If you’re evaluating eCOA and eConsent platforms for your clinical trials, you’ve likely encountered both Castor and Signant Health. Both are strong solutions, but they represent fundamentally different approaches.
Key distinction: Signant Health is an eCOA and eConsent specialist. It does not include EDC. Teams using Signant must also contract an EDC platform separately. Castor provides EDC, eCOA, and eConsent natively in one platform, eliminating the need for integration between vendors.
| Feature | Castor | Signant Health |
|---|---|---|
| Platform type | Unified EDC + eCOA + eConsent | Specialist eCOA & eConsent (no EDC) |
| EDC included | Yes, native | No. Must integrate with third-party EDC |
| eCOA / ePRO | Yes, native builder | Yes, specialist expertise |
| eConsent | Yes, native | Yes, with comprehension quizzes |
| Validated instrument library | Good selection | Extensive validated library |
| Medication adherence tracking | Basic | Advanced |
| Comprehension quizzes | Available; customizable quiz logic supported | Adaptive comprehension design |
| Multilingual support | 50+ languages | 90+ languages |
| EU MDR / PMCF | Yes, native support | Integration required |
| Pricing model | Predictable flat-rate study licensing, no per-subject fees | Pricing not publicly disclosed |
| Single vendor | Yes | No. Requires EDC vendor |
| Feature | Castor | Signant Health | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native EDC (no integration needed) | Yes, full EDC built in | No. Integrates with Medidata, Veeva, Castor EDC, others | Castor |
| No-code eCOA builder | Yes, drag-and-drop | Yes, drag-and-drop, plus library | Comparable |
| Pre-validated instrument library | Growing library; custom instrument configuration fully supported | Extensive validated library including industry-standard instruments such as SF-36 and PROMIS | Specialist library |
| ePRO (patient-reported outcomes) | Yes, full-featured | Yes, specialist expertise | Comparable |
| eClinRO (clinician-reported outcomes) | Yes | Yes | Comparable |
| eConsent with video / multimedia | Yes | Yes, with advanced layout | Comparable |
| Comprehension assessment (quizzes) | Available | Adaptive | Specialist library |
| Medication adherence tracking | Notification and reminder support included | Advanced with specialized adherence tools | Specialist feature |
| Participant engagement & reminders | Built-in notifications, reminders, and compliance tracking | Advanced retention and engagement tools | Specialist feature |
| BYOD support (bring your own device) | Yes | Yes | Comparable |
| EU MDR / PMCF support | Yes, native | Requires EDC integration | Castor |
| Pricing transparency | Predictable flat-rate study licensing, no per-subject fees | Pricing not publicly disclosed | Castor |
| Single vendor (unified) | Yes | No. Requires separate EDC | Castor |
Castor is a cloud-native, unified clinical research platform based in Amsterdam serving 125+ countries (cumulative, to date). It combines EDC, eCOA (ePRO, eClinRO, eObsRO, ePerfO), eConsent, native randomization, and RWE capabilities natively within a single platform.
Signant Health is a specialist in eCOA (patient-reported outcomes, clinician-reported outcomes) and eConsent solutions. It was formed from the merger of CRF Health (a legendary ePRO leader) and Bracket (eCOA/eConsent specialist), creating a company with deep domain expertise in patient and clinician outcomes.
Some teams adopt both platforms. For example, you might use Castor as your EDC and use Signant’s specialized eCOA capabilities for a complex validated ePRO instrument or advanced participant engagement. Castor and Signant Health support API integration, enabling data exchange between platforms. This approach gives you the unified EDC efficiency of Castor plus the specialist eCOA depth of Signant, but requires managing two vendors and one integration project.
No. Signant Health specializes in eCOA (patient-reported outcomes, clinician-reported outcomes) and eConsent. It does not include Electronic Data Capture (EDC). Teams using Signant for eCOA must also contract a separate EDC platform (Medidata, Veeva, Castor, etc.) and manage the integration between vendors.
Yes, for many use cases. Castor includes full eCOA capabilities (ePRO, eClinRO, eObsRO, ePerfO) natively. If your study does not require a specific pre-validated instrument library or advanced participant engagement tooling unique to Signant, Castor offers a simpler, unified alternative. However, if you require Signant’s industry-leading validated instrument library or specialist expertise in complex outcomes measurement, Signant may be the better choice.
Both offer full-featured ePRO capabilities. Castor provides a no-code ePRO builder and a growing instrument library. Signant offers specialist expertise and one of the industry’s most comprehensive pre-validated instrument libraries (90+ validated PROs). For studies requiring a specific pre-validated instrument, Signant’s library may accelerate development. For custom or less specialized ePRO, Castor’s no-code builder is efficient.
Yes. Some teams use Castor as the EDC and Signant for specialized eCOA capabilities. Both platforms support API integration for data exchange. This approach requires managing two vendors and one integration project, but may be worthwhile if you need both Castor’s unified EDC efficiency and Signant’s specialist eCOA depth.
Signant Health has an edge for highly multilingual studies, supporting 90+ languages with localized validated instruments for each language. Castor supports 50+ languages and is excellent for most global trials. For studies requiring unmatched multilingual depth, especially in rare disease or specialist domains, Signant’s multilingual infrastructure is a differentiator.
