Take Paid Studies on Prolific

What you do

Researchers create studies and upload them to Prolific. You answer questions or do short tasks online. Each study pays the same to every participant, however long they take.

You reserve a place in a study you are invited to.

Prolific has no app and is online only.

What it pays

Prolific sets a floor. Its pricing page says the minimum pay allowed is $8 an hour. Its help pages for participants say researchers must pay at least $8 an hour. Prolific recommends they pay at least $12.

Prolific works out the effective hourly rate, which is the pay divided by the time it took. It uses the median, or middle, time people really took. It does not use the time the researcher estimated.

Prolific gives its own example. If participants consistently take longer than estimated, the effective hourly rate drops from £6 to £3 per hour. That is under the floor.

Every participant receives the same payment regardless of how long they take. Same pay for more time means a lower hourly rate.

Prolific’s own average

Prolific’s help centre prints an average payment rate of just over £12.00/$15.00 per hour. One sentence gives two labels: “for 2023” and “for the last 6 months”. The article gives no start or end date.

The article does not say how the figure was worked out. Do not read it as what one person earns per hour of their own time.

What we did not find

On the pages we read, we did not find what one person earns in a week or a month. We did not find how many studies one person gets in a week either.

Prolific says it cannot guarantee studies every day.

We read Prolific’s main site pages and three press releases. We read about 40 of the 126 articles in its participant help centre. We searched the rest by keyword. We did not read most of its blog posts or most of its researcher help centre. We did not read news coverage, the participant terms or the logged-in app. A figure may sit in one of those.

One more figure is not a pay rate. A December 2023 press release says Prolific has paid out over $120m to research participants since 2014. That is a running total, not a pay rate.

Prolific also says it is not intended to be a full-time job.

If a study screens you out

A screen-out means a study ends your turn part way, because you do not fit it. Prolific has two versions of this, and both are live for now.

On the newer version, you receive a guaranteed minimum payment of $0.14. Researchers set that reward, and $0.14 is the lowest they may set. The older version pays based on the time you spend answering the screening questions.

Prolific says you won’t be able to see which version a study uses. You are also paid for the screening questions you answered.

When you get paid

Money lands in your balance after approval. Researchers usually approve submissions within a matter of days. If no review occurs within 22 days, Prolific automatically approves.

You cash out to PayPal. Prolific says it does not charge fees for cashing out. PayPal may apply fees after the transfer if the money has to change currency.

The two Prolific pages that speak to speed differ. The help centre says your payment will arrive in PayPal within 24 hours, typically much sooner. The participants page says that after your first 4 cash-outs, payments are instantly transferred to your PayPal.

Who this fits

This fits you if you have a device with a web browser and time that comes in small pieces.

It fits if you cannot drive. Prolific has no app and is online only.

It fits if you want real money rather than gift cards. Prolific says it always rewards you with real money, no gift cards.

It fits people outside the United States who live in a listed country. Prolific prints a list of countries. It names the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and Japan. One page says most OECD countries. The OECD is a group of countries. Another page says most of them except Turkey, Lithuania, Colombia, and Costa Rica. The pages do not fully agree, so check the list for your country before you join.

Who should skip this

Skip this if you need money soon. You cannot sign up and start. New people join a waitlist first. Some people get invited within hours. Others wait months or longer.

Skip it if you will not verify your identity. The steps run from email verification through phone, address, and ID checks. One step is to take a selfie video.

Skip it if you have no PayPal account. Prolific says payments can only be transferred through PayPal.

Skip it if you travel a lot. You can only take part in studies while you are in your country of residence. You must also be in your listed country of residence to cash out.

Skip it if you want steady hours. Prolific says a lack of studies comes down to availability or eligibility.

Your first week

You may not have a first week. The waitlist comes first. What follows starts on the day you are let in.

On the pages we read, Prolific gives no total time from joining to first pay. It gives the parts. The waitlist can run hours or months. Verification takes about 15 minutes. Researchers usually approve within days.

Day 1. Finish every verification step before you look at studies. Prolific says you need a created and verified account to take part in studies.

Day 2. Take two short studies. Time yourself with a clock, not a guess.

Day 3. Compare what you were paid to the time you spent. Prolific works from the median time of all submissions, so your own time may differ.

Day 4. Take one longer study. See whether the pay per hour holds up when the task is harder.

Day 5. Add it up. Your real rate is total pay divided by total time, including studies that screened you out.

One thing to expect: there is a 72-hour wait between cash-outs while you have made fewer than four. The same wait applies after you add or update your PayPal address. Prolific says these waits cannot be expedited or lifted.

Questions people ask

Is the $8 floor what I will earn? No. It is the least a researcher may pay, checked against the median time people took. Everyone gets the same payment however long they take.

Does Prolific print an average hourly rate? Yes. Its help centre prints just over £12.00/$15.00 per hour, labelled 2023. It is Prolific’s own figure. Its article does not say how it was worked out, so do not read it as one person’s pay.

How long is the waitlist? Prolific gives no set time. Some people get invited within hours, and others wait months or longer. It says its waitlist is not a queue, so your position does not change over time.

Do I get paid if I am screened out? Yes. The newer version pays a guaranteed minimum of $0.14. The older version pays by time spent on the screening questions. You cannot see which a study uses.

Is there a background check? No page we read says either way. Prolific names ID checks and a selfie video.

Can I use my phone? Prolific has no app and is online only. Each study description shows which device to use.

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