# The highest-paying model evaluation platforms, ranked by live rates

Ranked by the median top hourly rate in model evaluation listings, counted as distinct listed rates at the top of each pay band. A platform re-posting one pay band across hundreds of country variants counts once. Full rules: https://aipaylist.com/methodology

## Ranked by typical top rate (live feeds), as of 2026-10-25

| Rank | Platform | Median top | Typical (P25 to P75) | Highest | Distinct rates | Listings |
| ---: | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1 | [Handshake AI](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/handshake-ai) | $60/hr | $30 to $75/hr | $200/hr | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | [Meridial (Invisible)](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/meridial) | $50/hr | $28 to $65/hr | $150/hr | 12 | 141 |
| 3 | [micro1](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/micro1) | $45/hr | $30 to $60/hr | $115/hr | 8 | 11 |
| 4 | [Rise Data Labs](https://aipaylist.com/platforms/rise-data-labs) | $45/hr | $45 to $45/hr | $50/hr | 5 | 16 |

- Handshake AI: PhD and graduate-focused AI training fellowship. Its own board showed 203 open roles on 2026-08-26, each on its own public page with a rate, no account needed.
- Meridial (Invisible): Invisible Technologies' expert-contractor network. 800+ open freelance AI-trainer projects.
- micro1: Fast-growing Scale AI challenger ($500M valuation). Apply once, AI interview, then matched to projects.
- Rise Data Labs: Checked 2026-09-12: public roles cover annotation, coding, languages and domain expertise. The board remains the source of availability, including older listings that are still posted

## Frequently asked

**Which platforms pay the most for model evaluation work?**

Handshake AI currently shows the highest median top rate in this field ($60/hr, n=6 distinct rates) among platforms with enough published rates to rank, as of 2026-10-25. The table on this page recomputes from live feeds.

**Are these rates real or marketing numbers?**

Every figure is the top of an posted band read from the platform's own public job feed, counted once per distinct rate. Per-task pay is never converted into an hourly equivalent. Full rules are on the methodology page.

**Where are the live model evaluation roles?**

The model evaluation job page lists every open role in this field with its listed rate. This ranking only covers platforms that publish enough distinct rates to support a median.

Live model evaluation roles, each with its listed rate: https://aipaylist.com/jobs/model-evaluation
Site-wide ranking: https://aipaylist.com/best/highest-paying-ai-training-platforms

Some outbound links on the HTML page are referral links, and they are never a ranking factor.

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Source: AIPayList (https://aipaylist.com/best/highest-paying-model-evaluation-platforms)
Observed: 2026-10-25
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 listed rates. Population: since 2026-08-26 a role must show 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