TestingTime

TestingTime is a Swiss user-research recruitment platform. Companies pay it to find people who match a specific profile, and it pays those people to sit in a research session. It is not gig work or a task site: you are not doing a job, you are being interviewed about how you use software.

How it works

• You sign up free, fill in a profile covering your job, sector, tools and demographics, and wait for studies to appear on your dashboard
• Each study lists a duration, a fee and how many participants are wanted. Typical rates we have seen are £21 for 45 minutes and £26 for 30 minutes
• You apply, then answer a short screener. The client's criteria decide whether you get a slot
• Sessions are usually remote video calls, occasionally unmoderated tests you do in your own time
• Payment is per completed session, not per application

Worth knowing

The screener is the real gate, not availability. Studies appear regularly, but each one recruits against narrow criteria — a sector, a job role, a specific piece of software, or a demographic quota that may already be full. Rejections generally arrive without a reason attached, which is normal for the platform rather than a sign anything is wrong with your account. How often you get through depends heavily on how well your profile matches what researchers happen to be recruiting for.

The one lever genuinely under your control is your profile. TestingTime's own notification emails lead with "answer more profile questions to see if you can participate", so it is worth completing every question before applying to anything: the screener cannot match you on an attribute you have never answered.

Who it suits

Anyone whose day job gives them an unusual or in-demand profile: a specific sector, a specific tool, a specific seniority. Researchers are recruiting for exactly those attributes, so a distinctive professional background is the thing that gets you through the screener.

It suits you far less if you want predictable income. The hourly rate when you land a study is excellent by side-income standards, but the conversion rate from application to session is the number that decides what you actually earn, and it varies enormously from person to person.