Comparison of behavioral experiment software
Behavior experiment software is used in cognitive science, in particular experimental psychology to carry out experiments. Typically, this type of software can at least present stimuli and record data from devices that can measure manual (or other) responses. There is a considerable variety of commercial and open source software available. The journal Behavior Research Methods frequently publishes articles about this type of software, and many of the developers meet at the annual meeting of the Society for Computers in Psychology.
These packages below differ in various aspects (as listed in the table below). Some software is proprietary, and some is available as free software. Some packages have a graphical user interface. Some packages have a scripting language, some don't need one. Some offer a software library with functions of interest to experimental psychology for a programming language.
| Name | Operating System | License type | GUI | Scripting language | Library |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cogent for MATLAB | Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | Yes | MATLAB |
| DirectRT | Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | No |
| DMDX and Visual DMDX | Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | Yes | No |
| E-Prime | Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | No |
| EventIDE | Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | No |
| Experimental Run-Time System | Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Unknown | Yes | No |
| Expo | Mac | Unknown | Yes | Yes | No |
| Expyriment | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | Yes | Python |
| Inquisit | Mac Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | No |
| jsPsych | Web-based | Free Software | Yes | Yes | JavaScript |
| OpenSesame | Microsoft Windows Linux | Free Software | Yes | Yes | Python |
| Paradigm | Microsoft Windows iOS | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | Python |
| PEBL | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | Yes | No |
| Presentation | Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | Python |
| PsychoPy | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | Yes | Yes | Python |
| Psykinematix | Mac | Proprietary Software | Yes | No | No |
| PsyScope X | Mac | Free Software | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| PsyToolkit | Linux | Free Software | No | Yes | C |
| PsychJava | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | Yes | Java |
| Psychtoolbox for MATLAB | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | Yes | MATLAB |
| PyEPL | Linux Mac | Free Software | No | Yes | Python |
| QRTEngine | Web-based | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | JavaScript |
| SoPHIE | Web-based | Free Software | Yes | Yes | PHP |
| SPIC Software | Microsoft Windows | Free Software | Yes | Yes | No |
| Superlab | Mac Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tatool Java | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | Yes | Yes | Java |
| Tatool Web | Web-based | Free Software | Yes | Yes | JavaScript |
| Tscope | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | No | C/C++ |
| Vision egg | Linux Mac Microsoft Windows | Free Software | No | Yes | Python |
| Visual DMDX is a GUI to DMDX | Microsoft Windows Web-based | Free Software | Yes | Yes | Open-source software |
| Webexp2 | Web-based | Free Software | Yes | Yes | Java |
| WEXTOR | Web-based | Free Software | Yes | N/A | HTML |
| z-Tree | Microsoft Windows | Proprietary Software | Yes | Yes | Unknown |