Themescape and NVivo

Works alongside. Many researchers code in NVivo; Themescape is where the coded themes become a map you can refine and present. Every statement about NVivo on this page cites Lumivero's own published material, with the date it was checked.

Try the live demoHow the data comes across

In brief

  • NVivo is forQualitative data analysis of interviews, open-ended surveys, documents and multimedia data
  • Themescape is forSeeing, refining and presenting themes once the coding is done
  • How data movesA REFI-QDA project exported from NVivo, imported in your browser. The NVivo project is not changed.
  • RelationshipWorks alongside

NVivo Desktop is Lumivero's qualitative data analysis software, installed on Windows or Mac, where researchers code interviews, surveys, documents and multimedia and explore that coding with queries and visualisations. Themescape displays and refines coding you have already done, as a map of themes, codes and quotes that you can read in three views and present. A project moves from NVivo to Themescape through a REFI-QDA export, which Themescape imports in the browser without changing the NVivo project. Many researchers will keep coding in one and present from the other.

What NVivo is built for

Bringing interviews, surveys, documents, audio and video into one project, building and refining a coding framework, comparing participants through cases and attributes, and exploring patterns with queries, matrices and visualisations, on your own computer or with a team through Collaboration Cloud or Collaboration Server.

What Themescape is built for

Seeing the whole analysis as one map, reading each theme against its definition and quotes, recording how themes relate, presenting to a supervisor or a room, and building figures, all in the browser with research data read on your own computer.

Who should use which

If you are coding transcripts line by line, keep coding where you code. When you are ready to see, refine and present your themes, import the project into Themescape. Themescape replaces none of your coding software.

Built for different jobs

What each tool is for, in plain terms. Statements about NVivo are taken from Lumivero's published material and dated in the sources below.

What NVivo is built for

  • Reading and codingGather documents, transcripts, surveys, audio and video in one project, then build and refine a coding framework across them.
  • Memos and queriesAdd memos and annotations as the analysis develops, and run queries and matrices to explore patterns and relationships in the coding.
  • Larger projectsOrganise many sources in one project and share it with a team through Collaboration Cloud or Collaboration Server. A coding comparison query checks agreement between coders.
  • Where the project livesEach project is a file saved on your computer, as .nvp on Windows or .nvpx on Mac. Teams can instead hold a project on a Collaboration Server or sync it through the Collaboration Cloud add-on.

What Themescape is built for

  • Seeing the whole analysisThemes, codes and quotes as one map, in a node network, a hierarchy or a file tree.
  • Reading the evidenceSelect any theme or code to read its working definition, its participants and its quotes.
  • Refining definitions and quotesRewrite working definitions, star favourite quotes and record connections in Work mode.
  • Presenting and figuresPresent mode for a supervision or a room, and finished figures from Build mode, in beta.
  • Read locallyTranscripts and quotes are read locally and never leave the machine.

Using NVivo and Themescape together

Code in NVivo as you do now. When you are ready to see the themes, export the project in the REFI-QDA format and choose Import from your coding software, then the NVivo tab, on the viewer's Start a project screen. Top level codes become themes, coded text becomes quotes, cases become participants and code descriptions become working definitions. Your NVivo project is not changed, and the refined definitions, favourites and connections can be saved back to the template's files.

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The detail

The feature table, with a source and date for every statement about the other tool.

On this page
  1. Feature by feature
  2. Sources
  3. Limits of this comparison

Feature by feature

Each statement about NVivo is taken from Lumivero's own published material and carries a number that points to its source and the date it was checked.

FeatureNVivoThemescape
What it doesQualitative data analysis software where researchers code their data and explore it with queries and visualisations 2Shows coded data as a map of themes, codes and quotes, to refine and present
Where research data is readIn the NVivo application on your own computer, from a project file you save. Projects shared through Collaboration Cloud also sync to Lumivero's cloud 5In your browser, on your own computer. Themescape keeps no copy
What goes inDocuments, PDFs, surveys, audio, video and pictures, including web pages and social media captured with NCapture 4The Themescape spreadsheet template as CSV files, or a REFI-QDA project from NVivo, MAXQDA or ATLAS.ti
What comes outExports to Word, PDF, Excel, text and web formats, a codebook for Word, Excel or other QDA software, reports, and visualisations as images 9Progress files in the template's format, definitions for Word, and figures as PNG, JPG or vector PDF
Working togetherExports a REFI-QDA project as one QDPX file holding data files, codes, cases, coding and memos; queries, maps and some other items are left out 8Import from your coding software reads the export; the NVivo project is not changed
AI in the analysisThe NVivo 15 help documents optional AI Assistant features, which administrators can turn off. Lumivero's shop says NVivo Desktop does not include AI Assistant 12None. Themescape displays your own coding and suggests nothing
PricingAnnual subscription or one-time perpetual licence, priced for researchers, students, commercial, government and non-profit buyers on Lumivero's shop. Collaboration Cloud and transcription are add-ons 3From NZ$99 a month billed yearly on the Student plan, GST included

Sources

Every statement about NVivo above points to one of these. The date is when we last checked it; if Lumivero changes the page, we update the line and the date.

  1. 1Lumivero, NVivo AI Cloud product page (a separate product from NVivo Desktop)https://lumivero.com/products/nvivo/Checked 25 October 2026
  2. 2Lumivero, NVivo Desktop product pagehttps://lumivero.com/products/nvivo-desktop/Checked 25 October 2026
  3. 3Lumivero Shop, Buy NVivo software: licences, pricing and FAQhttps://shop.lumivero.com/qda-and-research/nvivoChecked 25 October 2026
  4. 4NVivo 15 for Windows help, Files (file types)https://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/files/files.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  5. 5NVivo 15 for Windows help, Create a new projecthttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/projects-teamwork/create-a-new-project.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  6. 6NVivo 15 for Mac help, Create a new projecthttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/mac/Content/projects-teamwork/create-a-new-project.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  7. 7NVivo 15 for Windows help, Collaboration Cloud with NVivo 15https://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/projects-teamwork/nvivo15-collaboration.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  8. 8NVivo 15 for Windows help, REFI-QDA Standardhttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/projects-teamwork/refi-qda%20standard.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  9. 9NVivo 15 for Windows help, Export files or memoshttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/files/export-files.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  10. 10NVivo 15 for Windows help, Export codes (including the codebook)https://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/nodes/export-nodes.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  11. 11NVivo 15 for Windows help, Visualizationshttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/vizualizations/visualizations.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  12. 12NVivo 15 for Windows help, AI Assistanthttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/ai/ai-assistant.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  13. 13NVivo 15 for Windows help, Querieshttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/queries/queries.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  14. 14NVivo 15 for Windows help, What's new (latest entry NVivo 15.6.1, October 2026)https://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/about-nvivo/whats-new.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  15. 15NVivo 15 for Windows help, AI Assistant Subscriptionhttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/ai/ai-quota.htmChecked 25 October 2026
  16. 16NVivo 15 for Windows help, Reportshttps://help-nv.qsrinternational.com/15/win/Content/projects-teamwork/reports-extracts.htmChecked 25 October 2026

Limits of this comparison

This page describes NVivo only as far as Lumivero's published material allows, and does not rate one tool against the other. Features change; if something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. NVivo is a trade mark of its owner, and Themescape is not affiliated with Lumivero.

How each handles your data

Themescape reads your files in the browser on your own computer, and Themescape never receives them. Importing an NVivo project happens in the browser too. NVivo Desktop saves each project as a file on your computer, and on Windows a project kept on a network drive is worked on as a local copy. With the optional Collaboration Cloud add-on, the project is uploaded to Lumivero's cloud, held in a regional data centre and synced to each team member's computer. When the AI Assistant features described in the NVivo 15 help are used, the selected content is sent to OpenAI for processing, and Lumivero states it is deleted once each request is complete.

  • Read locally

    Transcripts and quotes are read locally and never leave the machine.

  • Nothing to submit

    No file submission or permanent storage is required.

  • Quotes untouched

    Verbatim quotes are never altered, with a separate refined column for presentation wording.

  • Sheets is opt in

    The Google Sheets mode is opt in, for non-sensitive data only.

Read the data pledge
Your file. Your browser. Your screen. Nothing travels to Themescape.

Questions about NVivo and Themescape

See all questions

Do I still need my coding software?

Yes, if you use one. Themescape works alongside coding software such as NVivo, MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti and replaces none of it. Keep coding where you code, then bring the result in through the spreadsheet template or Import from your coding software, which changes nothing in your project.

What comes across from NVivo?

Top level codes become themes, and the codes beneath them become codes and sub-codes; deeper levels are folded into the sub-code. Coded text from text documents comes across as quotes, participants come from NVivo cases, and code descriptions become working definitions. Coding on PDFs, images, audio and video is counted in the import report and left out, and connections between codes do not come across, so add them in Work mode.

Does Themescape change my NVivo file?

No. Import from your coding software reads the project file NVivo exports in the REFI-QDA format and writes the Themescape template files from it, with a short import report. Your NVivo project is not changed, and the import happens in your browser.

Does my data leave my computer?

No. When you load CSV files or import a project from your coding software, your browser reads them on your own computer and nothing is sent to Themescape. Transcripts and quotes are read locally and never leave the machine. No file submission or permanent storage is required. The one exception is a choice you make yourself, connecting a Google Sheet: The Google Sheets mode is opt in, for non-sensitive data only.

Can I use an export from other coding software?

Yes. Projects exported in the REFI-QDA format from NVivo, MAXQDA and ATLAS.ti come in through Import from your coding software. If you use other software that can export coded segments to a spreadsheet, you can arrange them in the template's columns instead: one row per coded quote, with its theme and usually a code.

See your own themes come to life

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