Mercor hires professionals as remote independent contractors for AI projects, and lists that work publicly with a stated rate on each role.

What does Mercor pay?

Across the 181 hourly Mercor roles we track, the listed rates span $15–300 an hour in US dollars, as each posting states them. Individual ranges vary widely by role, and every role states its pay. 25 roles pay a fixed amount per session or per task instead, shown on each role page and left out of the hourly span. We show what each posting lists and never estimate.

How does Mercor screening work?

You upload a resume, complete the assessments a role asks for and verify your work authorisation, then sit an AI interview that Mercor says takes about 20 minutes for most people. It is the only screening method, and it can be retaken up to three times. Mercor gives no general time to a decision.

How does Mercor pay contractors?

Mercor's contract policy says work is paid weekly, on the Wednesday after the work week closes, via Stripe, with a 7-day hold on first payouts. It uses Wise in some countries Stripe does not support.

Yes. In late March 2026 an attack through compromised versions of the open-source tool LiteLLM reached Mercor's systems. Mercor says a very limited subset of experts had sensitive information affected, that there is no evidence of fraudulent use, and that it offered identity protection through TransUnion. Several proposed class actions over the breach have been filed. They are allegations, not findings.

What if I hear nothing back from Mercor?

Mercor states no general time frame. The confirmation screen after you submit shows the expected timeline for that role, and the decision comes by email, so check your spam folder. Mercor says it cannot give feedback on individual applications, and that you can keep applying to other open roles.

Why do Mercor projects end?

Mercor names three reasons: the project ends (completion, a change of scope or budget), a policy violation such as falsified work or misused AI, or performance. A normal ending does not affect your standing. Final hours are paid on the usual weekly schedule.

Can I work on more than one Mercor project?

Yes. Mercor says you can hold more than one hourly contract if each project lead knows your availability.

Does Mercor charge a fee to apply?

None of the Mercor pages listed under "How we checked" mentions a fee for applicants or contractors.

Do you work for Mercor?

No. This site is independent of Mercor and is not its agent, recruiter or representative. If someone applies through a link here and is hired, Mercor pays this site a referral fee. It never changes what the reader is paid.

Mercor review: is it legit, the pay and how to apply (Oct 2026)

The short version

Mercor hires professionals as remote contractors for AI projects and pays weekly, on Wednesdays, through Stripe or Wise. Screening is a resume, any assessments a role sets and an AI interview of about 20 minutes, with no human alternative and no stated time to a decision. In March 2026 a security incident affected some experts' sensitive information, Mercor says. Worth applying if a role names your background.

At a glance

Work type: Remote independent contractor, mostly hourly
Screening: Assessments and an AI interview of about 20 minutes
Paid: Weekly, on Wednesdays, via Stripe
Best for: Specialists whose background a role names in its title.
Open roles: 206, with 152,734 stated openings

What Mercor is

Mercor describes itself as organising human intelligence to power the AI economy. In practice it hires professionals as remote contractors for AI projects, and lists that work publicly with a stated rate on each role.

We are not part of Mercor, we do not recruit for it, and we are not its agent, representative or partner. How this site earns money sets out the one commercial link there is.

How to get hired

Open a Mercor role on this site and press Apply.
Upload a resume, complete the assessments the role asks for and verify your work authorisation.
An AI interview of about 20 minutes. The confirmation screen then shows the expected timeline for that role.
If Mercor hires you, you are paid weekly, on the Wednesday after each work week, via Stripe. Mercor says first payouts are held for 7 days.

Mercor's application asks you to upload a resume, complete the assessments a role requires and verify your work authorisation. Then comes an AI interview, which Mercor says takes about 20 minutes for most people and is the only way it screens candidates. There is no human-interview alternative. You can retake an interview up to three times.

Mercor gives no time frame for a decision. After you submit, a confirmation screen shows the expected timeline for that role, and the result arrives by email. Mercor says it cannot share feedback on individual applications.

How to prepare for the interview

How the process runs, step by step

What the work involves

The 206 Mercor roles open this morning cover 23 of the professions on this site.

It is contract work, not employment: Mercor's tax policy addresses you as an independent contractor, and Mercor deducts no tax from your pay. Its contract policy describes hourly contracts and deliverable-based contracts with a fixed payment. The hourly rate is the figure this site compares; a fixed amount is shown on its own role page.

Each hourly contract sets a maximum number of hours a week, and Mercor states no minimum. How long a project lasts varies and is not something we can state.

What it pays

Across the 181 hourly Mercor roles we track, listed rates span $15–300 an hour in US dollars, exactly as each posting states them. That is a span, not an average. The only pay figure we ever show is the one on the posting. We do not estimate, and we do not convert currency.

25 roles pay a fixed amount per session or per task instead, shown on each role page and left out of the hourly span.

A role and an opening are different things: one role can be hiring many people. The 206 roles add up to 152,734 stated openings.

When and how Mercor pays out for completed work is a separate question: see what we do not know.

Pros and cons

Pros

Weekly pay. Hours are paid the following Wednesday.
Most interviews take about 20 minutes, and you can retake one up to three times.
An ordinary project ending does not affect your standing for new work, Mercor says.
You can hold more than one hourly contract if each project lead knows your availability.

Cons

The AI interview is the only way in. Mercor offers no human interview.
No stated time to a decision, and no feedback on applications.
No minimum hours. Each contract sets a weekly maximum only.
Mercor deducts no tax. You calculate and pay your own.
Stripe holds your first payout for 7 days.
A March 2026 security incident affected some experts' sensitive information.

What is known, and what is not

Known

Pay is weekly, on Wednesdays, through Stripe or Wise.
Screening is a resume, assessments and an AI interview of about 20 minutes.
You can retake the interview up to three times.
An ordinary project ending does not count against you.

Not known

How long a referral stays credited.
How much work reaches you once hired.
Whether hiring keeps pace with the stated openings.

The questions we cannot answer yet, in full:

How long a referral stays credited. Mercor's referral page says a submitted referral does not expire; its referral policy mentions attribution windows without stating one. They disagree, so we repeat neither as fact.
How much work reaches you once hired. Mercor's pages describe contracts and pay, not the volume of hours a project offers.
Whether hiring keeps pace with the stated openings. A role states how many people it wants; how many are actually taken on, we have no way to see.

Who should apply, and who should skip

Mercor sets eligible countries per role, and it can only onboard and pay experts in the countries on its supported list.

Its pages state no general experience requirement; each role names the background it wants, usually in the title.

Apply if

The role title names your background.
Your country is on the role’s list and on Mercor’s supported list.

Skip if

You want a human interviewer. Mercor screens by AI interview only.
You need work to start this week.

Is Mercor legit?

Mercor is a real company with public role postings, published contractor policies, a stated weekly pay schedule and published referral terms. That is what we can verify from the outside, and it is all we claim.

In late March 2026 Mercor was hit by an attack through compromised versions of LiteLLM, an open-source tool. In its update of 25 June 2026, Mercor said a "very limited subset" of its nearly five million experts had sensitive information affected, that there was no evidence of fraudulent use, and that it was offering identity protection through TransUnion. California's Attorney General lists the breach dates as 24 and 30 March 2026.

Several proposed class actions over the breach have been filed in US federal courts since 1 April 2026. They are allegations, not findings.

Hamza Hussain, who runs this site and wrote this review, has worked on Mercor, and on micro1, DataAnnotation, Prolific and Fleet. That is disclosed so you know where the judgement on these pages comes from, and because a directory that earns a referral fee should say when it has skin in the game.

One person's experience is not evidence about yours, so this page still carries no testimonials, no payout stories and no numbers about how many people have been placed. If you see those elsewhere, ask who verified them.

Against the other platforms

The listed pay and the screening step of the other platforms we track, as of this morning.

micro1 Listed pay: $6 to 400 / hr 246 roles. A 20 to 40 minute AI interview.
Terac Listed pay: $2 to 112 / hr 56 roles. Verified phone to apply, then a short screener per opportunity.
AfterQuery Listed pay: $15 to 175 / hr 232 roles. An interview and a short skills assessment.
Turing Listed pay: $15 to 150 / hr 16 roles. An application, proctored tests on some roles, then an interview.
SME Careers Listed pay: Up to $150 / hr 185 roles. A CV-based application, a recorded AI video interview of about 15 minutes, then a review by SME's team.
Ethos Listed pay: $70 to 100 / hr 846 roles. One profile, reviewed by Ethos; you may be invited to a short AI voice screen.
Sovrano AI Listed pay: $35 to 150 / hr 36 roles. Skills assessments and an AI interview.

Side by side: Ethos vs Mercor, Mercor vs AfterQuery, Mercor vs SME Careers, Mercor vs Terac, Mercor vs Turing, micro1 vs Mercor.

How we checked

Pay, role counts and openings on this page come from the Mercor postings we read each morning. The last check was on 29 Oct 2026. Each figure is the one a posting states. We never estimate, average or convert one.

What Mercor says about its screening, pay and referrals comes from its own pages, listed below and last checked on 13 Oct 2026. Anything those pages do not say is listed under what is not known, not guessed.

Written and checked by Hamza Hussain, who runs this site. How this site earns money.

Questions

Is Mercor legit?: Mercor is a real company with public role postings, published contractor policies, a stated weekly pay schedule and published referral terms. That is what we can verify from the outside, and it is all we claim.
What is Mercor?: Mercor hires professionals as remote independent contractors for AI projects, and lists that work publicly with a stated rate on each role.
What does Mercor pay?: Across the 181 hourly Mercor roles we track, the listed rates span $15–300 an hour in US dollars, as each posting states them. Individual ranges vary widely by role, and every role states its pay. 25 roles pay a fixed amount per session or per task instead, shown on each role page and left out of the hourly span. We show what each posting lists and never estimate.
How does Mercor screening work?: You upload a resume, complete the assessments a role asks for and verify your work authorisation, then sit an AI interview that Mercor says takes about 20 minutes for most people. It is the only screening method, and it can be retaken up to three times. Mercor gives no general time to a decision.
How does Mercor pay contractors?: Mercor's contract policy says work is paid weekly, on the Wednesday after the work week closes, via Stripe, with a 7-day hold on first payouts. It uses Wise in some countries Stripe does not support.
Was Mercor hacked?: Yes. In late March 2026 an attack through compromised versions of the open-source tool LiteLLM reached Mercor's systems. Mercor says a very limited subset of experts had sensitive information affected, that there is no evidence of fraudulent use, and that it offered identity protection through TransUnion. Several proposed class actions over the breach have been filed. They are allegations, not findings.
What if I hear nothing back from Mercor?: Mercor states no general time frame. The confirmation screen after you submit shows the expected timeline for that role, and the decision comes by email, so check your spam folder. Mercor says it cannot give feedback on individual applications, and that you can keep applying to other open roles.
Why do Mercor projects end?: Mercor names three reasons: the project ends (completion, a change of scope or budget), a policy violation such as falsified work or misused AI, or performance. A normal ending does not affect your standing. Final hours are paid on the usual weekly schedule.
Can I work on more than one Mercor project?: Yes. Mercor says you can hold more than one hourly contract if each project lead knows your availability.
Does Mercor charge a fee to apply?: None of the Mercor pages listed under "How we checked" mentions a fee for applicants or contractors.
Do you work for Mercor?: No. This site is independent of Mercor and is not its agent, recruiter or representative. If someone applies through a link here and is hired, Mercor pays this site a referral fee. It never changes what the reader is paid.

What happens when you apply

The apply button sits on each role page, never on a page meant to be shared. Pressing it sends you through our own /go/ redirect, which records that a role was clicked (no cookie, no personal data) and then on to Mercor.

The link opens the role you came from on Mercor. Sign up from there and the credit holds; go around the link and it does not.

Browse 206 open Mercor roles Compare platforms

If you're hired through a link here and start paid work, Mercor pays this site a referral fee. Your pay is unaffected. Mercor credits the link when you sign up or apply through it. An existing Mercor account still counts, unless someone referred you before and you were hired through that referral.

Checked 29 Oct 2026. The list is rebuilt every morning; roles that disappear from Mercor are marked closed rather than deleted. Read the full disclosure and who runs this.

Mercor review: the work, the pay and the screening