Mercor alternatives: companies like Mercor hiring now (2026)
By AI Global Work editorial team · Facts checked Nov 9 · live numbers update daily
Short answer
The best-known alternatives to Mercor are micro1 and Alignerr, which also contract experts for AI training and publish their open roles. Anyone AI, 10x Team, Handshake AI, Terac and G2i cover other countries and niches such as fellowships, medical evaluation and engineering. The table below ranks them by roles open today, with listed pay.
Mercor alternatives with open roles today
From each platform's public listings, refreshed daily. Listed pay is not guaranteed earnings.
| Platform | Open roles | Median rate | Top rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| micro1AI recruiter (Zara) interviews applicants, then matches experts to AI training and evaluation projects across many fields.Pay: Hourly, paid twice a month. | 355 | $68/hr | $400/hr |
| Anyone AIHires subject experts, PhDs and developers country by country for AI training projects, with a rate listed on each role.Pay: Rate listed per role; confirm payment terms when you apply. | 216 | $40/hr | $150/hr |
| 10x TeamEuropean network placing professionals as freelance AI trainers for 8–20 hours a week. Rates are listed in euros.Pay: Freelance hourly rate in EUR, listed per role. | 125 | €124/hr | €375/hr |
| G2iEngineering network placing senior developers on AI training and evals work.Pay: Hourly contracts. | 29 | $150/hr | $200/hr |
| HumanSignalThe company behind Label Studio. Recruits contributors for data collection, annotation and expert AI-training projects in many countries.Pay: Project-based; confirm rates and payment terms when you apply. | 24 | $10/hr | $100/hr |
| AlignerrLabelbox's expert network. Large catalogue of project roles from generalist writing to specialist coding and science.Pay: Weekly. Some projects pay hourly, others per accepted task. | 23 | $25/hr | $100/hr |
| xAIHires AI Tutors directly, as temporary roles across subjects and languages.Pay: Hourly, as a temporary employee or contractor. | 20 | $35/hr | $50/hr |
| Scale AIRuns the Human Frontier Collective fellowships for senior experts (Outlier is its contributor platform).Pay: Hourly fellowship rates. | 17 | $300/hr | $300/hr |
| TeracSpecialist evaluation projects, especially for medical professionals.Pay: Hourly, rates listed per project. | 11 | $85/hr | $150/hr |
| Handshake AIFellowship program pairing students and experts with AI lab projects.Pay: Hourly fellowship pay. | 3 | $95/hr | $158/hr |
Why people look beyond Mercor
- Country limits. Mercor can only contract and pay people in the 107 countries on its payout list, and says it cannot onboard people in places including Kenya, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Ukraine, China and Hong Kong.
- No feedback on rejections. Mercor says application volume makes specific feedback impossible.
- Time tracking. Hours are logged in a desktop app that can take periodic screenshots, and needs a Windows or Mac computer.
- The March 2026 data breach, which affected a subset of contractors.
- Projects can end at short notice, so many contractors keep a second platform going.
How to choose between them
- Start with your country. Mercor can only pay people in the 107 countries on its payout list, and many roles everywhere name specific countries. Our role pages show what each posting says.
- Check how you'd be paid. Mercor pays through Stripe or Wise, micro1 through Deel, Alignerr through Stripe Connect or PayPal, Outlier through PayPal, Airtm or ACH, and DataAnnotation through PayPal only.
- Check how often. Mercor pays hourly contractors weekly, Outlier pays weekly on Tuesdays, and micro1 pays twice a month.
- Look at the screening. Mercor uses an AI video interview of about 20 minutes, micro1 uses its Zara AI interview, and DataAnnotation gives you one attempt at its Starter Assessment.
- Compare listed pay for your own field, not the headline numbers. Specialist roles pay several times what general roles do.
Platforms that don't publish openings
Outlier (run by Scale AI) and DataAnnotation are the other large options. Neither is in the table because we don't track their openings. Outlier pays weekly through PayPal, Airtm or ACH with rates set by country; DataAnnotation pays through PayPal and gives one attempt at its entry assessment.
Questions people ask
What are the best alternatives to Mercor?
micro1 and Alignerr are the best known: both contract experts for AI training and publish open roles. Anyone AI, 10x Team, Handshake AI, Terac and G2i cover other countries and niches. Outlier and DataAnnotation are large, but we don't track their openings.
Which companies are like Mercor?
micro1, Alignerr (run by Labelbox), Outlier (run by Scale AI), DataAnnotation, Handshake AI and Terac all pay experts or generalists to train and evaluate AI models.
Which Mercor alternative can I use if Mercor doesn't support my country?
Check role by role. Many micro1 roles are open globally and it pays through Deel, and other platforms hire country by country. Our jobs-by-country pages and the country filter show what's open where you live.
Does micro1 pay as much as Mercor?
It depends on the field. Both list high hourly rates for specialists. The table on this page shows each platform's median and top listed rate today.
Is it worth being on more than one platform?
Usually. Projects on every platform start and stop with client demand, so a second platform helps cover quiet periods.