# Mercor vs Scale AI

URL: https://aidataforsale.com/compare/mercor-vs-scale-ai
Publisher: AI Data For Sale (Marketing Signals Ltd)
Updated: 2026-11-10

Mercor vs Scale AI compared: how each supplies expert work to AI labs, pricing models, workforce, funding and what to check, with sources.

One supplies experts by the hour; the other delivers finished, labeled data. How they differ.

## In short

- Mercor matches AI labs with domain experts and charges an hourly finder's fee and matching rate.
- Scale AI delivers labeled and expert-written data using its own contract workforce.
- Mercor reported more than 30,000 experts earning an average of over $85 an hour; Scale AI said about 12% of its contractors hold a PhD.

## At a glance

| | Mercor | Scale AI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Model | Expert network: supplies people, charges hourly finder's fee and matching rate | Data vendor: delivers labeled and created data |
| Workforce | 30,000+ experts, average over $85 an hour | Contract workers; about 12% hold a PhD, about 40% a master's, law degree or MBA |
| Valuation or revenue | $10 billion valuation (October 2025) | About $870 million revenue (2024) |
| Payments to workers | More than $1.5 million a day | Not published |

Sources: [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/27/mercor-quintuples-valuation-to-10b-with-350M-series-c/), [SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/08/report-meta-holding-talks-10b-investment-data-labeling-startup-scale-ai/).

## Which fits

- **You want control** over guidelines, tasks and quality review, with experts working inside your process: an expert network such as Mercor.
- **You want finished data** delivered to a specification: a data vendor such as Scale AI.
- **You want real-world data that already exists**, such as years of expert work product: license it from the holder. See [expert-annotated data](https://aidataforsale.com/data/expert-annotated-data).

## Things to check with either

- Who owns work product and guidelines
- How expert credentials are verified
- Confidentiality terms for people who see your prompts and outputs
- Separation from competitors' projects

Profiles: [Mercor](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/mercor), [Scale AI](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/scale-ai).

## Read next

- [Expert networks for AI training](https://aidataforsale.com/compare/expert-networks-for-ai-training)
- [Scale AI vs Surge AI](https://aidataforsale.com/compare/scale-ai-vs-surge-ai)

## Questions

### How does Mercor charge?

TechCrunch reported that Mercor charges an hourly finder's fee and matching rate for the experts it supplies.

## Sources

- [TechCrunch: Mercor quintuples valuation to $10B with $350M Series C (October 2025)](https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/27/mercor-quintuples-valuation-to-10b-with-350M-series-c/)
- [SiliconANGLE: Meta reportedly in talks on $10B+ investment in Scale AI (June 2025)](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/08/report-meta-holding-talks-10b-investment-data-labeling-startup-scale-ai/)