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Updated October 2026

Best AI training platforms for experts

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

Mercor, micro1 and Handshake AI are large, real businesses: Mercor reports a run rate above $2B[2], Handshake's AI training unit is near $1B[1] and micro1 reached $500M gross[9]. Outlier is operated by Scale AI[6].

Not scored yet, on purpose. Expert scores start with pay, and we will only score pay from a public index of job listings that we are still building. Until then the order below follows how much of the rubric we can evidence, then the name. Ownership, incidents and referral terms are all here today.

Find where to startFilter and compareMercor reviewmicro1 reviewOutlier review
  1. 01
    Hs

    Handshake AI

    Runs the Handshake AI Fellowship for paid AI training work.

    Best forPeople already on the Handshake career network

    Reported ARR
    About $1.15B total gross ARR, with the AI training unit near $1B1

    Not rated yet

    How we rate
    Get matchedVisit Handshake AI
  2. 02
    Me

    Mercor

    Hires experts as contractors for AI lab projects.

    Best forProfessionals who want hourly expert contracts with AI labs

    Reported run rate
    Above $2B gross run rate (June 2026)2

    Watch out for: Confirmed a cyberattack in March 2026; several class actions followed.3,4

    Not rated yet

    How we rate
    Get matchedRead the reviewVisit Mercor
  6. 05
    Sg

    Surge AI

    Hires workers through DataAnnotation.tech, reportedly its subsidiary.

    Best forWriters and specialists who apply through DataAnnotation

    Worker platform
    DataAnnotation.tech is reportedly a Surge AI subsidiary8

    Not rated yet

    How we rate
    Get matchedVisit Surge AI

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

How we scoreAI training platforms for experts: five criteria, published weightsShow

Pay level and evidence30%

  • Scored from the median pay in public job listings, once our pay index is published
  • Not scored: pay index not yet published

Work availability20%

  • Scored from listing volume over 90 days
  • Not scored: not yet measured

Payment reliability20%

  • Scored from published payment terms and reported late payments
  • Not scored: not yet measured

Onboarding fairness15%

  • Scored from whether screening is paid, how long it takes, and retake rules
  • Not scored: not yet measured

Reputation and incidents15%

  • Lower for reported breaches, lawsuits or pay cuts
  • Not scored: not yet measured

A score is published only when criteria worth at least 35% of the weight are evidenced. The overall score is the weighted mean of the evidenced criteria. Commissions are never an input. Full methodology

FAQ

AI training work: questions, answered

  • Each audience has its own published rubric of five weighted criteria, and every sub-score cites the facts behind it. A score appears only when we can evidence at least 35% of the rubric's weight; otherwise the card says there is not enough public data. Commissions never enter the calculation.

    Read more

  • Yes. Outlier says it is operated by Scale AI, and Remotasks says it is powered and backed by Scale AI. Both are worker platforms, so anyone working on them is working within the company that is 49% owned by Meta.6,10,7

  • DataAnnotation.tech is reported to be a Surge AI subsidiary, including by TIME in 2024, but its own website does not name Surge. We show this as reported rather than confirmed.8

  • Handshake AI is the AI training business of the Handshake career network, run as the paid Handshake AI Fellowship. Dealroom, citing The Information, put Handshake's total gross ARR at about $1.15B in April 2026, with the AI training unit near $1B.1,11

  • The large platforms are real businesses with real revenue. Mercor reported a run rate above $2B, Handshake's AI training unit nearly $1B and micro1 $500M gross. Apply only through each company's official site, and check its incident history before you hand over personal documents.2,1,9

  • We do not publish a pay ranking yet, because we will only score pay from a public index of job listings and that index is still being built. Until it is published, pay scores on this site show as not enough public data rather than a guess.

    Read more

  • Yes, Mercor is a large, funded company: it was valued at $10B in October 2025 and reported a gross run rate above $2B in June 2026. It also confirmed a cyberattack in March 2026, tied to the LiteLLM compromise, and several class actions followed.12,2,3,4

  • Yes, micro1 is a large, funded company. It raised $100M+ at a $4B valuation in September 2026 and reported a $500M gross run rate in August 2026. It also runs a talent referral program paying up to $3,000 per successful referral, which is published on its own site.5,9,13

  • Yes. Outlier is operated by Scale AI, one of the best known AI data companies, which Meta part-owns at 49%. It runs a contributor referral program, though it does not publish the bonus amount.6,7,14

  • Handshake pays 10% of the referred fellow's hourly rate, for up to 40 hours, over 6 months. At $50 an hour that is 0.10 x 50 x 40 = $200 at most per referral.11

Sources (14)

  1. 1.Dealroom, citing The Information, published 14 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  2. 2.Dealroom, citing The Information, published 6 Jul 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  3. 3.TechCrunch, published 31 Mar 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  4. 4.HR Dive, published 13 Apr 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  5. 5.Forbes, published 22 Sep 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  6. 6.Outlier website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.TechCrunch, published 13 Jun 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  8. 8.TIME, published 2 Apr 2024. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  9. 9.TechCrunch, published 20 Aug 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  10. 10.Remotasks website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  11. 11.Handshake AI Fellowship referral terms. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  12. 12.TechCrunch, published 27 Oct 2025. Accessed 14 Oct 2026.
  13. 13.micro1 referral program page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  14. 14.Outlier blog. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.