Paid research without fluent English: what is actually available

Three levels of language requirement

Platform language requirements fall neatly into three levels. Which one you are at decides where you should sign up first.

• reading: surveys with no recording, where you pick answers and write short comments
• writing: open questions where you explain your view in a few sentences
• speaking: think-aloud tests, interviews, focus groups, live video calls

Platform language requirements at a glance

What each platform says about language in its participant help pages, as of 11 September 2026.

Where language is required at the door

UserTesting supports testing in English, French and German. To apply you need to speak, read and write fluently in at least one of them. You can reapply only once, so applying with "I read with a dictionary" English is a waste of your one retry.

PlaytestCloud works in English: all correspondence is in English, and so is your commentary while playing unless the invite says otherwise. The onboarding test has to be done in English, and using another language is an automatic fail. The platform also asks you to set your device to English.

Askable works in English only: sign-up, applications and messages. It suggests participants use their browser’s built-in translation. For Ukraine this is academic, though: Ukraine is not on Askable’s country list.

Where the study sets the language

Userlytics lets a client write test instructions and questions in any language or alphabet. The recorder interface is available in twelve languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and Turkish. Ukrainian is not on that list, but the test itself can be in Ukrainian if the client needs Ukrainian-speaking users.

On Askable, researchers can write the screener and study description in the participants’ language, and the platform says this often helps local recruitment. The platform itself stays in English.

Prolific sets no single language for all participants: the researcher sets the participant requirements, so read each study description. Separately, the platform is building a pool of language experts.

Where reading is enough: surveys

The gentlest format for language is the survey. UserTesting describes its surveys as a set of questions with no screen, audio or video recording that you can complete on any device. On Prolific, studies open on sites such as Qualtrics, Gorilla or Typeform, and many are questionnaires where you read questions and choose answers.

Here your level shows less, but attention matters more. Prolific allows researchers to reject submissions for failed attention checks, so you need to understand the instructions fully rather than guess from keywords. If you are unsure what a question means, it is better to return the study than to answer at random.

Ukrainian as an advantage: Prolific language studies

Prolific is building a pool of participants with verified language skills, because researchers need people with specific languages. To join, you take an assessment in a language you speak. If you look like a good fit, the assessment appears on your study dashboard; Prolific bases this on the languages in your profile.

The assessment is unpaid and takes 30–45 minutes. You need a camera, a microphone, headphones or speakers, a quiet room, a single open tab and no outside help, and you can take it only once. Those who pass get access to language-based studies, which Prolific says typically pay competitively. It does not guarantee how many such studies there will be, or when.

Remember that Prolific only accepts people living in countries on its list. For Ukrainians in Poland, Germany or another listed country, this is a real chance to turn their native language into an asset.

Browser translation yes, ChatGPT no

Translating a page so you understand the instructions is fine. Askable explicitly suggests using your browser’s translator. Writing your answers with AI is a different matter.

Prolific forbids using ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude and other AI assistants to complete studies unless the researcher explicitly asks you to. The reason is simple: the researcher wants your own thoughts. PlaytestCloud likewise bans anything that advises you during a test, including search engines and ChatGPT. CleverX explicitly lists checking answers for AI use among the reasons a payout can be delayed or withheld.

How to tell whether your English is enough

The most honest test is to think aloud in English for at least ten minutes. Open any website, an online shop for example, and narrate everything you see and do: what you are looking for, what is unclear, what you like. Record yourself on your phone and listen back.

• if you keep searching for words and falling silent, start with platforms where the study sets the language, and with surveys
• if you make mistakes but speak without long pauses, give it a try: UserTesting’s practice test checks not your grammar but whether you can think aloud and follow instructions
• if you speak French or German fluently, UserTesting accepts those languages too

What to talk about during a test

Thinking aloud in a foreign language is easier when you know what to talk about. PlaytestCloud explains what developers want: to understand what you are thinking at each moment of the game. The same logic applies to website tests.

• what is confusing or frustrating: where you got stuck and why
• what you like and dislike, while you are seeing it rather than afterwards
• why you make each decision: where you click and what you expect to happen
• keep talking for the whole recording: PlaytestCloud reviews all of it, even if you record longer than asked

Other languages count too

English is not the only route. UserTesting accepts fluent French or German. TestingTime works mainly in Switzerland, Germany, France, Austria, the UK and the Netherlands, and its site is available in English, German, French, Dutch and Swedish. For Ukrainians who live in those countries and have learned the local language, that is an extra opening.

Prolific lets you verify any language you speak and receive studies that need it. Ukrainian, Polish or German in your profile is not a formality but a way into a different set of studies.

Do not overstate your level

The temptation to tick "fluent" instead of "intermediate" is understandable, but the mismatch shows quickly. UserTesting’s practice test checks that you can think aloud, and you can reapply only once. On PlaytestCloud, an onboarding test in another language is an automatic fail. TestingTime may block payouts and delete your profile for deliberately false information.

An honest level saves time for you and for the researcher: you get invited where you can actually cope.