There is no one-click import, and you should be wary of any vendor that promises one. The practical path is to export what you have, let AI draft the new forms from it, rebuild the logic, test in a free sandbox and merge historical data at analysis.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
Export from the current system
Data as CSV, form definitions, audit trail
AI drafts forms from your files
CSV, XLSX, PDF or DOCX; you review every field
Rebuild logic and checks
Skip logic and edit checks in the visual builder
Test in the free sandbox
Sample data, e-signatures, audit trail
Go live at a defined date
New data enters only the new system
The short version
Why teams move
Teams that move off a self-managed EDC rarely cite a missing feature. They cite the running of it: the server to host and patch, an upgrade cycle that needs validation, a contractor or in-house specialist who knows the configuration, and amendments that wait in someone's queue. If the system came with a services contract, change orders and a long term can add to that.
A cloud EDC does not make those issues vanish, but it moves them: hosting, upgrades and security are the vendor's job, and the study team builds and amends forms itself. Our OpenClinica alternatives page is the neutral comparison for teams still evaluating; this page is for teams that have decided to move and want the practical sequence. For the head-to-head, see Capture vs OpenClinica.
Check your own contract first. Look at the term, the notice period and any fees for data export or termination, because those determine when you can move, not the technology.
The path
Written for a new study or a planned cohort boundary. The same steps apply whichever edition or hosting you run.
Choose where the old system ends: the end of the current study, a new cohort, an extension or the next protocol. Avoid gradual hand-over; a single cut-over date is easier to document.
Export the study data as CSV, along with the form definitions, the data dictionary or blank CRFs, and the audit trail. Store them with your trial master file. This is the legacy dataset you will merge at analysis.
In Capture, open a draft form and upload the dictionary, sheet or document, in CSV, XLSX, PDF or DOCX. The AI drafts questions, choices, units and lab tables. Nothing is saved until you review it, and it only works on draft forms.
Recreate branching in the visual builder and add edit checks that raise an auto-query when a value breaks a rule. Simple conditional logic maps directly; very nested rules may need simplifying.
Enter sample data, trigger edit checks, sign electronically and read the audit trail. Once built, the study configuration can be exported and imported within Capture, so a build refined in the sandbox is not rebuilt by hand.
Give sites a short guide, share the date after which entries go only into the new system, and confirm any ethics or regulatory notifications your procedures require.
Merge legacy and new CSV exports at analysis with a documented variable mapping, and archive the old system with its audit trail intact.
The slow part, sped up
Rebuilding forms field by field is where migrations stall. Upload the data dictionary, a blank CRF PDF or a spreadsheet of the fields, and Capture drafts the structure for you to review. It does not claim to read a proprietary study archive; it reads documents.
Question form
CRF or ePRO
Lab table
Analytes, units, ranges
1. Systolic blood pressure
Required · Number · mmHg · 0 dp
2. Diastolic blood pressure
Required · Number · mmHg · 0 dp
3. Pulse rate
Required · Number · beats/min
4. Body temperature
Required · Number · °C · 1 dp
5. Position during measurement
Required · Sitting, Supine, Standing
Try it in the free sandbox with sample data. No credit card, no time limit, nothing saved until you approve it.
What changes
Before you switch
Term, notice period and data-export or termination fees in the current agreement.
Data CSV, form definitions, audit trail and signed documents, stored with the trial master file.
Old variable names to new, so the legacy and new datasets merge cleanly at analysis.
Whether participants must be told about the system change; avoid mid-study switches where possible.
Check the Part 11 controls against your needs; see the 21 CFR Part 11 checklist.
Document the new configuration and your testing. See computer system validation.
Sites and people
Sites feel a migration more than data managers do. Keep the training short and specific: how to log in, where to find the participant, how a query appears and how to answer it, and how to sign. Capture gives sites a separate coordinator portal and QR-code enrolment with no app to install, with site-level participant numbering such as 001-0042, which usually shortens that session.
Brief the monitors and data managers separately. They will want to see the audit trail, the query list and the exports before the first participant is entered, so schedule that walkthrough during sandbox testing. Update your data entry guidelines and monitoring plan to match, and keep the old versions with their dates in the trial master file.
Finally, agree who answers questions during the first two weeks after cut-over. A named contact, and a short list of known differences from the old system, prevents most avoidable queries. Capture support is by email, typically with a response in under 24 hours.
Historical data
Most teams do not move historical records into the new system. They keep the legacy database as the system of record for what was collected there, export it to CSV with its audit trail, and combine it with the Capture export at analysis. Capture's exports are wide-format CSV or Excel with an automatic data dictionary, raw and decoded files, and filtering by date range and site, which makes the merge a mapping exercise rather than a migration project.
The reason is integrity. An import changes the context of a record: who entered it, when and under which system. A merge at analysis keeps each dataset with its own provenance, which is easier to explain to an inspector. Our guide to data ownership and portability explains why a clean export matters in either direction.
No. There is no direct import. Export your data to CSV and your form definitions, use AI to draft the new forms from an uploaded dictionary, sheet or document, rebuild logic, and merge historical data at analysis.
CSV, XLSX, PDF and DOCX. It drafts questions, choices, units and lab tables, flags anything it cannot match, and nothing is saved until you review it. It works only on draft forms.
Export it to CSV with its audit trail and keep it with your trial master file. Most teams merge the legacy export with the new Capture export at analysis rather than importing it.
We do not recommend it. A switch mid-study risks data integrity and may need re-consent. Start the new system with a new study, cohort or protocol where you can.
No. Capture has no setup fee, no per-site fee and no per-seat licences, and your study team makes amendments without change orders. You pay only once the study is live with real participants.
Yes. The free sandbox includes every feature with no credit card and no time limit, so you can rebuild an existing study and compare it before you decide.
Keep exploring
OpenClinica alternatives
For teams still evaluating.
Capture vs OpenClinica
A side-by-side comparison.
How to switch EDC vendors mid-study
If you cannot wait for a boundary.
Open source EDC software
The hosting and validation trade-offs.
CRF builder for clinical trials
AI drafting, edit checks and calculated fields.
Hidden EDC fees
What to check in the contract you are leaving.
Upload your definitions, review the draft and test in the sandbox. No credit card, and you pay only once you go live.