Handshake AI vs Mercor
Side by side from today's live listings and each platform's own documentation. Plenty of people work on both.
| Handshake AI | Mercor | |
|---|---|---|
| Live roles | 242 | 300 |
| Median hourly | $80 | $80 |
| Top rate | $300 | $450 |
| How it pays | Weekly payouts through Stripe, according to the fellowship page as quoted by third-party guides. Handshake does not publish a rate per project. | Weekly. Payouts for the prior work week are processed by Wednesday, mostly through Stripe (Wise where Stripe isn't offered). Stripe holds a first payout for 7 days, and banks can take 3 to 7 business days after a payout shows as paid. |
| Hiring | Apply through the Handshake AI site with a Handshake account. Expert tracks ask for a degree in the field. | You apply to a specific listing, upload a resume, then do a short AI interview. Some roles add a paid assessment or work trial. |
| Run by | Handshake, the college careers network, which started an AI training business (the Handshake AI Fellowship) in 2025. | Mercor, a San Francisco company that sells expert human data to AI labs. |
Median hourly by field
| Field | Handshake AI | Mercor |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine & health | $125 (17) | $126 (26) |
| Mental health | $75 (5) | $79 (2) |
| Law | $130 (2) | $100 (13) |
| Finance & accounting | $85 (31) | $90 (26) |
| Chemistry | $58 (6) | $85 (12) |
| Biology & life sciences | $68 (6) | $118 (5) |
| Physics | $63 (6) | $95 (12) |
| Math & statistics | $75 (6) | $70 (3) |
| General STEM | $39 (2) | $50 (12) |
| Energy & earth sciences | $85 (21) | n/a |
| Business & operations | $80 (29) | $68 (22) |
| Engineering | $85 (45) | $84 (26) |
| Software & coding | $105 (7) | $65 (28) |
| Machine learning | $75 (6) | $103 (6) |
| Data & analytics | $105 (2) | $75 (4) |
| Cybersecurity | $140 (2) | $81 (6) |
| Design & media | $125 (6) | $63 (10) |
| Languages & translation | $30 (12) | $50 (1) |
| Voice & audio | $94 (6) | $43 (33) |
| Teaching | $75 (4) | $60 (2) |
| Humanities & policy | $98 (4) | $150 (5) |
| Generalist | $55 (16) | $55 (9) |
Number of hourly listings in brackets.