There are dozens of AI training and data annotation companies, also called data labeling companies, and most lists just stack the names. We checked 40 of them on their own websites: what work each one offers, who it hires, how you get in, where it is open and what trainers report.
If you have a professional background, start with Mercor, Ethos or our top pick. If you want flexible rating and labeling tasks, join two or three of the task platforms below at once, because work comes and goes on all of them. Not sure where you fit? The AI Training Job Matcher asks two questions and points you to the platform that suits your background.
Checked 2026-10-15. DigiNo earns a referral if you join Mercor, Ethos or our top pick through our links. We have no link with any other company on this page.
How We Checked These Companies
Each company here has been checked against its own pages, job boards and help centers. We noted who runs each platform, what the work is, who can apply and how you are paid.
We also read what trainers say on Reddit, where removed accounts, slow pay and long waits come up for nearly every platform. When a company sells data to businesses and does not take sign-ups itself, we say so and name the platform that does.
We left out AI labs that hire staff on their own careers pages, and companies we could not check.
Where to Start
- Professional or specialist background (law, medicine, finance, coding, science, teaching): Mercor, Ethos or our top pick.
- Strong writer or generalist with a degree: DataAnnotation and Outlier, alongside Mercor.
- You want flexible task work around another job: Mindrift, CrowdGen, OneForma or Prolific.
- You speak more than one language: Welo Data, RWS TrainAI, the TELUS Digital AI Community and OneForma.
- You live in the US and are a student or recent graduate: Handshake AI, whose open sign-up is for people based in the US.
All 40 Companies at a Glance
The 32 platforms below take sign-ups. Eight more brands hire through another name, and they are listed under Who Runs What.
| Company | Best for | How you get in | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Our top pick | Specialists in fields like medicine, law and coding | Through the AI Training Job Matcher | Our pick |
| Mercor | Specialists and generalists, including language roles | An AI interview of about 20 minutes, then apply to listed roles | Our pick |
| Ethos | Four or more years in a professional field | A recorded AI voice interview and an ID check | Our pick |
| Outlier | People with an associate degree or higher | Skill screenings and an ID check, 30 to 90 minutes | Worth trying with caveats |
| DataAnnotation | Strong writers, coders and STEM graduates | One starter assessment, no retakes | Worth trying |
| Handshake AI | US-based students, graduates and experts | Apply as a fellow; US work authorization needed | Worth trying (US; invite-only elsewhere) |
| AfterQuery | Experts in coding, finance, medicine, law and writing | Apply to a listed role | Worth trying with caveats |
| Meridial (Invisible) | Experienced professionals | Apply through Meridial | Worth trying |
| SME Careers | Subject matter experts | Apply to a listing, then onboarding | Worth trying with caveats |
| Braintrust | Domain experts | Complete a Braintrust profile | Narrow fit |
| Rise Data Labs | US-based professionals | Apply on its jobs board | Narrow fit |
| Turing | Developers and scientists | Application, tests and an ID check | Not recommended right now |
| Alignerr | Varies by role | ID check, sometimes an AI interview | Not recommended right now |
| Workada | Varies by project | Interview and a Persona ID check | Too new to call |
| RemoExperts | Experts | Application and an ID check | Too new to call |
| Mindrift | Anyone in an eligible country | Free sign-up; qualifications open up projects | Worth trying |
| CrowdGen (Appen) | Domain experts and generalists | Apply, verify, pass project qualifications | Worth trying |
| OneForma | Contributors in more than 100 countries | A profile of about 5 minutes, no resume | Worth trying |
| Prolific | People who want occasional work | Waitlist; AI tasks by invitation | Worth trying |
| TELUS Digital AI Community | Part-time freelancers | Apply to a listing and pass tests | Worth trying |
| Welo Data (Welocalize) | Bilingual and multilingual people | Apply to a listing | Worth trying |
| Uber AI Solutions | People where Uber has launched it | Sign up in an open country | Narrow fit |
| Innodata | Writers and generalists | Apply on its careers site | Worth trying with caveats |
| iMerit Scholars | Adults willing to test in | Free sign-up, tests, then project selection | Narrow fit |
| TaskVerse | Flexible task workers | Sign up and wait for approval | Narrow fit |
| Remotasks | Task workers where it is open | Sign up and complete training | Narrow fit |
| Clickworker | People who want small side tasks | Free sign-up | Narrow fit |
| RWS TrainAI | Speakers of a listed language in a listed country | Apply to a posting; a recruiter follows up | Worth trying |
| DataForce (TransPerfect) | People who want one-off gigs | Apply per project | Narrow fit |
| Lionbridge | Speakers of a listed language in a listed country | Apply per posting | Narrow fit |
| GloZ | Freelance linguists | Apply as a linguist | Narrow fit |
| LXT | Speakers of a listed language | Rarely a direct sign-up | Narrow fit |
Sources: Mercor docs, Ethos expert terms, Outlier FAQ, DataAnnotation FAQ, Handshake AI, CrowdGen, OneForma, Mindrift FAQ, Prolific AI taskers.
Our Picks
Our Top Pick
Our top pick hires specialists for AI training projects in fields like medicine, law, finance and coding. The AI Training Job Matcher asks two questions and sends you there when it fits your background.
Our verdict: our pick for specialists.
Mercor
Mercor runs AI training roles for experts and generalists, and you can browse roles before you sign up. You take one AI interview of about 20 minutes, which is reused across applications, and passing an assessment once can qualify you for several roles.
Hourly contractors are paid every Wednesday through Stripe or Wise. Mercor works with experts in most countries and publishes a list of places it does not support.
Our verdict: our pick. Reviews do mention removals with little explanation, as on most platforms, so keep a second option.
See open Mercor roles with their listed pay: coding, medical, languages or all open roles. Read our Mercor guide.
Sources: Mercor account, Mercor AI interview, Mercor assessments, Mercor payments.
Ethos
Ethos is an expert network that pays professionals for AI training projects, consultations, surveys and written reports. You take a recorded AI voice interview and an ID check, and you can turn down any project.
Ethos pays through Revolut or Wise, so check that your country is supported before you start.
Our verdict: our pick for people with four or more years in a professional field. Waits after the interview can be long.
See open Ethos roles with their listed pay: finance, legal, consulting and strategy, education or all open roles. Read our Ethos guide.
Sources: Ethos expert terms, Ethos privacy policy.
Listed Pay for Our Picks
| Platform | Listed at | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| Ethos | $70 to $100 an hour, across 69 open roles | 2026-10-15 |
| Mercor | Each role lists its own rate; see the role pages on our jobs board | Daily |
Sources: Ethos opportunity pages, 2026-10-15, Mercor jobs.
Expert and Professional Platforms
Outlier
Outlier is a platform operated by Scale AI. The work is writing prompts and ranking and improving AI responses, and it asks for at least an associate degree.
Onboarding takes 30 to 90 minutes, with skill screenings and an ID check, and it pays weekly.
Our verdict: worth trying with caveats. It pays and has real scale, but recent reviews describe removals with no specifics and automated quality checks, so expect work to come and go.
Read our Outlier AI review.
DataAnnotation
DataAnnotation is the platform Surge AI uses for its consultant program. You evaluate chatbot responses, compare outputs, write prompts and review code, across general, multilingual, coding, STEM and professional tracks.
You take one starter assessment with no retakes, and it pays through PayPal.
Our verdict: worth trying if you write well. Prepare before the assessment, because you only get one go.
Read our DataAnnotation review.
Handshake AI
Handshake AI is the AI training program of Handshake, the career network. You must be based in the US with work authorization Handshake can support. F-1 students eligible for CPT or OPT may qualify, and STEM OPT is not supported. Outside the US, Handshake says participation is currently invite-only.
Our verdict: worth trying if you are in the US. Without an invite, everyone else should skip it.
AfterQuery
AfterQuery is a San Francisco research lab that sells datasets to AI labs and pays experts to build them. Its expert site lists every role with an hourly rate.
Our verdict: worth trying with caveats. Some trainers on Reddit say they were hired and then got no work, so keep other options open after an offer.
Meridial (Invisible)
Invisible Technologies pays contractors for AI training work through Meridial, the expert marketplace it set up.
Our verdict: worth trying for experienced professionals.
Read our Invisible Technologies review.
SME Careers
SME Careers is the expert hiring site of SuperAnnotate, an AI training data company. It pays through Deel every week.
Our verdict: worth trying with caveats. Trainers say the rate on a listing is a ceiling, and some are offered less at onboarding or wait months for a project.
Braintrust
Braintrust, founded in 2018, mostly sells hiring and automation software to large companies, with a talent network and AI training gigs alongside. Talent pays no fees.
Our verdict: narrow fit. There is very little first-hand feedback from trainers online.
Rise Data Labs
Rise Data Labs is a data vendor that works with US-based professionals, and its jobs board lists AI training roles with pay shown.
Our verdict: narrow fit. Trainers on Reddit describe long silences after applying, so do not count on it.
Turing
Turing, founded in 2018 in San Francisco, hires developers, scientists and other experts as contractors to build coding and reasoning data for AI labs.
Our verdict: not recommended right now. Recent reviews describe long waits for a project, ID check trouble and referral payouts not matching what was shown, and most listings do not show pay. We will look again in 2027-01.
Alignerr
Alignerr is run by Labelbox and lists remote roles with pay shown up front. Some projects add an AI interview or a domain test, and it verifies ID through Persona.
Our verdict: not recommended right now. Across Reddit and complaint sites we found repeated reports of removal before payday and unpaid hours. We will look again in 2027-01.
Read our Alignerr review.
Workada
Workada is a Delaware company based in San Francisco that pays contributors through Stripe and verifies identity through Persona. People on Reddit describe real interviews and real work.
Our verdict: too new to call. Its website terms only date from May 2026.
RemoExperts
RemoExperts, also called REX, is a very young expert platform. Its domains were registered in 2025, and trainers report frequent ID check failures.
Our verdict: too new to call. We could not confirm where the company is registered.
Sources: Outlier FAQ, DataAnnotation FAQ, Surge consultant network, Handshake AI, Meridial, SME Careers, Braintrust AI training, Rise Data Labs, Turing on Trustpilot, Alignerr process, Alignerr BBB.
Task and Rating Platforms
Mindrift
Mindrift is the AI training platform of Toloka, and Toloka's old contributor tasks now live here. Tasks include evaluating responses, labeling and search relevance, and passing qualifications opens up specialist projects.
It is free to join and pays twice a month through Payoneer or Tipalti.
Our verdict: worth trying. Check its eligibility page for your country first.
Read our Mindrift review.
CrowdGen (Appen)
CrowdGen is Appen's contributor platform. You apply, get verified and are matched to projects by domain, and most projects have a qualification. It says it never asks you to pay to join.
Our verdict: worth trying. Contributors report late invoices and projects that end without warning.
OneForma
OneForma is a Centific company. Its profile takes about 5 minutes with no resume, and the work covers annotation, data collection, judging, transcription and translation. It supports contributors in more than 100 countries and charges no fee.
Our verdict: worth trying, especially if you speak another language. Some listings are in-person data collection, so read each one.
Read our OneForma review.
Prolific
Prolific is a paid online study platform co-founded at Oxford University in 2014. Some studies now involve rating and fact-checking AI, and Prolific invites people with strong past performance to its AI task assessment.
Our verdict: worth trying for occasional work. Sign-up runs on a waitlist.
TELUS Digital AI Community
TELUS International is now TELUS Digital, and its contributor program is the TELUS Digital AI Community. It hires part-time, remote freelancers for rating, search evaluation, maps and language work.
Our verdict: worth trying for flexible part-time work.
Read our TELUS review.
Welo Data (Welocalize)
Welocalize is a language services company founded in 1997, and its AI training data work runs as Welo Data: remote rating, annotation and language tasks.
Our verdict: worth trying if you are bilingual.
Read our Welocalize review.
Uber AI Solutions
Uber AI Solutions is Uber's own AI data business. It pays contributors weekly for rating AI responses, translating, labeling and testing apps.
Our verdict: narrow fit. It is only open where Uber has launched it, and there is no promise of work.
Read our Uber AI Solutions review.
Innodata
Innodata trades on the Nasdaq, and its careers site lists part-time, remote roles rating and writing AI responses.
Our verdict: worth trying with caveats. Reddit has many complaints about slow onboarding and late pay.
iMerit Scholars
iMerit, founded in 2012, takes freelancers through iMerit Scholars. Sign-up is free, but you still pass tests and wait to be picked for a project.
Our verdict: narrow fit. Some people wait weeks without hearing back.
TaskVerse
TaskVerse is the freelance task platform of TaskUs, an outsourcing company. It pays approved tasks through PayPal every week.
Our verdict: narrow fit. Work comes in bursts.
Remotasks
Remotasks is run by Scale AI and says it pays taskers weekly. It has shut whole countries out before, so check that it is open where you live before you train.
Our verdict: narrow fit. For most people, Outlier is the main way into Scale AI work now.
Read our Remotasks review.
Clickworker
Clickworker has run since 2005 and pays weekly through PayPal or Payoneer. Clickworker itself says it is no substitute for a full-time job.
Our verdict: narrow fit. Small tasks for small money; look elsewhere for skilled AI training work.
Read our Clickworker review.
Sources: Toloka contributors, Mindrift FAQ, CrowdGen, OneForma, Prolific AI taskers, TELUS Digital listing, Welocalize about, Uber AI Solutions, TaskVerse support, Remotasks, Clickworker.
Find the Platform That Fits You
Chat with DigiNo Toucan. Two questions, no CV needed.
Language and Short-Project Companies
RWS TrainAI
RWS pays freelancers for rating, annotation, transcription and language tasks through its TrainAI community. Most postings are tied to one language and one country, and a recruiter follows up after you apply.
Our verdict: worth trying if a posting matches your language and country.
DataForce (TransPerfect)
TransPerfect runs its AI data work as DataForce. Most jobs are short, one-off projects such as recording your voice, writing a story, rating content or joining a study in person.
Our verdict: narrow fit, good for occasional gigs.
Lionbridge
Lionbridge pays freelancers for AI data work. Most postings are transcription, audio recording and short surveys, each tied to one language and one country.
Our verdict: narrow fit.
GloZ
GloZ is a translation and subtitling business that hires freelance linguists for subtitle, dubbing and translation work.
Our verdict: narrow fit, and a side door into AI training at best.
LXT
LXT, founded in 2010 and based in Canada, is mainly a language and speech data vendor to businesses. Most people looking for remote AI tasks will not sign up with LXT directly.
Our verdict: narrow fit.
Sources: RWS TrainAI community, DataForce, Lionbridge.
Who Runs What: Brands That Hire Through Another Name
Many lists name these companies as places to work. Most of them sell data to businesses, and the work reaches people through another platform.
| If you searched for | Where the work actually runs |
|---|---|
| Scale AI | Outlier and Remotasks, which Scale operates |
| Appen | CrowdGen |
| Centific | OneForma |
| Surge AI | DataAnnotation, for its consultant program |
| SuperAnnotate | SME Careers |
| Toloka | Mindrift |
| Abaka AI | No contributor sign-up found; its careers page shows office roles |
| CloudFactory | Its main remote data team only takes citizens of Nepal, Kenya, the Philippines and Colombia |
Sources: Outlier FAQ, Remotasks, CrowdGen, OneForma, Surge consultant network, SME Careers, Toloka contributors, Abaka AI careers, CloudFactory data specialist FAQ.
Two We Do Not Recommend Right Now
We do not point readers to Turing or Alignerr at the moment. Both are real companies, but recent reviews describe pay or payout problems that we do not see on the same scale for the platforms we recommend. We will check both again in 2027-01.
Sources: Turing on Trustpilot, Alignerr on Trustpilot, Alignerr BBB, r/alignerr thread, r/alignerr thread.
How to Choose
Pick by your background first, then by where you live.
- Write down your field and years of experience. Expert platforms match on that.
- Check the location rule before you hand over ID. Several platforms here only take people in the US or in listed countries.
- Join two or three platforms. Quiet weeks happen on all of them.
- Never pay to join. CrowdGen and OneForma say outright that they never charge, and Mindrift, iMerit and Braintrust say joining is free.
- Keep your own log of hours and ticket numbers from day one.
For a side-by-side of our two named picks, see which AI training platform fits you. If DataAnnotation is the one you know, our list of sites like DataAnnotation compares the closest matches, and this checklist helps you spot fake listings.
What Trainers on Reddit Say
We read recent threads in r/AiTraining_Annotation, r/WFHJobs, r/DataAnnotationTech, r/outlier_ai and r/mercor_ai. In our words:
- Most people apply to several platforms at once and do not rely on one.
- Eligibility varies by country, and location rules can change from project to project.
- Onboarding speed varies a lot, and applications can sit pending for weeks.
- Long lists of company names get posted often, and the replies ask which ones actually paid.
- Threads fill with referral links and "DM me" offers, so be careful who you trust.
Sources: r/AiTraining_Annotation thread, r/AiTraining_Annotation thread, r/AiTraining_Annotation thread, r/AiTraining_Annotation thread, r/DataAnnotationTech thread, r/WFHJobs thread, r/mercor_ai thread.
AI Training Companies FAQ
What are the best AI training companies to work for?
It depends on your background. Mercor, Ethos and our top pick suit professionals and specialists. DataAnnotation and Outlier suit strong writers and generalists with a degree. Mindrift, CrowdGen and OneForma suit flexible task work. The AI Training Job Matcher on DigiNo points you to the best fit.
What are the best data annotation companies to work for?
Data annotation companies, also called data labeling companies, differ most in who they take. DataAnnotation and Outlier suit strong writers and generalists with a degree. Mindrift, CrowdGen, OneForma and Prolific suit flexible task work around another job. With a professional or specialist background, start with Mercor, Ethos or our top pick. Most trainers keep two or three platforms active, because work comes and goes on all of them.
Which AI training companies are legit?
Every company in our list is a registered business we checked on its own pages, though Workada and RemoExperts are too new to judge. Legit does not mean easy: trainers report removed accounts, slow pay or long waits on nearly every platform, so read a review before you share ID.
Do data annotation companies charge a fee to join?
CrowdGen and OneForma say they never charge, and Mindrift, iMerit and Braintrust say joining is free. Any site that asks you to pay for access to AI training work is a red flag.
Which AI training companies hire outside the US?
Mercor works with experts in most countries, OneForma supports more than 100 countries, and Mindrift publishes an eligibility list. Handshake AI takes open applications only from people based in the US (elsewhere it is invite-only), and many language projects are tied to one country.
Is Scale AI the same as Outlier?
Outlier says it is a platform operated by Scale AI, and Remotasks says it is powered by Scale AI. Scale itself mostly hires staff and credentialed fellows on its own job board.
Should I sign up for more than one AI training company?
Yes. Work comes and goes on every platform, so trainers usually keep two or three active.
Where To Start
Start with the platform that matches your background, not the longest list. The AI Training Job Matcher asks two questions and sends you to the right place.
DigiNo earns a referral if you join Mercor, Ethos or our top pick through our links. It costs you nothing and does not change your pay.