Wearable Data Platforms for Research Studies: Fitabase, Labfront, Empatica and Ametris

A research platform sits between participants' wearables and your analysis: it handles device authorization, syncing, adherence monitoring and export, so the study team does not build and run its own integration. The four platforms below split first on one question: will the study use consumer devices participants own or are given, or a research-grade device the platform supplies? Everything here is what each company's own pages said on October 17, 2026. We have not used these platforms, plans and prices change, and nothing here is an endorsement. If you are weighing building your own Fitbit integration instead, start with our guide to Fitbit research studies after the Web API turndown.

The four at a glance#

Fitabase#

Fitabase describes itself as "a comprehensive data management platform designed to support innovative research projects using wearable and internet-connected devices." Its FAQ says it supports "the entire ecosystem of wearable activity tracking devices and internet-connected scales from Fitbit and Garmin (except Fitbit Ace models and Garmin Jr models which do not sync data to their respective servers)", and that it uses "Garmin and Fitbit Partner APIs". Studies can use study-controlled or participant-owned devices.

• Data. Fitbit physical activity covers steps, activity intensity, energy expenditure and METs; Garmin covers steps, activity intensity, energy expenditure and stress. Heart rate comes at "the highest resolution data available" plus daily resting heart rate, sleep includes stages on some devices, and weight comes from supported scales. Fitabase's knowledge base lists Google Health heart rate as "variable sampling with readings every 3-15 seconds" and sleep stages at 30 seconds.
• Export. "Download CSV files for daily, hourly and minute-level data", per participant or as custom batch exports. The Fitabase API covers batch export, daily activity, connected device profiles and sync times, and Fitabase says the API and automated batch exports "are currently offered as separate add ons". Its pricing page also lists an Aggregate Data API that "Enables large-volume programmatic data exports in JSON or CSV formats".
• Participants. Fitabase says it has been used to collect de-identified data in studies of children and adolescents, and that "Garmin's privacy policy requires that users be at least 16 years old, or with consent from guardians."
• Pricing. "Fitabase will work with you to craft an exact pricing plan."

Fitabase and the Fitbit Web API turn-off#

Fitabase's knowledge base has a migration section, last updated October 14, 2026. It says participants who are still collecting data "will need to grant Fitabase permission again so their data keeps syncing" after the Fitbit Web API shuts off on October 30, 2026:

• Reauthorization opened in the Fitabase platform on October 15, 2026, and participants can also reconnect from the Partner apps screen in the Google Health app. They only need to do it once, in either place, and Fitabase says there is no way to reauthorize programmatically.
• Participants whose data collection ends before the cutoff do not need to reauthorize. The reconnect option stays in the Google Health app through November 30, 2026, and Fitabase says it backfills a late participant's gap as long as their device kept syncing to the Google Health app.
• Exports gain UTC time, time zone and source columns, and "We aren't renaming or removing existing columns." Fitabase says the Fitabase API is not changing.
• Exports move "one dataset at a time", with a per-export availability table; classic sleep is rolled into the main sleep export, and writing step goals to participants' apps "isn't available in the Google Health API yet."

Labfront#

Labfront's home page says it can "Capture raw wearable and EMA data for research", and its devices FAQ says "Labfront is currently compatible with select Garmin, Movesense and Dexcom devices". All Garmin devices work through Garmin Connect, but high-resolution data needs one of the select compatible devices.

• Data. Beat-to-beat interval from Garmin wearables at each heartbeat; ECG waveform at 125Hz to 500Hz and 9-axis motion at 12.5Hz to 208Hz from Movesense; continuous glucose from Dexcom at 5-minute resolution; and actigraphy, respiration, oxygen saturation, stress, steps and daily summaries from Garmin.
• Export. "Download your data in a CSV format that is easily importable into your favorite analysis tools, like MATLAB." Developer access to raw data for building dashboards and applications is in beta.
• Hosting and retention. "We currently only support U.S. data centers and the data is stored in Virginia, America." Research data is typically kept "for 3 years after study completion", and Labfront will delete all data if the researcher asks.
• Pricing. Plans are published and billed annually in advance. The free Tester plan collects from up to 5 participants, with downloads limited to a 30-day window, and hardware is not included in any plan.

Empatica#

Empatica's platform runs on its own wearables, which send data over Bluetooth to a phone app and from there to the Empatica Cloud. EmbracePlus has 510(k) clearance from the FDA and is marked under the EU MDR as a class IIa medical device, with optical PPG, electrodermal activity, accelerometer, gyroscope and skin temperature sensors; EmbraceMini has 510(k) clearance "for sleep, circadian rhythm, and physical activity monitoring."

• Data. Empatica's research page offers "comprehensive raw data, EDA, vital signs, activity and more, in one wearable solution", plus digital biomarkers.
• Export. For academic studies, "All collected data can be securely and directly downloaded from the Care Lab Portal", data is not viewable in real time, and "We do not provide an SDK for academic research purposes." For sponsors and CROs, the Cloud API works with "two formats of files, Avro and CSV", and "Data will be available in S3."
• Pricing. Bundles pair one device with three or five years of cloud data access and portal access, and Empatica offers a 25% academic discount.

Ametris, formerly ActiGraph#

ActiGraph's site, theactigraph.com, now redirects to Ametris, which says it was "Founded in 2004" as "Ametris (formerly ActiGraph)" and joined Signant Health in 2026.

• Devices. The ActiGraph LEAP, which Ametris says "is US FDA 510(k) cleared for the measurement of activity, sleep, and mobility", with its additional vital signs "for investigational use only"; the CentrePoint Insight Watch; and the wGT3X-BT.
• Data. CentrePoint "generates future-proof raw sensor data that can be reprocessed indefinitely as new methods emerge."
• Export. "Data outcomes can be integrated directly to a third party system with the CentrePoint API."
• Pricing. "Pricing is calculated for each unique order."

How to choose (our recommendation)#

• Participants wear their own Fitbit or Garmin. Fitabase is the one of the four that documents both. While it moves Fitbit exports to the Google Health API, check its dataset availability table against every variable in your analysis plan.
• Garmin plus research sensors such as ECG, IMU or continuous glucose. Labfront covers Garmin, Movesense and Dexcom with configurable sampling rates.
• An FDA-cleared device for a regulated trial. Empatica and Ametris supply their own cleared devices and platforms built around clinical research, with APIs aimed at sponsors and research organizations.
• Ask every platform, in writing, where data is hosted, how long it is kept, how deletion works and what IRB documentation it provides. Of the pages we read, only Labfront's state a hosting location and a retention period.

The platform does not carry your study's obligations for you. Google's research policy binds Fitbit data through the Google Health API, as our Fitbit research migration guide covers, and Washington's My Health My Data Act leaves out research that an institutional review board approves, monitors and governs.