13 Best Paid Research Studies Online (Legit & Free to Join)

This school’s Department of Psychology regularly conducts research studies that require participants. The research activities offered will vary but most of them are conducted in person. So, you will have to go to their facility to participate.

That means, it is only really available for people who live in the vicinity. Weinberg College is located in Evanston, Illinois. So, if you don’t live near that area, then this isn’t really something worth doing. As for how they pay you, you will usually get compensated in cash after every session you complete.

Prime Opinion is a survey site that will let you earn by answering surveys. You can also earn from its leaderboard contest and affiliate program. It offers a decent number of earning opportunities at any given time, so you can earn more or less regularly.

The payment options it offers will depend on the country you live in, but the most common option is PayPal. It also offers Venmo and direct bank transfers for certain countries. It is available in more than 40 countries.

YouGov is a survey site that is available in a lot of countries and every country has its own survey panel you can join. So, if you are looking for a survey site that offers surveys in your native language, this is one of the best sites you can join.

The payment methods it offers will depend on your country, but usually, PayPal, products, or gift cards  are used to withdraw your earnings. As to the payout threshold you need to reach before you can withdraw your earnings, it will depend on the country you live in.

But in my experience, it will usually be around $10 or so (or the equivalent to your local currency). So, it’s not hard to reach since they do have a decent number of surveys available.

CDS or Columbia Decision Sciences, will allow you to participate in their studies online. The research studies you can participate in will vary but they will mainly be conducted online.

To participate, you have to fill out their sign-up form and submit it. Then, just wait for them to contact you via email for any opportunities to earn. After you’ve completed any of their research activities, you will be able to receive your payment via PayPal or you can convert your earnings to an Amazon gift card.

The site pays by the hour ($16/hour) for all the research studies they offer. And the best thing is, you don’t have to reach a threshold to withdraw your earnings. You will immediately be able to withdraw the payment after you complete a study.

It also accepts members anywhere in the world (more or less). So, you can register as a member regardless of where you live.

Branded Surveys is a straight-up survey site where you can earn by answering surveys and polls. That’s how easy it is to earn from this site. The only downside is, it is only available in the US, UK, or Canada. So, it has a pretty limited reach.

But if you are eligible to join, you can get paid via PayPal or gift cards. And best of all, their payout threshold is very low ($5). So, you won’t have to wait very long to withdraw your earnings.

They also have a decent number of surveys available, so you can definitely rely on this site for earning extra cash.

Prolific Surveys is more a crowdsourcing platform rather than a straight up survey site. It is available in many countries. To earn from this site, you can answer surveys or participate in research studies offered by other participants of the site.

You will get paid via PayPal as long as you’ve earned £5 (if you live somewhere in Europe) or $7 (if you live in the US or other regions). That’s a pretty low payout threshold, in my opinion. So, if you get to answer surveys or participate in even just one research activity, you will be able to withdraw your earnings because they do pay a decent amount.

Another survey site that offers decent earnings is called Toluna Influencers. This site is available more or less worldwide and each country has its own survey panel too. That means surveys will be offered in the local language (if applicable, otherwise, it will be in English).

You will get paid via PayPal or in gift cards. The threshold you need to reach to withdraw your earnings will depend on the country you live in though. It also has a mobile app you can download so you can convenient answer surveys from your mobile device.

Another school that offers paid research opportunities is the MIT Behavioral Research Laboratory. Their research studies can be conducted in-lab or online. Lab studies will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. So, if you don’t live in that area, then that opportunity isn’t for you.

When you sign up, you may be asked to do various things like filling out questionnaires, playing games, performing various tasks on a computer, completing group assignments, and taking part in discussions or interviews.

You get paid in cash, gift cards, electronic gift certificates, or checks. If the amount exceeds $75, MIT BRL is required to pay you via check for tax reporting purposes. This panel is only available for US residents who are at least 18 years of age.

Respondent is a form of crowdsourcing site that will pay you for participating in research activities. These activities are called projects, but before you can work on one though, you will have to apply for it.

A study will either be one-on-one or an unmoderated study, and it can be conducted in person or online. The in-person study pays more, but it is harder to qualify for. Every time you complete a project, you will get paid via PayPal immediately.

But, Respondent will charge 5% or $1 (whichever is higher) every time you get paid. That’s a part of how they make money. It is available globally, so you can register as a member regardless of where you live.

The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior is part of UCLA and it is located in Los Angeles, California. Most of the research studies it offers are conducted in person. So, if you don’t live in the vicinity of their facility, I don’t really recommend this for you.

Most of the studies pertain to the brain, so qualifying for one can be hard. It’s considered a niche platform but it does pay well. It pays every participant in cash once the research session has been completed.

As the name of the site suggests, you will be able to earn from Focusgroup.com by participating in, well, focus groups. But aside from that, you can also participate in interviews, shop along activities, and product testing.

It pays a decent amount per study you participate in. And you can usually withdraw your earnings right away for every study you complete because you only need to earn at least $10 to reach their payout threshold.

When you hit their threshold, you can withdraw your earnings via PayPal or convert them to a prepaid Visa card or gift card of your choice. The only downside of this site is, it is only available in the US.

Research-i is a market research company that offers an opportunity for you to earn by participating in research studies. The types of studies available are one-on-one interviews, group discussions, in-home interviews, telephone interviews, games and app testing, and product testing.

As for the payout methods, if it is conducted at a Research-i facility, you’ll get paid in cash after completion. I’m not exactly sure how payment is made when projects have to be completed at home because there’s no information on their website regarding the payment system. But, in my experience, sites like this usually use a convenient payment method like PayPal or direct bank transfer.

Research-i is only available in the UK.

Probe Market Research is a market research recruiting firm that specializes in providing insight from all cultural, economic, racial, and geographic perspectives to its clients. To earn, you must participate in the research studies it offers.

Every time you complete a study, you will get paid a certain amount. Probe Market Research will hand out a check for the amount specified in the offer. It’s a bit of an outdated payment method, but it does pay well.