CATMA
CATMA: A free, open-source workspace for collaborative corpus annotation and humanities research. Ranked #30 of 37 in Text Analytics Software by our editors (6.3/10); pricing: Free plan; best for free collaborative corpus annotation and analysis.
At a glance
- Editor score6.3 / 10
- PricingFree plan
- Best forFree collaborative corpus annotation and analysis
- Free planYes
- Paid fromFree
- Facts checked20 Sep 2026
Where it wins
- Custom tagsets support qualitative and quantitative text annotation.
- Queries, visualizations and exports support varied corpus workflows.
- Free, open-source deployment spans web, desktop and private networks.
Where it doesn't
- No documented sentiment, entity extraction, intent detection or topic modeling.
- The JSON API is read-only.
- Standalone deployment requires local or private-network administration.
Our verdict on CATMA
CATMA is a free, open-source application for annotating, analyzing, interpreting and visualizing texts. Its primary audience is humanities researchers, including those working in literary analysis, as well as individuals and teams managing qualitative or quantitative corpus workflows. Users can upload corpora, create custom tagsets, apply annotations, run queries, and inspect text through word clouds, distribution visualizations and DoubleTree views. Project and corpus management, sharing and export support collaborative research work.
The published offering is free rather than divided into paid tiers, so there is no plan-by-plan upgrade path to compare. Its feature set covers core corpus work: a query builder and query language, wordlists, text analysis functions, TEI-XML export and project data export. CATMA also provides a standalone deployment for local machines or private networks, giving teams an option beyond the browser-based application. That breadth suits projects that need annotation and interpretation in one environment, though it is less appropriate for buyers seeking packaged commercial tiers or documented advanced NLP functions such as sentiment analysis, entity extraction, intent detection or topic modeling.
Platform coverage is broad, with web, Windows, macOS, Linux, API and self-hosted options. Ecosystem connections include a JSON API, Git access and the GitMA Python package. The API is read-only, while collaborative project sharing and Git-related access support teams that need to manage or exchange research materials across tools. Choose CATMA for free, customizable corpus annotation with visual analysis and flexible deployment. Choose an alternative if automated NLP detection, managed commercial support or a more narrowly packaged analytics workflow is the priority.
Questions about CATMA
What does CATMA run on? Web, Windows, macOS and Linux. It runs in the cloud and self-hosted.
What does CATMA integrate with? 3 integrations: JSON API, Git access and GitMA Python package.
Who is CATMA built for? Solo users, small businesses and mid-market companies (our editorial estimate).
Your product? Our editors can test CATMA in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →
CATMA pricing
CATMA fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | Free |
| Sentiment analysis | Not verified |
| Entity extraction | Not verified |
| Intent detection | Not verified |
| Topic analysis | Not verified |
| Analysis sources | Documents |
| Supported languages | Not verified |
| Deployment options | Hybrid |
| Deployment | Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Compliance & security | GDPR |
| Support | Email, Docs |
| Built for | Solo, Small business, Mid-market (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 3 integrations: JSON API, Git access, GitMA Python package |
| Pricing | Free plan |
| Website | catma.de |
| Facts checked | 20 Sep 2026 |
CATMA integrations
CATMA lists 3 integrations on its own site.
- JSON API
- Git access
- GitMA Python package
Alternatives to CATMA
- Brandwatch Consumer IntelligenceA broad conversation-analysis suite for organizations that need social and public-web insight.9.4
- spaCyA free developer toolkit for building and deploying custom NLP pipelines.9.2
- MAXQDAA broad desktop toolkit for research teams combining qualitative, text and statistical analysis.9.0
Also Ranked In
CATMA is ranked in 3 of our directories.
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Nov 2026
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