Prolific Academic Review: Is This Survey Site Worth It?

Welcome to our Prolific Academic review. Wondering what is Prolific.ac? Prolific, or Prolific Academy, claims to be a research platform where you can either work as a researcher or participate in studies. These studies are essentially small surveys, and you can earn a bit of cash for participating in them.

Survey-enthusiasts claim Prolific is one of the better survey-platforms out there, with the most potential for online income. Meanwhile, other users say the site is nothing but a scam. Who do you trust?

In this Prolific.ac review, you'll discover exactly what is Prolific.ac all about. 

What is Prolific.ac?

Prolific is a research-based platform, where members can participate in studies and complete other tasks to earn cash. The type of studies vary, ranging from regular consumer surveys to in-depth studies. Since the company is based Oxford, United Kingdom, the payments are in Pound Sterling and Pennies.  

From the looks of it, Prolific is a more high-end platform. The payments are higher, but the requirements are higher too, and they try to make everything as legitimate as possible. For instance, the surveys are called "Studies" and the people who complete the surveys are called "Participants". 

You have two options: 

• Join as a Researcher
• Join as a Participant

Researchers can use the platform to submit surveys and collect data on their target demographic. You can view the submissions in real-time, which is cool. Great for getting a deeper insight into your target audience. But you have to pay to submit these studies. 

Participants can join the studies that Researchers create, for free, to earn some extra cash for submitting their opinion. It works like this: 

• Answer Questions
• Take Part in Research
• Earn Cash 

Studies have a limited amount of slots available, so make sure you act fast. 

But is it really that simple? And is it easy to make cash? 

In the section below we'll talk about how to make money with Prolific. 

Getting Started with Prolific Academy: 

Joining Prolific as a Participant is free, but there are quite a lot of requirements you should know about. To create an account you need to enter your country, first and last name, birthday, and email address. Simple enough.  

Once inside, however, you need to complete an initial survey (screening test) that acts as an introduction to the site. There are a lot of questions! It also requires some more personal information like a phone number to become fully verified.

If you manage to complete the your entire profile with relevant details, and become fully verified, you can start participating in active studies. 

To recap, here's what you need to become eligible for work: 

1. Complete all screening survey (70 + questions)
2. Fully-verify your account (email address and phone).
3. Wait to be matched with a study. 
4. Complete study
5. Wait for researcher to approve your submission

Here's what you need to know:

Prolific does not offer international surveys. Most of the surveys can only be completed within countries where English is the main language, such as: United States, Canada, and U.K.

You can still make an account in any country, but you won't be able to see any active studies. This can be quite bothersome, especially since you have to spend so much time filling in your profile details and completing the screening questions to see the active studies. 

But if you do happen to live in any of the above countries, chances are there will be a couple active studies for you. Notice I said a couple, because from our research, it looks like there are never a lot of studies on the site. They come and go fast. 

Look:

Another important thing to keep in mind is your first submission have to be manually approved, a process that can take up to 21 days. The researcher (whoever created the study) has a period of 1-21 days to approve submissions. If they don't, then the submission is automatically approved after 21 days. 

Getting Paid: 

The amount you can earn for each study varies, from a few cents to $10 or more dollars. It looks like Prolific does pay well, when compared to other platforms. 

Tip:

There is a Google Extension you can use, called Prolific Assistant, that will notify you as soon as a study is available. So be fast! 

But, as we mentioned earlier, the main issue with this platform is the surveys disappear fast. It's got a reputation as one of the better platforms, so there are a lot of people refreshing the site waiting for a chance to earn some cash. We'll talk about this more in the pros and cons section. 

How to Get Paid: 

Once your submission has been approved, the rewards will be added to your account. You can cash-out once your balance reaches five pounds, but there are some fees you should know about. They aren't nearly as high as the last survey website we reviewed though (click here to read our Minenaira Review)!

You also may want to check out Survey Junkie or Grab Points...

You can choose to either cash-out with PayPal or Circle, each have their own fees. PayPal charges 2.9% + 20p for each transaction. Circle charges 1% + 10p fee. 

Payments are issued every Tuesday and Friday, and usually take at least a full week to be processed, so you can expect to wait up to 7 days to receive your cash. Not too bad.

Let's move on to the pros and cons section. 

Prolific Academy Pros: 

Below are some things we liked about Prolific Academy, besides the points we already mentioned. 

1. Interesting "Studies":

This is one of the main aspects of the platform users love. There are a wide variety of studies on the platform and some are quite interesting such as psychology tests and what not. You feel like an actual participant in a study, instead of trying to quickly fill in a survey to earn cash. Very cool. 

2. Low Minimum Cash-out:

Another great thing about Prolific is the minimum pay-out is only five pounds. They recommend you earn more before cashing out to avoid fees, but you have the option to cash-out at only five pounds if you want. The fees aren't bad, either. 

3. Based in U.K, Pounds as the Currency:

This might seem obvious, but the currency on the site is in Pounds, not U.S dollars. At the moment, the Pound is worth more than U.S dollars, so if you're in the U.S you're actually earning more than you think. Currently, the exchange rate is $1.29 to 1 Pound. So 10 Pounds comes to about $12.9. 

The Cons with Prolific

But it's not all great... 

1. Not Many Studies: 

Though most people who use the platform recommend it, there aren't many surveys available. The payments are decent but if you can only do one or two studies a week, it's really not much cash.

2. Extensive Screening-Questions:

I felt there are far too many screening questions, and completing them all doesn't guarantee you'll find studies. There are over 70 screening questions. Of course, the questions do make it easier for the system to match you with relevant studies, but most of the time you are only matched with a couple, anyways. 

3. Few to No Studies for International Users:

This is a common problem for survey-platforms. Prolific straight up blocks certain countries, but you can make an account in most countries. The problem is, even if you can make an account, the chances of you finding any studies are slim to none. Most are only available for people residing in English-speaking countries.

VPNS are prohibited as well, and can result in entire account bans, so don't be tempted.

Is Prolific a Scam? 

If you read this far, it's probably clear Prolific is not a scam. It's a legitimate research and data-collection platform. The studies are decent, and they pay decent rates too, the only problem is there aren't many studies.

Recent users have complained the studies have stopped coming in as quickly as they used to. But if you're wondering if Prolific is a scam, it's not. I think it's worth checking out, if you live in United States or U.K, otherwise it's a pass for me.

While you're at it, feel free to check out our Ultimate Guide to Making Money Online. Thanks. 

An Alternative to Surveys: 

Survey sites rarely pay well, mostly a few dollars here and there, but every little amount counts when you're in a tight financial situation. As far as survey platforms go, Prolific is one of the better ones, and I recommend checking them out. Just skim through the cons again to see if it's right for you. 

Alternatively, if you want to learn how to really build an online business, instead of earning a few dollars here and there, I recommend my number one training course below.

It's awesome, you can get all the help you need to guide you through the process to create a profitable and simple online business. Check it out.