FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions

To the complete FAQ

The 10 most important questions

1. What is SurveyCircle?
SurveyCircle is the leading survey participant tool that allows you to easily find free participants for your survey.

With SurveyCircle, you can recruit survey participants by helping others. The more helpful you are and the more you participate in other surveys, the more people will, in turn, take part in your survey.

2. How does SurveyCircle work?
SurveyCircle is based on mutual support: the more often you take part in other surveys via SurveyCircle, the more people take part in your survey in return.

This is how SurveyCircle works in detail: With every survey you take part in, you collect SurveyCircle points. These points improve the position of your survey in the Survey Ranking - and the better the position, the more people take part in your survey. Automatically.

Why does this work? It's simple: the higher a survey is placed in the Survey Ranking, the more points you receive as a participant for taking part. This creates a natural incentive for all SurveyCircle members to participate, especially in well-placed surveys. The result is fairness for everyone. The more helpful you are, the faster you will find participants.

3. Who is SurveyCircle made for?
We developed SurveyCircle specifically for the needs of students, researchers, founders, and startups who conduct online surveys and experiments. Whether it's an academic study or a market research survey, we're excited about your project! With the help of our community and your own willingness to help others, you can use SurveyCircle to find study participants in a collaborative way.

SurveyCircle can also give you valuable inspiration when searching for a topic for your empirical project (bachelor's thesis, master's thesis, etc.). By participating in other people's studies, you gain a good overview of current research topics and ideas from a wide range of disciplines. This makes it easier to find an exciting and relevant topic for your thesis. In the “Discover Research” section, you even have access to tens of thousands of already completed studies from your field or your university.

4. How many surveys should I complete?
With SurveyCircle you can decide for yourself when and how many surveys you answer and how quickly you get answers in return. In general, it makes sense to start earning points early so that your survey can rise high in the Survey Ranking. The earlier you start collecting points, the faster you can integrate your results into the schedule for your project (Bachelor's thesis, Master's thesis, etc.).

5. I need my participants today - is that possible?
Recruiting a large number of survey participants doesn't usually work overnight. At SurveyCircle, everything is based on mutual contribution: only when you collect enough points by participating in other surveys and your survey rises in the Survey Ranking will others participate in your survey. This requires time and, of course, a willingness to help.

6. Can I purchase participants?
No, unlike other survey platforms, it is not possible to buy participants on SurveyCircle. However, there is a way to increase the number of your participant slots. With our upgrade feature, you can use SurveyCircle indefinetly and recruit an unlimited number of study participants for your survey.

7. I need even more participants - how does that work?
As a SurveyCircle member, you will receive a comprehensive free starter package from us. If you need more participants for your survey, you can upgrade your account and unlock additional slots. This freemium concept means that SurveyCircle remains completely free for the majority of our community. If you need a larger number of participants, you can then access our upgrades at favourable prices, thereby supporting the operation of the platform.

8. Can I create a survey using SurveyCircle?
No, SurveyCircle does not offer a tool for creating surveys. We deliberately focus on supporting you in your search for survey participants and providing you with the best tool and the largest ecosystem with SurveyCircle.

There are numerous great tools for creating online surveys for free. You should carefully check which offer makes the most sense for you and get advice from other students or researchers.

9. Where can I access my results?
The data collection, i.e. the answering of the questions in your survey, does not take place directly through SurveyCircle, but instead where you created your survey. Because your data is stored elsewhere, you cannot download it from SurveyCircle. To view and analyze your survey data, please use the tool you used to create your questionnaire.

To the complete FAQ

What others say about SurveyCircle

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars based on 785 reviews on Google and Trustpilot

Don’t think I could have successfully completed my data collection in such a short time without survey circle. Highly recommended! Thank you so much

Really helpful for my dissertation, it took some work on my end doing other people’s surveys but it was definitely worth it as I got a lot of participants

I used survey circle for my dissertation. the team are so helpful as they help you create a post in order to advertise the questionnaire as well as posting it on their site. Such professional support!

Fair system. Great results.

Wouldn‘t have accomplished my master-thesis research without SurveyCircle! Recruiting participants is tedious and SurveyCircle makes it way easier while also being able to help others in the same... read more

Very good service. My survey was filled inn and had no issues. Will use it again!

It was a fantastic help to get respondents for my master's thesis! I would 100% recommend it!

Sie waren mir eine große Hilfe bei der Suche nach Teilnehmern für meine Umfrage!

The platform is really smart and well-structured! I easily reached my goal. I'm happy to have contributed by upgrading the plan because they deserved it.

SurveyCircle has been very useful for me for my master thesis. I was able to get a few hundred participants in a few short weeks, which would have otherwise cost me a lot of effort. Thanks for making... read more

SurveyCircle is an excellent tool that's easy to use. I wanted to top up my participant numbers and I got good quality responses and a larger number of responses than I expected. I've enjoyed... read more

Best platform if you need quality responses

Nice platform to get genuine responses- researcher

It is an effective platform for collecting survey responses quickly and efficiently, I highly recommend trying it

SurveyCircle is such a lifesaver! Super easy way to get survey participants while helping out other researchers too. Highly recommend if you’re doing a study !

A great platform for those of the social and economic sciences!

SurveyCircle helped get my survey for my DBA thesis going. You have to invest a significant amount of your time in doing others' surveys to earn points for your own. However, this is very much a... read more

SurveyCircle was very helpful. Thanks to SurveyCircle I could recruit over 150 participants via their platform. I experienced more than friendly and helpful support. After a few participants I had to... read more

Really helpful.

View 50+ reviews on Google, Trustpilot and Facebook

Tips for getting more participants

• Start collecting points early.
• Participate in as many surveys as possible.
• Have friends/family collect points for you.
• Post your survey on Instagram and LinkedIn and tag us.
• Share your survey in our social media groups.

June 06, 2026

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok

Check out our Instagram and TikTok channels to get to know the camera-loving side of our team.

June 02, 2026

The Basic Rules on SurveyCircle

#1: Fill out all questionnaires truthfully and conscientiously.
#2: Participate in studies only when you meet the participation criteria.
#3: Redeem Survey Codes only if you have earned them in compliance with the rules.
#4: Redeem Survey Codes right after completing a study.
#5: Rate the quality of studies thoroughly.
#6: Do not share Survey Codes with others.
#7: Do not use multiple accounts.
#8: Do not let anyone use your account to participate in studies.
#9: Do not use rule violations by others to your advantage.

March 01, 2026

Find Survey Participants
and Support Research.
In the Largest Community for Online Research.

SurveyCircle helps you find
survey participants and reach
a larger sample.
Free of charge, fair, hassle-free.

Better results

Fair and transparent

More reach

Easy to use

No risk

Support research
by participating in studies.
Earn and send points to support
projects of your choice.

Earn a few points
for a Survey Manager.
No registration required.

The Survey Ranking

The 10 most important questions

What others say about SurveyCircle

Find Survey Participantsand Support Research.In the Largest Community for Online Research.

SurveyCircle helps you findsurvey participants and reacha larger sample.Free of charge, fair, hassle-free.

Better results

Fair and transparent

More reach

Easy to use

No risk

Support researchby participating in studies. Earn and send points to supportprojects of your choice.

Earn a few pointsfor a Survey Manager.No registration required.

The Survey Ranking

The 10 most important questions

What others say about SurveyCircle

Find Survey Participants
and Support Research.
In the Largest Community for Online Research.

SurveyCircle helps you find
survey participants and reach
a larger sample.
Free of charge, fair, hassle-free.

Support research
by participating in studies.
Earn and send points to support
projects of your choice.

Earn a few points
for a Survey Manager.
No registration required.