Ethos and Mercor both pay professionals for expert judgment, and both start with an AI interview. Mercor then lets you apply to named roles, the most of any platform we track, with a $75 median listed rate and pay every Wednesday through Stripe or Wise. Ethos builds a standing profile from a voice interview and matches you inbound across AI training, advisory calls and market research, with listings we track at an $80 median and payment terms set per project. Mercor suits people who want to choose roles. Ethos suits people who would rather be matched.
Quick verdict
Ethos pays more on live listings: Ethos $80/hr median (middle half $70 to $100, 260 distinct listed rates across 260 open listings) vs Mercor $75/hr median (middle half $50 to $100, 1,361 distinct listed rates across 1,404 open listings). Updated October 4, 2026. How we count.
Typical Pay (Median)
Ethos
$80/hr listed median · 7% higher
Faster Onboarding
Ethos
Ethos: Fast (AI voice interview, then inbound matching) Mercor: Varies (AI interview, then a client match)
Global Access
Limited to Specific Regions
Ethos: Global (some specialist roles require US/UK licensing) Mercor: 130+ countries via Stripe, plus Brazil, UAE, Nepal and Turkey via Wise
Trustpilot Score
Mercor
Ethos: 4/5 Mercor: 4.5/5
The Case for Ethos
Ethos builds your profile from one AI voice interview, then matches you inbound across AI training, advisory calls, market research and fractional roles. Listings we track pay $35 to $225 an hour with an $80 median. Each project confirms its rate and payment terms in writing before you start, invoices are due within three days of a project closing, and Ethos can ask for a third-party identity check before paying you.
The Case for Mercor
Mercor screens every applicant with an AI interview and a one-time Persona identity check, then matches you to roles as clients need them. It lists more open roles than any other platform we track, with a $75 median listed rate and an average contracted rate of $109 an hour stated on its homepage. Pay lands every Wednesday through Stripe or Wise, in 130+ countries, into an account in your own legal name.
| Metric | Ethos | Mercor |
|---|---|---|
| Typical Pay (Median) | –
Generalist median: $0/hr
Specialist median: $80/hr
| $75/hr
Generalist median: $75/hr
Specialist median: $75/hr
|
| Payment Schedule | Set per project (weekly, monthly or at completion), after you invoice | Weekly, every Wednesday (Stripe or Wise) |
| Geo Accessibility | Global (some specialist roles require US/UK licensing) | 130+ countries via Stripe, plus Brazil, UAE, Nepal and Turkey via Wise |
| Onboarding Speed | Fast (AI voice interview, then inbound matching) | Varies (AI interview, then a client match) |
| Top User Complaint | "Some reviewers describe the mandatory AI voice interview as pushy" | "Strict activity tracking" |
| Trustpilot Rating | 4/5 | 4.5/5 |
| Interview Required (from listings) | Not enough tracked listings yet | 98% (n=143) |
| Typical Contract Length (from listings) | Not enough tracked listings yet | 3–23.5 weeks (n=121) |
| Full-Time Commitment (35+ hrs/wk, from listings) | Not enough tracked listings yet | 4% (n=554) |
Interview, hours, contract-length, and timezone figures come directly from live job listings we track and manually verify, not platform marketing copy.
Ethos
Ethos is a London expert network that onboards you with an AI voice interview instead of a form, then routes inbound matches across AI training work, paid expert calls, market research and fractional or full-time roles. Listings we track pay $35 to $225 an hour with an $80 median, mostly in business and professional-services fields. Each project confirms its rate and payment terms in writing before you start, and you invoice when it closes.
- ✓ Listings we track pay $35 to $225 an hour, median $80
- ✓ One voice interview builds your profile, then matches come to you
- ✓ Rate and payment terms confirmed in writing before each project
💬 User Feedback
"Do not go ahead with the AI interviews for this company. They are unethically training there AI model with everything you say in your interview... I applied recently & have heard nothing back since. A similar pattern for a lot of others. They are also now leaving fake positive reviews to mask this. Be warned."
– Declan • May 16
"There are no jobs. There is a reason they are so pushy asking you to do their AI interview-- they are harvesting your expertise. They are using long AI interviews to train their AI models for free using experts who think they are interviewing for paid work. Several of my friends and colleagues who are also experts in the field did the interviews and none of us got any paid work. I did a search and many are mentioning the same fraudulent scam on Reddit"
– Del Blanc • May 26
Current Openings
3 latest listings from Ethos
Pitch Deck Specialist Expert
Enterprise Account Executive (B2B) Expert
People Ops / Recruiting Generalist Expert
Mercor
Mercor hires professionals as contractors to train and evaluate AI models, with more open roles than any other platform we track. Fields run from law, medicine and finance to software, STEM and languages, and listed hourly rates have a $75 median. You apply with one AI interview and a one-time Persona ID check, and pay lands every Wednesday via Stripe or Wise.
- ✓ Paid every Wednesday for the previous work week
- ✓ More open roles than any other platform we track
- ✓ Homepage states an average contracted rate of $109/hr
💬 User Feedback
"Mercor was my first experience with training AI and working intensely in a remote setting. I've been around for six months plus and while nothing is perfect, Mercor is darned close. I've met some amazing colleagues and learned a tremendous amount about AI."
– Steven W. • Jan 22
"Out of all the AI training companies I've worked for, Mercor has the highest pay rates and the most available projects. Even though it can take a while to get accepted into a project, it's definitely worth the wait."
– B Maly • Jan 20
Current Openings
3 latest listings from Mercor
Multimodal Image Expert
Task Writer: Project Agentic-MME
Baseball Fan – Live MLB Game AI Evaluator (US)
Ethos vs Mercor: common questions
- Which pays more, Ethos or Mercor?
- Ethos pays more on live listings: Ethos $80/hr median (middle half $70 to $100, 260 distinct listed rates across 260 open listings) vs Mercor $75/hr median (middle half $50 to $100, 1,361 distinct listed rates across 1,404 open listings). Updated October 4, 2026.
- Which is easier to start, Ethos or Mercor?
- Ethos onboards faster. Ethos: Fast (AI voice interview, then inbound matching). Mercor: Varies (AI interview, then a client match). Ethos has no interview-rate data yet; 98% of Mercor's 143 tracked listings require an interview.
- Can I work on both Ethos and Mercor?
- Yes. Both are independent-contractor platforms with separate accounts and separate payouts (Ethos: Set per project (weekly, monthly or at completion), after you invoice; Mercor: Weekly, every Wednesday (Stripe or Wise)). Exclusivity, where it exists, is set per project in the agreement you sign, so check each project's terms before overlapping hours.
Both platforms are legitimate and widely used. The best choice depends on your background, goals, and location.