Appen vs DataAnnotation

Side by side from today's live listings and each platform's own documentation.

	Appen	DataAnnotation
Live roles	51	Behind login
Median hourly	$34 (from the 10 of 51 roles that state an hourly rate)	n/a
Top rate	$100	n/a
How it pays	Monthly, judging by CrowdGen's fee terms (fees are counted per payment per month). Appen says it charges no fees itself; payment providers do. In the US, one ACH or PayPal payment a month is free, then $0.20 (ACH) or $0.25 (PayPal); PayPal outside the US costs 2%, capped at $20. Methods include PayPal, Payoneer, Airtm, local bank transfer, SWIFT and gift cards, depending on country.	Through PayPal, on request: its FAQ says deposits arrive within a few days after you ask for them. Starting rates are $25-50/hr for general work and $40-150+/hr for coding, STEM and professional tracks.
Hiring	Apply to a CrowdGen project opening. If you're shortlisted, you finish signing up from the welcome email, add your details, sign three agreements (including a Master Services Agreement), set up two-factor authentication, then continue to the project's qualification and choose a payment method.	Take the starter assessment. DataAnnotation emails you within a few days if you're approved, and projects show up in your dashboard.
Run by	Appen, an AI training data company founded in 1996. Its contributor platform is CrowdGen, which replaced Appen Connect.	Surge Labs (Surge AI). Its logo reads "Data Annotation by surge", and a May 2025 court complaint names the company as Surge Labs, Inc. dba DataAnnotation.

Median hourly by field

Number of hourly listings in brackets.