Sona Systems
Sona Systems provides cloud-based participant pool management software to university research departments, covering recruitment, prescreening, study scheduling, and credit or cash compensation. It serves 1,500+ institutions across 30 countries, including all top 50 U.S. universities, on a sessions-based subscription model.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersTallinn, Estonia
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Sona Systems does
Sona Systems is a privately held, cloud-based software company that provides participant pool management solutions to universities and academic research institutions. Founded in 2002 by Justin Fidler and headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia with U.S. operations based in Bethesda, Maryland, the company serves more than 1,500 customers across 30 countries — including all of the top 50 U.S. universities and roughly 75% of the world's top business schools. Its platform manages the full research participant lifecycle: recruitment and prescreening, lab and online study scheduling, credit or cash compensation, attendance tracking, and reporting. The system is built on.NET technology and hosted across data centers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia for data-residency flexibility.
The product is a modular platform (Lab and Online Studies, Participant Recruitment, Advanced Prescreening, Credit Management, Research Management, Complete Reporting) extended by free iOS and Android mobile apps and a server-to-server API that integrates with 25+ external survey and experiment platforms — including Qualtrics, REDCap, SurveyMonkey, Gorilla, PsychoPy/Pavlovia, Inquisit, Labvanced, jsPsych, oTree, and iMotions — to automatically grant credit upon study completion. Premium Enhanced Security editions (SecurePlus, SecureMax) layer SOC 2 Type 2, StateRAMP Authorized (Moderate), TX-RAMP Certified (Level 2), NIST SP 800-53, HIPAA, FERPA, GDPR, CCPA, and PIPEDA compliance onto the base offering for regulated buyers.
Sona monetizes via annual subscriptions priced by session volume across four tiers — Lite (600 sessions), Basic (1,200), Advanced (12,000), and Ultra (unlimited) — with optional premium-security upgrades and SSO add-ons, denominated in USD, EUR, and GBP. Distribution is direct enterprise sales to university research departments, supported by free 30-day trials, regional sales coverage across U.S., EU, and APAC hours, and event-driven demand generation through academic conferences (EASP, APS, SPSP, JPA, NCA, RMPA). The company is bootstrapped with no external funding, founder-controlled, and reports a 99.5% product renewal rate.
Sona Systems firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sona Systems
- Legal name
- Sona Systems, Ltd.
- Website
- https://sona-systems.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Sona Systems provides cloud-based participant pool management software to university research departments, covering recruitment, prescreening, study scheduling, and credit or cash compensation. It serves 1,500+ institutions across 30 countries, including all top 50 U.S. universities, on a sessions-based subscription model.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Sona Systems is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tallinn
- HQ country
- Estonia
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Sona Systems business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Licensing - Subscription-based: Annual subscription pricing based on usage measured in sessions (one session = one participant completing one study). No-shows and cancellations are not counted. Four main pricing tiers: Lite (600 sessions), Basic (1,200 sessions), Advanced (12,000 sessions), and Ultra (unlimited sessions). Enhanced Security editions (SecurePlus, SecureMax) available at premium pricing. Additional charges may apply for non-eduGAIN SSO and Canada hosting. Company accepts payment in USD, EUR, and GBP.
- Usage-Based Tier Upgrades: Customers select pricing tiers based on anticipated annual session usage and can upgrade at any time. Tier upgrades generate additional revenue as customer usage grows.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Lite - Entry tier for low-use institutions (formerly Low Use) |
| Subscription | Annual | Basic - Mid-tier for medium-use institutions (formerly Medium Use) |
| Subscription | Annual | Advanced - High-tier for large institutions (formerly High Use) |
| Subscription | Annual | Ultra - Unlimited usage tier (formerly Unlimited) |
| Subscription | Annual | SecurePlus - Enhanced Security with advanced certifications |
| Subscription | Annual | SecureMax - Maximum security tier with full compliance |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Sona Systems product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sona Systems provides a cloud-based participant pool management platform for universities and research institutions. The software enables researchers to recruit, prescreen, schedule, and compensate research participants for lab studies, online studies, or hybrid approaches. The platform manages course credit or cash compensation, integrates with 25+ external survey and experiment tools via API, and supports compliance with IRB, GDPR, HIPAA, and FERPA requirements across global deployments.
Product overview
Sona Systems offers a unified cloud-based participant pool management platform for universities, consisting of integrated modules for lab and online studies, participant recruitment, research management, advanced prescreening, credit management, and complete reporting. The platform supports over 25 third-party survey integrations via its External Study Credit Granting API for seamless research workflow automation. A companion mobile app (Sona Mobile) extends platform access to iOS and Android devices for participants and researchers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SecurePlus: Enhanced security edition with StateRAMP Authorized (Moderate), TX-RAMP Certified (Level 2), HECVAT, ConMon, PenTest, GDPR Audit, WAF, CNAPP, DDOS protection.
- SecureMax
Products and services
- Sona Systems Platform Core cloud-based participant pool management platform for universities and research institutions, enabling researchers to manage participant recruitment, study scheduling, prescreening, and credit administration. Supports lab studies, online studies, and hybrid research approaches with integration to 25+ external survey and experiment tools.
- Sona Mobile App Free mobile application for iOS and Android enabling participants to sign up for studies, check schedules, and track credits, while researchers can view sign-ups, mark participation, and check in participants via QR code scanning.
- External Study Credit Granting API Server-to-server API enabling automatic credit granting when participants complete external studies. Supports over 25 survey platforms and experiment builders with client-side and server-side completion URL methods returning XML-formatted responses. Endpoint at SonaAPI.svc/WebstudyCredit.
Quantifiable outcome
- Universities typically see participation rates increase by 25-50% and no-show rates drop to below 5%
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Sona Systems
Customer profileNamed customers38 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Sona Systems technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration29 records
Feature9 records
Sona Systems partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- QualtricscoreIntegration partner allowing researchers to automatically grant credit to participants upon completion of Qualtrics surveys. One of the most popular integration options for Sona Systems users.
- SurveyMonkeycoreIntegration partner for SurveyMonkey surveys with automatic credit granting upon survey completion.
- REDCapcoreIntegration partner for REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) enabling seamless credit granting for research studies.
- Alchemer (formerly SurveyGizmo)coreIntegration partner for Alchemer surveys with credit granting capabilities.
- GorillacoreIntegration partner for Gorilla experiment builder enabling automatic credit granting.
- PsychoPy (Pavlovia)coreIntegration partner for PsychoPy experiments hosted on Pavlovia with credit granting integration.
- InquisitcoreIntegration partner for Millisecond Inquisit cognitive psychology experiments with credit integration.
- LabvancedcoreIntegration partner for Labvanced online experiment builder with automatic credit granting.
- iMotionscoreIntegration partner for iMotions biometric research platform with credit integration.
- oTreecoreIntegration partner for oTree open-source economic experiments with credit integration.
- jsPsychcoreIntegration partner for jsPsych JavaScript framework for behavioral experiments.
- LimeSurveycoreIntegration partner for LimeSurvey open-source survey application with credit granting.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Sona Systems competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Customer concentration
Sona Systems social profiles
Digital presenceSona Systems compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance11 records
Sona Systems financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sona Systems leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Sona Systems funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sona Systems M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sona Systems
What does Sona Systems do?
Sona Systems provides a cloud-based participant pool management platform for universities and research institutions. The software enables researchers to recruit, prescreen, schedule, and compensate research participants for lab studies, online studies, or hybrid approaches. The platform manages course credit or cash compensation, integrates with 25+ external survey and experiment tools via API, and supports compliance with IRB, GDPR, HIPAA, and FERPA requirements across global deployments.
Is Sona Systems a public or private company?
Sona Systems is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Sona Systems founded?
Sona Systems was founded in 2002. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Sona Systems based?
Sona Systems is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, in the Europe region.
How does Sona Systems make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Licensing - Subscription-based is the primary driver. The others are usage-Based Tier Upgrades.
Does Sona Systems have an API?
Yes. Sona Systems offers a server-to-server API for external study credit granting. The system provides completion URLs (client-side and server-side) that allow external survey platforms to notify Sona Systems when a participant has completed a study, automatically granting credit. The server-side completion URL (SonaAPI.svc/WebstudyCredit) returns results in XML format and can be parsed by external study systems. This API is used for integration with over 25 online survey products and experiment builders to enable automatic credit granting. Developer documentation is at www.sona-systems.com/help.