Part Time and Contract Software Engineer Jobs (Remote)

Remote part time software engineer jobs you can run after your day job, plus contract roles at set hours. Highest published rate first, tagged with the weekly hours each listing states.

134 open part-time and contract software engineer listings live right now, paying up to $350 an hour.

On this page:Part Time Software Engineer Jobs (Remote)Remote Contract Software Engineer Jobs
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Language & audio261Software engineering156Science & research128Finance & accounting116Medicine & healthcare105Data & machine learning91Business operations71Cybersecurity69Engineering (other)69Law61Arts & design49Robotics37
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Entry level42Mid level311Senior189Lead / principal27
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Contract / hourly1095Part time79Task based54Full time27
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Remote1226Hybrid15On site4
Marketplace
Alignerr553micro1345Mercor315Terac24DataAnnotation19Outlier15
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How part time engineering work fits around a day job

These part time software engineer jobs are remote AI training contracts. Labs pay engineers by the hour to review, test and rewrite the code their models produce. The work is asynchronous: no standups, no on-call, no sprint. Listings that state a load mostly start at 10 or 15 hours a week, about two hours a day.

One clause decides whether you can take any of them: the outside-work clause in your employment agreement. Some employers ban paid outside work and many require you to disclose it, so read it before you apply. Invention assignment clauses matter less here, because you produce training data, not a product your employer could claim.

The tag on each card shows the weekly hours the listing states in its own text. No tag means it states none. Below the list, part-time roles and contracts at set hours get their own sections.

Software engineer pay by weekly load

Published hourly rates for the part-time roles and set-hours contracts on this page, computed from the open listings.

Type of workOpen listingsPublished hourly rate
Part time62$20 to $300
Contract48$6 to $200

Part Time Software Engineer Jobs (Remote)

A listing counts as part time here when the marketplace labels it part time or its text states a load that starts under 20 hours a week. A range such as 10 to 40 hours means you choose within it.

Mercor’s engineering talent networks work as pools: you join once, then get invited to interview for projects that fit your schedule. micro1 and Alignerr post individual contracts, each with its own stated hours. This is the section for engineers with a full-time job.

62 open part-time software engineer listings right now, published at $20 to $300 an hour.

Remote Contract Software Engineer Jobs

Contract software engineer jobs here state a fixed, heavier load: 20 hours a week or more, a full-time engagement, or a set project length. They suit engineers between jobs, on a sabbatical, or easing out of full-time work.

A contract at set hours is closer to a placement than to freelancing. If you would rather work hourly with no stated load, the freelance software engineer page lists those contracts by language.

48 open contract software engineer listings right now, published at $6 to $200 an hour.

What the work looks like

A task is a prompt, a model’s code and a rubric. You run it, find what is wrong, explain each problem, and often write the version that should have shipped. Tasks queue up, so an hour after dinner and a long Saturday session both count.

Keep the two jobs apart. Use your own laptop and accounts, never your employer’s. Never paste employer code, internal docs or customer data into a task. Contractor pay arrives with no tax withheld, so set money aside from the first payment.

Further reading

Where these listings come from

Six marketplaces publish this work openly. Every listing above links to the one that posted it, and each has its own page here covering pay, screening and who gets hired.

MercorOutlierDataAnnotationAlignerrmicro1Terac

Part-time and contract software engineer AI training jobs, answered

Can I take a part time software engineer job alongside my full-time job?

Usually, if your employment agreement allows paid outside work. The work is asynchronous, so it does not have to touch your working hours. Check the outside-work clause first, then the confidentiality terms on both sides.

How many hours a week do these jobs take?

Read the tag on each card. Part-time listings that state a load mostly start at 10 or 15 hours a week. Contract listings ask for 20 or more. Hourly contracts that state no load sit on the freelance software engineer page.

What is the difference between the part time and contract sections?

Part time means the marketplace’s own part-time label, or a stated load that starts under 20 hours a week. Contract means 20 hours or more, a full-time engagement or a set project length. Both pay by the hour.

Will my employer own the code I write?

Unlikely, because you produce training data, not a product. Ten US states, including California, New York and Washington, protect inventions made on your own time and equipment unless they relate to your employer’s business. The real limits are your outside-work clause and the marketplace NDA.

How is part time contract income taxed in the US?

As self-employment income. Nobody withholds tax, so you owe income tax plus 15.3% self-employment tax on most of your net earnings. The IRS expects quarterly estimated payments once you will owe $1,000 or more for the year. Raising the withholding on your day-job W-4 is the simpler alternative.

How do I get hired?

Apply through the listing, then pass the screen. Most marketplaces here run an AI interview that follows up on your reasoning, then grade a sample of the real work. Engineers who code in silence score badly, so practise explaining each decision out loud.

Other places to find part time developer work

AI training is one kind of part-time engineering work. If you want client projects or a product team, these are the established routes.

  • Former employers and colleagues. The fastest route to contract work. A team that already knows your code can hire you back without a cold screen.
  • Toptal. Matches vetted engineers with clients on hourly, part-time and full-time engagements, after a multi-stage screen.
  • Arc.dev. Remote developer roles, freelance and full time. It says it accepts 2.3% of applicants.
  • Hacker News "Who is hiring?" threads. A monthly thread of company posts, many marked remote or open to contractors.
  • Wellfound. Startup jobs, filterable to contract roles.

The screen is where these roles are won

Every marketplace above screens with an interview or assessment in your own domain before assigning paid work. Run that interview with Skillora first and get feedback on how you explained your reasoning, not just on what you said.

Practise the screen free

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Software engineering AI training jobsFreelance software engineer jobs

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