Testable Minds review: A rival to Prolific?

Looking for a survey site that pays well and is slightly different to the rest? Well, Testable Minds might be for you. Let’s take a look at how it works, how much you can earn and if it really is as good as one of the best survey sites out there – Prolific.

Testable Minds

Ah, survey sites. Are they really a good way to make money from home? Or is it a lot of effort for very little reward?

They do get a lot of bad press, but you can make over £6,000 per year from surveys. In fact, it’s one of my favourite money-making jobs.

I’ll be honest, even though taking surveys is fairly easy money, it isn’t always interesting. Sometimes you will answer questions on a particular brand and then answer several more that, although worded slightly differently, mean exactly the same thing. Then you are asked the same questions on a rival brand. And another, until you start to lose the will to live.

In my search for bigger and better survey sites, I stumbled across Testable Minds which has the tagline “lend your mind to science.” Which I decided to do, although I am a little worried about how desperate science has become if they need mine.

What is Testable Minds?

Testable Minds is a legitimate survey site used by academics across the world. And because many of the studies are funded by universities, they generally pay better than companies. That means more money for you!

Taken from their website:

Testable Minds is a new platform where researchers from the world’s most prestigious universities will recruit participants for their psychological and behavioral experiments. You now have the opportunity to contribute to our quest to understand how the mind works and make some money on the way.

Is Testable Minds safe?

From the research I have done, it appears that Testable is based in Romania. Any complaints about personal data need to go through Romania’s National Supervisory Authority. Plus, the majority of their core team has Romanian names.

This is the first survey site I have seen based in Romania. Nearly all other sites I use are headquartered in the UK or the USA.

Most of their academic advisors are based in the UK, USA, New Zealand and Australia.

I’ve used the site for more than five years without issues (except for one, see below). Surveys are usually confirmed and paid within a few days and withdrawn funds are received into my Revolut account instantly.

How does it work?

Like with any good survey site, you’ll need to fill out some profile questionnaires before you get started. This is so you get matched with suitable surveys so you don’t waste yours or the researcher’s time. The profile is quite brief and should only take a couple of minutes.

Then, it’s a case of waiting for the surveys to arrive. When they do, you’ll see a box telling you how much the survey pays, how long it should take and a brief overview. It will also tell you how many spaces are available. Surveys tend to fill up quickly, so you need to accept as soon as you can.

You should find a little bell at the bottom of the Testable site. This gives you option to turn on notifications so you instantly know when a new survey is available.

You can also become a ‘Verified Mind’ which requires you to send in a copy of your photo ID. This should mean that you’ll see more work.

Once you’ve completed a survey, it will be reviewed by the researcher. In most cases, they’ll confirm payment to you within around three days.

Testable Minds also has a section on the site entitled “partner studies”. These are surveys not hosted by Testable and will take you to an external site.

Any downsides?

Unfortunately, there aren’t many survey opportunities. In fact, I joined in the April and only reached $10 by October. That is partly my fault, as I didn’t check it as often as other survey sites; I didn’t receive many notifications either. Many studies only have 20 or 30 spaces available, so they fill up quite quickly. However, I did manage to get to grips with the site a little better after this.

Look out for poorly paid surveys. Fortunately, they are few and far between, but still worth being careful of. The survey below paid just $2 for 45 minutes.

If one of your surveys is rejected, you can’t contact the researcher directly. Instead, you need to go through Testable and this can be a bit of a long winded process.

And I would stay away from the partner studies. First of all, you don’t know how much they pay or how long they take – it never tells you. Plus, you don’t receive payment for 14 days. And that’s as long as your answers are accepted. If they’re not, there’s nothing you can do.

How much can you earn from Testable Minds?

Because surveys are set by different people, it means the rewards that are on offer differ too. Plus, you are paid in $, so the exchange rate can affect how much you earn. Expect to earn around $9 (roughly £7) per hour.

There are two payment options –

PayPal – minimum withdrawal $10, payments are made every Tuesday and there is a small fee

Revolut – minimum withdrawal $1, payments are made instantly and there is no fee

I guess Testable prefers Revolut. However, you can read my full Revolut review and an account is free to open.

As you can see from below, I’ve earned over to $1,000 as a member. I’m not sure who didn’t approve one of my studies though…

Testable Minds refer a friend

Another way you can make a small amount of money is by referring your friends and family to join. Just share your link and you will earn $1 when your friend makes their first withdrawal.

Customer service

Generally, when it comes to survey sites, you’ll have little interaction regarding customer service. But when an issue arises, it’s how they react that makes the difference between a good and a bad site. Unfortunately, Testable Minds lets itself down.

Unlike Prolific, which offers a similar service, if you have an issue with a survey, it’s not quite so easy to sort out. You will need to contact the Testable Minds team, who will contact the survey creator. It can take some time to get back to you… if at all.

I was rejected for one survey and got in touch with the team. I was told I had been rejected because English wasn’t my first language. Now, considering that I had been a verified member for several years, I was quite surprised by this. I spoke to somebody called Gabriela by email, who would not tell me how I could prove that English was my first language.

It took several weeks for them to say “tough”. In the end, I pointed them to this review and my blog. Eventually, they caved and paid me the money.

Still, it shouldn’t have been needed.

My Testable Minds review conclusion

So, is joining Testable Minds worthwhile? I like this site, but it could do with far more surveys. That said, when combined with other survey sites, it should see you on your way to making a decent side income.

Just ignore the partner studies and consider opening a Revolut account so you don’t have to pay fees on your earnings.

Testable Minds isn’t quite as good as Prolific, which pays slightly more and has more surveys. But it’s not a terrible alternative.

Testable Minds

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