Mercor vs Outlier for AI training work
Mercor and Outlier both pay contractors for AI-training work. Mercor publishes US$30 to 250/hr, and Outlier publishes up to US$150/hr. Canada eligibility is not confirmed for Mercor and confirmed for Outlier. Our listings have 341 open Mercor roles and 0 open Outlier roles today.
Last verified by the CredentialWork team
Who should pick Mercor, and who should pick Outlier
Only the facts that separate the two, from our reviews and listings: Canada eligibility, a published rate, open roles by field and weekly pay. Each one is in the table below with its source, and nothing here comes from who pays us.
Pick Mercor if
- You want a role you can open today: Mercor has 341 open roles in our listings (38 in medicine, 17 in law, 20 in finance, 40 in software, 63 in science, 48 in languages, 1 in writing, 23 in voice & audio, 14 in design & media, 24 in business, 18 in data & ai rating, 35 in other fields); Outlier has none right now.
Pick Outlier if
- You're applying from Canada: Outlier's Canada eligibility is confirmed; Mercor's is not confirmed.
Side by side
Every row restates what our Mercor and Outlier reviews show, with the page it comes from and the date we read it. "Not published" means no page we read says it. Open roles are from our daily pull of each platform's own listings, one role per posting.
| Fact | Mercor | Outlier |
|---|---|---|
| Our verdict | Legit | Unverified |
| Advertised pay | US$30 to 250/hrVerified | Up to US$150/hrVerified |
| Who can apply | Non-US contractors accepted, but listings can restrict by country. No doctor or lawyer role we counted was open to Canada on 2026-10-22 talent.docs.mercor.com | Canada and the US are on its country list; projects can limit location. Associate degree minimum outlier.ai |
| Eligible from Canada? | Unverified It accepts non-US contractors, but each listing can restrict by country; no doctor or lawyer role we counted was open to Canada. talent.docs.mercor.com | Yes Canada is on its list of countries you may work from; projects can add their own limits. outlier.ai |
| Screening | AI interview (about 20 min) and assessments, then ID and background checks talent.docs.mercor.com | Resume, LinkedIn, ID; skill screenings. Onboarding about 30 to 90 min outlier.ai |
| Approval time | Not published | Not published |
| How you're paid | Stripe, or Wise where Stripe isn't supported, in US$. Weekly, Wednesdays about 12:00 PM PST talent.docs.mercor.com | Hourly or per task. Weekly on Tuesdays, via PayPal, Airtm or ACH bank transfer outlier.ai |
| Fees | No fee found in Mercor's official process docs talent.docs.mercor.com | Not published |
| Open roles in our listings | 341 open roles | None in our listings right now |
| Last verified |
Mercor or Outlier: questions people ask
Which pays more, Mercor or Outlier?
Mercor publishes US$30 to 250/hr. Outlier publishes up to US$150/hr. Advertised rates are not earnings, and rates can change between projects.
Can I work for Mercor or Outlier from Canada?
Mercor: Unverified. It accepts non-US contractors, but each listing can restrict by country; no doctor or lawyer role we counted was open to Canada. Outlier: Yes. Canada is on its list of countries you may work from; projects can add their own limits.
Which has more open roles right now?
In our pull of 2026-11-10, Mercor had 341 open roles and Outlier had 0. A role listed in several places counts once.
How do Mercor and Outlier screen applicants?
Mercor: AI interview (about 20 min) and assessments, then ID and background checks. Outlier: Resume, LinkedIn, ID; skill screenings. Onboarding about 30 to 90 min.