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Research report ยท August 2026 edition

The AI Training Rate Card

On 31 Aug 2026, for roles open to US residents, the best-paying platform advertised 2.15 times the rate of the worst-paying one in the typical kind of AI training work, and up to 3.26 times in Multilingual & Localization ($75 at Mercor against $23 at Braintrust).

Read the month's story: The AI Training Job Market in August 2026

Data window
1 Aug 2026 to 31 Aug 2026
31 days, UTC
Frozen
11 Oct 2026, 08:09 UTC
These figures will not change
Source
The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every day.
Method
Version 1. Definitions
CC BY 4.0, how to cite

Every figure on this page as CSV and JSON, sent to your work email.

Key findings

  1. 1

    Among roles open to US residents, the widest gap for the same kind of work is in Multilingual & Localization: Mercor advertises a median of $75 an hour and Braintrust $23 (3.26 times).

    Figure 1
  2. 2

    For roles open to US residents, the best-paying platform advertises 2.15 times the rate of the worst-paying one in the typical kind of work (6 kinds compared).

    Figure 1
  3. 3

    Across all roles, wherever they hire, the widest gap is in AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF): Mercor advertises a median of $80 an hour and Invisible $20, 4 times as much, partly because the two hire in different countries.

    Figure 5
  4. 4

    Across all roles, wherever they hire, the best-paying platform advertises 2.51 times the rate of the worst-paying one in the typical kind of work (median across 7 kinds of work with two or more platforms compared).

    Figure 2
  5. 5

    For medicine & nursing roles, Mercor advertises a median of $108 an hour against $65 at micro1 (4 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  6. 6

    For law roles, AfterQuery advertises a median of $125 an hour against $63 at Invisible (4 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  7. 7

    For finance, accounting & economics roles, AfterQuery advertises a median of $108 an hour against $65 at Invisible (4 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  8. 8

    For software & computer science roles, micro1 advertises a median of $85 an hour against $46 at Braintrust (6 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  9. 9

    For English, the most listed language, platform medians run from $30 (AfterQuery) to $65 (Invisible).

    Figure 4
  10. 10

    Mercor advertises the highest median rate in 3 kinds of work: Multilingual & Localization, AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF) and Agentic Tasks & RL Environments.

    Figure 6

Figure 1

Rate card for roles open to US residents

Like for like on geography: for roles a US resident can apply to, what does each platform advertise per hour?

Kind of workAll platformsmicro1MercorInvisibleAfterQueryHighest over lowest
Agentic Tasks & RL Environments$80n/a$80n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Law, Medicine & Finance$80$110$95$65$84$57$35n/an/a$100n/a3.14x
Math & STEM$80$80$85$65$113n/a$45n/an/an/an/a2.51x
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)$75$70$80n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a1.14x
Coding & Software Evaluation$73$83$80$65$75n/an/a$90n/an/an/a1.38x
Red-Teaming & AI Safety$55n/a$55n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Multilingual & Localization$48$48$75$65n/a$23n/an/a$25n/a$403.26x
Writing & Content$48$48n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Transcription, Audio & Speech$36$20n/a$36$30$25n/an/an/an/an/a1.80x
Data Annotation & Labeling$28$48n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Robotics & Physical-AI Data$13$13n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a

Sample. 1,141 roles open to US residents, open at the end of 31 Aug 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 5 of its roles in the row state one; n/a otherwise.

Advertised pay: the hourly figure a posting states (the middle of a stated range). What a worker is paid can differ with tiers, bonuses and rejected tasks.

Columns are the 10 platforms with the most published medians in this table; "All platforms" counts every platform's priced roles in the row.

Only roles a resident of the United States may apply to (open worldwide, listing the US, or not excluding it), so a platform hiring mostly in lower-cost countries is compared on the same ground.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition.

Figure 2

Rate card by kind of work

For each kind of AI training work, what does each platform advertise per hour?

Kind of workAll platformsmicro1MercorInvisibleAfterQueryHighest over lowest
Law, Medicine & Finance$78$110$100$65$84$57$35n/an/a$100n/a3.14x
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)$75$70$80$20n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a4.00x
Coding & Software Evaluation$70$83$80$65$75$64n/a$90n/an/an/a1.41x
Multilingual & Localization$65$48$75$65n/a$24n/an/a$23n/a$403.26x
Math & STEM$65$80$85$65$113n/a$45n/an/an/an/a2.51x
Red-Teaming & AI Safety$55n/a$55n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Agentic Tasks & RL Environments$50n/a$80n/an/an/an/a$40n/an/an/a2.00x
Writing & Content$48$48n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Transcription, Audio & Speech$36$20n/a$36$30$23n/an/an/an/an/a1.80x
Data Annotation & Labeling$18$48n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Robotics & Physical-AI Data$13$13n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a

Sample. 1,417 roles, open at the end of 31 Aug 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 5 of its roles in the row state one; n/a otherwise.

Advertised pay: the hourly figure a posting states (the middle of a stated range). What a worker is paid can differ with tiers, bonuses and rejected tasks.

Columns are the 10 platforms with the most published medians in this table; "All platforms" counts every platform's priced roles in the row.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition.

Figure 3

Rate card by expert field

For each profession or discipline named in a title, what does each platform advertise per hour?

Expert fieldAll platformsmicro1AfterQueryInvisibleMercorHighest over lowest
Physics & astronomy$115$120n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Law$110$120$125$63$100n/an/an/a1.98x
Psychology & mental health$88n/a$88n/an/an/an/an/an/a
Biology & life sciences$80$80n/a$65$85n/an/an/a1.31x
Finance, accounting & economics$80$73$108$65$95n/an/an/a1.66x
Medicine & nursing$80$65$80$65$108n/an/an/a1.66x
Business, sales & consulting$78$54$85n/a$100n/an/an/a1.85x
Engineering (non-software)$78$76$100$65$78n/an/an/a1.54x
Chemistry$70$75n/a$65n/an/an/an/a1.15x
Design & visual arts$65$48$89n/a$78n/an/an/a1.85x
Education & teaching$65$90$54n/a$100n/an/an/a1.85x
Humanities & social sciences$65n/an/a$50n/an/an/an/an/a
Mathematics & statistics$65$105n/a$65n/an/an/an/a1.62x
Software & computer science$65$85$75$65$83n/a$46$601.85x
Writing, editing & journalism$55$48$68n/an/a$35n/an/a1.94x
Voice acting, music & sound$36n/an/a$36$33n/an/an/a1.09x

Sample. Roles whose title names an expert field, open at the end of 31 Aug 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 5 of its roles in the row state one; n/a otherwise.

Advertised pay: the hourly figure a posting states (the middle of a stated range). What a worker is paid can differ with tiers, bonuses and rejected tasks.

Columns are the 7 platforms with the most published medians in this table; "All platforms" counts every platform's priced roles in the row.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition.

Figure 4

Rate card by language

For each language named in a title, what does each platform advertise per hour?

LanguageAll platformsInvisibleMercorAfterQuerymicro1Highest over lowest
French$65$65n/an/an/an/a
German$65$65n/an/an/an/a
Hindi$65$65n/an/an/an/a
Indonesian$65$65n/an/an/an/a
Portuguese$65$65n/an/an/an/a
Spanish$65$65$75n/an/a1.15x
Swedish$60$65n/an/an/an/a
Italian$56$65n/an/an/an/a
Dutch$55$65n/an/an/an/a
Norwegian$54n/a$55n/an/an/a
Russian$50$65n/an/an/an/a
English$45$65$37$30$482.17x
Japanese$44$65n/an/an/an/a
Arabic$40$65n/an/an/an/a
Chinese (Mandarin)$37$37$44n/an/a1.19x
Korean$37$65n/an/an/an/a

Sample. Roles whose title names a language, open at the end of 31 Aug 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 5 of its roles in the row state one; n/a otherwise.

Advertised pay: the hourly figure a posting states (the middle of a stated range). What a worker is paid can differ with tiers, bonuses and rejected tasks.

Columns are the 4 platforms with the most published medians in this table; "All platforms" counts every platform's priced roles in the row.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition.

Figure 5

How much the platform changes the rate for the same work

For the same work, how far apart are the best- and worst-paying platforms?

WorkHighestLowestHighest over lowest
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)Mercor $80Invisible $20
4.00x
Multilingual & LocalizationMercor $75Outlier (Scale AI) $23
3.26x
Law, Medicine & Financemicro1 $110Alignerr $35
3.14x
Math & STEMAfterQuery $113Alignerr $45
2.51x
EnglishInvisible $65AfterQuery $30
2.17x
Agentic Tasks & RL EnvironmentsMercor $80Mindrift $40
2.00x
LawAfterQuery $125Invisible $63
1.98x
Writing, editing & journalismAfterQuery $68Alignerr $35
1.94x
Business, sales & consultingMercor $100micro1 $54
1.85x
Design & visual artsAfterQuery $89micro1 $48
1.85x
Education & teachingMercor $100AfterQuery $54
1.85x
Software & computer sciencemicro1 $85Braintrust $46
1.85x
Transcription, Audio & SpeechInvisible $36micro1 $20
1.80x
Finance, accounting & economicsAfterQuery $108Invisible $65
1.66x
Medicine & nursingMercor $108micro1 $65
1.66x
Mathematics & statisticsmicro1 $105Invisible $65
1.62x
Engineering (non-software)AfterQuery $100Invisible $65
1.54x
Coding & Software EvaluationMindrift $90Braintrust $64
1.41x
Biology & life sciencesMercor $85Invisible $65
1.31x
Chinese (Mandarin)Mercor $44Invisible $37
1.19x
Chemistrymicro1 $75Invisible $65
1.15x
SpanishMercor $75Invisible $65
1.15x
Voice acting, music & soundInvisible $36Mercor $33
1.09x

Sample. Groups in which at least two platforms each have 5 or more open roles stating an hourly rate, on 31 Aug 2026.

A spread compares platform medians, not individual roles: one platform can pay a wide range within the same work.

Across all roles a spread also reflects where each platform hires: many set lower rates in lower-cost countries. The rate card for roles open to US residents compares like for like.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition.

Figure 6

Which platform advertises the most for each kind of work

Which platforms pay the top rate in the most kinds of AI training work?

PlatformKinds of work where it pays the mostWhich
Mercor
3
Multilingual & Localization, AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF) and Agentic Tasks & RL Environments
AfterQuery
1
Math & STEM
Invisible
1
Transcription, Audio & Speech
micro1
1
Law, Medicine & Finance
Mindrift
1
Coding & Software Evaluation

Sample. Kinds of work with at least two platforms each advertising an hourly rate on 5 or more open roles, on 31 Aug 2026.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition.

For labs, data vendors and researchers

Buy the data behind this report

The figures above are a summary. Behind them are records we collect ourselves, every day:

  • 9,572 roles tracked, each with its history

    Every role on 29 job boards, read daily since 13 Jul 2026: its pay and place, and the first and last day it was open.

  • 6,200 apply clicks in 28 days

    Which roles people actually apply to, by field, pay and kind of work. It happens on this site, so nobody else can count it.

  • 39 lab and vendor hiring boards

    The job boards of 25 AI labs and 14 human-data vendors, read every day: who is hiring for human data, and who is hiring to buy it.

What you can buy

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    Your countries, languages or fields, or your own platform against the market.

Method and definitions

The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every day. Every figure is computed by one database query over the window shown, the same query for the live report and for every edition. Each figure states its sample beneath it.

Platform median
The median advertised hourly rate of a platform's open roles in a group that state one, published only with at least 5 such roles.
Like for like
The rate card for roles open to US residents compares platforms on the same geography: many set lower rates in lower-cost countries.
Highest over lowest
The best-paying platform's median divided by the worst-paying platform's, among platforms with a published median.
Advertised pay
The hourly figure a posting states (the middle of a stated range). Medians need at least 8 roles stating a rate; the middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile.
Kind of work
Each role is classified from its title and description into one of the twelve kinds of AI training work this site tracks, from AI evaluation and coding to multilingual and audio work. Every kind links to its own page.
Location rule
Read from each posting's location text and, where that names no country, from what the posting's own description states: open worldwide, worldwide except listed countries, only listed countries, or no rule stated.
Window
Live: the last 28 complete days, in UTC. Edition: one calendar month, in UTC.

What this data cannot tell you

  • Platforms that recruit without a public job board are not counted. Several large ones invite workers to projects directly.
  • A listing is not a hire. Some platforms keep evergreen roles open for months, and some post one listing per language or country.
  • Pay is what postings advertise, not what workers are paid after tiers, bonuses or rejected tasks.
  • A platform median covers the roles it lists in that group; two platforms' roles in one group can still differ in seniority and difficulty.

How the job feeds are read and roles are classified: site methodology. How fresh, complete and consistent the data is, checked every day: data quality and coverage.

Editions

The live report covers the last 28 complete days and changes every day. Each complete month is also published as an edition, frozen two days after the month ends, so a figure you cite from an edition never moves.

Cite and reuse

Free to quote, chart and republish under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. This edition is frozen, so its figures will read the same later.

Citation

AITraining.jobs (2026). The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition. https://www.aitraining.team/research/ai-training-rate-card/2026-08

BibTeX

@misc{aitrainingjobs_ai_training_rate_card_2026_08,
  author = {{AITraining.jobs}},
  title = {The AI Training Rate Card, August 2026 edition},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://www.aitraining.team/research/ai-training-rate-card/2026-08}},
}
Data: every figure as CSV (one line per value) and JSON, sent to your work email.Pay and open-roles data

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