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Research participant compensation — fast, fair, and global

TruCentive automates delivery of research participant compensation for UX studies, market research, academic surveys, and focus groups across 120+ countries — with 100% of unclaimed rewards returned to your account.

31.9%

of digital research rewards went unclaimed in 2025 — TruCentive returns all of that value to you

23%

average savings vs. platforms that keep unclaimed participant compensation

120+

countries supported — pay participants globally in local currencies

Research participant compensation works best when the reward arrives immediately after the session, gives participants genuine choice, and returns unused budget to the research program — not the platform. TruCentive gives your research team the tools to automate, brand, and track every participant payment while keeping 100% of unclaimed value in your account.

Use cases

Every research compensation program, automated

TruCentive supports the full range of research participant compensation from a single platform. Build once, automate the delivery, and get unused budget back automatically.

UX research

Pay participants immediately after a usability session, interview, or prototype test. Automated delivery on completion removes the manual follow-up and improves participation rates for future studies.

Usability testingUser interviewsPrototype sessionsPost-session delivery

Market research

Compensate participants for surveys, focus groups, concept tests, and conjoint studies. Supports global panels with local currency delivery across 120+ countries — no per-market setup required.

Global panelsConcept testingConjoint studiesLocal currencies

Academic studies

Pay study participants ethically and promptly with a full audit trail for IRB compliance. HIPAA-compliant de-identification available on Enterprise — suitable for sensitive research populations.

IRB-compatible audit trailHIPAA Enterprise optionAcademic institutionsStudy visit pay

Focus groups

Deliver participant thank-you rewards immediately after an in-person or remote focus group. Supports bulk links for in-person distribution — participants claim on their own device at their own pace.

Bulk link exportIn-person or remoteImmediate deliveryParticipant choice

Diary and longitudinal studies

Automate multi-touchpoint compensation across study waves. Schedule payments at day 1, day 7, day 30 — or trigger on milestone completion — with automated reminders for unclaimed rewards.

Multi-wave automationMilestone triggersAutomated remindersLongitudinal tracking

NPS and feedback programs

Increase survey completion rates by delivering a reward immediately after an NPS response, product review, or feedback submission. Works globally and integrates with major survey platforms via API.

Post-survey deliveryNPS programsProduct reviewsSurvey platform API

Three principles

What makes research participant compensation work

The best research compensation programs are built on three foundations. TruCentive is designed to support all three.

Immediate

Participants are most motivated to claim their reward in the moments after completing a study. Delays erode trust and reduce willingness to participate in future research. TruCentive delivers the moment the session ends — automatically.

→ Instant delivery on session completion
→ API and survey platform triggers
→ Automated reminders stop on claim

Equitable

Research participants come from diverse backgrounds and geographies. A reward that works perfectly for a US participant may not be accessible to someone in Brazil or Germany. TruCentive supports 120+ countries with local-currency gift cards and PayPal in 300+ countries.

→ 120+ countries, local currencies
→ PayPal in 300+ countries
→ Gift cards, payments, and merch
→ No per-country setup

Auditable

Academic and clinical research requires proof that participants were compensated fairly and consistently. TruCentive provides a complete audit trail of every delivery, claim, and refund — suitable for IRB review and institutional compliance.

→ Full delivery and claim audit trail
→ HIPAA de-identification (Enterprise)
→ SOC 2 Type II certified
→ Per-participant reporting

Platform features

Built for research teams that run programs at scale

Design, send, and track participant compensation campaigns without engineering resources. TruCentive connects to the survey and research tools you already use.

Campaign builder

Design the full participant journey — delivery email or SMS, reminder schedule, and post-claim follow-up — in minutes without any code. Start from a research-specific template or build from scratch. Your institution’s logo is applied automatically.

· Drag-and-drop email and SMS editor
· Mobile-optimized claim pages for any device
· Personalized messaging with participant name and study details
· Pre-built templates for common research use cases

Survey and API integration

Connect TruCentive to Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, UserTesting, or any survey platform. Participant compensation fires automatically on survey completion — no manual step from your research team.

· Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, UserTesting
· RESTful API for custom integrations
· Completion webhook triggers
· Bulk CSV import for batch delivery

Automation and reminders

Set a reminder schedule once and TruCentive handles everything. Reminders automatically stop when the participant claims. Multi-wave study automation handles day 1, day 7, and day 30 payments from a single project setup.

· Custom reminder cadence per study
· Auto-stop on claim
· Multi-wave longitudinal automation
· Expiry rules return unclaimed value

Compliance and reporting

Every delivery, claim, and refund is tracked with a complete audit trail — suitable for IRB submission and institutional finance reporting. The Enterprise plan adds HIPAA-compliant recipient de-identification for studies involving sensitive health data.

· Full audit trail per participant
· IRB-compatible reporting export
· HIPAA de-identification (Enterprise)
· SOC 2 Type II, PCI DSS certified

Incentive catalog

100,000+ compensation options across every category

Participants choose what they actually want — increasing claim rates and making the study feel respectful of their time. TruCentive offers the industry’s most extensive reward catalog.

Gift cards — 50,000+ brands

Prepaid Visa / Mastercard / Amex

PayPal and Venmo

ACH bank deposit

Mailed check

Local merchant gift cards

Merchandise and SWAG

Virtual codes for instant delivery

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

What research programs does TruCentive support?

TruCentive supports UX research, market research, academic studies, focus groups, diary studies, usability testing, NPS surveys, and customer feedback programs. Participants choose from over 100,000 reward options including gift cards from 50,000+ brands, PayPal, Venmo, prepaid Visa/Mastercard, and merchandise.

Can TruCentive pay research participants internationally?

Yes. TruCentive supports delivery to participants in over 120 countries with gift cards available in local currencies. PayPal delivery covers 300+ countries. No per-country setup is required — the same project works globally.

Is TruCentive compliant for academic and institutional research?

TruCentive is SOC 2 Type II certified and PCI DSS compliant. The Enterprise plan includes HIPAA-compliant recipient de-identification with a complete audit trail for every delivery — suitable for IRB-reviewed studies involving sensitive participant data.

What happens to unclaimed research participant rewards?

TruCentive returns 100% of unclaimed participant compensation to your account at the expiry date you set. There is no manual request process. In 2025, TruCentive returned over four million dollars in unclaimed value to customers. Platforms like Tremendous and Rybbon retain this value as revenue.

How does TruCentive compare to Tremendous or Rybbon?

Tremendous and Rybbon both use breakage-based models where unclaimed reward value is kept by the platform. TruCentive charges a small transparent delivery fee and returns all unclaimed value — making it significantly more cost-effective for research programs where participant claim rates vary. TruCentive also offers more extensive global coverage and stronger compliance tooling on the Enterprise plan.

Can TruCentive integrate with Qualtrics or SurveyMonkey?

Yes. TruCentive integrates with Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, and most major survey platforms via its RESTful API and Zapier integration. Survey completion can automatically trigger a participant reward delivery without any manual step from your research team.

Is there a free plan or trial?

Yes. You can sign up for free with no credit card required and build and preview projects using zero-value sample messages. TruCentive also offers a free 30-minute design session where the team builds a complete participant compensation project with your branding, real recipients, and reward selections.

TruCentive supports HR, sales, marketing, clinical, and agency programs on the same platform.

Employee engagement →

Marketing incentives →

Sales and channel →

Clinical trials →

Customer loyalty →

Agency programs →

Get started

See a research compensation project built live in 30 minutes

Book a free design session and leave with a complete, ready-to-send project — your branding, your participant list, your reward selections. No credit card required.