If you're a doctor, lawyer, engineer or PhD looking at expert AI-training work, three names come up constantly. Here's how they compare on advertised pay today: Mercor has a median of $80/hr across 297 open roles, Mindrift $69/hr across 24, and micro1 $65/hr across 294. But the median is only part of the story. Onboarding, payout schedules, country rules and how long postings stay open matter as much as the hourly number.
Disclosure: AI Trainer HQ is free for workers. We earn a referral fee only from micro1 today. We earn nothing from Mercor or Mindrift. That's why we stick to published data below, and you can check every number on the Pay Index and our disclosure page.
The comparison at a glance
| Mercor | micro1 | Mindrift | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open roles (26 Oct 2026) | 297 | 294 | 24 |
| Median advertised pay | $80/hr | $65/hr | $69/hr |
| Advertised range | $15–500/hr | $2–400/hr | $9–100/hr |
| Roles stating pay | 296 of 297 | 288 of 294 | 19 of 24 |
| Median days a role is listed | 42 | 19 | 7 |
| Roles listed 60+ days | 28% | 4% | 0% |
| Screening | Résumé, ~20-min AI interview, assessments | AI interviewer "Zara," then project tests | CV review, assessments, ID check |
| Countries | Most countries | Most countries | Most, but not China, Russia, Iran, Kenya, Switzerland or Taiwan |
| Payout | Stripe (bank), Wise | Varies by contract | Payoneer or PayPal via Tipalti, twice monthly (5th and 20th) |
| Referral fee to AI Trainer HQ | No | Yes | No |
For the full picture, read each review: Mercor, micro1, Mindrift.
Pay: what the numbers actually say
Mercor has the highest median of the three. It also has the widest spread, because it lists both $30/hr generalist feedback studies and $350/hr radiologist roles. Physician roles we track on Mercor commonly list $150–350/hr. Legal roles run $100–150/hr for JD/LLB holders with a current licence.
micro1 has a similar median, but its top end is very high for specialist attorneys. Several current roles list $140–400/hr, and its legal median is $125/hr. Its bottom end ($2/hr) comes from a small number of task-based or regional roles, so read the specific listing.
Mindrift is narrower. Most current roles are physician evaluations at $35–100/hr and engineering (CAD/CFD) roles at around $69/hr. It doesn't reach Mercor's peaks, but it shows a fixed reward on each task before you start, so you know what a task pays up front.
For context: 10x Team, which isn't one of the three, has the highest median we track at $135/hr. It hires senior specialists only.
Onboarding: how hard is it to get in?
- Mercor: a résumé screen, then a ~20-minute AI interview, then domain assessments. The interview is the main filter. Many people pass and then wait in a talent pool for a matching project.
- micro1: the AI interviewer Zara does an early screen, followed by project-specific tests. Postings turn over fast (median 19 days listed), which suggests real, current projects rather than evergreen pools.
- Mindrift: apply with a CV, take assessments and verify your ID. Its "all-access" tasks need no application at all, which makes it the easiest of the three to start on, though those tasks pay less.
Our guide to passing these screens is here: this guide.
Screen recording:
Project stability: the part nobody advertises
The "median days listed" figure is a useful signal:
- A role listed for months is usually an evergreen talent pool. The platform keeps the posting open and contacts you when a project starts. 28% of Mercor's roles are over 60 days old.
- A role listed for days usually means a live project hiring now. Mindrift's median is 7 days, and micro1's is 19.
Neither is better by default. Evergreen pools mean you might wait weeks after acceptance. Fresh postings mean the project may also end sooner. Mindrift's own review notes that workers report weeks-long waits after onboarding, and its Trustpilot rating is 3.4/5.
Payout reliability
- Mindrift pays on a fixed schedule: the 5th and 20th, for work accepted in the previous half-month, through Payoneer or Tipalti/PayPal, with no commission. Toloka runs it, and Toloka raised $72M in May 2025 in a round led by Bezos Expeditions.
- Mercor pays through Stripe bank transfer or Wise. Check that Stripe supports your country.
- micro1 payout terms depend on your contractor agreement. Read it before you start.
Our Legit Score weights payout reliability at 35%. We publish a score only once we've checked the evidence, and none of the three is rated yet, so we're not going to pretend otherwise.
Which one should you pick?
- Licensed physician or specialist: apply to Mercor and Mindrift. Both have deep medicine pipelines.
- Attorney: micro1 and Mercor. micro1's specialist attorney roles have the highest ceilings.
- Engineer (CAD/CFD/mechanical): Mindrift currently has the clearest engineering roles. Mercor has MacBook-required engineering roles at $50–60/hr.
- Based in Kenya: skip Mindrift (unsupported). Mercor and Meridial are your main options.
- Want to start this week with no application: Mindrift's all-access tasks.
Honestly, the best answer for most experts is apply to two. Queues empty without warning, and a second platform smooths your income.
A simple scoring sheet for your own decision
Before you apply, rate each platform 1–5 on these five questions:
- How many live roles are there in my exact field?
- Is the median for my field above my minimum acceptable rate?
- Can its payout method actually pay me where I live?
- Are its roles fresh (live projects) or evergreen (waiting pools)?
- How long is the screening, and is any of it unpaid?
Apply first to whichever scores highest. It's a quick exercise, but it keeps you from chasing the top-of-range number.
Caveats
- These are advertised rates, not reported earnings. Effective hourly pay can be lower on task-based work.
- Counts and medians change daily. Always check the live listing.
- We have 0 verified worker reports on Mindrift so far, and we only publish payout timing once 10 have come in.
FAQ
Can I work on all three at once? Usually, yes, since they're independent contractor arrangements. Check each contract for exclusivity or confidentiality clauses, especially on projects for the same AI lab.
Which one pays fastest? Mindrift is the only one of the three with a published fixed schedule (twice monthly). For the others, check your contract terms.
Next step
Open the Pay Index and filter by your profession, then apply to the two platforms with the most live roles in your field. You can download the CSV if you want to dig in yourself.
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