A rate of $50 per participant per month sounds like a cost per patient. It is not. The cost per patient depends on how many months each person stays in the study and how many people share the monthly platform fee. Here is the arithmetic, using the published numbers.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
| Line item | Basis | Qty | Unit | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core platform fee, 1 live study | per month live | 18 | USD1,000 | USD18,000 |
| Per-participant fee | per participant-month | 600 | USD50 | USD30,000 |
| Study setup by the team | one-off | 1 | USD0 | USD0 |
| Direct costs | USD48,000 | |||
| Total | USD48,000 | |||
The short answer
Three pricing shapes
EDC vendors use at least three shapes, and a quote that says "per patient" can mean any of them. A one-off per-subject fee charges once when a participant is enrolled, whatever happens next. A per-active-participant fee charges while someone is in the study, usually per month. A per-visit or per-CRF fee charges for the data actually collected. Each moves the total in a different direction when your protocol gets longer or denser.
Capture's published model is the second shape. The pricing page lists a platform fee per month and a rate per participant per month, and says that only enrolled participants count, from screening. That makes the cost track exposure: a participant who is followed for three months costs less than one followed for two years, and a screened person who never enrols does not create a long tail of fees. It also means there is no charge per form, per visit or per ePRO entry, which matters if your protocol is data-heavy.
The rate is therefore a building block, not a price per patient. To compare it with a one-off per-subject quote from another vendor, convert both into total study cost and divide by participants. The same method is used in the clinical trial cost per patient calculator, which covers the whole trial budget rather than just software.
The published numbers
All figures come from the pricing page and are in US dollars, excluding taxes. The pricing page also shows euro prices.
| Core | Full Platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | $1,000 including 1 live study (extra live studies $1,000/month) | $5,000 per live study |
| Per participant | $50 per participant per month | $30 per participant per month |
| Setup by Capture team | $0 | $0 (Core features plus more) |
| EDC, ePRO, eConsent, AI Study Builder | Included | Included |
| eTMF, CTMS, stratified and blinded randomisation, drug supply | Not included (simple randomisation is) | Included |
| Who it is for | Academic and investigator-led studies | Sponsors running the whole trial on Capture |
Enterprise is custom, with one price across all studies. Above 100 participants the pricing page says rates are lower; the lower rates are not published, so treat the tables below as list-rate ceilings.
The formula
Write it down once and reuse it: total = monthly fee × months live + per-participant rate × participant-months, and cost per patient = total ÷ participants. Months live runs from the first screening to the last participant out. Participant-months is the sum, over everyone, of the months they are in the study.
For a simple model, assume enrolment is spread over 12 months and each participant is followed for a fixed number of months. Participant-months is then participants × follow-up months, and months live is 12 plus follow-up. This ignores screening time and early withdrawals, which both nudge the real figure, so use it for planning and confirm the counting rule for your own study in writing.
Doubling follow-up from 12 to 24 months does two things at once: it doubles participant-months, and it lengthens months live, so the monthly fee runs longer too. That is why the table below grows faster than linearly. If your endpoint can be measured at 6 months rather than 24, the saving is not 75 percent of the participant fee, it is closer to 80 percent of the whole software bill.
Worked example
List-rate arithmetic from the published numbers. Not a quote.
| Follow-up | Months live | Participant-months | Core total | Core per patient | Full Platform total | Full per patient |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | 15 | 300 | $30,000 | $300 | $84,000 | $840 |
| 6 months | 18 | 600 | $48,000 | $480 | $108,000 | $1,080 |
| 12 months | 24 | 1,200 | $84,000 | $840 | $156,000 | $1,560 |
| 24 months | 36 | 2,400 | $156,000 | $1,560 | $252,000 | $2,520 |
Core: $1,000 × months live + $50 × participant-months. Full Platform: $5,000 × months live + $30 × participant-months. Full Platform adds eTMF, CTMS and stratified, blinded randomisation, so compare it with the separate vendors you would otherwise buy, not with Core.
Build the study free, count your visits and months, then come back to these tables with real inputs. You pay only once the first participant is screened.
Small studies
Small studies show the fixed fee most clearly. Take 40 participants enrolled over 6 months and followed for 6, so the study is live for 12 months and uses 240 participant-months. On Core that is $12,000 in monthly fees plus $12,000 in participant fees, $24,000 in total or $600 per patient. Half of that is the platform fee, which is why a pilot looks expensive per head and why shortening the live period helps more than cutting participants.
The same arithmetic explains why more participants in the same window lowers the cost per patient. With 80 participants in the same 12 months, the monthly fees are unchanged at $12,000 and participant fees double to $24,000, giving $36,000 or $450 each. If a reviewer or funder asks why the per-head cost fell, this is the reason. For a grant line, see how to budget EDC in a grant proposal.
Do not forget what is not on the bill. Setup by the Capture team is $0 on the pricing page, and ePRO and eConsent are in Core rather than sold as add-ons, so none of the usual extra lines for build, diary licences or consent licences appear. The hidden EDC fees list shows what to look for on other quotes.
Months live
12
Participant-months
240
Total at list rate
$24,000
Per patient
$600
$12,000
$12,000
Comparing quotes
Participants, enrolment months, follow-up months, number of sites and modules needed on day one. Everything else is arithmetic.
Enrolled, screened, active or randomised? On Capture the pricing page says enrolled participants count from screening. Ask every vendor the same question, including how withdrawals and screen failures are billed.
Add monthly fees, per-participant fees, setup, modules, per-site and per-seat charges, amendments and close-out. A line you cannot find is a question for the vendor.
Cost per enrolled patient and cost per completer differ when dropout is high. Plan with the second number, as the sample size calculation does.
Add three months to enrolment and see what changes. A monthly model charges for the delay, a per-subject model usually does not.
Before you commit
The pricing page says when the first participant is screened. Confirm the date definition for your study.
Ask how completion, withdrawal and end of follow-up are treated for billing.
Not published. Ask for them in writing if your study is larger.
The pricing page converts at a locked rate; check the currency you will be invoiced in.
Core can stay at $1,000/month between studies and start the next study from the last one.
Context
This page explains the pricing mechanics. For market ranges and why vendors rarely publish numbers, read the EDC software pricing guide. For a line-item worksheet at one study size, see EDC cost for a 100-patient trial. For the lean-team angle, low-cost clinical trial software covers what to look for, and how much a clinical trial costs shows that software is a small part of a trial budget.
When you are ready for a real number, build the study in the free sandbox. Every feature is available, there is no credit card and no time limit, and you pay only after going live with real participants.
The pricing page lists a monthly platform fee and a rate per participant per month: Core is $1,000/month plus $50, Full Platform is $5,000/month per live study plus $30. Only enrolled participants count, from screening.
Add the monthly fee times months live to the per-participant rate times participant-months, then divide by participants. For 100 participants on Core with 6 months of follow-up the list-rate result is about $480 each.
The pricing page says rates are lower above 100 participants but does not publish them. Treat list-rate tables as ceilings and ask for the lower rate in writing.
No. Core includes EDC, ePRO and eConsent, so there is no separate module charge. Full Platform adds eTMF, CTMS and stratified, blinded randomisation.
The pricing page shows study setup by the Capture team at $0.
The pricing page says the study fee starts when your first participant is screened. Building and testing draft studies is free to start.
The monthly platform fee is spread over fewer people. A 40-participant, 12-month study on Core works out at about $600 per patient at list rates, half of it the platform fee.
Yes. The free sandbox includes every feature with no credit card and no time limit. You pay only once you go live.
Keep exploring
Pricing
Core, Full Platform and Enterprise.
EDC software pricing guide (2026)
Market tiers and what drives price.
EDC cost for a 100-patient trial
Line-item worksheet at one size.
Cost per patient calculator
Whole-trial cost per patient.
Hidden EDC fees
Fee categories to ask about.
EDC cost calculator
Price a study line by line.
Build the study free, count your months, and pay only once the first participant is screened.