NVivo vs. Excel and Google Sheets: Which is better for qualitative analysis?

Qualitative researchers might look to using spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to organize and review their data. And why not? They’re on most computers these days, they’re easy to use, and they accomplish all sorts of tasks in and out of research.

But when it comes to qualitative research, you need tools designed to support the kinds of analyses you’re conducting. Excel and Google Sheets have limits when it comes to coding, analysis, and visualization. NVivo, on the other hand, is purpose-built for qualitative analysis, offering tools to manage, code, and interpret complex datasets efficiently.

This article compares NVivo with Excel and Google Sheets for qualitative research, breaking down differences in data organization, analysis features, and ease of use so you can decide which tool best supports your research process and the level of depth your study requires.

What is NVivo?

Built specifically for qualitative research, NVivo is a qualitative data analysis software, part of Lumivero’s research software portfolio.

Instead of forcing rich, messy data into rows and columns, NVivo is designed to work the way qualitative researchers think. It gives you a structured yet flexible space to explore interviews, focus groups, open-ended survey responses, field notes, audio, video, and even social media data, all in one place. Researchers can create codes to categorize content and identify themes, patterns, and relationships across their data sources.

At its core, NVivo helps you make sense of data complexity. You can code data as ideas emerge, revisit and refine themes as your thinking evolves, and explore connections across sources without losing context. Whether you’re working inductively or deductively, NVivo supports the iterative nature of qualitative analysis rather than getting in the way of it.

What really sets NVivo apart is how easily it moves you from close reading to deeper insight. Powerful search and query tools let you surface patterns in language, compare themes across groups, and examine sentiment or frequency. Visual tools—like charts, maps, and word clouds—make it easier to see relationships and communicate findings clearly, both to yourself and to others.

NVivo also scales with your research. It’s well suited for large, complex projects and team-based work, with collaboration features that allow users to securely connect to the same project to code and analyze data in real-time. And because it integrates smoothly with tools researchers already use—such as Word, Excel, and survey platforms like Qualtrics—it fits naturally into existing workflows.

For researchers who need depth, rigor, and flexibility, NVivo isn’t just a place to store data. It’s a purpose-built environment for turning qualitative evidence into meaningful, defensible insights—something general-purpose tools like spreadsheets simply weren’t designed to do.

Can Excel or Google Sheets be used for qualitative data analysis?

Excel and Google Sheets can support basic qualitative data tasks such as organizing survey data, categorizing responses, and tracking themes manually. Researchers can create columns for codes, comments, and data segments, making it possible to conduct simple content analysis or categorize responses from open-ended survey questions. Conditional formatting, filters, and formulas can also help identify frequently used terms or sort data by topic.

However, these tools have significant limitations for qualitative research. They do not support hierarchical coding, memo linking, or visual mapping of relationships between themes. Analyzing large or complex datasets becomes cumbersome because spreadsheet programs are designed for structured numerical data, not text-based analysis. Tracking coding decisions, merging datasets, and ensuring inter-coder reliability are also difficult without specialized functions.

While Google Sheets enables real-time collaboration, its capabilities for text analysis remain limited compared to dedicated qualitative software. Researchers who only need to categorize short responses or manage small datasets may find an Excel spreadsheet sufficient, but those working with interviews, focus groups, or extensive qualitative materials will likely find them restrictive. NVivo provides a more integrated environment for qualitative data management and deeper analysis than spreadsheet tools can offer.

NVivo vs. Excel and Google Sheets: Feature-by-feature comparison

Comparing NVivo with Excel and Google Sheets highlights how specialized qualitative analysis software differs from general-purpose spreadsheet tools. While all three can help organize data, they vary in how effectively they support coding, analysis, visualization, and collaboration. The following sections examine their capabilities across several areas commonly involved in qualitative research.

Data handling and supported formats

NVivo is built for managing complex qualitative datasets that include a mix of text, images, audio, video, and PDFs. It can import data from Microsoft Word, Excel, survey tools such as Qualtrics, and reference managers like Zotero and EndNote. Once imported, NVivo organizes materials within a project workspace where sources can be categorized and sorted by type, participant, or theme. This structure allows researchers to navigate large datasets efficiently and maintain consistency across media formats.

Excel and Google Sheets are designed for numerical data, making them less effective for unstructured text. They can store interview transcripts or survey responses in rows and columns, but managing long documents or multiple data types is difficult. Multimedia files cannot be imported directly, and large text entries can make spreadsheets slow to load. While Google Sheets offers easy cloud access, its file compatibility remains limited to spreadsheet formats. NVivo’s built-in organization tools and data compatibility make it more suitable for qualitative researchers handling varied data sources.

Organizing and coding qualitative data

NVivo allows researchers to code qualitative data by marking relevant segments of text, audio, or images and assigning them to thematic categories, called codes. These codes can be arranged hierarchically, helping researchers capture both broad themes and specific subtopics. Coding can be adjusted as themes evolve, and the software automatically records where and how each code is used. Researchers can add memos or annotations to maintain an audit trail and support reflexivity, aligning with established best qualitative coding best practices used in NVivo.

Excel and Google Sheets can mimic coding by using color-coding or additional columns for themes, but these methods quickly become unwieldy. Hierarchical coding is not possible, and manually managing data across sheets increases the likelihood of errors. There is no straightforward way to link comments or reflections to specific data segments. NVivo’s coding tools reduce manual effort and make it easier to trace analytical decisions back to the original material.

Analytical tools and querying data

NVivo includes a wide range of tools for exploring patterns within data. Text search and word frequency queries help identify common language or recurring ideas, while matrix coding queries allow users to examine how themes intersect across participant groups or attributes. Researchers can test relationships between variables and themes or compare patterns by demographic categories such as age or region. These queries generate detailed tables and visual summaries that connect directly to coded data.

NVivo also supports integration with quantitative tools by exporting coded data into numerical summaries. These summaries can be imported into XLSTAT, SPSS, R, or Excel for mixed methods analysis. Such integration bridges qualitative interpretation with statistical modeling, expanding the analytical scope of a study.

Excel and Google Sheets have search and count functions that can locate words or phrases, but these are limited in scope. More complex pattern analysis requires custom formulas or macros. While pivot tables can summarize coded data if entered numerically, spreadsheets lack the ability to link text with thematic categories or visualize relationships dynamically. NVivo’s query system is designed for interpretation, not just data management.

Visualizing and reporting

NVivo provides visualization tools to help researchers interpret and present their findings. Word clouds show frequently used terms, while cluster analysis and tree maps illustrate connections between themes and sources. Hierarchical charts and coding stripes make it easier to see how often a theme appears and where it occurs. Concept maps and mind maps allow researchers to visually explore ideas during early stages of analysis, encouraging iterative thinking and refinement of categories.

These visualizations are interactive and directly connected to coded material. Clicking on a theme within a map or chart brings up the underlying data, maintaining transparency between evidence and interpretation. Reports can be generated automatically to summarize coding activity, case data, or thematic relationships.

Excel and Google Sheets can create charts and graphs, but their visualizations are static and better suited for quantitative summaries. While it is possible to produce word frequency charts using formulas, the process is manual and does not connect visual outputs to the underlying text. NVivo’s visualization tools streamline interpretation and communication of qualitative findings.

Collaboration and sharing

NVivo supports collaborative qualitative research through NVivo Collaboration Cloud and Server, which enables multiple users to contribute to a shared project. Each team member can code independently, and their work can later be merged into a single master file. The software tracks contributions and provides tools for checking coding consistency across users, helping teams maintain methodological rigor and transparency in multi-researcher projects.

In addition, NVivo offers export options for sharing results with collaborators who do not use the software. Coded reports and visual summaries can be exported to Word, Excel, or PDF for wider dissemination.

Google Sheets is strong in real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to view and edit data simultaneously. Edits are saved automatically, and the version history provides a clear record of changes. However, because Sheets lacks coding and query tools, collaboration focuses on organization rather than analysis. Excel supports shared access through Microsoft 365, but version control can be more challenging. NVivo offers a more structured framework for team-based qualitative work, while spreadsheets are more practical for lightweight coordination or shared data entry.

Ease of use and learning curve

Excel and Google Sheets are widely used, and most researchers already know the basics of entering, sorting, and filtering data. These programs are simple to learn but limited in their analytical potential for qualitative research. Turning them into coding tools requires custom formatting, color schemes, and data organization systems, which can become inefficient with larger datasets.

NVivo’s interface is more specialized and requires initial training. Users need to understand its core concepts such as nodes, queries, and cases before they can use it effectively. Once learned, however, NVivo provides a structured environment that reduces manual workload and enhances the traceability of analytical steps. Training resources, tutorials, webinars, and community support help new users become comfortable with the software.

The choice between simplicity and depth depends on project scope. Spreadsheets are suitable for smaller or exploratory projects, while NVivo supports more complex studies that require systematic coding and analysis.

Cost and accessibility

NVivo is a paid software package with several licensing options. Individual, student, and institutional licenses are available, and many universities include NVivo access through site licenses. Cloud collaboration features and storage are part of separate subscription plans. Although the cost may be a consideration for independent researchers, the software’s efficiency and analytical depth can offset the expense in larger projects.

Excel and Google Sheets are more accessible financially. Excel is included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions, which many organizations already use, and Google Sheets is free for anyone with a Google account. Both tools are available on multiple platforms, including desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. They also integrate well with other productivity tools such as Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace.

For researchers who conduct frequent qualitative projects or handle large datasets, NVivo’s cost may be justified by the time saved and the precision gained in analysis. For smaller projects or those with limited budgets, Excel or Google Sheets can still serve as practical tools for organization and preliminary exploration.

NVivo vs. Excel and Google Sheets: Which should you use?

Choosing between NVivo, Excel, and Google Sheets depends on the type of qualitative data you are working with, the level of analytical depth you need, and the resources available for your project.

If your study involves complex data such as interview transcripts, focus group recordings, or open-ended survey responses, NVivo is the more effective choice. It provides structured tools for coding, querying, and visualizing text, allowing researchers to identify relationships and patterns that would be difficult to detect manually. NVivo’s hierarchical coding, query options, and visualization tools also make it easier to manage large datasets systematically and maintain transparency in how themes are developed.

Excel and Google Sheets, in contrast, are better suited for small-scale or exploratory projects. They can handle simple categorization or basic content analysis, such as tracking recurring terms or sorting short responses. Because they are widely available and easy to learn, they are useful for projects with limited budgets or when the goal is to organize rather than analyze qualitative data in depth.

Researchers who need real-time collaboration may prefer Google Sheets for its simplicity and accessibility, while NVivo’s Collaboration Cloud supports larger research teams that require version control and coding comparison. Cost can also be a deciding factor, as spreadsheet tools are free or low-cost, whereas NVivo requires a paid license.

Ultimately, NVivo is designed for qualitative research and offers advanced analytical functionality that spreadsheets cannot match. Excel and Google Sheets provide flexibility and accessibility but are limited to surface-level text management. The right choice depends on the size of your dataset, your analysis goals, and how much structure and depth your research requires.

Start your next research project with NVivo

If you are ready to take your qualitative analysis beyond spreadsheets, NVivo offers the best qualitative data analysis tool to organize, code, and interpret data with precision.

Manage diverse sources, visualize relationships, and collaborate efficiently with your research team with one computer software program. Explore the rest of Lumivero’s research software or buy NVivo now to get started today.