micro1 vs Mercor

micro1 and Mercor both place experts in paid AI training and evaluation projects as independent contractors, and both publish their roles. The main practical difference is the money cycle: micro1 pays twice a month through Deel, Mercor pays hourly contractors every Wednesday through Stripe or Wise. Today this site lists 269 micro1 roles and 295 Mercor roles.

micro1 suits a person who wants to read a rate and the contract terms before investing time in an interview. Mercor suits a person who prefers weekly pay and is comfortable being matched role by role. Both can fit a specialist.

What the open roles look like today

micro1: 261 of 269 roles show an hourly range, 7 show a per task amount and 1 show no rate. The median low end of the hourly ranges is $50 and the median high end is $90. By field the roles split as generalist 52, law 52, coding 36, STEM 33, medicine 33, languages 23, writing 14, finance 14, robotics 9, trades 3.

Of the 295 Mercor roles we list, 259 show an hourly range, 31 show a per task amount and 4 show a yearly figure. The median low end of the hourly ranges is $60 and the median high end is $90. By field: STEM 93, languages 49, generalist 47, coding 42, medicine 29, law 13, writing 11, finance 11.

Where a role names countries, the most common are United States 226, United Kingdom 172, Canada 168, Egypt 167 at micro1 and United States 65, United Kingdom 8, Germany 4, Brazil 4 at Mercor. Listed pay is what the platform shows on the role. It is not guaranteed pay and it is not an acceptance, so these numbers show only what is posted.

Side by side

How the work and the pay work

At micro1 your contract names one of three pay structures: hourly on hours you track in Hubstaff and the project team approves, per task at your hourly rate times a Project Payout Multiple, or a flat fee per approved task. Work from the 1st to the 15th is paid around the 20th, and work from the 16th to the month end around the 5th of the next month. Pay moves to the next business day when the date falls on a weekend or US bank holiday. You move the money out of Deel to a bank, Wise, PayPal, Payoneer, Revolut, Coinbase or stablecoins.

At Mercor, contracts are in US dollars and hourly contractors are paid every Wednesday for the previous work week. Mercor assigns the payment provider by region, Stripe Connect where it supports payouts and Wise elsewhere, and Stripe holds the first payout for 7 days. A listing can show its own hourly range and weekly hours: one Expert Model Trainer listing, read in October 2026 and since closed, showed $50 to $140 an hour for about 15 to 20 hours a week.

In both cases you work as an independent contractor, so taxes, social security and insurance are yours to handle where you live.

Getting in

micro1 asks you to apply to a role, take a recorded AI interview with an AI recruiter, verify your ID with a third-party provider, then sign the contract and pass an identity check in Deel plus a background check through KarmaCheck. A certificate puts you in a talent pool, and a project selects people from it. micro1 says it cannot hire in 21 countries and regions, read 18 October 2026 on its expert page, and each role states its own location rule.

Mercor asks you to create a profile, apply to a role and take an AI interview of about 20 minutes. You can retake an official interview up to three times across linked applications, but a retake resets your application progress. Mercor says it cannot onboard experts or issue contracts in any location missing from its supported-countries page, read 22 October 2026.

What to watch out for

• Listed pay is a range posted by the platform. Your contract sets your rate, and some roles listed as hourly turn out to pay per task, so check the pay structure in the contract.
• Neither platform promises hours. Reddit posts report projects that pause or end early at both, single accounts that we cannot verify.
• Read the contract before you sign, especially the clauses on interview recordings and the use of your data. Mercor confirmed a security incident on 31 March 2026 and faces lawsuits that are allegations, covered in the Mercor guide linked below.
• Check that the payout route works in your country: Deel withdrawal methods at micro1, Stripe or Wise at Mercor.

Verdict by type of person

• If you want to see a rate before applying: micro1, because 261 of its 269 roles show an hourly range and its payroll policy is public.
• If you prefer weekly pay: Mercor, because hourly contractors are paid every Wednesday, with a 7 day hold on the first payout.
• If you are a lawyer, doctor or engineer: both list specialist roles, and each posting states its own terms, so compare roles inside your own field.
• If you need a short interview: Mercor's is about 20 minutes, while micro1's runs 20 to 40 minutes and can be skipped through Fast-Track when your earlier results already cover every skill.

More detail: micro1 and Mercor on this site, the micro1 legitimacy check, micro1 pay rates, Mercor legitimacy check, Mercor pay rates, the Mercor AI interview, the two compared by field and the AI Training Pay Index.