What the work is
AI models learn from people. On these platforms you write prompts and model answers, check and rank what a model says, find its mistakes, or show step by step how you would solve a problem in your field. You work from home, on your own schedule within each project’s rules.
The pay goes up with what you know. Anyone with good written English can find general tasks; doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, developers and native speakers of many languages are paid more.
Outlier, Mercor and micro1 side by side
| Outlier | Mercor | micro1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who it suits | Generalists and experts, many languages | Experts and professionals, projects with AI labs | Experts and engineers, AI interview first |
| How you get in | Sign up, then a skills assessment per project | Profile and CV, AI interview, then a project offer | Profile, then an AI interview (Zara) of about 20 minutes |
| Listed pay | From about US$15 an hour for general tasks; expert pages up to about US$50 an hour | From about US$16 to US$140 an hour in public listings, more for rare specialists | Roughly US$20 to US$100 an hour, depending on the role |
| How you are paid | Weekly, by PayPal or AirTM | Weekly, through Stripe or Wise | Twice a month in US dollars, through Deel |
| Link | Join Outlier | Join Mercor | Join micro1 |
Rates and conditions change from project to project: the figures are from the platforms’ own pages and public listings, not what everyone earns. The sources are at the bottom. The “Join” links are referral links.
How to get your first project
Complete your profile
Your degree, your languages and the fields you know well: projects are matched to them. A real CV helps on Mercor and micro1.
Take the assessments seriously
Each project starts with an unpaid test or an AI interview. Do it rested, without hurrying: a pass opens the paid work, a fail can close that project for good.
Read the guidelines twice
Every project has its own rules. Most mistakes, and most removals from a project, come from skipping them.
Join more than one platform
Tasks come and go. Being on two or three platforms is the usual way to keep some work coming in.
It is irregular income: plan it like that
This is the part nobody puts in the ads. A project can give you thirty hours this week and none the next; it can end on a Tuesday with no warning. Your pay arrives weekly or twice a month, in US dollars, through a payment service that may take a fee and convert it.
- Count it as half-certain, or not at all until it lands. The safe to spend calculator shows what that does to what you can spend today.
- Plan with what reaches your account, after fees and conversion, in the month it arrives.
- Set tax aside from every payout. You are a contractor, not an employee: nobody withholds tax for you. Ask an accountant how it works in your country.
- Keep a safety net. Six months of expenses is the usual advice when your income can stop on its own. The guide to irregular income explains how.
Avoid the scams
The name of these platforms is used by fake recruiters. The real ones never ask you to pay to start, to buy equipment, or to send money back. Sign up only from the official sites, and treat job offers that arrive on WhatsApp or Telegram with suspicion.
In Freeboard
About the links on this page
The “Join” links are personal referral links of Valerio, who makes Freeboard and has an account on these platforms. If you sign up and work through them, the platform may pay him a referral bonus. It costs you nothing and does not change what you earn. Freeboard is not affiliated with Outlier, Mercor or micro1.
Questions
Is AI training work a real job?
Yes: AI companies pay people to write, check and rate the answers their models give, and to show how an expert would solve a task. It is contract work, paid by the hour or by the task, with no salary and no guaranteed hours.
How much do AI trainers earn?
It depends on the project and on what you know. As of November 2026, general tasks are often listed around US$15 to US$30 an hour, and projects for people with a degree or professional experience from about US$40 up to US$140 an hour or more. Listed rates are a ceiling, not an average: tasks run out and projects end.
Do I have to pay to join?
No. Outlier, Mercor and micro1 are free to join. A platform or “recruiter” that asks you for money, or for a bank transfer to start, is a scam.
How do I count this income in a budget?
As half-certain at best. Projects pause or end without notice and the hours change from week to week, so plan with a cautious figure, set the tax share aside from every payout and put the rest in the month it lands.
Sources
Read on 4 November 2026. Pay and conditions change by project: check the listing before you rely on a figure.
- Safe to spend calculatorMark AI work half-certain and see what you can spend today.
- Budgeting on irregular incomeCertainty, a salary, the emergency fund, taxes.
- Multi-currency budget templatePaid in dollars, living in euros.