Set the right incentive. See feasibility instantly.
Incentive calculator
Every audience on Respondent is recruitable. The incentive determines how likely your study fills - and how fast. Pick your audience, set your study length, and we'll recommend an incentive that balances cost and speed.
- Verified participants
- 4.3M+
- Countries
- 150+
- Fraud rate
- <1%
- Avg. time to fill
- 1.5 days
Audience
Define your audience
Add filters. The more specific, the higher the incentive.
Recommended incentive
$35
USD per participant
Each country gets its own recommendation. Slider below adjusts a uniform USD amount across all countries.
What if you paid more or less?
$15★ $35$65
Feasibility
Low feasibility
Risky at this price. Consider raising the incentive.
Select an audience to see fill probability.
Fill probability65%
🇺🇸 IR 100.00%
Under 24 hours
for 10 participants
Broad audience. Fast recruit times expected.
In-person:
Estimated incentive spend
Standard
10 participants × $35 per participant
Total incentive cost
Paid directly to participants · USD
How we calculated $35 - and why we're confident
Methodology. We price the participant's time: your session length plus overhead (15 minutes to find and join the study, travel when in person, long screeners) at $40/hr times the participant's occupational wage ratio from national wage data — verified job titles carry their occupation's published premium, and live sessions pay 15% more. A country market multiplier then applies — a blend of local purchasing power and observed paid_rate from 18,742 actual projects on Respondent in this market. Audience filters (industries, company size, demographics, Key Qualifiers) shape feasibility, not price.
Hourly equivalent
$70/hr
30min · benchmarked vs. role/audience rate
Benchmark range
$30–$40
What similar studies have paid
Confidence
High
18,742 comparable studies
Why these adjustments
$40/hr
B2C base (US)
Consumer studies price time at a flat $40/hr - demographic filters shape who qualifies, not the rate.
×1.15
Live session uplift
Live scheduled sessions pay 15% more than self-paced studies - showing up at a fixed time costs the participant more than answering on their own schedule.
The math
B2C base (US)$40/hr
Live session uplift×1.15
🇺🇸 United Statesbaseline
Duration factor (30min)×0.75
Recommended incentive$35
Calibrated against 18,742 actual United States projects. Multiplier reflects observed conversion, not just cost-of-living theory. Recommendations update as Respondent observes new fill outcomes — they're a starting point, not a fixed price.
All incentives paid in USD.Recommendations are heuristic — calibrate with your fill data.
Why these adjustments
Methodology.
The math
Heads up:
Incentive guide
How to calculate incentives for user research recruiting.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
How accurate is this incentive calculator for user research recruiting?
Participant recruitment is a function of the right incentive, maximum reach and accurate audience targeting. The incentives recommended by this tool rely on data from thousands of projects that have been recruited for successfully on Respondent and hence these recommendations are made with a high degree of confidence. Read our blog article to learn more about how this incentive calculator works.
What is the difference between B2B and B2C recruiting?
B2B recruiting is used to recruit business professionals on the basis of their professional attributes such as job function and seniority. B2C recruiting is used to recruit consumer audiences on the basis of demographic attributes such as location and age.
How do I estimate incentives for a job function that is not listed in the incentive calculator?
Please select the most proximate job function to the job role that you are looking for, and make reasonable assumptions to extrapolate from the recommended incentive.
Will this incentive amount change if I need to recruit participants in a short window?
Yes. The values recommended on this UX research incentive calculator are based on average project lifecycles of 1-2 weeks for completion of recruitment. If you are working on a tighter timeline, we suggest that you increase the incentive you offer.
Does Respondent have the participants I am looking for, in this incentive calculator query?
Odds are, the answer is yes. Respondent has over 4.3M participants and a 3-step participant recruitment process of matching with our existing panel, offering commissions to our panel to invite relevant matches from their network and a team of recruiting experts who specialize in boosting hard-to-recruit campaigns. Publish your project on Respondent with the right incentive, and we will find your participants.
