Data logging software compared

Most desktop data logging software is written by a hardware vendor to sell that vendor’s hardware, which decides which devices it sees, which operating system it runs on, and whether the price is a line item or folded into a chassis. The tables compare nine loggers for bench DAQ devices. Prices are list prices at the time of writing, taken from vendor or distributor pages, and the table says so where no public price exists.

Hardware and operating systems

Pricing and file formats

NI FlexLogger

FlexLogger detects NI-DAQmx hardware, walks you through channel setup by measurement type, and logs to CSV or TDMS while you watch configurable screens. NI makes FlexLogger Lite free with no time limit and includes it with NI DAQ hardware. Professional adds math channels, event triggers, an operator mode and plug-ins written in LabVIEW or Python. NI sells it as a subscription or perpetual license, and its edition page showed no public price for Professional at the time of writing. The current release is 2026 Q3. It is the first thing to try with cDAQ or PXI hardware, and it can’t see non-NI hardware unless someone writes a plug-in.

DASYLab

DASYLab’s worksheet model, where modules for acquisition, math, control, display and storage are wired together, makes it more than a logger. The data sheet lists Lite, Basic, Full and Pro editions. Basic lifts the worksheet wire limit and allows 256 analog inputs, and Full adds the Control Sequencer. Its driver list covers a Windows bench that mixes MCC, NI and Modbus devices. Farnell UK lists Basic at £1,745 ex VAT, and Digilent offers an evaluation download.

DAQFactory

DAQFactory is sold by AzeoTech, which doesn’t make hardware. It is built around operator pages, scripted sequences and alarms, and it logs through “logging sets” to delimited ASCII, ODBC databases or binary files. Prices on AzeoTech’s store are $299 for Lite, $599 for Base and $1,199 for Pro, with a $189 runtime license for deployed systems and a $125 USB hardware key option. It needs Windows 10 or newer. LabJack and Modbus users are its core audience. AzeoTech says on its forum that its MCC and NI drivers are not kept current.

DewesoftX

DewesoftX is the software side of Dewesoft’s instruments, and the Professional license comes free with every Dewesoft DAQ system, stored on the device. DSA and Enterprise levels add signal analysis and other features. Analysis mode is free, so anyone can open recorded files. Third-party support covers vehicle buses, GPS/IMU, cameras and industrial protocols rather than other vendors’ analog DAQ cards. The export list, at more than 25 formats, is the longest here.

HBK catman

catman plays the same role for HBK’s strain, force and bridge amplifiers. The catman data sheet lists catman Easy for acquisition and visualization, catman AP adding analysis and reporting, and catman PostProcess for evaluation only. It supports QuantumX and SomatXR, MGCplus, PMX, FS22 and DMP41, plus CAN interfaces, GNSS receivers and tested camera models. Export options include TDMS, MDF 3/4 and the RPC III and nCode formats used in durability testing. HBK does not publish prices.

DAQami

MCC’s DAQami logs analog, digital and counter channels from multiple MCC devices at once and writes CSV. It is a free download for Windows, with up to 1 million samples per channel per file. Digilent’s documentation lists a few limits: no external clock mode, no annotations and no time-interval triggers. For alternatives on other platforms, see DAQami alternatives and DAQami for Mac.

LabJack LJLogM, LJStreamM and Kipling

LabJack ships two loggers with its LJM installer. LJLogM reads up to 96 channels from one T-series device in command-response mode and suits scan rates below about 100 scans per second. LJStreamM uses stream mode for faster rates. Both write tab-delimited .dat files and both are Windows only. Kipling, LabJack’s configuration and test utility, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, but it is for setup, register access, Lua scripts and firmware updates rather than logging. On a Mac, logging a T7 means writing code against LJM or using a third-party app, as covered in logging a LabJack T7 on a Mac.

Digilent WaveForms

WaveForms is the free application for Digilent’s Analog Discovery and Analog Discovery Pro instruments, and it is the only vendor logging tool here that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. Its Data Logger instrument records analog channels over long periods and exports the plotted data to CSV. Digilent notes that the analog inputs can’t be shared between instruments, so on an Analog Discovery 3 the Data Logger and the scope can’t use the same channel at once. More on that workflow in data logging with an Analog Discovery 3 on a Mac.

DAQAtlas (in development)

DAQAtlas is the app we are building, so read this entry with that in mind. It is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux that records MCC devices through uldaq, LabJack T4, T7 and T8 through LJM, Digilent instruments through the WaveForms SDK and SCPI instruments over LAN or USBTMC. NI-DAQmx hardware streams in from a Windows or Linux PC running DAQAtlas Bridge. Several devices from different vendors record into one run on one timeline, and exports go to CSV, MATLAB, TDMS, Parquet or HDF5. It is not released yet, and the beta list is open.

How to narrow the list

Start from your hardware, because that eliminates most options. All-NI benches point to FlexLogger, Dewesoft systems to DewesoftX, and HBK amplifiers to catman. MCC-only Windows setups can start with DAQami for free. Mixed Windows benches that need live processing point to DASYLab. Operator screens and Modbus point to DAQFactory. Off Windows, the choice narrows to WaveForms for Digilent devices, your own code, or a cross-platform app.

Then check the file format your analysis needs. A tool that only writes CSV is fine for a few hours of slow channels and painful for long, fast runs. The DAQ file size calculator shows where the line falls for your channel count and rate. If you receive TDMS, HDF5, Parquet or MAT files from one of these tools, the data file viewer opens them in the browser.