The short answer
Self-serve survey panels charge about $1 to $3 per completed response for a short survey of the general population in 2026. The price goes up when your survey gets longer, your audience gets narrower, or you need results fast. Full-service and enterprise panels usually quote $5 to $12 per complete for a 5-minute consumer survey. B2B audiences such as IT decision makers or doctors cost $8 to well over $100 per response.
Starting prices are the least useful number on a pricing page. They describe a survey almost nobody runs: no screening questions, no targeting beyond age and gender, no deadline. Real studies need to reach the right people, and that’s where the price changes. Screening questions, targeting and speed set what you actually pay. To compare vendors fairly, price your own study, with its screeners, on each one.
Panel pricing at a glance
Platform | Starting price, before add-ons | Screening questions | Other things that raise the price | Rush / speed | Model and minimums |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SegmentOS | $1.75 per complete (US, up to 10 questions). From $1.50 in other countries | Included. They count as regular questions | +$0.50 per complete for every 10 questions. Some targeting adds $0.05 to $0.50 | +$0.50 for a 1 to 3 day field period | Published price list. 100-complete minimum |
SurveyMonkey Audience | $1.00 per response (US general population) | Raise the price through the qualification rate. The final price is shown at checkout | Narrower targeting, longer surveys | Express delivery adds $1 per response | Priced in the product. One-time purchase |
Pollfish | $0.95 per complete | Extra fee: +$0.50 for 1, rising to +$5.75 for 6 | Quotas +$0.55 each. Advanced demographics +$0.55 each. MaxDiff or conjoint +$1 | Not listed | Self-serve. Enterprise from $10,000 a year prepaid |
PickFu | $1 per response | Priced as targeting | About $0.40 per targeting trait | Not listed | Pay as you go. Subscriptions from $999 a year add 5% to 15% off |
Centiment | From $1 per response | Part of the quote | Survey length, niche audiences, quotas | Not listed | Quote per project |
Prolific | You set participant pay (minimum $8 per hour, $12 recommended) | Free prescreening filters on its own participant data | Survey length in minutes | Not listed | 42.8% platform fee on top of pay for companies (33.3% academic). No minimum |
Qualtrics, Cint, Toluna | Not published | Raise the price through incidence | Audience, length | Varies | Sales quote. Cint self-serve has an annual minimum |
Attest | Not published | Part of the plan | Credits and plan level | Varies | Annual plans, listed from $25,000 a year |
What screening questions do to your price
Most market research studies screen. A concept test asks whether people buy the category. A brand study asks who has heard of the brand. A pricing study asks who decides on the purchase. Two to five screening questions is typical.
Here is the same study, 15 questions in the US with gender targeting and a standard field period, priced on the two platforms that publish screener pricing:
Screening questions | Pollfish | SegmentOS | 200 completes on Pollfish | 200 completes on SegmentOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | $0.95 | $2.25 | $190 | $450 |
1 | $1.45 | $2.25 | $290 | $450 |
2 | $1.95 | $2.25 | $390 | $450 |
3 | $2.70 | $2.25 | $540 | $450 |
4 | $3.70 | $2.25 | $740 | $450 |
5 | $4.70 | $2.25 | $940 | $450 |
Pollfish prices are its published base rate plus its published screener fees, before any adjustment for survey length. SegmentOS prices are $1.75 base plus $0.50 for 11 to 20 questions; screeners are counted inside the 15 questions.
What this shows:
With no screening, a low starting price wins. If anyone can take your survey, a $0.95 or $1 rate is hard to beat.
From three screeners on, per-screener fees take over. By five screeners, the same study costs about twice as much on a platform that charges for each screener.
Where the price depends on how many people qualify, you can’t calculate it in advance. SurveyMonkey Audience, Qualtrics, Cint and Toluna price screened studies through the qualification or incidence rate, so the cost is only known when you get to checkout or receive a quote.
Prolific is a different model. You pay for respondents’ time, and its prescreening filters are free. For short surveys it can cost less than any per-complete panel. Its pool is built for academic and behavioral research, mostly in the US and UK, so check that it covers the consumers you need.
What drives the price of a survey response
1. Incidence rate. This is the share of people who qualify for your survey. If only 1 in 10 qualifies, the panel has to invite about 10 people for each complete. Industry benchmarks put a 50% incidence study at about 1.5 times the cost of a 75% study, and a 10% study at 3 to 5 times.
2. Survey length. Longer surveys pay respondents more and lose more of them partway through. Panels measure length either in estimated minutes or in number of questions. Question count is easier to predict, because you control it while you write.
3. Targeting. Age, gender and region are usually included or cheap. Income, education, ethnicity, job function and purchase behavior cost more, because fewer panel members have verified answers for them.
4. Screening questions and quotas. Some platforms bill per screener or per quota on top of the base rate. Others treat them as part of the survey.
5. Speed. Asking for results in 1 to 3 days usually adds a rush fee, because the panel has to push more invitations at once.
6. Country. Response costs vary by market. Smaller or harder-to-reach countries cost more per complete.
7. Consumer or B2B. Professional audiences are much smaller and harder to verify. Expect B2B surveys to cost several times more than consumer surveys. Recruited B2B interviews often cost $65 to $80 per session in platform fees alone, before you pay the participant.
The five pricing models you’ll run into
Published per-complete price list. You see the full price before you pay and can calculate it yourself. SegmentOS and Pollfish (self-serve) work this way.
Calculated in the product. You build the audience, and the platform shows a price at checkout. SurveyMonkey Audience and PickFu work this way.
Participant pay plus a platform fee. You set an hourly reward and pay a percentage on top. Prolific works this way.
Quote per project. You submit your study details and get a price back. Centiment, Toluna, Cint and most full-service agencies work this way.
Annual contract or credits. You prepay for a year of research. Attest and the enterprise tiers of most vendors work this way.
Hidden costs to check before you buy
Screener and quota fees. Are screening questions and quotas priced separately?
Rush fees. What does a 1 to 3 day field period cost compared with a week?
Minimum order. Is there a minimum number of completes or a minimum spend?
Subscription required. Do you need a paid plan before you can buy responses?
Bad responses. Do speeders and straight-liners get removed and replaced at no charge?
Disqualified respondents. Do you pay only for completes, or also for people who screen out?
Price locking. Once you place an order, can the price change?
How to lower your cost per response
Cut questions that won’t change a decision. On per-question pricing, every 10 questions you remove lowers the price of each complete.
Split long matrix grids. Fewer rows often means less fatigue and cheaper responses.
Screen with targeting first. If the panel can target a trait directly, use that instead of a screening question that throws people out.
Give the study a week. Avoiding a rush fee is the easiest saving there is.
Run 100 completes first. A small pilot catches broken logic before you pay for the full sample.
Build a study, reach verified respondents in your market, and get answers back in days.
Everything a research team does. Without the research team.
With SegmentOS you can build the study, reach a verified audience, and get data you can actually trust. End to end, no research background required.
Data quality
Every study runs through device fingerprinting, speeding detection, attention checks, and screener disqualification.
Where SegmentOS fits
SegmentOS is built for studies that need to reach specific people. Screening questions are never a separate fee: they count as regular questions, so adding a fifth screener costs the same as adding any other question. The full price list is public:
A US complete starts at $1.75 for up to 10 questions. Other countries start from $1.50, across 127 countries.
Every 10 questions add $0.50 per complete.
Gender, language and device targeting are included. A few criteria, like income, add $0.05 to $0.50.
Rush is optional, at $0.50 per complete for a 1 to 3 day field period. That's half of what SurveyMonkey charges for express delivery.
Text and display blocks are free. Long open-ended answers count as 2 questions. Matrix questions count as 1 for every 5 rows.
The builder shows your price while you write, so you know the cost before you finish the survey. An order keeps that price once you submit it.
Which option fits:
Short survey, anyone can answer: a low starting price, like Pollfish or SurveyMonkey Audience, will usually cost the least.
Short survey, audience fits an academic research pool: Prolific.
Screened or targeted consumer study, where you want to know the price before you buy: SegmentOS.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How much does it cost to buy survey responses?
Self-serve panels charge about $1 to $3 per completed response for a short survey of the general population. Longer surveys, narrow audiences, rush delivery and B2B targeting all raise the price, sometimes to $10 or more per complete.
Why do some survey responses cost $1 and others $10 or more?
The biggest drivers are incidence rate (how many people qualify), survey length and targeting. A short survey that almost anyone can answer is cheap. A long survey for a niche audience, where most people screen out, can cost 3 to 5 times more per complete.
Do you pay for respondents who get screened out?
On most self-serve panels you pay only for completed responses. Platforms that price by incidence still pass on the cost of disqualifications by raising the price per complete, so ask how screen-outs affect your price before you buy.
Is it cheaper to pay participants directly on Prolific than to buy from a panel?
It depends on the platform. Some panels, such as Pollfish, add a fee for each screening question, from $0.50 for one to $5.75 for six. Others, such as SurveyMonkey Audience, raise the price per complete based on how many people your screeners disqualify. On SegmentOS, screening questions count as regular questions with no separate fee.It depends on the platform. Some panels, such as Pollfish, add a fee for each screening question, from $0.50 for one to $5.75 for six. Others, such as SurveyMonkey Audience, raise the price per complete based on how many people your screeners disqualify. On SegmentOS, screening questions count as regular questions with no separate fee.
How many survey responses do I need?
100 completes is a common minimum for directional results. 400 completes gives a margin of error of about plus or minus 5% at 95% confidence. If you plan to compare subgroups, such as age bands or regions, aim for at least 100 completes in each group.
