The short answer
Yes. Mercor is a real company that hires doctors, lawyers, engineers, writers, PhDs and generalists to train and test AI models for large AI labs. It posts its roles on its own job board at work.mercor.com, interviews applicants with a short AI interview, and pays contractors every week. Thousands of people work through it.
Being legit does not mean it is perfect. Mercor has real problems that you should know about before you apply, and they are explained below.
How Mercor pays
Most Mercor work is hourly contract work. You log your time, and Mercor pays weekly through Stripe or Wise. Its help pages say it reviews logged time and can remove hours that look idle or outside the project's scope, so track your time honestly. Rates are set per project and listed on each job, often between $40 and $150 an hour for specialist roles. Some projects, such as live sports evaluation, pay per task instead.
What workers like and dislike
On Trustpilot, Mercor scores about 4.3 out of 5 from several hundred reviews. Workers like the high hourly rates, weekly pay and the chance to use their professional skills. The common complaints are projects that pause or end with little warning, long gaps between projects, unpaid onboarding on some projects, heavy monitoring, and slow replies from support. In late 2025, Forbes reported contractors saying their rates were cut on one project.
The 2026 data breach and lawsuits
In late March 2026, attackers got into some Mercor systems through a compromised open source software package, and contractor data was reportedly exposed, including identity details. Several class action lawsuits followed and were combined in federal court in San Francisco in May 2026. A separate lawsuit claims Mercor treats experts as contractors while controlling their work like employees, which Mercor disputes. As of late October 2026 there was no settlement.
If you applied to Mercor before April 2026, check your email for a breach notice, watch your accounts, and consider a credit freeze if you live in the US.
How to stay safe on Mercor
Apply only on work.mercor.com, never through a recruiter who contacts you on WhatsApp or Telegram. Mercor never charges a fee to apply or to get work. Never share your Mercor account or let someone else work under your name, which breaks Mercor's rules and can get you removed. Read each project contract for the rate, whether onboarding is paid and how the project can end. Treat Mercor as one income source, not a steady job.
Is it worth applying?
If you have a degree, professional experience or strong writing skills, Mercor is one of the better paid places to do AI training work. Read our guide to Mercor Project Odin, one of its best known projects, or browse every open Mercor role.
