How AI Training Work Is Paid

Method and definitions

The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every hour: each open role's compensation text and employment type, and the full description of every open role whose board publishes one. 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.

Pay unit

Read from the compensation text a posting publishes: the first unit it names ('/hr', 'per task', 'fixed', 'per year'). A figure with no unit ('$400') is counted as such, never assigned one. 'Fixed' is a fixed price for the whole job. An hourly text is read the way the job board reads one (lib/pay-band.ts): only its hourly clause counts, so a bonus beside the rate is never the other end of a range.

Currency

A '$' is read as US dollars, the currency the boards publish it in; a code ('EUR 31850 per year') is read as written. Other currencies are never converted.

Range, single figure, up to, from

A range gives two different figures; a single figure gives one (or a range whose ends are equal); 'up to' gives only a ceiling; 'from' only a floor.

Engagement type

The employment-type field a job board publishes, normalised: contract; freelance or independent contractor; hourly; task-based; part-time; full-time; direct hire. A field naming no engagement type ('Remote'), or no field, is not stated.

Per-task rate

A US dollar figure the compensation text quotes per task (the middle of a range). Medians need at least 3 roles; 'up to' figures are left out.

Payout schedule and service

Read from a full description only where tied to pay: 'paid weekly via Stripe' counts, a weekly sync or a PayPal account requested as data does not.

Paid per task or other output

The description says pay is per task, submission or asset (usually one approved, accepted or meeting the project's specifications), or that compensation is output- or task-based.

Described roles

Roles open at the end of the window whose job board publishes a full description. Each figure read from descriptions states how many roles and platforms that is.

Open role

A role listed by a given day and still in its platform's feed that day.

Window

Live: the last 28 complete days, in UTC. Edition: one calendar month, in UTC.

What this data cannot tell you

• Payment terms are read from the full descriptions a few platforms publish (about three in ten open roles), so they describe those platforms, not the whole market.
• A posting states pay as its board publishes it: what a worker is paid after tiers, rejected tasks or bonuses is not known, and an hourly figure on a role paid per task is an estimate.
• A description that does not mention a term counts as not stating it; platforms may pay weekly or through a service they do not name in the posting.
• Engagement types are what each board's own field says, and boards use the field differently (Mercor's states a pay basis or commitment rather than a contract form).
• Platforms that recruit without a public job board are not counted.

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.

• Live dataLast 28 complete days, recomputed daily
• October 2026 edition (this page)Freezes on first reading

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.

@misc{aitrainingjobs_how_ai_training_work_is_paid_2026_10,
  author = {{AITraining.jobs}},
  title = {How AI Training Work Is Paid, October 2026 edition},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://aitraining.jobs/research/how-ai-training-work-is-paid/2026-10}},
}

More research

• How AI Training Roles Advertise PayHow often do AI training roles state their pay, how are the rates distributed and how wide are the ranges?Read the report
• Where AI Training Work Is OpenWho may apply to AI training roles, country by country?Read the report
• AI Training Pay TrendsIs the advertised rate for each kind of AI training work rising or falling?Read the report
• What Raises AI Training PayWhich traits of an AI training role come with higher advertised pay, compared within the same kind of work?Read the report
• On-Site AI Training WorkHow much AI training work is on-site rather than remote, where is it, and what is it?Read the report
• The AI Training Rate CardFor the same kind of work, the same expertise and the same language, what does each platform advertise per hour?Read the report
• AI Training Pay Against the Local Minimum WageFor the roles a resident of each country may apply to, how does advertised AI training pay compare with that country's minimum wage?Read the report
• The State of AI Training PayWhat does AI training work pay, by kind of work and by platform?Read the report

All 81 research reports