Head to head · updated 2026-10-13

Compare AI work platforms on the rates they publish

Every comparison below is computed from the platforms' own live listings: median top rates with their sample sizes, where the top rate is the most each role says it can pay. 16 of the tracked platforms publish enough distinct rates to carry a median. The rest are shown for what they are rather than ranked on numbers they never published.

Comparing job boards rather than platforms? AI training job boards, compared cell by cell.

• AfterQuery vs Alignerr$93/hr median · $75/hr median
• AfterQuery vs DataAnnotation$93/hr median · too few rates
• AfterQuery vs Mercor$93/hr median · $105/hr median
• AfterQuery vs Meridial (Invisible)$93/hr median · $45/hr median
• AfterQuery vs micro1$93/hr median · $90/hr median
• AfterQuery vs Outlier (Scale AI)$93/hr median · too few rates
• Alignerr vs DataAnnotation$75/hr median · too few rates
• Alignerr vs Mercor$75/hr median · $105/hr median
• Alignerr vs Meridial (Invisible)$75/hr median · $45/hr median
• Alignerr vs micro1$75/hr median · $90/hr median
• Alignerr vs Outlier (Scale AI)$75/hr median · too few rates
• DataAnnotation vs Mercortoo few rates · $105/hr median
• DataAnnotation vs Meridial (Invisible)too few rates · $45/hr median
• DataAnnotation vs micro1too few rates · $90/hr median
• DataAnnotation vs Outlier (Scale AI)too few rates · too few rates
• Mercor vs Meridial (Invisible)$105/hr median · $45/hr median
• Mercor vs micro1$105/hr median · $90/hr median
• Mercor vs Outlier (Scale AI)$105/hr median · too few rates
• Meridial (Invisible) vs micro1$45/hr median · $90/hr median
• Meridial (Invisible) vs Outlier (Scale AI)$45/hr median · too few rates
• micro1 vs Outlier (Scale AI)$90/hr median · too few rates

A pair earns a page only when at least one side is a platform people search for by name and at least one side has a real distribution. Every other platform's figures are on its own page and in the full pay index. Methodology · full pay index