If you want AI training work outside Outlier, the platforms in the table below had open roles on 29 October 2026, and each one publishes them on a public job list you can read before you sign up. Outlier posts no public list of its projects, so there is no count of its open work to set beside them. For every other platform the table gives the open roles we read that day and the median hourly pay they list, counted the way the AI Training Pay Index counts them on the same day.

Outlier itself is "a platform operated by Scale AI", by its own FAQ. Its FAQ says payments go out weekly on Tuesdays through PayPal, AirTM or ACH bank transfer, that contributors work as independent contractors, and that you need a valid ID, a mobile phone from your country of residence and at least an associate degree.

Open roles and listed hourly pay on 29 October 2026

The order is the number of open roles each platform had that day, most first, with ties in alphabetical order. Pay and referral links play no part in it, as how we rank explains. Outlier, Scale AI's own careers list and Remotasks are left out because Scale AI runs or powers all three: Outlier's FAQ says it is operated by Scale AI, and Remotasks says "Powered by Scale AI" on its home page.

PlatformOpen roles todayWith an hourly rateMedian listed hourly pay
Meridial57054$23
Welocalize31592$16
Mercor300264$80
micro1291288$68
SME Careers262262$50
RWS TrainAI155151$15
Weekday10788$110
TSMG1050no hourly rate
10x Team1040no hourly rate
Terac5822$90
Anyone AI5451$55
Volga4438$16
Appen407$36 thin sample
Innodata2625$15
HumanSignal2523$11
Mindrift2424$100
xAI2222$40
Turing picked by hand92$113 thin sample
G2i77$150 thin sample
Alignerr picked by hand33$90 thin sample
Handshake AI22$103 thin sample

"Median listed hourly pay" is the middle of the hourly rates the roles post in US dollars. A role listed at $40 to $60 an hour counts as $50. Roles paid per task, in another currency or with no rate count as open roles but stay out of the median. A median that rests on fewer than eight rates carries the mark "thin sample", as on the Pay Index.

The three figures in each row are the Pay Index's: a role that a platform posts once per country counts once here, at the rate of its middle copy. Each platform name opens its page on this site, which lists every country posting as a role of its own. For a platform that posts one role per country, its page shows more open roles than this table, and a different median can follow from that. The table is rebuilt from a new read every day, so the order changes as roles open and close.

To browse the roles themselves, open all open roles and filter by platform, field or country. The Pay Index has the same rows and the median for each field.

Best-paid expert roles

For doctors, lawyers, PhDs and scientists: the highest hourly pay listed on the 23 platforms we read. Chosen by pay only, at most two per platform.

Referral link: we may earn a fee if you join through it. How this works

How the alternatives differ from Outlier

At Outlier, by its FAQ, you first go through a general onboarding with "skill screenings", then projects come to you as invitations, each with its own qualification step and assessment tasks. Every platform in the table posts its open roles on a public list instead, each with a title, field, countries and, when the platform gives one, a rate. You can check the pay and the countries of a role before you hand over any documents.

They also differ in what a listed rate means. Some post a range for each role, some post only a ceiling ("up to $50 an hour"), and some pay per task. When a listing gives only a top rate, we count that top rate, so a platform that does this often looks higher in the table than the middle of its real rates. The platform pages say how many of their roles are listed that way.

Notes on some of the alternatives

These notes are in alphabetical order and repeat only what each platform says on its own pages, read on 28 October 2026, or what its public job list shows.

Alignerr

Alignerr's home page carries the line "Powered by Labelbox" and an "Apply to Alignerr" button that opens its sign-up. See the Alignerr page for the roles we read from it.

DataAnnotation

DataAnnotation has no public list of open roles, so it is not in the table. Its FAQ says it pays through PayPal and that you can take its Starter Assessment only once; most people need about an hour for it. The guide to AI training assessments covers how to prepare, and sites like DataAnnotation covers the platforms that do the same work, country by country.

Meridial

Many Meridial roles carry a wide range that Meridial uses across its listings ($8 to $65 or $6 to $65 an hour) instead of a rate of their own, so that range is left out of its median. The median in the table comes from the Meridial roles that post a rate of their own.

micro1

micro1's page for experts sets out the steps as apply, take the AI interview, get onboarded and start. The interview is with an AI interviewer it calls Zara. Its roles are on a public list, which is where the micro1 row of the table comes from. After the micro1 interview explains what happens next.

Mindrift

Mindrift's home page says it is built by Toloka and that there is "no employment contract and no fixed hours". It says you are paid per completed task, that the amount is shown before you start, and that payments are processed every two weeks. Its roles come from a public job board on Workable.

What to watch out for

  • A listed rate is the price of an hour of approved work. How many hours there are depends on the project, and projects start and stop with client demand. The earnings calculator turns a rate and a number of hours into a weekly figure you can check yourself.
  • Read the countries on each role before you apply. Some roles are open in one or a few countries only, and the role page on this site lists them.
  • Expect a screening step before paid work. DataAnnotation uses a Starter Assessment you can take once and micro1 an AI interview, by their own pages. Prepare for the one at the platform you pick, and keep your ID and proof of degree at hand.
  • If a site asks you to pay a fee to join an AI training project, stop there.

More about Outlier

If you are weighing whether to stay, Is Outlier legit? covers the reviews and the lawsuits against Scale AI, Outlier pay rates covers what it lists, and why you may get no tasks covers an empty queue. The Outlier page on this site lists its requirements and sign-up steps.

Prepare the interview: practice questions for each kind of role.

Sources

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