--- title: "Research wearable platform chooser: Fitabase, Labfront, Empatica, Ametris" canonical: "https://aifitnessapi.com/tools/research-platform-chooser" markdown: "https://aifitnessapi.com/tools/research-platform-chooser.md" type: "tool" last_reviewed: "2026-11-05" description: "Tick what your study needs (participants' own Fitbit or Garmin, beat-to-beat, ECG, EDA, CGM, raw motion, an API) and see which platforms document it." publisher: "AIFitnessAPI — funded by KinesteX; first-party pages disclose it" cite_as: "\"Research wearable platform chooser: Fitabase, Labfront, Empatica, Ametris\", AIFitnessAPI, https://aifitnessapi.com/tools/research-platform-chooser" --- # Research wearable platform chooser: Fitabase, Labfront, Empatica, Ametris > Pick by device first. Fitabase and Labfront collect from consumer wearables participants can already own (Fitabase from Fitbit and Garmin, Labfront from Garmin, plus Movesense and Dexcom devices); Empatica and Ametris (formerly ActiGraph) supply their own research devices, with FDA 510(k)-cleared models. Of the four, only Labfront's pages state a free plan (up to 5 participants), and Fitabase documents moving its Fitbit exports to the Google Health API for the Fitbit Web API turn-off. Every answer quotes the vendor's own page, each re-found in its live source on 2026-11-05; anything the pages do not state is shown as not stated. - Canonical: https://aifitnessapi.com/tools/research-platform-chooser - Last reviewed: 2026-11-05 - Publisher: AIFitnessAPI (https://aifitnessapi.com) - Cite as: "Research wearable platform chooser: Fitabase, Labfront, Empatica, Ametris", AIFitnessAPI, https://aifitnessapi.com/tools/research-platform-chooser --- *[Interactive: tick the needs that matter and the rows reorder by how many each vendor documents, in the browser at https://aifitnessapi.com/tools/research-platform-chooser; not reproduced in this mirror.]* | Platform | Devices | Participants' own consumer wearables | Beat-to-beat or pulse-rate variability | ECG | Electrodermal activity | Continuous glucose | Raw motion data | FDA-cleared device | Programmatic access | CSV download | Free plan for a pilot | Pricing | Fitbit Web API turn-off | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Fitabase | Fitbit and Garmin wearables and internet-connected scales (not Fitbit Ace or Garmin Jr), through Garmin and Fitbit Partner APIs | Documented Study-controlled or participant-owned devices | Not stated Heart rate at the highest resolution available plus daily resting heart rate; Google Health heart rate every 3-15 seconds | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated CSV files for daily, hourly and minute-level data | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Documented The Fitabase API (batch export, daily activity, device profiles, sync times), a separate add-on; an Aggregate Data API for JSON or CSV exports | Documented Daily, hourly and minute-level CSV, per participant or as batch exports | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Fitabase works with you to craft an exact pricing plan | Fitabase is moving exports to the Google Health API one dataset at a time; participants still collecting must grant permission again, with no programmatic way to do it; the Fitabase API does not change | | Labfront | Select Garmin, Movesense and Dexcom devices; any Garmin through Garmin Connect, high-resolution data from the select ones; hardware not included in any plan | Documented All Garmin devices, including older models, through Garmin Connect | Documented Beat-to-beat interval from Garmin wearables at each heartbeat; RR interval from Movesense ECG | Documented Movesense ECG at 125 Hz to 500 Hz | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Documented Dexcom continuous glucose | Documented 9-axis motion from Movesense at 12.5 Hz to 208 Hz; actigraphy from raw Garmin accelerometer data | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Documented Developer access to raw data for dashboards and applications, in beta | Documented CSV importable into tools like MATLAB | Documented Free Tester plan: up to 5 participants, downloads limited to a 30-day window | Billed annually, in advance | Not stated in the passages read | | Empatica | Its own EmbracePlus and EmbraceMini, via Bluetooth to the Care Lab app and the Empatica Cloud | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Documented Optical PPG with pulse rate and pulse-rate variability | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Documented Ventral EDA sensor | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Documented Raw acceleration and angular velocity | Documented EmbracePlus: FDA 510(k) clearance, EU MDR class IIa; EmbraceMini: 510(k) for sleep, circadian rhythm and physical activity monitoring | Documented A Cloud API for study sponsors and CROs, Avro and CSV files in S3; no SDK for academic research | Documented Download from the Care Lab Portal; CSV among the platform's two file formats; not viewable in real time | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Bundles of one device with 3 or 5 years of app, portal and cloud access; a 25% academic discount | Not stated in the passages read | | Ametris (formerly ActiGraph) | CentrePoint Insight Watch, ActiGraph LEAP and wGT3X-BT; CentrePoint is built for clinical investigations | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Documented Raw sensor data that can be reprocessed as new methods emerge | Documented ActiGraph LEAP: 510(k) cleared for activity, sleep and mobility; its other vital signs are for investigational use only | Documented The CentrePoint API sends data outcomes to a third-party system | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Not stated Not stated in the passages read | Calculated for each unique order | Not stated in the passages read | ## How this matrix is built - Every cell cites rows of ops/sources/evidence/fitness-apis-wearable-research-data-platforms.json, the evidence the roundup page was written from, and the page prints each row's verbatim quote under the cell. No fact here is new. - Every quote in that file was found again in its live source by the source-quotes workflow (run 42082822142) on 2026-11-05. - "Not stated" means the vendor passages read do not say. It is not a "no": a cell says no only where a quoted passage does. - The order after you tick needs counts documented features only. It ranks documentation, not products, and nothing on this page is a recommendation. The full write-up, with the context these cells leave out: [Wearable research data platforms](https://aifitnessapi.com/fitness-apis/wearable-research-data-platforms). ## Next step Turning this into a choice of API: - [Wearable Data Platforms for Research Studies: Fitabase, Labfront, Empatica and Ametris](https://aifitnessapi.com/fitness-apis/wearable-research-data-platforms) - [Fitbit Data for Research Studies After the Web API Turndown](https://aifitnessapi.com/migrate/fitbit-research-studies-after-turndown)