Project Multimango Ended: What It Was and the Best Generalist Alternatives
Project Multimango on Outlier AI ended in late 2025. Here is what the project was, why it closed, and which platforms are actively hiring generalist AI trainers right now.
If you worked on Outlier AI and lost your task queue, or keep seeing "Multimango" mentioned without context, this is the full picture.
Project Multimango ended in late 2025. It was a scheduled contract that ran its course, not a platform collapse or a scam unraveling. Here is what that means for you, and where the generalist work has moved.
What Was Project Multimango?
Multimango was an internal project name on Outlier AI (Scale AI's freelance platform). Workers also encountered it as Project Aether. Importantly, the same project ran across multiple platforms simultaneously: Outlier, Telus, RWS, Mercor, and CrowdGen. Workers on different platforms were often doing the same underlying tasks without knowing it.
The work was standard generalist AI training: text generation, conversation evaluation, and RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback) tasks. No specialist degree was required. Pay sat in the $15–$20/hr range, and the low entry bar made it one of the more accessible projects in the market at the time.
Multimango at a Glance
- Type: Generalist RLHF and text evaluation
- Also called: Project Aether
- Available through: Outlier, Telus, RWS, Mercor, CrowdGen
- Pay range: ~$15–$20/hr
- Status as of 2026: Ended
Why Did It End?
The contract ran out. Some workers reported that their onboarding documents listed December 2025 as the expected end date. The shutdown was not abrupt from the client's side, even if it felt that way to workers.
This is a standard feature of AI training work. A company funds a training run, collects the data it needs, and closes the project. The model ships, or priorities shift. There is no foul play involved.
The pattern behind the project
AI training projects are time-limited by design. Generalist projects close faster than specialist ones because the underlying tasks (text generation, basic evaluation) get saturated quickly. Specialist projects — code, mathematics, medicine — run longer and pay more because the data is harder to collect at scale. If you worked on Multimango, moving toward a specialist track is the most reliable way to avoid the same situation.
Generalist Alternatives Hiring Now
The platforms below are actively hiring generalist AI trainers as of mid-2026. You can also browse all open generalist jobs → directly on our job board.
Alignerr
Fastest onboarding. Active Slack community.
Backed by Labelbox. The assessment takes a few hours, and approval often comes the same day. There is an active Slack community where you can see which projects are open before you even complete onboarding. Good fit for writers, editors, and generalist evaluators.
$15–$30/hr
Generalist
$45–$60/hr
Specialist
Bi-weekly
via Deel
Availability: US and EU primarily, expanding globally.
Full Alignerr review →SME Careers
Global availability. Career progression track.
The expert network arm of SuperAnnotate. Slower to onboard than Alignerr (2–4 weeks), but it offers a clear career progression: Data Trainer → Quality Analyst → QA Lead → Project Manager. One of the few platforms with weekly payouts and meaningful advancement potential.
$18–$35/hr
Entry level
$50–$65/hr
QA Lead / PM
Weekly
via Deel
Availability: Global (40+ countries).
Full SME Careers review →Vetto
Higher pay, no login required to browse open projects.
Connects professionals across legal, finance, healthcare, and software with AI evaluation projects. All open opportunities are publicly visible without an account — you can see exactly what is available before applying. Per-task pay is competitive, and there is a referral program worth noting.
$30–$50/hr
Generalist equiv.
$50–$100/hr
Domain expert
Per task
Local currency
Availability: Global (remote).
View Vetto →Handshake
US students and recent graduates only.
Not an AI platform itself, but the primary recruiting network where companies like Scale AI and Imbue post student-exclusive AI Fellowship and AI Trainer roles. These cohorts tend to pay higher than general public listings and give you legitimate employment history rather than gig-platform credits.
$20–$35/hr
Generalist
$35–$65/hr
Specialist
Bi-weekly
Standard payroll
Availability: US students and recent graduates (.edu email required).
View Handshake →Looking for live generalist task listings?
Browse all Generalist AI Jobs →How to Avoid This Situation Again
Every AI training project is a contract with a finite scope. When the data collection goal is met, the project closes. The workers who felt the least disruption when Multimango ended were the ones already active on two or three platforms.
Do this now
- Apply to 2–3 platforms this week, not sequentially
- Keep all accounts active: one login per week prevents deactivation
- Follow community channels (Discord, Slack, Discourse) to catch new project drops early
- If eligible, pursue specialist qualifications: coding and math queues run longer and pay more
Avoid these
- Waiting for a single platform to refill before applying elsewhere
- Treating any one project as a reliable long-term income source
- Letting accounts go dormant
- Platforms advertising "instant hire" with large sign-on bonuses and no assessment: reliable payers almost never work this way
FAQ
Can I still sign up for Multimango? ▼
No. The project ended in late 2025. If you saw it mentioned somewhere, that content is outdated. Apply to the active platforms listed above.
Is Outlier AI still active if Multimango is gone? ▼
Yes. Outlier runs many projects beyond Multimango. Generalist options continue to rotate through their Marketplace tab. If your dashboard is empty, check the Marketplace and Outlier Discourse (their community forum, where project managers post allocations before they appear on dashboards). Specialist queues for coding and mathematics have been more consistently active than generalist ones.
What is the best option for workers in Kenya or Nigeria? ▼
SME Careers hires across 40+ countries and pays weekly. Vetto is fully global. Alignerr is expanding internationally and worth applying to. Handshake requires a US .edu address, so it is not relevant here.
Will there be another project like Multimango? ▼
Almost certainly. AI labs spin up new generalist data collection projects regularly as models move into new training phases. The names change but the structure is the same. Staying active in community channels (Alignerr Slack, Outlier Discourse, relevant subreddits) is the most reliable way to hear about new projects when they open.
How do I spot a legitimate platform vs a scam? ▼
Legitimate platforms use established ID verification (Persona, Stripe Identity), pay through recognized processors (PayPal, Payoneer, Deel, Stripe), and have verifiable company ownership. Be skeptical of platforms promising large sign-on bonuses with no assessment, or that cannot be confirmed via LinkedIn or Crunchbase. Our AI training legitimacy guide has the full checklist.
Pietro R.
MSc Human-Computer Interaction | Founder & Product Owner
Pietro is the founder and technical lead of aitrainer.work. He builds and maintains the platform's data pipeline, certification infrastructure, and editorial standards.