Braintrust vs Handshake AI
Side by side from today's live listings and each platform's own documentation. Plenty of people work on both.
| Braintrust | Handshake AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Live roles | Behind login | 242 |
| Median hourly | n/a | $80 |
| Top rate | n/a | $300 |
| How it pays | Braintrust says it never charges talent fees, so you keep what the client pays; clients pay the platform fee. It doesn't publish a payout schedule we can cite, and payment terms vary by contract. | Weekly payouts through Stripe, according to the fellowship page as quoted by third-party guides. Handshake does not publish a rate per project. |
| Hiring | Apply to join, complete a short recorded video interview, then apply to roles. Admission is selective. | Apply through the Handshake AI site with a Handshake account. Expert tracks ask for a degree in the field. |
| Run by | Braintrust, a talent network that connects vetted freelancers with companies, with its own BTRST token for governance. | Handshake, the college careers network, which started an AI training business (the Handshake AI Fellowship) in 2025. |
Median hourly by field
| Field | Braintrust | Handshake AI |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine & health | n/a | $125 (17) |
| Mental health | n/a | $75 (5) |
| Law | n/a | $130 (2) |
| Finance & accounting | n/a | $85 (31) |
| Chemistry | n/a | $58 (6) |
| Biology & life sciences | n/a | $68 (6) |
| Physics | n/a | $63 (6) |
| Math & statistics | n/a | $75 (6) |
| General STEM | n/a | $39 (2) |
| Energy & earth sciences | n/a | $85 (21) |
| Business & operations | n/a | $80 (29) |
| Engineering | n/a | $85 (45) |
| Software & coding | n/a | $105 (7) |
| Machine learning | n/a | $75 (6) |
| Data & analytics | n/a | $105 (2) |
| Cybersecurity | n/a | $140 (2) |
| Design & media | n/a | $125 (6) |
| Languages & translation | n/a | $30 (12) |
| Voice & audio | n/a | $94 (6) |
| Teaching | n/a | $75 (4) |
| Humanities & policy | n/a | $98 (4) |
| Generalist | n/a | $55 (16) |
Number of hourly listings in brackets.