micro1 can take up to 30 days to review you after a good interview, and it guarantees no hours once you are in. Apply to a second platform while you wait. The four below state pay on every role and screen in a different way to micro1. From each platform’s own pages, read between 13 and 17 October 2026.
Your micro1 status decides which alternative to try
What micro1 shows on your dashboard tells you what to do next. Our guide to every micro1 status explains each one.
- Awaiting next steps or hiring manager reviewing. Nothing you do speeds these up. Apply anywhere below, so the wait costs you nothing.
- Not selected. micro1 says you cleared the interview and the client chose someone else. Keep applying on micro1 too. Your interview is not the problem.
- Did not qualify. micro1 says this is about fit with that role, not your skills. A platform that screens with a recorded video interview and a human review, such as SME Careers, tests you a different way.
Four platforms at a glance
| Platform | How it screens | How it pays |
|---|---|---|
| Mercor | Assessments and one AI interview of about 20 minutes | Weekly, on Wednesdays, via Stripe |
| SME Careers | A CV, a recorded AI video interview of about 15 minutes, then a human review | Weekly, through Deel, for approved work |
| Ethos | One profile reviewed by Ethos, sometimes a short AI voice screen | At the hourly rate each posting states |
| AfterQuery | An interview, then a short skills assessment in your field | Weekly, on Fridays, through Stripe |
None of the four promises a set number of hours. A listed rate tells you what a role pays, not how much work reaches you.
Mercor screens much like micro1, and pays weekly
Mercor lists 206 open roles on this site, at $15–300 an hour, with a median advertised ceiling of $85. Its screen is the closest to micro1’s: a resume, the assessments a role asks for, and one AI interview of about 20 minutes.
Two rules matter before you start. Mercor allows three interview retakes in total across every application, not three per role. It also gives no feedback on applications and no general time to a decision. Our Mercor application guide explains both.
Mercor suits specialists whose background a role names in its title. A security incident in March 2026 affected some Mercor experts’ sensitive information.
SME Careers suits subject experts who prefer a human review
SME Careers lists 185 open roles here, with pay of up to $150 an hour. Every SME figure is a maximum, and many roles pay a different maximum in each country.
You apply with a CV, then record an AI video interview of about 15 minutes. SME says grading usually takes one to two business days, and it gives no timeline for the screening after that. SME allows one interview per job, plus one retake if it offers one. Our SME Careers interview guide covers it.
Being onboarded does not guarantee work, and many SME postings say there is no immediate project. Hourly projects pay active time only.
Ethos matches senior professionals from one profile
Ethos lists 846 open roles here, at $70–100 an hour. Most of them describe one project, posted once for each profession, so one Ethos profile covers them all.
You build a profile and Ethos reviews it. Ethos may then invite you to a short AI voice screen, which it records and transcribes. Most postings ask for several years at a well-known firm in the field.
Ethos’s terms promise no set amount of work. Preparation time is unpaid unless Ethos approves it in writing first.
AfterQuery tests you in your own field
AfterQuery lists 232 open roles here, at $15–175 an hour. It asks for an interview, live or recorded, and then a short skills assessment in your domain.
The assessment is unpaid, has no retake, and gives no pass or fail notice. Our AfterQuery assessment guide covers how to use the one attempt.
AfterQuery pays through Stripe alone. It cannot pay in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Monaco or South Korea, so this site does not show its roles there.
How to switch without losing a micro1 application
You do not need to withdraw from micro1 to apply elsewhere. micro1 says you can keep your day job.
- Leave your micro1 applications open. micro1 says its team may still approach you for other roles.
- Pick one platform from the table that screens differently from micro1.
- Read that platform’s guide before the interview or assessment. Each one allows few attempts.
- Keep track of which interviews you have used. Mercor and SME Careers both limit retakes.
Browse every open role, or compare micro1 and Mercor in detail in micro1 vs Mercor.
How this site is paid
micro1 and all four platforms above pay this site a referral fee if you are hired after applying through a link here. Your pay is unaffected. The order above follows how each platform screens, not what it pays this site.
What these platforms do not publish
- How many hours of work a role offers once you are hired.
- How many applicants each platform accepts.
- A general time to a decision. SME Careers gives one only for grading the interview.
- What an average expert earns, as opposed to what a posting lists.
This site is not affiliated with micro1, Mercor, SME Careers, Ethos or AfterQuery, and applying is not a promise of work.