Prolific pricing: 42.8% platform fee on top of the reward
If you are pricing a study on Prolific, the charge on top of the reward is a platform fee. Corporate accounts pay 42.8%. Academic and nonprofit accounts that qualify pay 33.3%. The rates are from Prolific's help article What is your pricing?, checked 4 October 2026.
Prolific's example is a $70 reward
Prolific's own example on that page: pay $70 to participants and the total is $100 for a corporate account, or $93.86 for an academic or nonprofit account. Those are the totals on the help page.
The 33.3% rate is for a qualifying account
The 33.3% rate needs an institutional email address and the account type Academia or Non-profit. Personal email domains do not get it. Prolific's examples are Gmail and Outlook.
The reward has a recommended level and a floor
The recommended minimum reward is £9 or $12 per hour. The absolute minimum allowed is £6 or $8 per hour. You set the reward, and the participant receives the full amount you set.
The same fee applies to a bonus
A bonus is treated as a participant reward. The platform fee applies to the bonus in the same way it applies to the base reward. The participant receives the full bonus you award.
VAT can apply to the platform fee
Value-added tax (VAT) may apply to the platform fee only. Participant rewards are not subject to VAT. Whether VAT is charged depends on where you are based. This page does not state a VAT rate.
A custom-screening screen-out is a small payment
If you use custom screening, a participant who is screened out receives a small payment for the time spent on the screener. The pricing article calls it a small payment and does not give the amount. This page does not add one.
Returns, pre-screeners, and representative samples stay on the standard fee
You are not charged for a participant who returns the study or times out before finishing. Existing pre-screeners have no separate charge. A representative sample has no charge beyond the standard platform fee, and you can combine it with existing pre-screeners on that same fee.
You pay as you go, unless the work is managed
Platform access is pay as you go. You add funds to a prepaid wallet, and a subscription is not required to start. Managed services are priced by a Statement of Work. Prolific says that is how they typically scope managed work. Those points are on Prolific Pricing, checked 4 October 2026. The 42.8% and 33.3% rates are the platform fee for pay-as-you-go access.
The charge is called a platform fee
On 16 October 2025, Prolific's article Study cost said the names service fee and Prolific fee had been replaced with platform fee.
A study total comes from Prolific's calculator or a quote
The fee above sits on a reward you have already set. For a full study total, the pricing article says to use Prolific's cost calculator, or to generate a quote.