# Sites like DataAnnotation that are actually open

Platforms doing the same paid AI work as DataAnnotation, compared from their own public job feeds, with what workers report about DataAnnotation itself. 3,234 open roles are tracked right now.

## What workers report about DataAnnotation

Public worker reports and the platform's own pages, gathered by hand, 2026-09-03, high confidence.

- The starter assessment is unpaid, one attempt, and a 'no' looks identical to a long wait: they do not send rejections.
- People who do get in still report weeks with few or no tasks.

This directory can show: Platforms that take applications on dated listings with published rates, on the DataAnnotation alternatives page. It cannot measure: Their assessment pool, wait position, or whether silence means rejected.

Sources: dataannotation.tech (2026-09-02), trustpilot.com (2026-09-03), reddit.com (2026-09-11), reddit.com (2026-09-11), reddit.com (2026-09-11), glassdoor.com (2026-09-11).

## At a glance: live advertised rates per platform

| Platform | Median top rate | Typical band | Top rate | Distinct rates | Rate before apply | How you get in |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | --- | --- |
| [Alignerr](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/alignerr) | $75/hr | $50 to $120/hr | $400/hr | 67 (627 listings) | Published rates on listings this directory reads | Public job board with hourly bands |
| [Meridial (Invisible)](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/meridial) | $45/hr | $28 to $65/hr | $200/hr | 29 (762 listings) | Published rates on listings this directory reads | Open freelance project listings |
| DataAnnotation (for comparison) | public undated recruitment tracks with role-specific advertised up-to pay, assessment and project matching determine access to paid work | | | | Published rates on listings this directory reads | Starter assessment, then a pool with no public queue |

Distinct advertised rates (one vote per platform and rate combination), percentiles of band tops, recomputed from live feeds. Methodology: https://aipaylist.com/methodology. Full pay index: https://aipaylist.com/pay.

## Where to apply instead, and who each one suits

- [Alignerr](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/alignerr), Expert network (Labelbox). States "$80/hr average pay" on its own homepage. Every listing carries an hourly band, 67 different ones, running from $10–$15/hr at the bottom to $200–$400/hr at the top. Alignerr advertises each job many times over. Its board showed 5,530 listings on 2026-08-26 but only 469 separate jobs. Some are copied once per city, with the city name dropped into a single sentence of an otherwise identical posting, and every listing still says Remote. Others are simply repeated, word for word or lightly reworded. This directory lists each job once. Listings carry no date, and some workers report slow payment resolution, so apply with that in mind.
- [Meridial (Invisible)](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/meridial), Freelance AI trainer projects. Wide bands (e.g. $6–$65/hr): exact rate set after evaluation. Invisible Technologies' expert-contractor network. 800+ open freelance AI-trainer projects.

## Frequently asked

**Why hasn't DataAnnotation replied to my application?**

DataAnnotation's own FAQ, read on 15 September 2026, says that if you have heard nothing and received no assignments, the application is likely still under review or was not accepted. Approval usually arrives within a few days of the starter assessment, and there is only one attempt at that assessment. Nobody tells you the result either way, which is exactly why it is worth earning on open platforms in the meantime.

**Is DataAnnotation legit, or a scam?**

Legit. It pays through PayPal, and its own FAQ says a deposit arrives within a few days of you requesting it rather than on a fixed weekly cycle. DataAnnotation publishes its starting rates: from $25–$30/hr for general chatbot evaluation, from $20/hr for translation and localisation, and from $50–$100/hr for code evaluation and for domain work needing a master's or PhD (dataannotation.tech/faqs, read 2 September 2026). Those are the platform's own advertised starting figures, not audited earnings, and the complaints are about access, the qualification black hole, sudden project droughts and account deactivations with little explanation, not about whether it pays.

**Does DataAnnotation accept people outside the US?**

Its core openings focus on the US and Canada, with limited spots elsewhere, one more reason international workers wait longest. The alternatives on this page are structurally more open: Meridial recruits across dozens of countries and languages, and our country pages show exactly what's eligible where you live.

**What pays like DataAnnotation without the waitlist?**

For the same writing-and-evaluation profile, Meridial (Invisible) lists specialist and generalist AI-trainer roles with published bands you can read before applying, and Mercor runs an interview-based process. In my own experience a first Mercor offer took anywhere from a few days to a month, and Mercor automatically rejects an application that reaches one month without a decision, so a month of silence is a no. Check the live table above for what each one currently advertises. A working queue beats a waitlist every week it actually pays.

**Do I need experience to get AI training work?**

For generalist annotation and evaluation: no formal experience, but you must pass writing-quality screens. Clear English, careful instruction-following, and consistent judgment matter more than credentials. A degree, professional license, second language or coding ability moves you into materially higher-paying tiers.

**Are the rates on this page real?**

Every rate is read from the platform's own public job feed several times a day and shown as the top of its advertised band, the most the role says it can pay. Per-task pay is never converted into a fake hourly rate. Full rules on the methodology page.

Why people leave, how to switch without losing income, and the highest advertised roles open right now are on the HTML page: https://aipaylist.com/alternatives/dataannotation

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Source: AIPayList (https://aipaylist.com/alternatives/dataannotation)
Observed: 2026-10-13
Licence: CC BY 4.0. Reuse freely with a link to the source URL.
Method: rates are read from each platform's own public job feed. One vote per unique platform+rate band, counted at the top of the band (the most the role says it can pay). Per-task pay is never converted to hourly. No benchmark is published below 5 distinct advertised rates. Population: since 2026-08-26 a role must advertise at least $10/hr (or $10 per task) to be listed, so these figures describe listed roles rather than all AI work; lower-paid rating work exists and is not represented. Full rules: https://aipaylist.com/methodology