Charities, foundations and investigator-led teams need a number they can put in a grant budget. This page works through the published list rates, line by line, for a 120-participant study, says plainly what is not published, and gives you a budget checklist and the questions to put to any vendor.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
Months live
12
Participant-months
720
Core total
$48,000
Full Platform total
$81,600
$12,000
$36,000
$60,000
$21,600
The short answer
What is published
Pricing for a nonprofit trial looks different from pricing for a commercial sponsor mostly in what you must be able to justify. A funder wants to see a line item, a unit, a quantity and a reason. The Capture price list suits that: there are two numbers that matter on Core, a monthly fee for a live study and a monthly fee per participant, and one more on Full Platform. Core includes EDC, ePRO and eConsent, an AI study builder, edit checks, simple randomisation, unlimited draft studies and 21 CFR Part 11 controls, with US or EU hosting. Full Platform adds stratified and blinded randomisation, drug supply, eTMF and CTMS. The pricing page also lists no per-site fee and no per-seat licence line.
What is not on the page matters just as much. There is no published nonprofit or academic price, no published rate for studies above 100 participants and no published terms for support beyond what the site describes. Do not write a figure into a grant proposal that comes from a page that does not state it. Use the published list rates as a defensible upper bound, flag the volume rate as a quote to be obtained, and refresh the budget when you have it in writing. If you are comparing against a free-at-point-of-use academic system, see REDCap true cost vs EDC and the REDCap hosting and validation burden.
There is also a separate design partner programme described on the pricing page, with up to 50 percent off a first study in return for feedback, a testimonial, logo use or upfront payment, and limited places. That is a conditional programme for early partners, not a nonprofit rate, and it is not guaranteed. If it interests you, ask about it at the same time as the volume rate.
Worked example
List-rate arithmetic. Enrolment is spread over 6 months in each design. Months live = enrolment months + follow-up months. Participant-months = participants x follow-up months. Every participant is counted from screening for the full follow-up, so the numbers are ceilings.
| Design | Months live | Participant-months | Core total | Core per participant | Full total | Full per participant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enrol 6 months, follow 3 | 9 | 360 | $27,000 | $225 | $55,800 | $465 |
| Enrol 6 months, follow 6 | 12 | 720 | $48,000 | $400 | $81,600 | $680 |
| Enrol 6 months, follow 12 | 18 | 1,440 | $90,000 | $750 | $133,200 | $1,110 |
Core = $1,000 x months live + $50 x participant-months. Full Platform = $5,000 x months live + $30 x participant-months. The middle row: Core = $12,000 + $36,000 = $48,000; Full = $60,000 + $21,600 = $81,600. Excludes taxes.
Show your working
The middle row is the design most small funded trials resemble: 120 participants screened evenly over 6 months, each followed for 6 months. The study is live for 12 months from first screening to last visit. Core costs 12 x $1,000 = $12,000 in platform fees. Each participant is billed for 6 months, so there are 120 x 6 = 720 participant-months, and 720 x $50 = $36,000. The total is $48,000, or $400 per participant. No setup line is added because study setup by the Capture team is listed at $0.
Two details move the number and should be written down in the budget notes. First, the Core subscription is described on the pricing page as starting at $1,000 per month for access, with the study fee beginning at the first participant screened. If you subscribe two months before first screening to build and train, add $2,000; if you build in the free sandbox until you are ready, that line may not arise. Confirm the billing start in writing and show both versions if the funder asks. Second, a participant is counted from screening, so screen failures that were screened count while they are in the study; and a participant who withdraws early stops counting when the contract says so, which you should also confirm.
Choosing between plans is a one-line calculation. Setting the two totals equal gives 1,000m + 50p = 5,000m + 30p, so Full Platform becomes cheaper than Core only above an average of 200 participants active each month. This study averages 720 / 12 = 60, so Core is cheaper, and Full Platform is justified only by features such as stratified, blinded randomisation, drug supply, eTMF or CTMS. For the same break-even logic at larger scale see the 500-patient and 1,000-patient worksheets.
| Line item | Basis | Qty | Unit | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core subscription, 1 live study | months live | 12 | $1,000 | $12,000 |
| Per-participant fee | participant-months | 720 | $50 | $36,000 |
| Study setup by the Capture team | one-off | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| ePRO and eConsent modules | included in Core | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Direct costs | $48,000 | |||
| Total | $48,000 | |||
Build the study in the free sandbox, then ask for the rate above 100 participants and any arrangement for your organisation. No credit card, and you pay only once the first participant is screened.
Comparing cost models
Described generically. The right-hand columns are patterns in the market, not statements about any named vendor or institution.
| Cost line | Capture, published list | Institution-hosted research database | Quote-based commercial EDC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | $1,000 per month on Core, $5,000 on Full Platform per live study | Often no charge to the investigator, funded by the institution | Quoted; commonly a per-study or per-year licence |
| Per-participant charge | $50 per month on Core, $30 on Full Platform | Usually none | Sometimes per patient, sometimes none |
| Setup or build | $0 for study setup by the Capture team on Core | Investigator or a research office builds it | Often a build fee or paid service hours |
| Part 11 and validation work | 21 CFR Part 11 controls built in; you document your own validated use | Often falls to the study team; hosting and validation support varies by institution | Vendor provides documentation; audit support may be priced |
| Modules (ePRO, eConsent, randomisation) | ePRO and eConsent included in Core; stratified randomisation in Full Platform | May be limited or need separate tools | Frequently separate add-ons |
| Staff time | Self-serve build; your reviewer's time | Build and maintenance time from the team or a research IT group | Vendor builds; change orders for amendments |
| Cost visibility for a grant | High: two published rates | Low in cash, high in hidden effort | Depends on the quote |
Whether an institution-hosted system is free to you depends on your institution. Include its true staff and hosting effort when comparing.
Grant budget
A checklist for the budget justification. For a starting template see the [clinical trial budget template](/templates/clinical-trial-budget-template) and the guide to an [EDC budget line item for grant proposals](/solutions/edc-budget-line-item-for-grant-proposals).
Months live x monthly fee, plus participant-months x participant fee, with your enrolment and follow-up assumptions written next to them.
Write the published rate as the upper bound and note that the lower volume rate above 100 participants will be confirmed in a quote.
Enrolment is usually slower than planned; each extra month live adds the monthly fee and keeps participants counting. Budget for three to six months.
ePRO, eConsent, edit checks and the audit trail are inside the Core price, so there are no extra module lines to justify.
Data management staff, statistics, monitoring, medical writing and any third-party services are separate lines.
The sandbox is free, so build and training time before first screening does not need a software line, only staff time.
Final export with data dictionary and audit trail, and who holds the archive after the grant ends.
Attach the vendor written quote or the dated pricing page capture, because rates change.
What to ask
Ask the same questions whichever vendor you speak to, and ask them in writing so the answers can go in your grant file. Is there a rate for nonprofits, charities or academic teams, and what conditions attach to it? What is the rate per participant above 100 participants, and above 500? When does a participant start and stop counting? Is there any minimum term, and what happens to a monthly fee between studies? What does it cost to export the final data, audit trail and codebook on exit, and is the data deleted or returned? What do you charge for a protocol amendment after go-live?
For Capture the answers published today are on the pricing page, and the unpublished ones, including any nonprofit arrangement, come from the team through the contact page or a demo. The wider market view is in the EDC software pricing guide, the per-patient pricing explained article and hidden EDC fees. If your organisation is a medical charity or foundation, also read clinical trial software for medical charities and foundations.
Capture is suitable for Phase 1 to 3, so the same price list applies to a feasibility pilot and to a larger multicentre study. For other cost-saving routes on small budgets see how to run a clinical trial on a small budget and the guide to EDC for academic clinical trials.
Free tool
Enter your own participants, sites and months. The calculator describes market pricing tiers, separate from the Capture list-rate arithmetic on this page.
Typical EDC license + setup, this size
$50,000 - $150,000
Mid-market (multi-site, 50-300 participants). Typical mid-market EDC license and build for a Phase 2 program.
With Capture
No setup fee and no per-seat license to negotiate. Build and test this exact study free, at any size, and pay only once you go live. That matters most with a longer study window, giving setup costs more time to pay off.
Based on commonly cited industry pricing research for enterprise, mid-market and small-trial EDC deals, not a quote for a specific vendor. A planning reference, not a quote.
No nonprofit-specific rate is published on the pricing page. Ask through the contact page or on a demo whether any arrangement exists for your organisation, and get the answer in writing before you put a figure in a grant budget.
With 6 months of enrolment and 6 months of follow-up per participant, Core comes to $48,000 ($400 per participant) and Full Platform to $81,600. Rates above 100 participants are lower but not published, so treat the figures as ceilings.
Yes. The free sandbox has every feature with no credit card and no time limit. You pay only once you go live with real participants.
The study fee starts when the first participant is screened. Per-participant fees count enrolled participants from screening. Confirm the exact billing start for your plan in writing.
The pricing page lists study setup by the Capture team at $0 on Core and shows no per-site fee or per-seat licence.
No. Both are included in Core and Full Platform, so there is no separate module line in the budget.
Core is cheaper below an average of 200 active participants per month. Choose Full Platform only if you need stratified or blinded randomisation, drug supply, eTMF or CTMS.
The pricing page describes a limited design partner program with up to 50 percent off a first study in return for feedback, a testimonial, logo use or upfront payment. It is conditional and is not a nonprofit rate.
Keep exploring
EDC budget line item for grant proposals
How to word the budget justification.
Clinical trial budget template
A starting spreadsheet for the whole trial.
EDC cost for a 100-patient trial
The same arithmetic one size down.
REDCap true cost vs EDC
Free-to-the-investigator versus true cost.
Medical charities and foundations
Funder-side concerns.
Pricing
Core, Full Platform and Enterprise.
Build in the free sandbox with every feature, then ask for the volume rate in writing. No credit card, and you pay only once the first participant is screened.