Skip to content
AI Data Payout

Search AI Data Payout

Jump to a company, a ranking or a tool

Updated October 2026

Mercor vs micro1

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

Mercor is about four times larger by reported gross run rate, above $2B against micro1's $500M, and states SOC 2 Type II, but it confirmed a cyberattack in March 2026 and faces class actions. micro1 has no incidents in our sources and publishes its program terms in full. For company data, micro1 publishes offer ranges and Mercor pays faster.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Side by side

Row
MeMercor
m1micro1
Score: as a vendor for ai teams7.47.4
Score: as a buyer of company data7.17.7
Score: as a place to workNot enough dataNot enough data
Expert depth and vetting (25%)n/aNo public evidence yet.n/aNo public evidence yet.
Quality systems (20%)n/aNo public evidence yet.n/aNo public evidence yet.
Security and neutrality (20%)6.0SOC 2 Type II stated; cyberattack confirmed in March 2026.[3][4]n/aNo public evidence yet.
Scale and speed (20%)9.5Reported run rate above $2B.[1]8.0Reported gross run rate of $500M.[2]
Transparency (15%)6.5Publishes program terms; no pricing.[7][6]6.5Publishes program terms; no pricing.[8]
Reported revenue or run rate
  • Above $2B gross run rate (June 2026)[1]
  • $500M gross run rate in August 2026, up from $100M eight months earlier[2]
Valuation and funding
  • $10B after a $350M Series C[9]
  • Raised $100M+ at a $4B valuation[10]
OwnershipNot disclosed
  • The company keeps ownership of its data and reviews samples before release[11]
Security
  • SOC 2 Type II[3]
  • Confirmed a cyberattack tied to the compromise of the open-source LiteLLM project[4]
  • Auditing all third-party code it depends on, rotating credentials and keys, tighter cloud and network controls, outside penetration testing and 24/7 managed detection and response[12]
Not disclosed

Which to choose

Choose Mercor if

  • You need the largest documented scale[1]
  • You need a stated SOC 2 Type II attestation[3]
  • You are selling data and want payment 2-4 weeks after signing[6]
Visit Mercor

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

Choose micro1 if

  • You want a vendor with no incident on record in our sources[4]
  • You are selling data and want a published offer range of $100K-$2M+[5]
  • You want a vendor that has committed $1B to buying company data[13]
Visit micro1

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

FAQ

Mercor vs micro1: questions, answered

  • Mercor passed a $2B gross run rate in June 2026, according to Dealroom citing The Information. It was valued at $10B after a $350M Series C in October 2025. Both figures come from press reports, not from Mercor's own filings.1,9

  • Mercor is about four times larger by reported gross run rate, above $2B against micro1's $500M, but it confirmed a cyberattack in March 2026. micro1 has no reported incidents in our sources and publishes its program terms in full. Neither publishes vetting or quality metrics, so run a paid pilot with both.1,2,4,8

  • We cannot say yet from public evidence. Neither platform publishes standard rates, and our pay index from public job listings is not out yet. What we can compare: Mercor is larger by reported run rate, and micro1's referral bonus is published at up to $3,000.1,2,14

    Read more

Sources (14)

  1. 1.Dealroom, citing The Information, published 6 Jul 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  2. 2.TechCrunch, published 20 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  3. 3.Mercor Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.TechCrunch, published 31 Mar 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  5. 5.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  6. 6.Mercor Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.Mercor Data page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.micro1 referral terms (updated 2026-10-08), published 8 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.TechCrunch, published 27 Oct 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  10. 10.Forbes, published 22 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  11. 11.beri.net, published 10 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  12. 12.Mercor blog, published 25 Jun 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  13. 13.The Next Web, published 9 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  14. 14.micro1 referral program page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.