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Updated October 2026

How we make money

Some companies on this site pay referral fees when a reader we send them signs a deal, licenses data or gets hired. That is how this site will pay for itself. Below is every relationship, company by company. As of 14 Oct 2026 we have joined the referral programs of micro1, Pewter and Polyshares, described below. Every other outbound link is a plain link today.

The rules we hold ourselves to

  • Scores come first. Every score is calculated from sourced facts and the published rubric. Commission is never an input, and the scoring code has no access to it.
  • No paid placement. No company can pay to be listed, to move up, to earn a label or to remove a review.
  • Disclosure at the point of decision. Every outbound button carries a one-line disclosure directly under it, and every ranking says so under its headline.
  • Fees come from the company, never from you. Sellers, buyers and experts pay us nothing.
  • We are not anyone's agent. We are an independent comparison. We do not present ourselves as an agent, recruiter, representative or partner of any company listed.
  • Links are tracked, people are not sold. Outbound links pass through /go/ so we can count clicks and swap in a referral link when one is signed. They are marked rel="sponsored nofollow".

Company by company

CompanyTheir programOur status
micro1We send business owners to micro1's data partnership sign-up, and job seekers to its jobs board, with our micro1 referral code. micro1's company referral terms set a default fee of 7.5% of the license price (advertised up to $50K), and its talent referral bonus runs up to $3,000 per hire. We have not joined its sub-affiliate program (20% of recruited partners' earnings).[1][2][3][4]Signed. We may earn a fee.
MercorRuns a company-data referral program (amount not published) and a contractor referral bonus (20% of earnings, capped at $250-$15,000).[5][6]Not signed. We earn nothing today.
Handshake AIAdvertises $10K per referred company that licenses data, and a fellow referral bonus of 10% of the hourly rate for up to 40 hours.[7][8]Not signed. We earn nothing today.
OutlierRuns a contributor referral program; the amount is not public.[9]Not signed. We earn nothing today.
PewterWe are in the Pewter Partner Program: if a business we introduce licenses its data through Pewter, Pewter pays us 10% of what the business is paid, up to $100,000, after the business is paid. The business pays nothing extra.[10]Signed. We may earn a fee.
PolysharesWe are in the Polyshares referral program: Polyshares pays us 6% on eligible deals we refer directly, and a 1% override on eligible deals referred by brokers we recruit, under our referral agreement. Sellers pay nothing extra.[11][12]Signed. We may earn a fee.
Surge AI, Invisible Technologies, Prolific, Appen, Nyne AI, Troveo, SimpleClosureNo public referral or partner program found in our research (14 Oct 2026).We earn nothing.
Snorkel AI, Scale AI, Turing, TolokaNot checked yet.We earn nothing.

Note what this means for the ranking: Polyshares pays us 6% of eligible deals and ranks #2 for sellers on its scores alone, since the scoring code never reads who pays us; Handshake AI advertises a $10K flat company fee and does not have enough public data to be scored.

Why we disclose this way

The US Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides require clear and conspicuous disclosure of material connections such as referral fees, and its Consumer Reviews and Testimonials rule, in force since October 2024, bans fake reviews and the suppression of negative ones. We follow both, and we put the disclosure next to the button rather than in a footer.

Questions about a relationship? Email info@trainerlist.ai.

FAQ

Disclosure questions

  • No. No company can pay to be listed, to move up, or to change a score. Some companies run referral programs that may pay us when a reader we send signs a deal, and we disclose each one by name. The ranking is calculated from sourced facts before any commission is considered, and commissions are never an input.

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  • Sometimes. micro1's company referral terms set a default 7.5% of the license price, Pewter pays us 10% of what a business it works with is paid, up to $100,000, and Polyshares pays us 6% of eligible deals. Handshake's $10K per company is a program we have not joined. The buyer pays the fee, not you, and no fee ever changes a score.10,11,1,7

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Sources (12)

  1. 1.micro1 referral terms (updated 2026-10-08), published 8 Oct 2026. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  2. 2.micro1 company referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  3. 3.micro1 sub-affiliate page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  4. 4.micro1 referral program page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  5. 5.Mercor Data referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  6. 6.Mercor referrals page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  7. 7.Handshake AI data partnerships referral page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  8. 8.Handshake AI Fellowship referral terms. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  9. 9.Outlier blog. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  10. 10.Pewter partners page. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  11. 11.Polyshares referral program terms (partner account). Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.
  12. 12.Polyshares website. Accessed 14 Oct 2026. Company's own claim.