AIPayList

Head to head · updated 2026-10-12

AfterQuery vs Mercor: the rates each one publishes

Mercor advertises the higher median top rate today ($105/hr, n=83 distinct rates) vs AfterQuery ($93/hr, n=43).

AfterQuery

median top rate
$93/hr
typical band
$63–$123/hr
highest rate
$175/hr
distinct rates
43
live roles
219

Rated elsewhere: Glassdoor 3.6/5 (8 reviews), Trustpilot 3.1/5 (134 reviews). Sources

Mercor

median top rate
$105/hr
typical band
$70–$150/hr
highest rate
$450/hr
distinct rates
83
live roles
250

Rated elsewhere: Glassdoor 4.2/5 (180 reviews), Trustpilot 4.3/5 (676 reviews). Sources

What the figures leave out

  • AfterQuery: 219 live listings tracked.
  • Mercor: 250 live listings tracked. 27 pay per task and are never converted to hourly. 8 publish no pay at all.

What AfterQuery hires for

Most country-specific roles: United States · 191 worldwide-remote

What Mercor hires for

Most country-specific roles: United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Germany · 147 worldwide-remote

Best-paid live roles on each

AfterQuery

Mercor

Which suits you

  • ▪ On advertised pay alone, Mercor is ahead: $105/hr median against $93/hr, from 83 and 43 distinct rates respectively.
  • ▪ On volume, Mercor has more live roles right now (250 vs 219), which matters more than a headline rate if you need a queue that stays full.
  • ▪ Rates here are what platforms advertise, not what you will earn: task availability, unpaid onboarding and review time all cut the effective hourly. How we measure.
  • ▪ Pay is only half the decision. What the application, the AI interview and the offer are actually like on these platforms is covered in what happens after you apply, written from having done it.

Keep comparing