AI labs need code that is correct, readable and safe, and they need people who can tell the difference. So they pay developers by the hour to review model-written code, write reference solutions, grade answers and build realistic coding tasks. It is contract work, remote, and the rates are better than most people expect.
We track these roles every day from the hiring platforms' own job boards. Here is what the market looks like on October 4, 2026.
The numbers right now
- 236 open roles for coding and software evaluation, on 10 platforms today (29 platforms hire for this work at some point).
- $55 to $75 an hour is the typical range: the middle half of the 200 hourly rates the postings state, from 9 platforms. The median is $65 an hour.
- The top end is $150 to $350 an hour, for senior engineers, open-source maintainers and specialists.
- 36 of the 236 postings state no hourly rate at all, so ask before you invest hours in an assessment.
Where the open roles are today:
| Platform | Open coding roles |
|---|---|
| OpenTrain AI | 102 |
| Invisible Technologies | 42 |
| micro1 | 38 |
| Mercor | 37 |
| AfterQuery | 8 |
| Alignerr | 3 |
| Others | 6 |
These counts move daily as projects open and close. The live list is on our coding and software evaluation page.
What the work actually is
Most of these roles are one of five kinds of work:
- Reviewing model-written code. You get a prompt, the model's answer and sometimes a repository. You find the bugs, explain them and rate the answer. This is the bulk of the work.
- Writing reference solutions and tests. You solve the task yourself so the model has a correct answer to learn from, often with unit tests that prove it.
- Comparing answers. Two model answers, one prompt: which is better, and why? These ratings are the human feedback in RLHF.
- Building tasks for coding agents. Realistic multi-step tasks in real repositories, with a way to check whether an agent solved them. This pays more because it takes judgment about what makes a task hard but fair.
- Repository and open-source work. Some of the best-paid roles ask for maintainers of real GitHub projects, who review contributions the way they would review a pull request.
You rarely write production features. You are paid for judgment: spotting the subtle bug, knowing the idiomatic fix, and explaining it in a sentence a grader can check.
Which languages are in demand
Most postings ask for "software engineers" without naming a language. Among the titles that do name one, today's count is:
| Language | Roles naming it |
|---|---|
| Python | 16 |
| Java | 8 |
| C# | 8 |
| JavaScript | 7 |
| TypeScript | 6 |
| Rust | 6 |
| SQL | 5 |
| C++ | 5 |
| Kotlin | 4 |
| Go | 3 |
Python leads, as you would expect, but Java, C#, JavaScript and Rust are well represented, and specialists in a less common language face less competition.
The best-paid roles today
A sample of the highest posted rates on October 4, 2026:
- Software Engineering Specialist (micro1): $150 to $350 an hour
- Senior Software Engineer (micro1): $245 to $280 an hour
- Open Source GitHub Maintainer (micro1): $150 to $300 an hour
- Expert Senior SWE (Mercor): $150 to $210 an hour
- SWE Infrastructure Specialist, Java (Invisible Technologies): $150 an hour
- Software Engineer Expert (Mercor): $100 to $150 an hour
Roles like these close fast. Treat this as what the top of the market pays, not as openings that will still be there next week.
How hiring works: expect an AI interview
The two platforms with the most high-paying coding roles both screen with an AI interviewer before a human looks at you.
micro1 interviews with an AI recruiter called Zara. It adapts its questions to your resume and the area you choose, asks follow-ups in real time, and is done in the browser on your own schedule. Reviewers put it at roughly 15 to 25 minutes, followed by a role-specific skill check. Reviews describe one to two weeks from application to certification, then days to weeks before you are matched to a project.
Mercor uses an AI video interview of about 20 minutes, in a desktop browser with your camera on, and some roles add a written assessment. You do each interview once and it is reused for similar roles. Mercor offers a free practice interview that does not count against you: take it first. Mercor says hearing back can take two to four weeks.
What gets people through, on both:
- Go deep, not broad. Pick the one or two areas you can defend in detail. A profile that claims everything reads as nothing.
- Use specifics. "Cut p95 latency 40% by replacing polling with WebSockets" beats "improved performance."
- Say "I", not "we". The interviewer is trying to find out what you did.
- Keep answers tight. Two or three minutes, structured, with a result at the end.
- Make your resume true in every detail. The AI interviewer probes what you listed.
How to tell a real platform from a scam
This market attracts scams because "get paid to train AI" sounds easy. The rules that hold:
- You never pay to apply, to train, or to "unlock" work. Real platforms pay you; they do not charge you.
- Pay is per hour or per task, stated up front. If the rate only appears after an upfront fee or a "starter kit", walk away.
- Expect identity verification, not bank logins. ID checks are normal on real platforms. Requests for your banking password or for payment in gift cards are not.
- Work is project-based. Real platforms are honest that projects pause and end; anyone promising guaranteed full-time hours is selling something.
We check each platform's legitimacy signals on its own page, for example micro1 and Mercor.
Where to find these roles
- Every open coding role, updated daily: coding and software evaluation jobs
- All of one platform's roles with full descriptions: micro1 jobs and Mercor jobs
- Pay across every kind of AI training work, measured daily: the AI training pay report
Disclosure: we run AITraining.jobs, a free job board for AI training work, and the figures above come from our daily read of the platforms' own job postings. Some apply links on our site are referral links that pay us if someone is hired. They never change what you are paid.
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