Mercor has 202 open roles here to Turing’s 15, screens everyone with one AI interview of about 20 minutes, and names its pay day: weekly, on Wednesdays, through Stripe. Turing runs proctored tests on some roles and says an interview is typically required, and its own pages disagree on when it pays. Both state pay on each role rather than as a platform-wide rate. Both pay this site a referral fee if you are hired through our link, and your pay is unaffected either way.
Mercor and Turing side by side
| Mercor | Turing | |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles here | 202 | 15 |
| Hourly pay range | $15–450 | $15–30 |
| Median hourly ceiling | $85 | $15 |
| Roles paid per task or session | 23 | 1 |
| Screening | Resume, role assessments, one AI interview (about 20 minutes, up to 3 retakes) | Account sign-up, a recorded assessment, a recorded coding interview on some roles |
| Time to hear back | No general time frame; shown per role after you submit | Not stated |
| Background checks | Run through a screening provider during onboarding | Where legally permitted, per its privacy policy |
| Paid | Weekly, Wednesdays, via Stripe (Wise where Stripe is unavailable) | “Bi-weekly” on its talent page; method not named |
| Where | Set per role, within Mercor’s list of supported countries | No country list published; some role titles name a country |
The work
Both platforms hire remote contractors for AI training and evaluation work, and neither is employment. Mercor’s board is the larger and the more varied. Among its open roles the biggest groups are engineers (35), voice and audio recorders (22), generalists (13), bilingual speakers (8) and business and operations (19).
Turing’s board is smaller and weighted toward generalists (13 roles), with a few researcher, life-science and engineering roles. Turing says its network covers tech, finance, healthcare, law and other fields, and most of its roles ask for professional experience or an advanced degree. Turing’s role pages state “Contractor assignment” and give the contract length in weeks, along with the weekly time commitment the role expects.
The pay
Each role on both platforms carries its own rate. Mercor’s hourly roles run $15–450 with a median ceiling of $85; 23 of its roles pay per task or per session instead. Turing’s hourly roles run $15–30, median ceiling $15, and 1 of its roles pay per task or session.
Turing’s roles state their payment type in prose on the role page, sometimes a flat fee per approved task and sometimes an hourly rate. Its public data feed labels nearly every role hourly, so the role’s own text is the one to trust. That is the rule on this site too: a Turing role is only listed when its own text says what it pays.
A listed rate is not promised hours or income on either platform. A high rate on a role with few hours a week pays less than a modest rate on a role with many.
Getting in
Mercor runs one process for every role. You upload a resume, complete whatever assessments the role asks for, verify your work authorisation, then sit one AI interview. Mercor says it takes about 20 minutes, is the only way it screens, and can be retaken up to three times in total across all your applications. It gives no general time to an answer; the confirmation screen shows the expected timeline for that role. How a Mercor application is put together covers the shared steps.
Turing starts with an account, through an email address or Google, and a short application. Some roles then send you to proctored tests, and Turing says an interview is typically required for all roles. Its privacy policy says that interview captures your name, image, voice and screenshare as well as how you solved the challenge, and that Turing runs background checks where legally permitted, including criminal record checks and credit reports. It does not say which roles trigger a check. Its help centre puts review at 48 hours to 6 weeks, and says silence after 6 weeks usually means you were not selected.
Staying in and how pay arrives
Mercor says it pays every Wednesday, through Stripe, or Wise where Stripe is unavailable. Hourly contracts are tracked through its time tracker, and hours it does not capture are not eligible for payment. The Mercor pay week and which hours get paid explain the cutoffs. You can hold more than one Mercor hourly contract if each project lead knows your availability.
Turing’s own talent page claims “Transparent, bi-weekly payouts.” Its help centre says hours are paid monthly, around the 5th, so Turing’s own pages disagree. It does not name the payment method for a worker’s pay. What happens between passing the assessment and a first paid task is also not stated on its public pages.
Contracts end and hours vary by project on both, so acceptance does not mean steady work.
Which one
Mercor suits a professional with a credential in a field it posts for, such as engineering, accounting, law or clinical work. It also suits someone who can wait without a stated timeline and wants a stated pay day. Its AI interview is the same whichever role you apply for, so one good attempt serves every application. Check the role’s own eligibility line, and that your country is on Mercor’s supported list.
Turing suits someone comfortable with proctored, recorded tests and interviews, who can wait up to six weeks for a decision, and who reads each role’s stated payment type and weekly commitment before applying. Where a Turing title names a country, such as a role marked for the USA, Australia or Canada, that is the role’s own restriction.
Browse by background to see what is open on each:
- Generalists: 13 Mercor roles and 13 Turing roles
- Engineers and software engineers: engineers (35 on Mercor, 0 on Turing) and software engineers (14 on Mercor, 0 on Turing)
- Scientists and academics: researchers and academics (11 on Mercor, 1 on Turing) and life scientists (15 on Mercor, 0 on Turing)
Or see every role on each platform: Mercor roles and Turing roles. Platform details are on the Mercor page and the Turing page, and the Mercor guide goes deeper on that platform.
Mercor and Turing each pay this site a referral fee if you are hired through our link. Your pay is unaffected, and neither platform’s rate changes because you arrived here. Red Pen Jobs is independent. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for Mercor or Turing in any way, and we do not recruit on either platform’s behalf.