Comparison
Recense vs AddMaple
Recense and AddMaple share the right instincts — local-first, self-serve, transparent. Recense goes further on analytical depth (Rust/WASM engine, weighting, derived variables) and on AI (full surface parity, BYOK). AddMaple wins on auto-dashboard polish for stakeholder hand-off. Point by point below.
What we agree on
- Local-first computation. Tabulation and analysis run in the browser, not on a server.
- Self-serve onboarding. Drop a file in and start working. No demo call required.
- Transparent pricing. Tiers are public.
- SPSS .sav as a primary input. Same starting point.
What changes
- Rust and WebAssembly under the hood. AddMaple uses JavaScript and Web Workers. Recense compiles a Rust engine to WebAssembly, which holds up at scale where JS hits ceilings — large datasets, heavy weighted tabulations, complex derived variables. On the same 20-million-data-point Afrobarometer dataset AddMaple highlights, every Recense crosstab returns in under a second — not just the first dashboard view.
- Analysis-first, not dashboard-first. AddMaple's defining UX is auto-generated dashboards on import. Recense is built around the analyst's working canvas — tables you build, derive, and iterate on, with narrative alongside.
- Deeper statistical surface. Recense ships a fuller tabulation engine: weighting (including RIM), pairwise sig testing with effective N, derived variables as first-class objects, and formula cells. The roadmap includes conjoint, MaxDiff, and segmentation.
- AI provider choice. AddMaple's AI text analysis sends data to OpenAI by default. Recense uses BYOK — connect your own key to your chosen provider, and the conversation goes from your browser to the provider directly. Recense never sees it.
- Agent surface parity. Recense's agents operate the canvas surfaces a human does — they build tables, derive variables, write narrative, and the result is a real, editable artifact. AddMaple's AI is closer to a research assistant overlay on auto-generated outputs.
- Population-level synthetic data. Recense includes a synthetic-microdata path for population simulation with honest uncertainty — out of scope for AddMaple today.
Where AddMaple may fit better
If your job is to ingest a survey and generate a polished stakeholder dashboard with minimal setup, AddMaple's auto- dashboard UX is excellent at that. Recense is built for researchers who want to direct the analysis, not consume an auto-generated one.
Cost
Both products have free tiers and self-serve subscriptions. See the Recense pricing page for the current tiers.
Try Recense on the same .sav
The fastest way to compare local-first tools is to run the same file through both.