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Research report ยท October 2026 edition

The AI Training Rate Card

On 31 Oct 2026, for roles open to US residents, the best-paying platform advertised 5 times the rate of the worst-paying one in the typical kind of AI training work, and up to 13.5 times in Transcription, Audio & Speech ($135 at Weekday against $10 at TELUS Digital AI).

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

Provisional figures. This month is complete, but late data can still arrive until 3 Nov 2026, when the edition is frozen for good.

Data window
1 Oct 2026 to 31 Oct 2026
31 days, UTC
Computed
1 Nov 2026, 01:11 UTC
Final once frozen
Source
The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every hour.
Method
Version 3. 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 Transcription, Audio & Speech: Weekday advertises a median of $135 an hour and TELUS Digital AI $10 (13.5 times).

    Figure 1
  2. 2

    For roles open to US residents, the best-paying platform advertises 5 times the rate of the worst-paying one in the typical kind of work (11 kinds compared).

    Figure 1
  3. 3

    Across all roles, wherever they hire, the widest gap is in Law, Medicine & Finance: Surge AI advertises a median of $300 an hour and Welo Data $12, 25 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 5 times the rate of the worst-paying one in the typical kind of work (median across 11 kinds of work with two or more platforms compared).

    Figure 2
  5. 5

    For medicine and nursing roles, Handshake AI advertises a median of $180 an hour against $25 at Volga Partners (15 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  6. 6

    For law roles, micro1 advertises a median of $135 an hour against $21 at RWS TrainAI Community (10 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  7. 7

    For finance and accounting roles, Surge AI advertises a median of $180 an hour against $32 at Volga Partners (16 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  8. 8

    For software and IT roles, Weekday advertises a median of $105 an hour against $30 at Rise Data Labs (17 platforms compared).

    Figure 3
  9. 9

    For English, the most listed language, platform medians run from $16 (OpenTrain AI) to $160 (Alignerr).

    Figure 4
  10. 10

    Alignerr advertises the highest median rate in 3 kinds of work: AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF), Multilingual & Localization and Writing & Content.

    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 platformsmicro1AlignerrAfterQueryInvisibleHighest over lowest
Law, Medicine & Finance$83$75$60$88$36$90$35$85$35$90$689.09x
Red-Teaming & AI Safety$83$85$63n/an/an/an/a$95n/a$100n/a1.59x
Math & STEM$75$150$103$114$37$62n/a$75$30$73n/a5.00x
Agentic Tasks & RL Environments$65$90n/a$80$60$50n/an/an/an/an/a3.00x
Coding & Software Evaluation$65$66$75$75$37$70$35n/a$30$65n/a3.50x
Writing & Content$60$60$60$43n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a1.40x
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)$50$50$80n/a$36$61$34$24n/a$65$205.33x
Multilingual & Localization$33n/a$80$75$36n/a$15$30$30$28$195.33x
Transcription, Audio & Speech$30$48$26$30$36$60$10n/a$35n/a$2513.50x
Data Annotation & Labeling$30$40$40n/an/a$55$34$50$30n/a$236.11x
Robotics & Physical-AI Data$15$20n/an/an/an/a$35n/an/an/an/a3.33x

Sample. 2,489 roles open to US residents, open at the end of 31 Oct 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 3 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, October 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 platformsmicro1AlignerrSuperAnnotate (SME)AfterQueryHighest over lowest
Red-Teaming & AI Safety$78$85$63$72n/a$95n/an/an/an/an/a1.51x
Law, Medicine & Finance$75$75$60$51$88$85$37$90$35$35$1225.00x
Research Studies & Surveys$75n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Coding & Software Evaluation$60$66$75$58$75$68$37$70$35$30n/a3.50x
Writing & Content$55$60$60$25$43n/an/an/an/an/an/a2.40x
Agentic Tasks & RL Environments$50$90n/a$25$80n/a$60$50n/an/an/a3.60x
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)$45$50$80$65n/a$20$36$61$34n/a$205.33x
Math & STEM$40$150$103$70$114$75$37$53n/a$30n/a5.00x
Multilingual & Localization$33n/a$80$30$75$30$36n/a$15$30$108.00x
Transcription, Audio & Speech$30$48$26n/a$30n/a$36$50$10$35$3512.80x
Data Annotation & Labeling$21$33$40$20n/a$50n/a$55$34$30$296.11x
Robotics & Physical-AI Data$10$20n/an/an/an/an/an/a$35n/a$353.89x

Sample. 3,565 roles, open at the end of 31 Oct 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 3 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, October 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 platformsAfterQueryAlignerrInvisibleHandshake AIHighest over lowest
Law$100$125$30$63n/a$60$135$95$83n/a$1106.43x
Medicine and nursing$85$80$60$37$180$65$80$178$83n/a$1807.20x
Data science and machine learning$83$115$105$38n/a$100$90$110n/an/an/a3.03x
Psychology and mental health$83$90n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Finance and accounting$80$113$75$36$93$50$90$85$83$150$1105.63x
Earth and environmental science$75$100$65n/a$85n/an/an/an/an/an/a1.54x
Engineering (non-software)$69$107$65$37$85$60$90$78$83$35n/a3.64x
Business and management$68$85$55$36$80$50$66$65$83n/a$952.64x
Software and IT$65$80$75$37$80$60$75$80$95$30$1053.50x
Nuclear, CBRN and defense$60n/an/a$37n/a$72$65n/an/a$36n/a2.00x
Voice acting, music and sound$55n/a$160$36$100n/a$48$50n/an/a$1288.00x
Biology and life sciences$53$95$76$36$75$75$68$86$83n/a$852.71x
Teaching$53$54$53n/a$88n/a$55n/an/an/an/a1.66x
Design and visual arts$50$65$40$37$113$25$70$80n/a$30n/a4.91x
Writing and media$50$43$80n/an/a$35$60n/an/an/an/a2.29x
Humanities and social sciences$45$75n/a$36$75$65n/an/an/an/an/a2.50x
Physics and astronomy$45n/a$60$37$82$60$150n/an/an/an/a4.05x
Chemistry$40$90$61$37$65$55n/a$85n/a$35n/a2.80x
Mathematics and statistics$40$108$100$36$75$25n/an/an/a$30n/a4.32x
Trust, safety and child protection$35n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Translation and interpreting$30$75$30$36$65n/an/an/an/an/an/a18.75x

Sample. Roles whose title names an expert field, open at the end of 31 Oct 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 3 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, October 2026 edition.

Figure 4

Rate card by language

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

LanguageAll platformsInvisibleWelo DataRWS TrainAI CommunityAlignerrHighest over lowest
Filipino (Tagalog)$37$37n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Haitian Creole$37$37n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Hebrew$37$37n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Afrikaans$36$37n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Estonian$36$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
French$36$37$32$17$28n/a$50n/an/an/an/a2.94x
German$36$36$34$18$26n/a$75n/an/an/an/a4.17x
Icelandic$36$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Portuguese$36$36$34$40$25n/an/an/an/an/an/a1.60x
Serbian$36$37n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Spanish$36$37$35$12$56$33$55$30$43n/an/a4.67x
Swedish$36$37$25n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a1.48x
Welsh$36$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Arabic$35$37n/a$13$30$35n/a$30n/an/an/a2.85x
Finnish$35n/a$28n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Hungarian$33$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Korean$33$36n/a$10$26$40n/an/an/an/an/a4.00x
Persian (Farsi)$33n/a$35n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Danish$31n/a$28n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Indonesian$31$37n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Japanese$31$37n/a$18$26n/an/a$30n/a$28n/a2.06x
Chinese (Mandarin)$30$37$24$9$26$35$63n/an/a$30n/a7.00x
Czech$30$36$12n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a3.00x
English$30$36$25$17$160$25$75n/a$45n/a$3010.00x
Hindi$30$37n/an/a$23n/an/a$30n/an/an/a1.61x
Italian$30$36$20$18$29n/an/an/an/an/an/a2.00x
Latvian$30$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Lithuanian$30$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Polish$30$36n/a$11n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a3.27x
Russian$30$37n/a$19n/an/an/a$30n/an/an/a1.95x
Turkish$30n/a$34n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Croatian$29n/a$12n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Dutch$28$36$16$19$23n/an/an/an/an/an/a2.25x
Malay$28$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Catalan$26n/an/an/an/a$26n/an/an/an/an/an/a
Bengali$25n/a$4n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Marathi$25$36n/a$5n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a7.20x
Punjabi$25$36n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Tamil$25n/a$4n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Vietnamese$25$36n/a$8n/an/an/an/an/an/an/a4.50x
Telugu$24$37n/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/an/a
Thai$23$37n/a$8n/a$25n/an/an/an/an/a4.63x

Sample. Roles whose title names a language, open at the end of 31 Oct 2026, that state an hourly rate. A platform's median is shown where at least 3 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, October 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
Law, Medicine & FinanceSurge AI $300Welo Data $12
25.00x
Translation and interpretingAfterQuery $75Welo Data $4
18.75x
Transcription, Audio & SpeechWeekday $128Volga Partners $10
12.80x
EnglishAlignerr $160OpenTrain AI $16
10.00x
Multilingual & LocalizationAlignerr $80Welo Data $10
8.00x
Voice acting, music and soundAlignerr $160Braintrust $20
8.00x
MarathiInvisible $36RWS TrainAI Community $5
7.20x
Medicine and nursingHandshake AI $180Volga Partners $25
7.20x
Chinese (Mandarin)Mercor $63RWS TrainAI Community $9
7.00x
Lawmicro1 $135RWS TrainAI Community $21
6.43x
Data Annotation & LabelingMercor $55RWS TrainAI Community $9
6.11x
Finance and accountingSurge AI $180Volga Partners $32
5.63x
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF)Alignerr $80Innodata $15
5.33x
Math & STEMmicro1 $150Weekday $30
5.00x
Design and visual artsHandshake AI $113Prolific $23
4.91x
SpanishAlignerr $56RWS TrainAI Community $12
4.67x
ThaiInvisible $37RWS TrainAI Community $8
4.63x
VietnameseInvisible $36RWS TrainAI Community $8
4.50x
Mathematics and statisticsAfterQuery $108SuperAnnotate (SME) $25
4.32x
GermanMercor $75RWS TrainAI Community $18
4.17x
Physics and astronomymicro1 $150Invisible $37
4.05x
KoreanSuperAnnotate (SME) $40RWS TrainAI Community $10
4.00x
Robotics & Physical-AI DataTELUS Digital AI $35Claru $9
3.89x
Engineering (non-software)Prolific $120OpenTrain AI $33
3.64x
Agentic Tasks & RL Environmentsmicro1 $90SuperAnnotate (SME) $25
3.60x
Coding & Software EvaluationWeekday $105Rise Data Labs $30
3.50x
Software and ITWeekday $105Rise Data Labs $30
3.50x
PolishInvisible $36RWS TrainAI Community $11
3.27x
Data science and machine learningAfterQuery $115Invisible $38
3.03x
CzechInvisible $36Welo Data $12
3.00x
FrenchMercor $50RWS TrainAI Community $17
2.94x
ArabicInvisible $37RWS TrainAI Community $13
2.85x
ChemistryRemoExperts $98Rise Data Labs $35
2.80x
Biology and life sciencesAfterQuery $95TELUS Digital AI $35
2.71x
Business and managementWeekday $95Invisible $36
2.64x
Humanities and social sciencesAfterQuery $75RWS TrainAI Community $30
2.50x
Writing & ContentAlignerr $60SuperAnnotate (SME) $25
2.40x
Writing and mediaAlignerr $80SuperAnnotate (SME) $35
2.29x
DutchInvisible $36Welo Data $16
2.25x
JapaneseInvisible $37RWS TrainAI Community $18
2.06x
Nuclear, CBRN and defenseSuperAnnotate (SME) $72Rise Data Labs $36
2.00x
ItalianInvisible $36RWS TrainAI Community $18
2.00x
RussianInvisible $37RWS TrainAI Community $19
1.95x
TeachingHandshake AI $88Alignerr $53
1.66x
HindiInvisible $37Alignerr $23
1.61x
PortugueseRWS TrainAI Community $40Alignerr $25
1.60x
Earth and environmental scienceAfterQuery $100Alignerr $65
1.54x
Red-Teaming & AI SafetyHandshake AI $95Alignerr $63
1.51x
SwedishInvisible $37Welo Data $25
1.48x

Sample. Groups in which at least two platforms each have 3 or more open roles stating an hourly rate, on 31 Oct 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, October 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
Alignerr
3
AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF), Multilingual & Localization and Writing & Content
micro1
2
Math & STEM and Agentic Tasks & RL Environments
Weekday
2
Coding & Software Evaluation and Transcription, Audio & Speech
Handshake AI
1
Red-Teaming & AI Safety
Mercor
1
Data Annotation & Labeling
Surge AI
1
Law, Medicine & Finance
TELUS Digital AI
1
Robotics & Physical-AI Data

Sample. Kinds of work with at least two platforms each advertising an hourly rate on 3 or more open roles, on 31 Oct 2026.

Source. AITraining.jobs Research, The AI Training Rate Card, October 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:

  • 11,482 roles tracked, each with its history

    Every role on 62 job boards, read since 13 Jul 2026 (every hour since 18 Oct 2026): its pay and place, and the first and last day it was open.

  • 58,632 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.

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Building AI and need the experts behind this data? (you contract them yourself) or (we deliver the expert work).

Investing in AI-data companies? Hiring radar is these records role by role, every day, as files.

Method and definitions

The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every hour. 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 3 such roles (the one minimum of every median).
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), counted once per distinct rate as the job board counts it. The median and typical pay are the board's: typical pay runs from the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each advertised range) to the 90th-percentile advertised ceiling, stated from 3 distinct rates.
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, October 2026 edition. https://aitraining.jobs/research/ai-training-rate-card/2026-10

BibTeX

@misc{aitrainingjobs_ai_training_rate_card_2026_10,
  author = {{AITraining.jobs}},
  title = {The AI Training Rate Card, October 2026 edition},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://aitraining.jobs/research/ai-training-rate-card/2026-10}},
}
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