Comparison

NASA TLX vs Rayyan

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

NASA TLX

This app provides a digital tool for researchers to measure subjective workload across various industries. It utilizes a multi-dimensional rating procedure based on six sub-scales to derive an overall workload score. Designed for flexibility, it allows for mobile and contextual assessments, ensuring data privacy and offline usability.

Highlights
  • Subjective workload measurement
  • Six sub-scale rating procedure
  • Anonymized data collection
  • Offline assessment capability
  • QR code study setup
  • Location flexibility
Features
Read full description

The Official NASA Task Load Index (TLX) App, widely regarded as the gold standard for measuring subjective workload across a wide range of industries, enables researchers to easily perform assessments on operators working with various human-machine interface systems. By incorporating a multi-dimensional rating procedure, the NASA TLX derives an overall workload score based on a weighted average of ratings on six sub scales: ∙ Mental Demand ∙ Physical Demand ∙ Temporal Demand ∙ Performance ∙ Effort ∙ Frustration Originally developed as a paper and pencil questionnaire by NASA Ames Research Center’s (ARC) Sandra Hart in the 1980s, the NASA TLX is the benchmark against which the efficacy of other measures, theories, or models are judged. The NASA TLX has been successfully used around the world to assess workload in various environments such as aircraft cockpits; command, control, and communication (C3) workstations; supervisory and process control; and simulations and laboratory tests. The NASA TLX app for iOS dramatically increases the outreach and accessibility for the research and development community, and enables mobile and contextual assessments (e.g., in an airplane cockpit during/after flight, rather than at a desktop computer in a lab). It offers several key features that benefits both researchers and participants: Privacy The NASA TLX has been designed to ensure the privacy of research participant data. The NASA TLX anonymizes all results and does not send any personal identifiable information (PII) to any data servers. Location Flexibility The NASA TLX app can be used anywhere, even without a network connection, so researchers can have participants complete a NASA TLX evaluation in the field, outside the confines of a desktop office environment. The NASA TLX results are calculated on the device, and, once a network connection is available, collected data can be securely uploaded to servers for analysis. This frees researchers from being burdened by the task of tracking individual paper forms. Simple Study Setup Researchers can set up studies quickly and reduce typing on the NASA TLX app by scanning a pre-generated QR code from within the app, which automatically populates the study name, subject ID, and trial number in the app.

About

Rayyan

This app streamlines systematic literature reviews for researchers, enabling quick article screening and decision-making on mobile devices. It supports offline work and real-time collaboration, significantly reducing review time.

Highlights
  • Offline article screening
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Quick inclusion decisions
  • Reference labeling
  • Article filtering
  • Configurable settings
Features
Read full description

The Most Advanced Systematic Literature Review App If you conduct research, Rayyan is the app for you. It accelerates systematic literature reviews in support of all types of evidence-based research. Developed by researchers, for researchers, Rayyan offers a quick and easy way to screen articles on the go, and it even works offline! Key Features: - Work online for real-time collaboration. - Download your reviews to work on the go or offline. - Swipe left or right to make inclusion decisions quickly. - Label references by selecting or adding labels. - Filter references with the touch of a button. - Configure and save your settings to work however you like. Save Your Valuable Time, Reduce Your Frustration, and Increase Your Productivity Rayyan is designed to guide you through article screening by enabling quick decisions and label applications on each article. You won’t believe how easy it is to use! Researchers report reducing the time spent on their reviews by 50%-80% or more using Rayyan. Enjoying real-time collaboration with fellow researchers has never been easier. Rayyan records every decision for you. The app even functions when you’re offline, so you can always rely on Rayyan to make the most of your valuable time. We welcome your feedback about the app. You can contact us anytime via email at support@rayyan.ai or on Twitter @rayyanapp. Terms of Use: https://www.rayyan.ai/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://www.rayyan.ai/privacy_policy/

Screenshots

NASA TLX4 screens
Rayyan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NASA TLX at none against Rayyan's 10. NASA TLX also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.1). Rayyan's advantage is review sentiment (37% vs 11%) and rating (3.9 vs 3.5). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Rayyan sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. NASA TLX asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Rayyan holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 25 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 11% of NASA TLX's written reviews are positive against 37% of Rayyan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

NASA TLX ships an update every 3 months, Rayyan every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
NASA TLX versus Rayyan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNASA TLXRayyan
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (11 ratings)3.9 (25 ratings) — better
Positive reviews11.1% of reviews37.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1125 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB36 MB
Age rating4++17
DeveloperNASARayyan Systems, Inc.

Customer experience

NASA TLX

All ratings11 ratings
Positive63.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative36.4%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive11.1%
Neutral11.1%
Negative77.8%

Rayyan

All ratings25 ratings
Positive76.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative24.0%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive37.1%
Neutral14.3%
Negative48.6%

In-app purchases

None

NASA TLX

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Rayyan

Subscriptions10
  • Student Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Professional Monthly$14.991 Month
  • Student Quarterly$24.993 Months
Show 7 more
  • Essential Quarterly$24.993 Months
  • Professional Quarterly$39.993 Months
  • Advanced Quarterly$39.993 Months
  • Student Annual$59.991 Year
  • Essential Annual$59.991 Year
  • Professional Annual$99.991 Year
  • Advanced Annual$99.991 Year

Questions

Is NASA TLX free?
NASA TLX is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Rayyan free?
Rayyan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, NASA TLX or Rayyan?
Rayyan is rated higher. NASA TLX averages 3.5 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Rayyan averages 3.9 from 25 ratings.
Do NASA TLX or Rayyan have ads?
Neither NASA TLX nor Rayyan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, NASA TLX or Rayyan?
NASA TLX ships an update every 3 months, and Rayyan every 5 weeks. Most recently, NASA TLX was updated on November 2, 2026 and Rayyan on November 7, 2026.

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