What is Mercor?
Mercor is an AI-run talent network that interviews and matches doctors, lawyers, engineers and other experts with paid contract work training and evaluating AI. The company was valued at $10 billion in October 2025, says it pays out more than $4 million to experts per day, and reports an average contracted rate of about $108 per hour.
Instead of a traditional recruiter, Mercor uses an AI interviewer to assess applicants, then matches them to projects from AI labs that need professional judgement: writing and grading expert-level tasks, reviewing model outputs and building benchmarks such as its APEX evaluations. Work is remote and contract-based. Professionals use it to earn flexible income from their expertise, and students and early-career engineers use it to find paid AI training projects.
Main Features
- Interviews applicants with an AI interviewer.
- Matches experts to AI training and evaluation projects.
- Offers remote, flexible contract work across many fields.
- Pays experts by the hour for completed work.
- Covers fields including medicine, law, finance, software and consulting.
- Lists open roles with rates on its job board.
How to Get Started with Mercor
- Create a free profile on mercor.com and upload your resume.
- Apply to a listed role that matches your expertise.
- Complete the AI interview and any skills assessment.
- Accept a contract and start work on your assigned project.
Mercor Pricing
Mercor is free for experts to join and apply to roles. Experts are paid for their work, and companies hiring through Mercor pay Mercor directly.
Who Should Use It?
- Doctors and nurses seeking flexible remote income.
- Lawyers and finance professionals with spare hours.
- Software engineers and data scientists.
- PhD students and researchers.
- Writers and domain experts interested in AI work.
Mercor Alternatives
- Scale AI: large AI data company with its own contributor programs
- Prolific AI: paid research studies and AI tasks for a broad audience
- Appen AI: long-running data annotation work platform
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mercor free to join?
Yes, Mercor is free for experts to join and apply. You are paid for the work you complete.
Is Mercor legit?
Yes, Mercor is an established company valued at $10 billion in 2025 that pays experts for AI training work. As with any contract work, read each project's terms and pay rate before accepting.
How much does Mercor pay?
Mercor reports an average contracted rate of about $108 per hour, but rates vary widely by role and expertise.
What is the Mercor AI interview?
It is an automated interview conducted by an AI that asks about your background and skills. Results are used to match you with suitable projects.