Subscription Tiers and Pricing
Quick Summary: Compare subscription plans, understand tier limits, and choose the right plan for your research needs.
What You'll Learn
- Available subscription tiers and their features
- Tier limits (studies, participants, storage)
- How to upgrade or downgrade your account
- Special tiers for students and instructors
- Understanding billing models
Overview
The PEBL Online Platform offers multiple subscription tiers designed for different use cases, from individual students learning experimental psychology to professional researchers running large-scale studies. All tiers include access to the full PEBL test library and core platform features.
Subscription Tiers
Free Tier
Best for: Exploring the platform, small pilot studies, teaching demos
Limits:
- Active studies: 1
- Participants per study: Unlimited
- Storage: 25.6 MB
- Custom tests: 0 (library tests only)
- Pilot sessions: Unlimited
- Test library: Full access
Cost: $0/month
Features:
- ✅ Access to all PEBL battery tests
- ✅ Create and launch studies
- ✅ Download data (CSV format)
- ✅ Share study links
- ✅ Basic analytics
- ❌ No custom test uploads
- ❌ Limited storage
- ❌ Only 1 active study at a time
Good for:
- Learning how to use the platform
- Small classroom demonstrations
- Quick pilot studies
- Personal experimentation
Limitations:
- Must complete or archive existing study before creating new one
- Storage fills quickly with large participant numbers
- Cannot upload custom PEBL tests
Trial Tier
Best for: Evaluating platform features before committing
Limits:
- Active studies: 3
- Participants per study: Unlimited
- Storage: 50 MB
- Custom tests: 0 (library tests only)
- Pilot sessions: 5 per study
- Test library: Standard access
Cost: $0/month (time-limited, typically 30 days)
Features:
- ✅ Multiple concurrent studies
- ✅ More storage than Free
- ✅ Pilot session testing
- ✅ Data export
- ❌ No custom tests
- ❌ Time-limited access
Notes:
- Automatically converts to Free tier after trial expires
- Keep all your data after conversion
- Can upgrade to paid tier anytime
Student Tier
Best for: Individual students conducting research projects
Limits:
- Active studies: 1
- Participants per study: 10
- Storage: 512 MB
- Custom tests: 0 (library tests only)
- Pilot sessions: Unlimited
- Test library: Standard access
Cost: $0/month
Features:
- ✅ Generous storage for small studies
- ✅ Suitable for honors theses, course projects
- ✅ Export data for analysis
- ✅ Share results with advisors
- ❌ Limited to 10 participants
- ❌ No custom test uploads
- ❌ Only 1 active study
Requirements:
- Valid .edu email address or advisor verification
- Used for educational purposes
Good for:
- Undergraduate research projects
- Graduate student pilot studies
- Course assignments
- Learning experimental methods
Instructor Tier
Best for: Teaching staff running classroom demonstrations or student research
Limits:
- Active studies: 5
- Participants per study: 100
- Storage: 102.4 MB
- Custom tests: 0 (library tests only)
- Pilot sessions: 5 per study
- Test library: Standard access
Cost: $0/month
Features:
- ✅ Multiple concurrent studies
- ✅ Suitable for class demonstrations
- ✅ Can manage multiple student projects
- ✅ Pilot testing before class use
- ❌ No custom test uploads
- ❌ Limited storage per study
Requirements:
- Faculty or teaching staff affiliation
- Institutional email verification
Good for:
- Experimental psychology courses
- Research methods labs
- Student project supervision
- Classroom demonstrations
Researcher Tier
Best for: Professional researchers conducting active studies
Limits:
- Active studies: Unlimited
- Participants per study: Unlimited
- Storage: 102.4 MB
- Custom tests: 0 (library tests only)
- Pilot sessions: 5 per study
- Test library: Standard access
Cost:
- $7.99/month (billed monthly)
- $79/year ($6.58/month, save 18%)
Features:
- ✅ Unlimited studies and participants
- ✅ Suitable for professional research
- ✅ Data export and analysis tools
- ✅ Collaboration features
- ✅ Study snapshot versioning
- ✅ Pilot session limits
- ❌ No custom test uploads (use library tests)
- ⚠️ Storage may fill with many large studies
Good for:
- Academic researchers
- Professional psychology research
- Multi-study projects
- Longitudinal research
- Lab-wide research programs
Billing:
- Monthly: Charged $7.99 every month
- Annual: Charged $79 once per year
- Cancel anytime (no refunds for unused time)
Researcher+ Tier
Best for: Power users with large studies or special requirements
Limits:
- Active studies: Unlimited
- Participants per study: Unlimited
- Storage: 250 MB (2.5x Researcher tier)
- Custom tests: 0 (library tests only)
- Pilot sessions: 5 per study
- Test library: Standard access
Cost:
- $9.99/month (billed monthly)
- $99/year ($8.25/month, save 17%)
Features:
- ✅ All Researcher tier features
- ✅ 2.5x more storage
- ✅ Priority support (if available)
- ✅ Extended data retention
- ❌ No custom test uploads
Good for:
- Large-scale studies (hundreds of participants)
- Multi-site collaborations
- Longitudinal projects with lots of data
- Research groups with multiple active projects
Billing:
- Monthly: Charged $9.99 every month
- Annual: Charged $99 once per year
- Cancel anytime (no refunds for unused time)
Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | Free | Trial | Student | Instructor | Researcher | Researcher+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active Studies | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Participants/Study | Unlimited | Unlimited | 10 | 100 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage | 25.6 MB | 50 MB | 512 MB | 102.4 MB | 102.4 MB | 250 MB |
| Custom Tests | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Pilot Sessions | Unlimited | 5 | Unlimited | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Test Library | Full | Standard | Standard | Standard | Standard | Standard |
| Data Export | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Collaboration | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Study Snapshots | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Test Chains | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom Translations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Short URLs | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Monthly Cost | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $7.99 | $9.99 |
| Annual Cost | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $79 | $99 |
Understanding Limits
Active Studies Limit
What it means: Maximum number of studies in "pilot" or "active" state simultaneously
Example scenarios:
Free tier (1 active study):
- ✅ Can have 1 study in "active" state
- ✅ Can have unlimited "draft" studies
- ✅ Can have unlimited "disabled" or "completed" studies
- ❌ Cannot launch second study until first is completed or disabled
Researcher tier (unlimited):
- ✅ Can have any number of studies active simultaneously
- ✅ No need to disable old studies before creating new ones
- ✅ Can run pilot and main study concurrently
Workaround for Free/Student tiers:
- Complete study 1, download data
- Change study 1 state to "disabled" or "completed"
- Now can create and activate study 2
Participants Per Study Limit
What it means: Maximum unique participants who can submit data to a single study
Example scenarios:
Student tier (10 participants):
- ✅ First 10 participants can complete study
- ❌ 11th participant will see "Study unavailable" message
- Study automatically disabled when limit reached
Researcher tier (unlimited):
- ✅ No participant limit
- Only limited by storage capacity
Notes:
- Pilot sessions may not count toward limit (depends on tier)
- Incomplete sessions may count toward limit
- Check "Browse Data" to see current participant count
Storage Limit
What it means: Total size of all data files across all your studies
Typical file sizes:
- Corsi test: ~2-5 KB per participant
- Stroop test: ~10-20 KB per participant
- Complex tests: ~50-100 KB per participant
Example calculations:
Free tier (25.6 MB):
- Assuming 10 KB average per participant
- ~2,500 participants total across all studies
- OR ~50 participants if each generates 500 KB
Student tier (512 MB):
- ~50,000 participants at 10 KB each
- More than sufficient for typical student projects
Researcher tier (102.4 MB):
- ~10,000 participants at 10 KB each
- May fill with multiple large studies
Researcher+ tier (250 MB):
- ~25,000 participants at 10 KB each
- Best for labs with many concurrent projects
Managing storage:
- Download data regularly
- Delete completed studies after archiving data
- Remove test participant sessions
- Upgrade tier if needed
Pilot Sessions Limit
What it means: Maximum number of pilot test sessions before requiring study to go "active"
How it works:
- Pilot mode accessed via
?pilot=1parameter - Pilot sessions don't count toward participant limits (in most tiers)
- Pilot data stored separately
- Can test repeatedly with same participant ID
Example scenarios:
Trial/Instructor/Researcher tiers (5 pilot sessions):
- ✅ Can run 5 pilot sessions for testing
- ✅ Pilot data saved but doesn't count toward limits
- ❌ After 5 pilot sessions, must switch to "active" state
- Good for: Testing before launch
Free/Student tiers (unlimited pilot):
- ✅ Can pilot test endlessly
- ✅ Never forced to go active
- Good for: Learning, demos, repeated testing
Custom Tests Limit
Current status: All tiers set to 0 (custom test upload feature coming soon)
Future capability:
- Upload your own PEBL test scripts
- Modify existing tests
- Create entirely new experiments
- Expected to be premium feature
Choosing the Right Tier
Decision Tree
Are you a student?
- YES → Student tier (free, 10 participants)
- NO → Continue
Are you teaching a class?
- YES → Instructor tier (free, 100 participants per study)
- NO → Continue
Just exploring the platform?
- YES → Free tier or Trial tier
- NO → Continue
Will you have >1 active study at a time?
- YES → Researcher or Researcher+ tier
- NO → Continue
Will you collect data from >10 participants?
- YES → Researcher or Researcher+ tier (if only 1 study, maybe Instructor tier)
- NO → Free tier sufficient
Will you store >100 MB of data?
- YES → Researcher+ tier
- NO → Researcher tier
Common Use Cases
Use case: Honors thesis
- Recommended: Student tier
- Why: 1 study, <10 participants, enough storage, free
Use case: Dissertation with 3 experiments
- Recommended: Researcher tier (annual)
- Why: Multiple studies, >10 participants, unlimited studies
Use case: Lab running 5-10 studies per year
- Recommended: Researcher+ tier (annual)
- Why: Many studies, lots of data, best value with annual billing
Use case: Experimental psychology course demo
- Recommended: Instructor tier
- Why: Free, up to 100 students can participate, multiple studies
Use case: One-time data collection (50 participants)
- Recommended: Researcher tier (monthly), cancel after completion
- Why: $7.99 for one month, unlimited participants, can cancel
Upgrading Your Tier
How to Upgrade
- Go to Account Settings
- Click Subscription tab
- View current tier and available upgrades
- Click Upgrade next to desired tier
- Choose billing period (monthly or annual)
- Enter payment information
- Confirm upgrade
When Upgrade Takes Effect
- Immediately upon payment confirmation
- New limits apply to existing studies instantly
- Can create more studies right away
- Storage limit increases immediately
What Happens to Existing Data
- ✅ All existing studies preserved
- ✅ All participant data retained
- ✅ Analytics and history maintained
- ✅ Study states unchanged
Downgrading Your Tier
How to Downgrade
- Go to Account Settings
- Click Subscription tab
- Click Change Plan
- Select lower tier
- Confirm downgrade
What Happens When Downgrading
If new tier limits exceeded:
- Existing studies remain accessible (read-only)
- Cannot create new studies until within limits
- Cannot collect new data on studies exceeding participant limit
- Must delete/disable studies or participants to comply
Example: Researcher → Free:
- Have 3 active studies
- Free tier allows 1 active study
- Options:
2. Complete/archive 2 studies 3. Upgrade back to higher tier
Storage over limit:
- Cannot upload new data
- Existing data remains accessible
- Must delete studies to free space
- Can download data before deleting
When Downgrade Takes Effect
- End of current billing period (not immediate)
- Can continue using current tier until then
- Billing stops at period end
- New limits enforced after transition
Billing and Payments
Payment Methods
- Credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover)
- Debit cards
- (Future: Institutional invoicing for large accounts)
Billing Cycles
Monthly subscription:
- Charged same day each month
- Example: Subscribed Jan 15 → billed Feb 15, Mar 15, etc.
- Can cancel anytime
- No refunds for partial months
Annual subscription:
- Charged once per year
- Renews automatically unless canceled
- Save 17-18% vs. monthly billing
- No refunds for partial years
Auto-Renewal
- Enabled by default for all paid tiers
- Automatically renews at end of billing period
- Email notification sent 7 days before renewal
- Can disable auto-renewal in Account Settings
- If disabled, subscription ends at period end
Cancellation
- Go to Account Settings → Subscription
- Click Cancel Subscription
- Confirm cancellation
- Access continues until end of billing period
- Account downgrades to Free tier after period ends
- Partial months (monthly billing)
- Partial years (annual billing)
- Unused participants or storage
Invoices and Receipts
- Emailed automatically after each charge
- Also available in Account Settings → Billing History
- Shows: Date, amount, billing period, payment method
- Can download PDF for expense reports
Educational and Institutional Accounts
Student Verification
Student tier requirements:
- Valid .edu email address
- OR verification letter from academic advisor
- OR course enrollment confirmation
How to verify:
- Sign up with .edu email (automatic verification)
- OR upload verification document in Account Settings
- Approval within 1-2 business days
Instructor Verification
Instructor tier requirements:
- Faculty or teaching staff position
- Valid institutional email
- Course or teaching assignment verification
How to verify:
- Sign up with institutional email
- Provide course information or appointment letter
- Approval within 1-2 business days
Institutional Licensing (Coming Soon)
For universities or research institutions:
- Site-wide licenses
- Unlimited users
- Centralized billing
- Custom storage limits
- Dedicated support
- Contact administrator for pricing
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch between monthly and annual billing?
Yes. You can switch anytime:
- Monthly → Annual: Pay annual rate immediately, get credit for unused monthly time
- Annual → Monthly: Switch takes effect at end of annual period
What happens if I exceed my limits?
Active studies:
- Cannot create new active studies
- Existing studies continue normally
- Must disable a study or upgrade
Participants:
- Study automatically disabled when limit reached
- New participants see "Study unavailable" message
- Existing data preserved
- Upgrade or delete participants to re-enable
Storage:
- Cannot upload new data files
- Existing data remains accessible
- Must delete old studies or upgrade
Can I get a refund?
No refunds for:
- Partial billing periods
- Change of mind
- Unused features or limits
Exceptions:
- Technical issues preventing platform use
- Billing errors
- Duplicate charges
Contact support for refund requests.
Do I lose data when downgrading?
No - all data preserved:
- Studies become read-only if over new limits
- Can download all data
- Can view analytics
- Cannot collect new data until within limits
Can I upgrade mid-month?
Yes:
- Upgrade takes effect immediately
- Charged pro-rated amount for remainder of billing period
- Next charge will be full monthly rate
- OR switch to annual billing for bigger savings
How do pilot sessions work with limits?
Pilot session counting:
- Trial/Instructor/Researcher tiers: 5 pilot sessions per study
- Free/Student tiers: Unlimited pilot sessions
- Pilot sessions generally don't count toward participant limits
- Pilot data stored separately
After pilot limit:
- Must change study to "active" state
- Or delete pilot sessions to continue testing
- Or upgrade to tier with more/unlimited pilots
Can students upgrade to paid tiers?
Yes - students can subscribe to Researcher or Researcher+ tiers:
- Useful for dissertation research
- Pay for what you need
- Keep Student tier email verification
- Can downgrade back to Student tier later
Related Topics
- Account Settings - Manage your account and subscription
- Billing and Payments - Payment methods and billing history
- Getting Started - Create your first study
- Managing Studies - Study lifecycle and states
Need help choosing a tier? Contact platform support for personalized recommendations based on your research needs.