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    Comparison

    Survey Coder vs Qualtrics Text iQ

    Text iQ is Qualtrics' text analysis tool: it assigns topics to responses, analyzes sentiment and shows results in its dashboards. It works inside a Qualtrics project, imported data included. Survey Coder is a separate tool, built only to code open ends and return them to your file.

    Where they are alike

    • Both assign topics or codes to open-ended responses, and the analyst can add or remove them by hand.
    • Both let you take results into SPSS.
    • Both let you reuse a topic frame in other surveys.

    Where they differ

    Built for
    Survey CoderOpen-ended survey responses: NPS, satisfaction, concept tests, trackers.
    Qualtrics Text iQText analysis inside the Qualtrics platform, on surveys run in Qualtrics or data imported into a project.
    How it uses AI
    Survey CoderBuilds the codebook from your responses, or applies the one you already use, and codes every response.
    Qualtrics Text iQKeyword-query topics, manual tagging and, in its Advanced version, recommended topics once there are 500 comments without topics in a single language. It also analyzes sentiment.
    What you take away
    Survey CoderThe codes as columns attached to each respondent, in your .sav or an Excel file; from a .sav, also the tab book with banner and significance.
    Qualtrics Text iQTopics and sentiment are included in response exports, which Qualtrics offers in formats such as CSV or SPSS, plus charts in Text iQ's own widgets (Advanced version).
    Waves of an ongoing program
    Survey CoderThe next wave inherits the same codebook automatically, so the trend is comparable.
    Qualtrics Text iQTopics can be exported and imported between surveys, and a brand can share a topic model.
    How you pay
    Survey CoderPer coded response, one-time purchase. Credits never expire.
    Qualtrics Text iQPart of Qualtrics licenses, with Basic and Advanced versions. The Strategic Research plan, which includes Text iQ, has a published price; the rest are on request.

    What we say about Qualtrics Text iQ comes from its website and support site, as of September 23, 2026.

    When Text iQ is the better fit

    If your team already works in Qualtrics and has Text iQ in its license, analyzing text without leaving the platform — with its dashboards and sentiment analysis — is the most direct path. Survey Coder makes sense when your surveys come from several tools, or when you need the codes attached to each respondent and, from a .sav, the tab book.

    When Survey Coder is the better fit

    If your work is a survey program — a monthly NPS, a brand tracker, concept tests — and the codes need to come back into your data as variables and end up in tables, wave after wave with the same codebook. That is what it is built for: AI does the first pass and your team puts its judgement where it's actually needed.

    What one company found when it compared

    A services company compared our coding of its NPS with its own, across every response. They agreed on around 96% — and when it reviewed the differences, it found several came from errors in its own coding.

    A typical study of 5,000 to 8,000 comments is coded in under an hour.

    Five questions that decide it

    You do not need to believe either page. These questions decide it, and they apply to any vendor — including us.

    1. 1

      Does your Qualtrics license include Text iQ, and which version?

      Recommended topics and sentiment are part of the Advanced version. Its 30-day Strategic Research trial includes advanced text, sentiment and topic analysis.

    2. 2

      Are all your surveys in Qualtrics?

      Text iQ works inside a Qualtrics project, and you can import data from other tools. If you work across several platforms, ask how the workflow looks.

    3. 3

      Do you measure in waves and need the same codebook in all of them?

      Ask to see how the codebook carries from one wave to the next, on your own data.

    4. 4

      Where is your data processed?

      Qualtrics says some AI features use AWS, Microsoft Azure and OpenAI with zero retention and no training on your data, and that it trains its own models on anonymized, aggregated customer data. Survey Coder uses Claude models, by Anthropic. Always ask.

    5. 5

      Do you pay a subscription or for what you code?

      With occasional studies or uneven volume, the pricing model changes the real cost a lot.

    Try it on your own comments

    250 responses free, no card. Upload a spreadsheet from your last NPS and compare the result with what you have today.

    Try it freeRequest a pilot

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