What Happened to qbase+ — and Why I Built VoilaPCR
The Google search that started this site was: "What happened to qbase+ for qPCR analysis?"
I'd used qbase+ years ago in my lab. I remember paying for it. I remember needing it. And honestly? I hated it.
It only ran on Windows, so I had to install an entire virtual machine on my Mac just to open it. The "wizard" was buggy — I was constantly fixing my templates so the program could read my data. I spent more time reformatting raw files into a layout qbase+ could accept than I did on the actual analysis. The graphs it produced were basically unusable, so I'd export my Ct values and take them to yet another application to make figures. The whole workflow felt like it was designed to waste my time.
And yet — when it worked, it was still better than the alternative. I trusted it more than the Excel spreadsheets that seemed to silently migrate formulas on me whenever I duplicated a sheet. I needed it for the more complex analyses: multiple reference genes with geNorm normalization, large plates with inter-run calibration, experiments where doing the math by hand would take an hour of copy-paste and prayer. Most importantly I paid for it for the reason why you're probably reading this: I thought it would save me time.
So when my lab started running qPCR again recently, I went looking for qbase+. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it was gone.
The problem wasn't qbase+ — it was the entire workflow
Here's what I realized: the problem was never just one piece of software. The problem was that analyzing a straightforward qPCR experiment required a scientist to touch four or five different tools. Export from the machine software. Reformat for your analysis program. Paste into Excel. Copy into Prism. Fix the axis labels. Re-export at 300 DPI because the journal rejected your figures. It's 2026 and we're still doing this.
Every lab I've worked in has the same story. Somebody built an Excel template years ago. It sort of works. Nobody fully understands the formulas. Everyone is afraid to touch them. And every new student spends their first month learning the template instead of learning the science.
The most expensive input in any lab is people's time. Not reagents, not equipment — time.
So I built VoilaPCR
VoilaPCR is not built to replace qbase+. It's an entirely different kind of tool.
The idea is simple: upload your raw machine export — straight from QuantStudio, Bio-Rad CFX, LightCycler, whatever you're running — and get your results back. DDCt, fold changes, statistics, publication-ready figures. No reformatting. No copy-pasting. No templates to maintain. No installation. It runs in your browser and your data never leaves your computer.
I don't want anyone in my lab copying and pasting Excel rows. I don't want anyone making formula errors at midnight before a deadline. I don't even want anyone spending time learning how to use the software. Analysis time should be as close to zero as possible, so you can focus on the experiments — and all the other things that already consume the day, like troubleshooting why the experiment didn't give you the results you expected.
There's also an automated QC report that runs on every analysis. It checks for NTC contamination, replicate scatter, unstable reference genes, late Ct values — the kind of problems that are easy to miss when you're tired and just want your fold changes. I built it because I've been the person who missed those problems, and I don't want that to happen to anyone else.
VoilaPCR is free to try
You get five full analyses with everything unlocked — the QC report, the graph editor, high-res export, all of it. If it saves you time, Plus is $99/year. That's less than one box of pipette tips.
We built this because we needed it. If you've ever Googled "what happened to qbase+" or "qPCR analysis tool" or "how do I calculate DDCt without losing my mind" — this is for you.
And please — if something doesn't work, if your machine format isn't supported, if you have an idea for how to make it better — email us at hello@voilascience.com. We read everything and we ship fixes fast.