If you want participants to be able to run your studies you have to bring JATOS online, into the Internet. There are different ways to do this, each with its own pros and cons and we discuss these way in depth on their own page. Now here is already an overview:
| Setup time | Setup difficulty | Cost | Number of JATOS user / JATOS workers | Expected running time span | Reliability | Privacy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Expose your local JATOS | fast | easy | none | you / few † | hours to few days | medium to low | as good as your computer |
| 2. Cloud server | fast to medium | depends on your vendor | yes | many / many ‡ | hours to years | high | medium |
| 3. Own server | medium to slow (depends on your IT) | needs admin skills | ask your IT | many / many ‡ | month to years | high | high |
†) Depends on your computer and Internet connection ‡) Depends on your server
1. Expose your local JATOS to the Internet
This is the easiest, but also least reliable way. If you just want to run an experiment online for a couple of hours or days, but it’s not extremly dramatic if things break - this one is for you.
More information: Expose your local JATOS
2. Cloud server
Can be still fast & easy (depending on your cloud vendor and your skills), but might not be in line with your privacy principles. This one is reliable and can run for a long time (as long as you pay). And it can serve many JATOS users.
Go on with JATOS on DigitalOcean or JATOS on AWS (or any other cloud vendor)
3. Own server
A JATOS installation at your institute on a dedicated server is probably the safest and most reliable way - but also the one that (usually) takes the longest time and most admin skills to set up.
More information: Install JATOS on a server