Research panels & polling · Prolific

Prolific

Online participant recruitment platform built specifically for academic and behavioral research studies.

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Prolific was built for researchers rather than market research firms, and it shows in the details: 300+ demographic and behavioral screening filters, built-in attention-check tooling, and direct in-platform messaging with participants for studies that need clarification or follow-up, none of which typical consumer-panel platforms prioritize. There is no subscription; researchers fund a wallet and pay the participant reward they set plus a platform fee, discounted for academic and non-profit users. Its roughly 300,000 vetted, verified participants skew toward research-literate respondents rather than general-population consumers, which is a strength for behavioral science and a limitation for broad market research. A managed-service tier adds full study design and reporting support for teams that want it handled end to end.

At a glance

Vendor Prolific
Pricing model Usage-based
Free tier No
Deployment Cloud
Open source No
Best for Academic and behavioral researchers needing vetted, research-literate participants without a subscription.

Pricing

No subscription; researchers set the participant reward and pay a platform fee on top, discounted for academic users.

Plan Price Notes
Academic / non-profit 33.3% platform fee added on top of the researcher-set participant reward
Corporate 42.8% platform fee added on top of the researcher-set participant reward

Prices read from the vendor's own page on September 21, 2026. Vendors change prices; check the source before you budget.

Features

  • 300,000+ vetted, verified participants
  • 300+ demographic and behavioral screening filters
  • Built-in attention-check and quality tooling
  • API and no-code study launcher
  • Direct in-platform participant messaging
  • Optional managed-service full-study support

Integrations

Profile last reviewed September 21, 2026

Alternatives

YouGov International market research and polling company running proprietary online panels for opinion and consumer surveys. Cint Programmatic survey-sample marketplace connecting researchers to consumer respondents through aggregated supplier panels. Dynata Large first-party consumer panel and market-research provider offering both managed and self-serve survey sample. Pollfish Self-serve mobile survey platform reaching consumers in-app, priced per completed response.

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Terms to know

Sample size The number of observations in a study or test, which determines how precisely and reliably an effect can be measured. Statistical significance A threshold judgment that an observed effect is unlikely to be due to chance alone, given the data and test used.

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How to choose a research panel and polling platform This category bundles two products, survey software and respondent supply. Work out which one you're missing before you compare vendors.