Hello Positly User,

Suppose you want to know if your findings hold up outside one country. Maybe you’re testing a theory across cultures, checking whether a product idea works in more than one market, or comparing perspectives in different places.

So you start planning a multi-country study. Then the problems pile up. Each country seems to need its own panel and its own way to pay people.

Costs are hard to predict, too. Many researchers give up and stick with one country because they can’t tell what five countries would cost.

We wanted to give you real numbers. So we looked at every completion on Positly between October 2025 and October 2026.

What researchers actually spent across 43 countries

Over the past year, researchers on Positly collected many thousands of completions across 43 countries. The average cost was just under $2 per completion, including participant pay and Positly fees.

Most of that work happened outside the US. Nearly two out of three completions came from the other 42 countries.

Here’s how the 43 countries break down by number of completions:

• 12 countries had 1,000 or more completions
• 10 countries had 500 to 999 completions
• 10 countries had 100 to 499 completions
• 11 countries had fewer than 100 completions

So what did these cost to run?

Cost per participant by country

In most of the countries researchers use most often, the average cost is between $1 and $2 per completion. Below are the average and median total cost per completion for the countries with enough data to report:

Here’s a rough guide to the average cost per completion for popular countries on the Positly study recruitment platform (including all fees):

• Under $1: China, Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam
• $1 to $1.50: United States, Philippines, Austria, Sweden, France, Nigeria, Morocco, Canada, United Arab Emirates
• $1.50 to $2: United Kingdom, India, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mexico, Romania
• $2 to $3: Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore
• Over $3: Ireland, South Africa, Qatar, Greece

Below are more details about the average and median total cost per completion in different countries using Positly:

Keep in mind that prices are dynamic and constantly updating, so these are prone to change over time. The numbers above cover Positly.com from Oct 2025 through Oct 2026.

Your total cost depends on who you target and how long your study takes (longer studies cost more, all else being equal). We believe participants’ time should be respected, so we recommend paying at least $0.40 per completion as fair compensation, and more for longer studies.

What a multi-country study could cost you

Say you want 300 participants in each of six countries: the US, UK, Brazil, India, the Philippines, and Italy. Using the rounded averages from the table above:

• United States: 300 x $1.20 = $360
• United Kingdom: 300 x $1.50 = $450
• Brazil: 300 x $1.90 = $570
• India: 300 x $1.50 = $450
• Philippines: 300 x $1.20 = $360
• Italy: 300 x $1.70 = $510

That’s 1,800 participants across four continents for about $2,700. A longer study or niche-participant targeting will cost more. 

There’s no minimum spend on Positly, so you can also start small recruitment with 50 people per country to pilot your materials.

How to run a multi-country study on Positly

1. Create your survey in the tool you already use, then add the link to Positly (we recommend our sister tool, GuidedTrack, for building surveys and complex experiments, which can also optionally be used with your favorite AI agent such as Claude Code or Codex using the GuidedTrack AI agents skill for building surveys and studies).
2. Set up a run for each country you want to include, with the number of completions you need.
3. Set an estimated average completion time and the compensation per completion.
4. Add demographic targeting or screening questions if you need specific traits.
5. Launch, then watch completions come in from each country on one dashboard.

Quality checks apply in every country

International research only helps if the responses are real. Our proprietary QualityGuard© system blocks bots, spammers, and AI-generated responses on every study.

That means you don’t need a different quality plan for each country you recruit international participants from, though you may find it valuable to add your own quality controls as well.

Run your next study in more than one country

A multi-country study doesn’t have to mean months of setup or a five-figure budget. In the past year alone, researchers ran studies on Positly in 44 countries, most for just a few dollars per participant.

Choose your countries and sample sizes to get a cost estimate in seconds. You don’t need to add payment details to see your cost estimate.

Create your free account and start recruiting

FAQ

How much does it cost to recruit international participants?

On Positly, most countries cost between $1 and $3 per completion, including participant pay and fees. Your exact cost depends on the country, who you target, and how long your study takes.

How much should I pay research participants?

We recommend paying at least $0.40 per completion as fair compensation, and more for longer or more demanding studies. Fair pay helps keep participants engaged and coming back.

What’s the cheapest country to recruit research participants?

On Positly, some of the lowest costs are in Ukraine, Vietnam, China, and Thailand, where the average is under $1 per completion. Cheaper isn’t always better, so pick countries based on your research question first.

How many participants do I need per country in a cross-cultural study?

It depends on your design and the effect size you expect. A common approach is to run a power analysis and aim for the same sample size in each country, so comparisons between countries are fair.

Questions About Launching Your Study on Positly?

Want more information before launching your multi-country study? Our team is happy to walk you through it.

Contact our support team