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Calcimator

Survey Cost Estimator

Estimate the total cost of your survey project including recruitment, incentives, platform fees, and analysis time. See a breakdown of where your budget goes.

Inputs

$
$
$
$

Results

Total Project Cost

$4,450.00

≈ 4 smartphones

All-In Cost per Response$8.90
Recruitment Cost$1,750.00
Total Incentive Cost$1,000.00
Analysis Cost$1,500.00
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter the target number of completed surveys.
  2. Input the cost per contact (phone, online panel, mail) and the expected response rate.
  3. Set the incentive amount per completed survey.
  4. Review the Total Survey Cost, Cost per Complete, and Break-Even Response Rate.
  5. Compare the online panel vs. DIY outreach costs to select the most economical approach.

How the result changes with Target Sample Size

Target Sample SizeTotal Project Cost
10,001$56,705.50
35,001$194,205.50
65,000$359,200.00
90,000$496,700.00

What each input means

Target Sample Size
The number of completed responses you need for your study.
Cost per Complete ($)
Panel recruitment cost per completed response. Ranges from $1-5 for consumer panels to $20-100+ for B2B or niche audiences.
Incentive per Respondent ($)
Additional monetary incentive offered to each respondent (gift card, cash, etc.) on top of panel costs.
Platform/Tool Cost ($)
Monthly or per-project cost for your survey platform (e.g., Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, Typeform).
Analysis Hours
Estimated hours for data cleaning, analysis, and report writing.
Analyst Hourly Rate ($)
Hourly rate for the researcher or analyst performing the data analysis.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Target Sample Size = 500, Cost per Complete ($) = 3.5, Incentive per Respondent ($) = 2, Platform/Tool Cost ($) = 200 = 6 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Total Project Cost
    Total Project Cost
    4450 = $4,450
  3. Calculate All-In Cost per Response
    All-In Cost per Response
    8.9 = $8.9
  4. Calculate Recruitment Cost
    Recruitment Cost
    1750 = $1,750

Engine last updated . Checked against 1 independently-derived test — how we verify calculators.

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