Compare · The usual ways to find out

Every way to learn how people are likely to react — and what each one costs.

There are only a handful of ways to find out how people are likely to receive something: ask the people in the room, pay a firm to stage a rehearsal, commission research, or publish it and read the replies — which is finding out after the fact. Each of those has a published price and a published timeline. Here they are, side by side with a PRISM briefing, and every figure is sourced at the bottom of this page.

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In plain terms

Today, an organization does one of four things when it has something difficult to say: asks a few colleagues what they think, pays a firm a great deal of money to stage a rehearsal, commissions research, or publishes it and finds out the hard way.

The table

What each way costs, and what it actually gets you.

Published prices and published timelines. Every published figure carries a footnote; the source is at the bottom of the page.

Method Typical cost Time to a result Whose opinion you actually get Before or after?
Crisis tabletop exercise or simulationa scripted rehearsal run by a crisis or PR firm — your own staff play the parts for half a day US$25,000–40,000 per full-service exercise1,2A one-day facilitated exercise is offered from US$7,5002. UK published list prices are a separate market: £4,395–£7,895 per exercise3, or £5,000–£25,000 an instance on the UK government's own procurement catalogue4 4–6 weeks to design a facilitated tabletop; 8–12 weeks for a full-scale simulation2. The exercise itself runs four to six hours1. 20–30 of your own staff playing roles1, up to 70+ in a large enterprise simulation2. No external public. Before
Crisis agency retainer and senior counsela firm on call, billed monthly or hourly US$5,000–15,000 a month for a preparedness retainer; US$15,000–100,000+ for an active crisis engagement5Published hourly rates do not agree: a services directory reports US$100–149 an hour for crisis communications work6, while one agency's own guide lists US$200–600+5 Ongoing. A retainer buys availability, not an answer by a deadline. One to a handful of senior practitioners. Before
Focus groupsmessage and concept testing US$7,000–20,000+ per group7; US$10,000–30,000 for a full project8. A two-group in-person study runs US$8,000–12,000, an online one US$4,000–7,0009. Weeks — recruit, field, moderate, analyze. 6–8 people per group in 60–90 minute sessions8,9 — roughly 12–32 people in a whole study. Before
Online panel or quantitative message testa questionnaire you write in advance, fielded to a panel US$5,000–15,000+ for 400 responses7; US$1,000 per question for a nationally representative sample of 1,00010; from US$0.95 per response on a self-serve panel, with projects from US$5,00011. 24–48 hours on automated platforms, as little as an hour for broad general-population targeting13; four days in field plus a day to deliverables on a weekly omnibus10; about two weeks of lead time for a custom project12. 400–1,000 people answering closed questions you wrote before you knew what they would say7,10. Before
Public opinion pollcommissioned by a public body — Canadian figures CA$64,947–105,874 per study14,15,16Three Government of Canada polling contracts, 2023–2025, with named suppliers and exact contract values About three weeks in field14, inside contracts that run 9–10 months15,16. 1,500 residents interviewed by telephone — accurate within ±2.5%, 19 times out of 2014. Before
Public consultation programopen houses, online portals, staged public engagement The City of Toronto estimated CA$350,000–500,000 for a single round of public information, a minimum of CA$1.5M once consultation is added, and CA$2.5M–3M for a multi-round best-practice program17A federal public-engagement call-up ran CA$443,775 over 15 months18 “Multi-year, multi-phased” for a best-practice program, in the city's own words17. Self-selected attendees at open houses and online portals — not a representative sample, and the counts are rarely published. Before
Reading it round the roomcommunications drafts it, legal reads it, someone who knows the customers reads it Nothing on the invoice — two hours of three people's time An afternoon People who already know what you meant Before
An A/B or holdout test on your own listsend it to a slice of real customers, read what they do Nothing on the invoice A day or two Real behavior from real customers — the best evidence there is Afterit has already gone to someone
Social listening and media monitoringthe tools that count what has already been posted US$99–699 a month on published mid-market tiers19,20,21; US$1,499+ a month for a published enterprise tier20The largest listening vendors publish no price at all Real time, continuous — but only on material that has already been posted. Nobody's, in advance. In the vendors' own words, social listening is “the process of monitoring online conversations and collecting data”22, and it “examines conversations over time”23. After
Asking a general-purpose AI chatbot“how will people react to this?” Free, or a monthly subscription. Seconds. Nobody's. Fluent text from no audience — no evidence, no disagreement, no record, and the same confidence whether it is right or wrong. Before
A PRISM briefingPresaga Crisis · Campaign · Pulse current pricing. No retainer, no minimum. About a minute, after a short guided conversation. An audience built from your own stakeholders, a panel of AI reviewers that argues over the reactions, and evidence you can check. Before

Industry estimates from published sources, 2023–2026. Currencies are as published — USD, CAD and GBP figures are not converted. Ranges vary by market and scope; UK and North American exercise pricing is shown separately because the two markets do not agree.

The honest verdict

Where PRISM is better, and where it's honest about not being.

Four things a buyer actually compares, answered without stretching any of them.

Broader, checked harder

Quality

A briefing holds more perspectives than any room can seat, and every finding is attacked before it is printed: a named panel of AI reviewers argues over the reactions, one seat exists to break the conclusion, and the citations stay attached so you can audit a finding instead of trusting it. The same question can be run again and the two readings compared. This is not a poll's claim, and we will not make it: a poll measures real people, and PRISM does not.

Minutes, not weeks

Speed

A facilitated tabletop takes four to six weeks to design. A custom online survey needs about two weeks of lead time. A public-body poll spends about three weeks in field inside a contract measured in months. A briefing arrives about a minute after a short guided conversation — which means you can run one on the evening the decision is actually in front of you.

One briefing, not a project

Cost

The least expensive professionally-run option in the table is an online focus group at US$4,000–7,000 a project. The exercises and the public-body polls run into five and six figures, and the consultation programs into seven. A PRISM briefing starts from current pricing — cheap enough to run because you were unsure, not only because the budget was approved.

Sealed and scored

The record

A briefing is a document, not a meeting. It is sealed when it is written, it names the real-world events that would reverse each finding, and after you act it asks whether those happened. Over time that becomes a track record of how the briefings compared with reality. A room, a retainer and a dashboard leave no such record behind.

What the traditional methods still do that PRISM doesn't.

A poll measures real opinion — actual people, sampled, with a margin of error printed beside the number. A focus group puts a moderator in a room where they can read a face and follow a hesitation. A tabletop exercise trains your team, and part of its value is simply that your executives have now been through one. PRISM does none of those three things. It is a rehearsal instrument: it shows how people are likely to react, quickly and cheaply enough to use before you commit — including to work out whether you need to spend on any of the above at all.

A worked comparison

The same question, with and without PRISM.

A regional utility has to publish a statement tonight about an outage. The question is the same in every column: will this land, or will it make things worse?

Before PRISM existed

Ask the room, buy a rehearsal, commission research, or publish and find out.

Four ways, and most organizations end up using all four in sequence. The room costs nothing and already knows what you meant. The rehearsal is thorough, expensive, and was scheduled months ago against a scenario somebody wrote in advance. Publishing is the only one that reaches a real audience, and by then the statement is out.

  • Ask the roomNothing on the invoice. A handful of colleagues, none of whom is the customer, the reporter or the regulator.
  • Buy a rehearsalUS$25,000–40,000 per facilitated tabletop, 4–6 weeks to design, 20–30 of your own staff playing roles.
  • Commission researchUS$7,000–20,000+ per focus group, or about CA$65,000–106,000 for a public-body poll. Weeks to months either way.
  • Or publish itNothing on the invoice, and you learn from the replies. The statement is already public when you do.
With PRISM

One briefing, tonight, with its evidence attached.

You describe the outage in your own words. PRISM builds the audience from your actual stakeholders — the customers who lost power, the municipality, the reporter already calling — drafts the statement if you don't have one, tests it, and hands back a briefing with the reasoning, the disagreements and the citations attached.

  • Costcurrent pricing, with no retainer and no minimum.
  • TimeAbout a minute after a short guided conversation.
  • Who reactsA simulated audience built from your own stakeholders, not your own staff.
  • What you keepA sealed report with citations, the reviewers' disagreements, and what would change the call.

Every figure in this comparison is taken from the table above and sourced below.

See the example briefings → See what goes in and what comes out →

Sources

Every figure on this page was read on the publisher's own page. Currencies are as published and no conversions have been applied.

  1. PreparedEx — “The Real Cost of a Tabletop Exercise: What Goes Into Creating a Successful One” (2024). US crisis-exercise firm; USD. https://preparedex.com/the-real-cost-of-a-tabletop-exercise-what-goes-into-creating-a-successful-one/
  2. Bryghtpath — “Crisis Exercises”, services and published pricing page (2026). US crisis-management consultancy; USD. https://bryghtpath.com/services/crisis-management/crisis-exercises/
  3. Cyber Management Alliance — “Cyber Crisis Tabletop Exercises”, published price list (2026). UK; GBP. https://www.cm-alliance.com/cyber-tabletop-exercises
  4. The Social Simulator Ltd — “Crisis preparedness workshops, simulations & exercises”, listed on the UK Crown Commercial Service G-Cloud procurement catalogue (2026). GBP. https://www.applytosupply.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/g-cloud/services/767299059151643
  5. AMW Group — “Crisis PR Cost”, the agency's own 2026 pricing guide. USD. https://amworldgroup.com/pricing/crisis-pr-cost
  6. Clutch — “PR Firms Pricing”, B2B services directory pricing guide (updated September 2026). USD. https://clutch.co/pr-firms/pricing
  7. Drive Research — “How Much Does Market Research Cost?” (2025). US market-research firm; USD. https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/how-much-does-market-research-cost/
  8. Drive Research — “How Much Does a Focus Group Cost?” (2023). USD. https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/how-much-does-a-focus-group-cost-focus-groups-syracuse-ny/
  9. GreenBook — “Online vs. In-Person Focus Groups: Which Delivers the Best Value for Your Research” (2025). Industry publication; USD. https://www.greenbook.org/insights/focus-groups/online-vs-in-person-focus-groups-which-delivers-the-best-value-for-your-research
  10. SSRS — “SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus”, published rate card and delivery schedule (2026). US survey research firm; USD. https://ssrs.com/ssrs-solutions/ssrs-opinion-panel-omnibus/
  11. Pollfish — pricing page (2026). Survey panel; USD. https://www.pollfish.com/pricing/
  12. Drive Research — “How Much Does an Online Survey Cost?” (2026). USD. https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/how-much-does-an-online-survey-cost-market-research-rochester/
  13. SurveyMonkey — “LaunchPad: Message & Claims Testing”, product page (2026). Turnaround times only; the page publishes no price. https://www.surveymonkey.com/product/launchpad/message-testing/
  14. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada — “2024-2025 Public Opinion Research on Privacy Issues”, contract value and methodology; supplier Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc. (2025). CAD. https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/opc-actions-and-decisions/research/explore-privacy-research/2025/por_ca_2024-25/
  15. CanadaBuys (Government of Canada procurement) — CRTC contract history, “Public Opinion Research to Enhance the Transparency of Information Provided to Broadband Customers”; supplier Earnscliffe Strategy Group, awarded 2023. CAD. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/contract-history/cw2337614-000
  16. CanadaBuys — Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission contract history, “Awareness and Perceptions of Trust in Canada's nuclear regulator – FY 2024-25”; supplier Environics Research, awarded 2024. CAD. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/contract-history/cw2362877-000
  17. City of Toronto, City Manager — “Options for Public Information or Consultation Strategies on Constitutional Amendments or Changes to Toronto's Authorities”, report to Executive Committee (March 2024). CAD. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2024/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-244324.pdf
  18. CanadaBuys — “Call-up for Public Engagement and Consultation Services for PSPC”; supplier Publivate Inc. and TDV Global Inc. in joint venture, 2023–2025. CAD. https://canadabuys.canada.ca/en/tender-opportunities/contract-history/cw2268670-001
  19. Sprout Social — pricing page (2026). USD. https://sproutsocial.com/pricing/
  20. Brand24 — pricing page (2026). USD. https://brand24.com/pricing/
  21. Hootsuite — plans and pricing page (2026). USD. https://www.hootsuite.com/plans
  22. Brandwatch — “What is social listening?” (2023). Definition of the category, in the vendor's own words. https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/what-is-social-listening/
  23. Meltwater — “Social listening vs social monitoring” (2026). Definition of the category, in the vendor's own words. https://www.meltwater.com/en/blog/social-listening-vs-social-monitoring
Plans and prices

Live from the catalog — what the app charges today.

Every name, description and price below is read from the same catalog the app bills from, at the moment you load this page. Change a product in the back office and this page changes with it.

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See how people are likely to react — before you say it.

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