Head-to-head
Mercor vs Prolific
Which pays more, which is easier to start, and which fits the work you want. Compared on real pay, work model, payout, and the roles open right now.
Mercor
ProlificMercor vs Prolific: the short answer
On pay, Mercor is benchmarked at $63–$90/hr median listing; experts to $450/hr and Prolific at $8–$216+/hr; their boards do not state enough rates to tell which pays more, so compare against your own hours.
Prolific is easier to get into: of the people we know applied, about 3.7% are accepted there against 3.5% at Mercor (a 52% chance it really accepts more). Mercor is an expert network, gated by a screen for a degree, professional expertise, or a skills test; Prolific is a research studies, open to most people, but you must match each study's participant criteria to qualify.
Both hire for Domain Experts, Coding, and AI Evaluation; Mercor also covers Math & STEM, Agentic & RL Envs, Red-Teaming, and Writing; Prolific also covers Studies & Surveys, Multilingual, and Data Annotation.
Bottom line: Prolific accepts more of the people who apply, so it is the easier place to start; pick Mercor instead if its specific work fits you better.
| Mercor | Prolific | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical pay | $63–$90/hr median listing; experts to $450/hr | $8–$216+/hr |
| Work model | Expert network · Expert credential marketplace | Research studies · Study pool + AI trainers |
| Kinds of work | Domain Experts, Coding, Math & STEM, Agentic & RL Envs, AI Evaluation, Red-Teaming, and Writing | Studies & Surveys, AI Evaluation, Multilingual, Coding, Data Annotation, and Domain Experts |
| How you get paid | Weekly via Stripe (1099 contractors). | Cash out to PayPal from £6/$6 of approved balance, once a day (resetting at midnight UTC), with a 72-hour wait between the first four cash-outs or after changing your PayPal details (its help center articles 'How do I cash out on Prolific?', updated 6 Aug 2026, and 'When can I cash out?', read 4 Nov 2026). |
| Where you can work | Many projects are timezone- or country-restricted (US/UK/AU premiums). | Residents of the 52 countries on its participant list (most of the OECD plus Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Africa and the Gulf states; its help article 'Who can participate in studies on Prolific?', updated 2 Sep 2026, read 4 Nov 2026). It excludes Turkey, Colombia, Costa Rica and every other country off that list, where you can only join a waitlist. |
| Open roles now | See platform | See platform |
| Worker ratings | Trustpilot 4.5/5 (1,554 reviews) · Glassdoor 4.2/5 (195 reviews) · Indeed 3.6/5 (36 reviews) (read November 2026) | See its review |
Pay shows each platform's live measured band where its feed has enough hourly-stated roles, otherwise our compiled benchmark. How we compile pay.
Best for people with a degree or professional skills who want vetted, higher-skill work.
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Mercor vs Prolific: common questions
Which pays more, Mercor or Prolific?
On pay, Mercor is benchmarked at $63–$90/hr median listing; experts to $450/hr and Prolific at $8–$216+/hr; their boards do not state enough rates to tell which pays more, so compare against your own hours.
Is Mercor or Prolific easier to get started with?
Prolific is easier to get into: of the people we know applied, about 3.7% are accepted there against 3.5% at Mercor (a 52% chance it really accepts more). Mercor is an expert network, gated by a screen for a degree, professional expertise, or a skills test; Prolific is a research studies, open to most people, but you must match each study's participant criteria to qualify.
Can you work on both Mercor and Prolific?
Yes. They are independent platforms, and many contributors join several at once to keep a steady flow of work, especially since both hire for Domain Experts, Coding, and AI Evaluation. Signing up for one does not affect the other.
More comparisons
Ordered by what applying to their platforms is worth, lifted by a referral boost for a platform that pays us a referral fee; it never changes what a platform pays you.