An EDC captures the clinical data a study collects. A CTMS (Clinical Trial Management System) manages the operational side: site contracts, budgets and payments, monitoring visit scheduling, and study-wide milestone tracking. Capture is an EDC with real operational visibility built in, like a status dashboard and by-site enrollment views, but it is not a full CTMS, and this page is honest about where that line sits.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
EDC
what Capture is: clinical data capture and cleaning
CTMS
what Capture is not: site budgets, contracts, payments
Dashboard
status overview across subjects, sites and visits, included
0
invented claim about budget or payment tracking on this page
The actual split
A CTMS runs the business of the trial: site feasibility and selection, contracts and budgets, payments, monitoring visit scheduling, and portfolio-level milestone tracking across studies. An EDC runs the data of the trial: the forms, edit checks, queries and casebook that a statistician eventually analyzes. Some CTMS platforms bolt on light data capture, and some EDCs, Capture included, bolt on light operational visibility, but the core job of each is different.
Study owner
Builds and configures the study
Principal investigator
Oversees the site, signs off the casebook
Sub-investigator
Enters and signs clinical data
Study coordinator
Screens subjects, enters visit data
Monitor (CRA)
Verifies data, raises queries
Data manager
Reviews, freezes and locks data
Participant
Completes their own questionnaires
What Capture actually gives you
A dashboard across enrollment, compliance and safety, not a separate CTMS login.
By-site filtering and exports, plus a separate site coordinator portal.
The same query list a data manager already works from, filterable by site.
Not in Capture. Use a dedicated CTMS or your CRO's systems for that.
Not in Capture, which is study-by-study, not a multi-study portfolio tool.
Before you switch
The EDC side, including the status dashboard, is free to build and test in the sandbox.
Capture's audit trail covers the data side; a CTMS still needs its own controls for budgets, contracts and payments if you use one.
The status dashboard comes with the study, no extra CTMS integration configuration.
Moving the EDC side does not require moving or replacing an existing CTMS.
Email support, typically under 24 hours, for the EDC side.
No credit card, no sales call. Keep your CTMS decision separate.
No. Capture is an EDC with real operational visibility (a status dashboard, by-site views), not a full Clinical Trial Management System. It has no module for site budgets, contracts or payments.
An EDC captures the clinical data a study collects. A CTMS manages the operational side: site contracts, budgets, payments, visit scheduling and portfolio-level tracking across studies.
For site budgets, contracts, payments and portfolio tracking across multiple studies, yes. For a single study's data and day-to-day operational visibility, Capture's dashboard and by-site views cover a lot of that on their own.
No. That belongs to a dedicated CTMS or your CRO's own systems.
A study-wide status dashboard across enrollment, compliance and safety, by-site data filtering and exports, and query aging visible to the study team.
Many small, single-study teams manage budgets and contracts outside a dedicated CTMS, using spreadsheets or their CRO's systems. Capture's built-in visibility covers the data-operations side.
Yes. The free sandbox includes every feature with sample data, no credit card required.
Keep exploring
EDC vs eTMF
The same honest-scope question, for document management.
Clinical operations software
A closer look at the cross-site status dashboard.
Multi-site clinical trial management
The by-site views this comparison references.
How to choose an EDC system
A broader buyer's checklist for the EDC decision itself.
Query management software
How query aging surfaces in the dashboard.
No credit card, no sales call. Keep your CTMS decision separate.