use REDCap?

Not by holding a licence or self-hosting. For-profit organisations must use a separately licensed commercial hosted route.

OpenClinica: Does it meet 21 CFR Part 11?

The commercial hosted platform is built for Part 11 and GCP compliance. If you self-host the community edition, compliance and validation are entirely your responsibility.

REDCap: Is REDCap 21 CFR Part 11 compliant?

It has the features to support Part 11 use, but compliance depends on how the hosting institution configures, validates and documents its own instance.

OpenClinica: What does the commercial version cost?

Not published. Third-party listings suggest enterprise arrangements from around USD 1,000 per month, but real cost depends on study count, subjects, modules and build services.

REDCap: Who supports it?

Your local institutional REDCap administrator, not Vanderbilt. Support quality varies by site.

Share

Related pages

More on OpenClinica

More on REDCap

Keep looking

Other head to heads