micro1 is a real company with public role postings, public referral terms and a working application process, and that is the limit of what we can vouch for from the outside. The person who runs this site has worked on micro1, which is disclosed rather than used as proof: we publish no testimonials or payout stories, because one person's experience is not evidence about yours.

What does micro1 pay?

Across the 243 hourly micro1 roles we track, the listed rates span $6–400 an hour in US dollars, as each posting states them. Individual ranges vary widely by role, and 3 of the 246 state no pay at all. We show what each posting lists and never estimate.

How does micro1 screening work?

You apply, then sit a recorded AI interview with Zara of 20 to 40 minutes, answering out loud. micro1 says a recruiter reviews it within about 48 hours, and a strong result goes to a hiring manager, which can take up to 30 days.

When does micro1 pay?

Twice a month, in US dollars, through Deel. Work from the 1st to the 15th is paid around the 20th, and work from the 16th to the end of the month around the 5th. A date on a weekend or US bank holiday moves to the next business day. You must pass Deel's identity check before the first payment.

How many hours a week is micro1 work?

micro1 says the expected commitment is about 15 to 20 hours a week, depending on the client, with more sometimes available. It guarantees no minimum.

What if I hear nothing after the micro1 interview?

Check the status in your micro1 talent dashboard, which updates on its own. "Under review" takes up to about 48 hours, "Hiring manager reviewing" up to 30 days.

Can I work for micro1 and another platform at the same time?

micro1 says you can keep your day job. Its agreement asks you to confirm you have no obligations that conflict with it, and that you are not employed by a company that builds foundational AI models. Check your other contracts for exclusivity before you sign.

Why do micro1 contracts end?

A role lasts as long as the client has work. micro1 can end the agreement immediately on written notice, and names breach of confidentiality, gross negligence and fraud as grounds. If a client cancels a project, micro1 says it will try to place you on a similar one.

Does micro1 charge a fee to apply?

None of the micro1 pages listed under "How we checked" mentions a fee for applicants or contractors.

Do you work for micro1?

No. This site is independent of micro1 and is not its agent, recruiter, representative or partner. If someone applies through a link here, is hired and completes 10 hours, micro1 pays this site a referral fee. It never changes what the reader is paid.

micro1 review: is it legit, the pay and how to apply (Oct 2026)

The short version

micro1 hires remote contractors to train and evaluate AI models, and it publishes how it works: a recorded AI interview of 20 to 40 minutes, pay twice a month in US dollars through Deel, and an expected 15 to 20 hours a week. It guarantees no hours, pays only for approved work, and can end a contract immediately. Worth an interview if a role title names your field.

At a glance

Work type: Remote contractor, hourly or per task
Screening: A 20 to 40 minute AI interview
Experience: Not required for many roles
Paid: Twice a month, in US dollars, through Deel
Best for: People with a named specialism, and generalists with no AI experience.
Open roles: 246, with 19,532 stated openings

What micro1 is

micro1 is an AI data company. It hires domain experts as remote contractors to train and evaluate AI models: the qualification is knowing a field, and the work is applying that knowledge to a model's output rather than to a client's project.

We are not part of micro1, 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 micro1 role on this site and press Apply.
An AI interview, 20 to 40 minutes.
If micro1 hires you, they match you to a project.

You apply for a role, then sit an AI interview that micro1 describes as taking 20 to 40 minutes. That interview is the screening step micro1 sets out publicly, and no prior AI experience is required for many of the roles.

micro1 says a recruiter reviews the recorded interview within about 48 hours. A strong result then goes to a hiring manager, which can take up to 30 days. A selected candidate gets onboarding steps by email: an identity check, a background check and a contract through Deel.

How to prepare for the interview

How the process runs, step by step

What the work involves

The 246 micro1 roles open this morning cover 24 of the professions on this site.

It is contract work, not employment. It is remote. Some projects pay hourly and some pay per task; every role we track that states a rate states it per hour.

micro1 says the expected commitment is about 15 to 20 hours a week, depending on the client, and that a role lasts as long as the client has work. Neither is guaranteed.

What it pays

Across the 243 hourly micro1 roles we track, listed rates span $6–400 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.

3 of the 246 roles state no pay at all. Where a posting lists no pay, the role page says the pay is not listed. We do not fill the gap with an average of the others.

A role and an opening are different things: one role can be hiring many people. The 246 roles add up to 19,532 stated openings.

When and how micro1 pays out for completed work is a separate question: see what we do not know.

Pros and cons

Pros

Interview results carry over. A skill certified since July 2025 counts again, so a later role may skip part or all of the interview.
A published pay schedule: work from the 1st to the 15th is paid around the 20th, and the rest of the month around the 5th.
micro1 says you can keep your day job.
If a client cancels a project, micro1 says it will try to move you to a similar one.
If you do not qualify, you can ask for written feedback on the interview.

Cons

No hours are guaranteed. The 15 to 20 a week is an expectation that depends on the client.
Only approved work is paid. Rejected or incomplete submissions earn nothing.
micro1 can end the agreement immediately on written notice. You must give 5 business days.
After a good interview, review by a hiring manager can take up to 30 days.
You must pass a background check to start, and Deel's identity check before your first payment.

What is known, and what is not

Known

Anyone can apply.
Many roles ask for no AI experience.
Screening is one AI interview of 20 to 40 minutes.
The referral terms are public.

Not known

How long the whole process takes.
How long a referral click stays credited.
Whether hiring keeps pace with the stated openings.

The questions we cannot answer yet, in full:

How long the whole process takes. micro1 gives two timings (about 48 hours for interview review, up to 30 days for a hiring manager) and says the other stages have no fixed timeline.
How long a referral click stays credited. micro1's terms require sign-up through the link but do not state an attribution window.
Whether hiring keeps pace with the stated openings. A role can state thousands of openings; how many people are actually taken on, we have no way to see.

Who should apply, and who should skip

Anyone can apply. micro1 does not require prior AI experience for many of its roles. The work is remote, so the constraint is usually the subject knowledge a role asks for rather than where you live.

Specialist roles are the other end of the same platform: the physics and engineering roles name the field, and sometimes the level, in the title itself. Read the title before the pay. It is the part that tells you whether a role is for you.

Apply if

Your field or job title appears in a role title.
You can sit a 20 to 40 minute AI interview.

Skip if

You need guaranteed hours. micro1 expects about 15 to 20 a week and guarantees none.
You work for a company that builds foundational AI models. micro1 asks you to confirm you do not.

Is micro1 legit?

micro1 is a real company with public role postings, a published payroll policy, a public summary of its contractor agreement and published referral terms. That is what we can verify from the outside, and it is all we claim.

Hamza Hussain, who runs this site and wrote this review, has worked on micro1, and on Mercor, 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.

Mercor Listed pay: $15 to 300 / hr 206 roles. Assessments and an AI interview of about 20 minutes.
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: AfterQuery vs micro1, micro1 vs Mercor, micro1 vs SME Careers.

How we checked

Pay, role counts and openings on this page come from the micro1 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 micro1 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 micro1 legit?: micro1 is a real company with public role postings, public referral terms and a working application process, and that is the limit of what we can vouch for from the outside. The person who runs this site has worked on micro1, which is disclosed rather than used as proof: we publish no testimonials or payout stories, because one person's experience is not evidence about yours.
What is micro1?: micro1 is an AI data company. It hires domain experts as remote contractors to train and evaluate AI models.
What does micro1 pay?: Across the 243 hourly micro1 roles we track, the listed rates span $6–400 an hour in US dollars, as each posting states them. Individual ranges vary widely by role, and 3 of the 246 state no pay at all. We show what each posting lists and never estimate.
How does micro1 screening work?: You apply, then sit a recorded AI interview with Zara of 20 to 40 minutes, answering out loud. micro1 says a recruiter reviews it within about 48 hours, and a strong result goes to a hiring manager, which can take up to 30 days.
When does micro1 pay?: Twice a month, in US dollars, through Deel. Work from the 1st to the 15th is paid around the 20th, and work from the 16th to the end of the month around the 5th. A date on a weekend or US bank holiday moves to the next business day. You must pass Deel's identity check before the first payment.
How many hours a week is micro1 work?: micro1 says the expected commitment is about 15 to 20 hours a week, depending on the client, with more sometimes available. It guarantees no minimum.
What if I hear nothing after the micro1 interview?: Check the status in your micro1 talent dashboard, which updates on its own. "Under review" takes up to about 48 hours, "Hiring manager reviewing" up to 30 days.
Can I work for micro1 and another platform at the same time?: micro1 says you can keep your day job. Its agreement asks you to confirm you have no obligations that conflict with it, and that you are not employed by a company that builds foundational AI models. Check your other contracts for exclusivity before you sign.
Why do micro1 contracts end?: A role lasts as long as the client has work. micro1 can end the agreement immediately on written notice, and names breach of confidentiality, gross negligence and fraud as grounds. If a client cancels a project, micro1 says it will try to place you on a similar one.
Does micro1 charge a fee to apply?: None of the micro1 pages listed under "How we checked" mentions a fee for applicants or contractors.
Do you work for micro1?: No. This site is independent of micro1 and is not its agent, recruiter, representative or partner. If someone applies through a link here, is hired and completes 10 hours, micro1 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 micro1.

The link opens the role you came from on micro1. Sign up from there and the credit holds; go around the link and it does not.

Browse 246 open micro1 roles Compare platforms

If you're hired and complete 10 hours, micro1 pays this site a referral fee. Your pay is unaffected. The fee depends on you creating your micro1 account through this link. If you already have one, this site earns nothing and your application is unaffected.

Checked 29 Oct 2026. The list is rebuilt every morning; roles that disappear from micro1 are marked closed rather than deleted. Read the full disclosure and who runs this.

micro1 review: the work, the pay and the screening