MTurk is closed. Here's where to run your surveys now.

Amazon shut Mechanical Turk on 30 September 2026. These are the places researchers are moving their surveys to, and how they compare on price, reach and data checks.

Get your price

Pay by card. No sales call.

In short

Amazon closed MTurk for good on 30 September 2026, so survey studies need a new home. The main alternatives are CloudResearch Connect, Prolific, SurveyMonkey Audience and SampleLabs. On SampleLabs, 100 five-minute responses from the audience you pick cost €261.90 before VAT (€2.62 each) and arrive within 1 to 4 days, or within 48 hours with Speed boost, with bot and AI checks included on surveys built in SampleLabs.

Facts about MTurk checked on 24 October 2026. See the sources.

What SampleLabs covers

The jobs researchers used MTurk for, and how SampleLabs handles each.

Covered 4

Survey responses from a broad sample
Targeting by country, profession and demographics
Results within days
Paying online, with no contract

Partly 2

Specialist professions: filter for them, or Agency finds the hardest ones
Very large samples: 2,000 and up go through Agency

Not covered 2

Data labelling and other small tasks
Setting your own pay per task

MTurk and SampleLabs, side by side

Status: MTurk: Closed on 30 September 2026. Requesters can approve work and pay bonuses until 30 October 2026.; SampleLabs: Open. Order online any day.
How you paid: MTurk: Worker pay plus a 20% fee, and another 20% on tasks with 10 or more assignments.; SampleLabs: One price per response, with participant pay included. You see it before you pay.
What 100 responses cost: MTurk: Depended on the pay you set, plus the fees.; SampleLabs: €387.50 before VAT for 100 five-minute responses from the audience you pick.
Targeting: MTurk: Premium qualifications cost $0.05 to $1.00 extra per filter, per assignment.; SampleLabs: Country, profession, demographics and more. The filters don't change the price.
Who answers: MTurk: Anonymous crowd workers. A 2018 study found most were in the US and India.; SampleLabs: ID-checked participants on a research panel.
Bots and AI answers: MTurk: Up to you: you built your own attention checks.; SampleLabs: Rushed answers are rejected. Surveys built in SampleLabs are also checked for bots and AI-written answers.
Other tasks: MTurk: Labelling, transcription and other small tasks.; SampleLabs: Surveys only.

The alternatives to MTurk

Each one is best for something different. Prices are what each company publishes, checked on the date at the top of this page.

SampleLabs

Best for a fixed price per response, with bot and AI checks included on surveys built in SampleLabs

An ID-checked research panel you order from online, with a survey builder and quality checks in the same place. Rushed answers are rejected before they count.

Price: 100 five-minute responses from the audience you pick cost €261.90 before VAT (€2.62 each) and arrive within 1 to 4 days, or within 48 hours with Speed boost.
CloudResearch Connect

Best for academic studies in English-speaking countries

CloudResearch's own participant pool, from the team that made the MTurk Toolkit. It covers the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. CloudResearch now calls it Connect AI.

Price: Participant pay plus a 40% fee, or 25% for academic and non-profit researchers. Pay must be at least $7.50 an hour.

CloudResearch Connect's own page
Prolific

Best for academic studies across many countries

A participant panel for academic, AI and market research. Prolific says it has 300,000+ active participants in 40+ countries.

Price: Participant pay plus a 42.8% fee, or 33.3% for academic and non-profit researchers. Pay must be at least £6 or $8 an hour.

Prolific's own page
SurveyMonkey Audience

Best for teams who already build in SurveyMonkey

The panel inside SurveyMonkey, aimed at market research. SurveyMonkey says it reaches people in 130+ countries.

Price: From $1 per response, by SurveyMonkey's own pricing.

SurveyMonkey Audience's own page

What SampleLabs doesn't do

No data labelling or small tasks

MTurk also ran labelling, transcription and AI training tasks. SampleLabs only runs surveys.
You don't set the pay

On MTurk you chose what each worker earned. On SampleLabs you pay one price per response and we pay the participants.
No academic discount

Everyone pays the same price per response.

Moving your MTurk study to SampleLabs

Set your size

Pick how many responses you need and how long your survey is. The price shows straight away, in euros, dollars or pounds.
Choose your audience and pay

Filter by country, profession, demographics and more, then pay by card. No account or sales call needed.
Add your survey

Link to a survey you built in Qualtrics or any other tool and add the completion code, or build it in SampleLabs. We launch it and the responses come in.

Questions people ask

Why did MTurk shut down?

Amazon announced on 25 August 2026 that it would close Mechanical Turk on 30 September 2026. Amazon gave no reason beyond saying the decision followed an assessment of the service.

What happens to my open MTurk tasks and balance?

Tasks that weren't submitted by 30 September 2026 expired. Requesters can approve, reject and pay bonuses until 30 October 2026, and anything left is approved automatically. Amazon refunds prepaid MTurk balances within 30 days of the closure.

What is the best MTurk alternative for survey research?

It depends on the study. CloudResearch Connect suits academic studies in English-speaking countries, Prolific suits academic studies across many countries, and SurveyMonkey Audience suits teams already in SurveyMonkey. SampleLabs suits teams who want a fixed price per response and bot checks included on surveys built in SampleLabs.

Is there a cheaper alternative to MTurk?

MTurk added a 20% fee to worker pay, and 20% more on tasks with 10 or more assignments. CloudResearch Connect adds 40% (25% for academics) and Prolific adds 42.8% (33.3% for academics). On SampleLabs, 100 five-minute responses from the audience you pick cost €261.90 before VAT (€2.62 each) and arrive within 1 to 4 days, or within 48 hours with Speed boost.

Can I target the same people I targeted with MTurk qualifications?

On SampleLabs you filter by country, profession, demographics and more, and the filters don't change the price. For hard-to-reach roles, our Agency team plans the sample with you.

Can I keep using my Qualtrics survey after leaving MTurk?

Yes. On SampleLabs you link to your Qualtrics survey, or one from any other tool, and add the completion code people see at the end. You can also build the survey in SampleLabs.

How do I keep bots and AI answers out of my data after MTurk?

Rushed answers are rejected before they count on SampleLabs. Surveys built in SampleLabs are also checked by Protect for bots and AI-written answers, and you see why each response was flagged.

How fast can I get responses after moving off MTurk?

On SampleLabs, responses from the audience you pick arrive within 48 hours. Responses from 18 to 29 year olds arrive within 1 to 4 days.

Where these facts come from

Every fact about another company on this page comes from these pages. Prices and products change, so check the date. Spotted something out of date? Email [email protected] and we'll fix it.