Platform comparison
SMAAT vs MetricWire
MetricWire is an enterprise ESM platform optimised for large-scale deployments, with strong support for organisational rollouts and integrations with broader analytics stacks. SMAAT is built for the academic and small-team end of the market — lighter on enterprise integrations, heavier on the things academic researchers actually need: an integrated survey-and-cognitive-task builder, EU-hosted infrastructure, transparent academic-fair pricing, and IRB-ready security documentation.
Researched and last updated: 27 May 2026. We try to keep this comparison factual. If you spot an inaccuracy, email info@open-lab.online and we'll update it.
MetricWire
Enterprise-focused ESM/EMA platform designed for large-scale deployments in corporate wellness, clinical trials, and market research.
Typical academic price: Quote-only; typically €5,000+ per year for organisational engagements
Visit MetricWire →SMAAT
Open, EU-hosted research platform with integrated survey-and-cognitive-task builder and built-in compliance monitoring.
Typical academic price: Pro €63/mo academic, billed annually (€756/yr); Free tier (1 study / 5 participants)
See SMAAT pricing →MetricWire pricing is not publicly listed. Figure above is based on community reports of enterprise engagement scope and may not reflect any specific quote. Confirm with the vendor.
Feature-by-feature
| Feature | SMAAT | MetricWire |
|---|---|---|
| Public pricing on website | Yes — list and academic prices visible to all visitors | No — quote-only |
| Free academic tier | Yes — 1 study, 5 participants, no card required | No public free tier |
| EU-hosted by default | Yes — DigitalOcean Frankfurt (Germany) | Multi-region; EU residency typically requires negotiated contract |
| Target customer | Academic researchers, PhD students, postdocs, small labs. Single-PI buying decision. | Large organisations, clinical research orgs, market-research firms. Procurement and IT-led buying. |
| End-to-end encryption with researcher-held key | Yes — optional per-study public/private key encryption | Enterprise-grade encryption; researcher-held key is not the standard model |
| Integrated cognitive-task library | Yes — Stroop, n-back, go/no-go, flanker, simple RT, trail-making, spatial span, finger tapping, matrix reasoning, symbol-digit | Survey-focused; cognitive tasks typically integrated case-by-case |
| Five notification schedule types | Fixed-time, random-within-window, interval, event-based, geofenced — all configurable per study | Yes — comparable scheduling options at enterprise scale |
| Automated compliance alerts | Yes — built-in real-time response-rate dashboards and inactivity flags from Basic plan up | Yes — enterprise-grade dashboards and team-management features |
| IRB / ethics submission text | Yes — paste-block at /security#irb, downloadable Word source | Available on request through the sales / customer success team |
| Setup time for a new study | Minutes to hours — clone a template or build from scratch yourself | Typically days to weeks — involves customer success onboarding |
| Best-fit deployment scale | 1 PI to ~1,000 participants per study (Team plan unlimited). | Hundreds to tens of thousands of participants; multi-site enterprise rollouts |
| Mobile platforms | iOS + Android (native via Expo / React Native) | iOS + Android with enterprise mobile-management support |
| Annual price benchmark | €756 / year (Pro, academic annual) | ~€5,000+ / year (enterprise engagement) |
When to pick MetricWire
Pick MetricWire when you're running a large-scale deployment (hundreds to thousands of participants), need enterprise integrations (SSO, IT-managed mobile fleets, custom data warehouses), and your buying process involves a procurement office and a vendor-management questionnaire. MetricWire is built for that exact scenario; SMAAT is not.
When to pick SMAAT
Pick SMAAT when you're an academic researcher or small lab who doesn't need enterprise infrastructure, wants transparent pricing without quote-only friction, wants EU hosting by default, and values an integrated cognitive-task library + automated compliance monitoring at academic-fair pricing.
Sources
Still deciding?
Bring the question to a 20-minute call. We'll walk through your study design and tell you honestly whether SMAAT fits.