Mercor: profile, pricing model and alternatives
Mercor is an expert talent marketplace that matches domain experts such as doctors, lawyers and engineers with AI labs that need human-generated training data and evaluations.
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Mercor at a glance
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Expert talent marketplace |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, US |
| Website | mercor.com |
| Data types | Expert demonstration data, RLHF and preference data, Evaluation sets, Legal training data, Medical and clinical data |
| Pricing models | Per-hour expert labor, Placement fee |
| Buyers | Frontier labs and AI application companies |
| Supply side | Individual domain experts paid hourly as contractors. |
What Mercor offers
- Expert contractor matching
- Rubric and evaluation writing
- Expert demonstrations
- Hiring for AI labs
Reported facts about Mercor
Mercor announced a $350 million Series C at a $10 billion valuation.
Source: Company announcement, widely reported. As of October 2025.
See these and other transactions in the AI data deal tracker.
Strengths and limits of Mercor
Strengths
- Deep expert supply across professions
- Hourly pricing is easy to budget
Limits
- Revenue figures include contractor pay, so gross numbers overstate margin
- Quality depends on per-project review design
Compare Mercor
- Mercor alternatives
- Surge AI vs Mercor (expert data lab)
- Scale AI vs Mercor (expert data lab)
- Mercor vs Handshake AI (expert talent marketplace)
- Mercor vs micro1 (expert talent marketplace)
Frequently asked questions
- What is Mercor?
- Mercor is an expert talent marketplace that matches domain experts such as doctors, lawyers and engineers with AI labs that need human-generated training data and evaluations.
- How does Mercor price its data?
- Mercor uses these pricing models: Per-hour expert labor, Placement fee. Exact prices are generally quoted per engagement and are not published.
- Who buys from Mercor?
- Frontier labs and AI application companies.
- What are alternatives to Mercor?
- Alternatives include Scale AI, Surge AI, micro1. See the full list of Mercor alternatives for a ranked comparison.
Editorial note. No company listed here pays for placement or has reviewed its entry. AI Data Auction is building its own auction marketplace and will label any commercial relationship with a listed company. Figures are as reported by the named source on the stated date; check the primary source before relying on them. See our methodology.