Head to head · updated 2026-10-12
Mercor vs Outlier (Scale AI): the rates each one publishes
Mercor advertises a median top rate of $105/hr across 83 distinct advertised rates. Outlier (Scale AI) has 1 live roles but publishes too few distinct rates for a median (highest advertised $25/hr). Read from each platform's own listings, which last changed on 2026-10-12.
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
Outlier (Scale AI)
no median yet. Fewer than 5 distinct advertised rates. The highest advertised is $25/hr.
1 live roles tracked.
Rated elsewhere: Trustpilot 3.8/5 (4,635 reviews, contractor profile), Glassdoor 3.2/5 (698 reviews). Sources
What the figures leave out
- Mercor: 250 live listings tracked. 27 pay per task and are never converted to hourly. 8 publish no pay at all.
- Outlier (Scale AI): 1 live listings tracked.
What Mercor hires for
- Domain experts84
- Other AI work65
- Coding & software eval41
- Voice & audio26
Most country-specific roles: United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Germany · 147 worldwide-remote
Best-paid live roles on each
Mercor
- Apply ↗Oncologistup to $450/hrMercorUnited StatesMedicine & healthposted
- Apply ↗MercorWorldwideCybersecurityposted
- Apply ↗MercorWorldwideFinanceposted
- Apply ↗Central Bank Expert: Non-G7 Policy Communicationup to $250/hrMercorWorldwideOtherposted
- Apply ↗Company Analysis Expert: Event Propagationup to $250/hrMercorWorldwideOtherposted
Outlier (Scale AI)
- Apply ↗Android AI Evaluator - Frenchup to $25/hrOutlier (Scale AI)FranceMultilingual & translationposted
Which suits you
- ▲ These two cannot be compared on pay: only Mercor publishes rates we can verify. Anyone ranking them against each other on a single number is comparing a measurement to a marketing claim.
- ▪ 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.