Payment platforms for AI training work and the countries they do not cover
Overview · 1 week ago
AI training platforms pay through Stripe, Wise, PayPal and a few others, and each of those services has its own list of countries it serves. Which platform on this site pays through what, and where each payout service says it is unavailable or limited, from the services' own pages.
The payout rail is a country limit of its own
A platform can accept applicants worldwide and still be unable to pay you, because the payout service it uses does not reach your country. How you actually get paid covers schedules and pay models; this guide covers the country limits of AI training payment platforms, as the payout services themselves publish them.
Who pays through what
From the platforms' own published statements, as recorded on their company pages:
| Platform | Pays via |
|---|---|
| Mercor | Stripe, Wise |
| Invisible Technologies | Stripe, Wise |
| Handshake AI | Stripe |
| Alignerr | Stripe Connect, PayPal |
| Outlier | PayPal, Airtm, ACH bank transfer |
| micro1 | micro1 wallet |
Mercor and Invisible Technologies account for 313 of the 699 listings on this site, so Stripe and Wise decide who can be paid for a large share of the work here. None of these platforms names Payoneer. Payoneer's own capabilities page says "not all products are available in all jurisdictions in the same manner".
Stripe
Stripe's cross-border payouts documentation says platforms in the US, UK, EEA, Canada or Switzerland can pay connected accounts in any of those regions, and that Stripe "doesn't support self-serve cross-border payouts to countries outside the listed regions". For other destinations it points to Global Payouts, whose recipient country list for a US sender covers 101 countries, including India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Kenya and Egypt. Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Nigeria, Ghana, Bangladesh and Ukraine are not on it.
Which Stripe product a given platform uses is not something the platforms publish.
Wise
Wise's where can I use Wise page lists places where it does not operate: Afghanistan, Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, and the Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. You cannot send or receive money to or from those places.
Holding a Wise balance is narrower. Wise's list of countries where you can hold money has 79 countries and territories and does not include, for example, Nigeria, Kenya, Pakistan or Egypt. For India, Wise says you can hold money when travelling overseas. It has temporarily stopped issuing account details for customers in Thailand.
PayPal
PayPal's Payouts country and feature table lists what account holders can do in each country. India appears as "receive and withdraw" only. Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ghana and Egypt do not appear in the table.
Check before you onboard
These lists change, and a platform can add a rail at any time. Before you spend unpaid hours on screening, check the platform's current payout options against the service's own country page, and ask support if your country is missing.
This page covers payments only, not tax; for that, see why US platforms withhold tax from non-US contractors. Where a payment crosses borders, check your own situation, including any reporting your country requires, with a tax professional.
Labeling Jobs does not give financial or tax advice.
Questions
- Which payment services do AI training platforms use?
- From the platforms' own statements: Mercor and Invisible Technologies pay via Stripe or Wise, Handshake AI via Stripe, Alignerr via Stripe Connect or PayPal, Outlier via PayPal, Airtm or ACH bank transfer, and micro1 into its own micro1 wallet.
- Where is Wise not available?
- Wise lists Afghanistan, Belarus, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Russia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela and several regions of Ukraine as places it does not serve. Holding a Wise balance is limited to a shorter list of 79 countries and territories.
- Does Stripe pay out to every country?
- No. Stripe's documentation says self-serve cross-border payouts work between the US, UK, EEA, Canada and Switzerland. Its Global Payouts recipient list covers 101 countries but does not include, for example, Brazil, Nigeria, Bangladesh or Ukraine.
Platforms covered here
Put this into practice
Every listing shows its pay and who it is open to.