Remote Freelance Jobs: Contract and 1099 Work, Highest Pay First

Every open remote freelance job on the marketplaces AI labs hire through: contract, part-time and per-task work, sorted by published hourly rate. Refreshed daily.

1,317 open remote freelance listings live right now, paying up to $1000 an hour.

On this page:Freelance Legal JobsFreelance Medical and Health JobsFreelance Software and Data JobsFreelance Finance and Business JobsFreelance Science and Engineering JobsFreelance Language and Writing Jobs
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Language & audio292Software engineering154Science & research143Medicine & healthcare126Finance & accounting110Data & machine learning103Business operations91Law85Engineering (other)83Cybersecurity57Arts & design51Other32
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Alignerr580micro1385Mercor349Terac25DataAnnotation19Outlier15
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Remote Contract Jobs

1099 Jobs Remote: What the Contract Means

These remote freelance jobs are contracts with AI training marketplaces. You review, write or grade work in your field so AI labs can train and test their models. Nearly every listing on our feed is contract work, so this page is most of it, sorted by pay. What sets these jobs apart is the paperwork.

In the US, a 1099 job means you are an independent contractor, not an employee. The marketplace withholds nothing, so you owe self-employment tax of 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare on top of income tax, and you pay it yourself in quarterly estimated payments due in April, June, September and January. You get no health insurance, retirement match, paid leave or unemployment insurance. In exchange you set your own hours and can deduct business expenses.

A $100 hourly contract is not a $100 hourly salary. The 1099 vs W-2 calculator shows what a contract rate is worth against a salary in your state.

Outside the US, none of this is a 1099. US marketplaces usually ask for a W-8BEN form instead, and you pay tax under your own country’s rules.

Remote contract jobs: pay by field

Published hourly rates for each field below, computed from the open contract listings. A wide range is the band a project pays within, so plan on its lower end until you have a track record.

FieldOpen listingsPublished hourly rate
Legal81$7 to $400
Medicine and health124$7 to $450
Software and data295$6 to $400
Finance and business188$6 to $350
Science and engineering227$7 to $400
Language, writing and media305$8 to $350

Freelance Medical and Health Jobs

Medical contracts pay physicians, nurses and other clinicians to grade AI answers on diagnosis, treatment and documentation. Nurses have a page of their own: remote nursing jobs.

124 open medicine and health listings right now, published at $7 to $450 an hour.

Freelance Software and Data Jobs

Software and data contracts pay engineers, data scientists and security specialists to write and review code, grade AI-written solutions and build evaluation tasks. Developers have a page of their own: freelance coding jobs.

295 open software and data listings right now, published at $6 to $400 an hour.

Freelance Finance and Business Jobs

Finance and business contracts pay analysts, accountants, consultants and operators to check the work AI produces in their function. Analysts have a page of their own: remote financial analyst jobs.

188 open finance and business listings right now, published at $6 to $350 an hour.

Freelance Science and Engineering Jobs

Science and engineering contracts pay researchers and working engineers to write hard problems and check AI reasoning in their field, and many ask for a PhD. Researchers have a page of their own: remote jobs for PhDs.

227 open science and engineering listings right now, published at $7 to $400 an hour.

Freelance Language and Writing Jobs

Language and media contracts pay native speakers, translators, writers, educators and artists. This field has the most listings and the widest pay, from short per-task studies to specialist rates. Writers have a page of their own: remote writing jobs.

305 open language, writing and media listings right now, published at $8 to $350 an hour.

What the work looks like

Every contract starts with a screen: an AI interview, a written assessment or a paid sample task. Once you pass, most marketplaces let you pick tasks and hours within a weekly range, and a project ends when the lab has the data it needs.

Pay arrives weekly on the large marketplaces. Mercor sends earnings every Wednesday through Stripe or Wise, and holds the first Stripe transfer for seven days. Outlier pays weekly on Tuesdays through PayPal, Airtm or ACH. DataAnnotation pays through PayPal only. Payment details are set up after you are contracted, never as a condition of applying.

Tell a real contract from a scam by where it starts. Real listings live on the marketplace’s own site, publish a rate and pay after the work. Nobody legitimate asks you to pay to apply, buy equipment from them, or deposit a check and send part of it back. A stranger offering work you never applied for by text, WhatsApp or Telegram is the most common fake.

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

Remote freelance AI training jobs, answered

Are remote freelance jobs legit?

The listings here are. Each one links to the marketplace that posted it, publishes a rate and charges nothing to apply. Most remote job scams arrive as a text or chat message offering work you never applied for, often with a check to deposit.

What does a 1099 job mean?

You work as an independent contractor, and whoever pays you reports it on a 1099 form instead of a W-2. Nothing is withheld, so you pay income tax and 15.3% self-employment tax yourself, usually through quarterly estimated payments.

How much should I set aside for taxes on 1099 income?

It depends on your bracket and state. Self-employment tax alone is 15.3% of net earnings before any income tax, so many contractors set aside a quarter to a third of each payment. A tax professional can give you the figure for your situation.

How do these marketplaces pay?

Weekly on the large ones, through Stripe, Wise, PayPal, Airtm or ACH depending on the platform. You set up payment after you are contracted, never as a condition of applying.

Can I do these contract jobs from outside the US?

Many of them. Each card shows the listing’s location rule, and plenty name no restriction. Outside the US you sign a W-8BEN rather than receive a 1099, and you pay tax where you live.

Are these full-time remote contract jobs?

Mostly part-time and flexible. Some projects ask for 20 or more hours a week for a few weeks, and some are standing pools that pay only when a project opens. Full-time employee roles are left off this page.

Do I need an LLC to take 1099 work?

No. You can work as a sole proprietor under your own name. An LLC changes your legal liability, not your self-employment tax, unless you elect a different tax treatment.

Other places to find remote freelance work

AI training is one market for contract work. These are the established routes for the rest.

  • Upwork. Client projects in almost every field. You bid with paid Connects, and the service fee runs from 0% to 15% per contract.
  • Fiverr. Sells packaged services at a fixed price instead of bids. Fiverr keeps 20% of each order.
  • Toptal. A screened network that matches developers, designers and finance experts with clients for longer contracts.
  • Staffing agencies. Agencies such as Robert Half place contract and temp-to-hire roles, usually as W-2 employees of the agency rather than as 1099 contractors.

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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