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Updated October 2026

Best Scale AI alternatives

Independent and sourced. Some companies pay us a referral fee. It never changes our ranking. How we earn

The main reason teams look past Scale AI is ownership: Meta has held 49% since June 2025. The largest independent alternatives by reported revenue are Mercor, above $2B gross run rate, Surge AI, at $1B to $1.2B in 2024 with no outside investors, and Handshake AI, at about $1.15B gross ARR. Check each one's incidents before a pilot.[1][2][3][4][5]

Still weighing Scale AI itself? Read the Scale AI profile or Surge AI vs Scale AI.

Why teams switch

What changed at Scale AI

Why teams look for Scale AI alternatives
FactValue and source
Ownership

Meta holds 49% after a deal reported at $14.3B; founder Alexandr Wang joined Meta

Reports put the price between $14.3B and $15B. Meta's stake is reported to carry no voting rights.

Sources differ: The reported price ranges from $14.3B to $15B across outlets.

[1] TechCrunch ·

Valuation

Above $29B with Meta's investment

[18] Scale AI blog · company's own claim ·

Ranked

10 alternatives, by the same rubric

  1. 01Top pick
    Hs

    Handshake AI

    Pays people from its career network as AI training fellows.

    Best forLabs that want to draw on a large career network

    Reported ARR
    About $1.15B total gross ARR, with the AI training unit near $1B5

    Watch out for: Little published on vetting or security5

    7.9/10How we rate
    Get matchedRead the reviewVisit Handshake AI
  2. 02
    Me

    Mercor

    Supplies expert contractors whose work labs buy as training data.

    Best forLabs buying expert data at the largest scale on the market

    Reported run rate
    Above $2B gross run rate (June 2026)2
    Valuation
    $10B after a $350M Series C6

    Watch out for: Confirmed a cyberattack in March 2026; several class actions followed.7,8

    7.4/10How we rate
    Get matchedRead the reviewVisit Mercor
  3. 03
    Ap

    Appen

    Data annotation and collection at scale.

    Best forBuyers who want a listed company with public financials

    FY26 revenue guidance
    US$270M-$300M (ASX: APX)9
    7.4/10How we rate
    Get matchedVisit Appen
  4. 04
    m1

    micro1

    Recruits experts for AI training work and licenses company operating data.

    Best forLabs that also want licensed company data alongside expert work

    Reported run rate
    $500M gross run rate in August 2026, up from $100M eight months earlier10
    Latest round
    Raised $100M+ at a $4B valuation11

    Watch out for: Net revenue reported far below the gross run rate10

    7.4/10How we rate
    Get matchedRead the reviewVisit micro1
  5. 05
    Pr

    Prolific

    Human participant platform for research and AI evaluation.

    Best forTeams that need human participants for research and evaluation

    Estimated revenue
    About $350M annualized, gross (April 2026, estimate)12

    Watch out for: Revenue figure is an outside estimate12

    Not rated yet

    How we rate
    Get matchedVisit Prolific
  7. 07
    Sg

    Surge AI

    Human data for model training, sold to AI labs.

    Best forLabs that want a large vendor with no outside owners

    Reported revenue
    Over $1B in 2024, and profitable3
    Outside funding
    None; Surge says it has never raised outside funding4

    Watch out for: Little published on quality or security3

    Not rated yet

    How we rate
    Get matchedRead the reviewVisit Surge AI
  8. 08
    Tu

    Turing

    Supplies coding data to OpenAI and other LLM builders.

    Best forLabs buying coding data

    Latest round
    $111M Series E at a $2.2B valuation; about $300M ARR15

    Not rated yet

    How we rate
    Get matchedVisit Turing
  10. 10
    To

    Toloka

    Human data and evaluation for AI teams.

    Best forTeams comparing independent data vendors

    Ownership
    Nebius keeps a majority economic stake after a Bezos Expeditions-led investment, but gave up voting control17

    Not rated yet

    How we rate
    Get matchedVisit Toloka

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FAQ

Scale AI alternatives: questions, answered

  • Ownership is the first thing to check. Meta has held 49% of Scale AI since June 2025, which matters to any lab that competes with Meta. Surge AI says it has never taken outside funding, so no lab owns part of it. Ask every vendor for its owners, its SOC 2 report and its incident history before a pilot.1,4

  • Meta owns 49% of Scale AI, under a June 2025 deal reported at $14.3B to $15B, and Scale's founder Alexandr Wang joined Meta. Reports say Meta's stake carries no voting rights. Scale said the investment valued it above $29B.1,18

  • For labs avoiding Meta's 49% stake, the largest independent options by reported revenue are Mercor (above $2B gross run rate), Surge AI ($1B to $1.2B in 2024, no outside investors) and Handshake AI (about $1.15B gross ARR). Turing reported about $300M ARR. Check each one's ownership, security record and pilot terms.1,2,3,4,5,15

Sources (18)

  1. 1.TechCrunch, published 13 Jun 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  2. 2.Dealroom, citing The Information, published 6 Jul 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  3. 3.Reuters (via AOL), published 1 Jul 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  4. 4.Forbes. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.Dealroom, citing The Information, published 14 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  6. 6.TechCrunch, published 27 Oct 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  7. 7.TechCrunch, published 31 Mar 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  8. 8.HR Dive, published 13 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  9. 9.Appen ASX announcement, published 27 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  10. 10.TechCrunch, published 20 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  11. 11.Forbes, published 22 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  12. 12.Sacra (estimate), published 19 May 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  13. 13.SiliconANGLE, published 22 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.SiliconANGLE, published 22 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  15. 15.TechCrunch, published 6 Mar 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  16. 16.Bloomberg, published 16 Sep 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  17. 17.Nebius newsroom, published 7 May 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  18. 18.Scale AI blog, published 12 Jun 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.