The 5 best Outlier alternatives for contributors
Honest list. Crowtado is at #1 because we wrote this page, but the other four are real platforms with real contributors. Pick the one that matches your modality, geo, and pay expectations.
Crowtado
Conversations and everyday video, with each task's rate shown up front
Crowtado pays contributors to record conversations and everyday video for AI training. Each task shows its rate before you start, and you're paid for accepted work.
- Median pay
- Shown on each task before you start
- Payout
- Depends on the payout method
- Best for
- Contributors who want to record conversations or everyday video and see each task's rate before they start
DataAnnotation
Get paid to make AI smarter.
DataAnnotation is Surge AI's contributor-facing brand. It owns the unbranded category term 'data annotation' on Google and pays well per task — but acceptance windows are long, the waitlist is unpredictable, and bans land with no explanation.
- Median pay
- $20–$40/hr
- Payout
- 7 days
- Best for
- US-based, English-fluent contributors who can wait out the application queue
Prolific
Get paid for academic research studies.
Prolific is a UK-based platform for paid online research studies. It's the gold standard for academic researchers running surveys and behavioral experiments — but it's not really an AI training platform. Studies are short, predictable, and pay in low double digits per hour.
- Median pay
- $8–$15/hr
- Payout
- 1–2 weeks
- Best for
- Research participants, academic-curious contributors
Remotasks
Work from anywhere, get paid weekly.
Remotasks is Scale AI's older contributor brand. Onboarding was historically friendly — but in 2024 the company shut down or restricted contributors in Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and several other emerging markets. Trustpilot rating is now 2.1 and active contributor sentiment is hostile.
- Median pay
- $5–$15/hr
- Payout
- 7 days
- Best for
- Currently nothing recommended — most former Remotasks contributors do better on alternatives.
Appen
Where the world's best minds train AI.
Appen is one of the oldest names in AI training data, founded in 1996 in Australia. The contributor experience is fragmented across three domains (appen.com, crowdgen.com, crowd.appen.com) and the company has had multiple rounds of layoffs and revenue decline since 2023. Pay is modest and the UX feels its age.
- Median pay
- $8–$15/hr
- Payout
- 1–2 weeks
- Best for
- Search evaluator and ad-rating work specifically
Best Outlier alternatives — what to know first.
What is the best Outlier alternative?
It depends on the work you want. If you'd like to record conversations or everyday video, Crowtado is one option: each task shows its rate before you start, and you're paid for accepted work. The list above covers other platforms and the work each one offers.
Are there free Outlier alternatives?
All the platforms on this list are free to join — they pay you, not the other way around. Watch out for any "AI side hustle" platform that asks for money upfront; that's not how legitimate data labeling works.
Which Outlier alternative pays the most?
It depends on the task. Crowtado doesn't publish an hourly figure: each task shows its rate before you start, and you're paid for accepted work. For the other platforms, the list above shows the pay reported publicly for each.
See which tasks are open to you
Tasks depend on your language, country and equipment. Create a free account to see the ones you can do.