Mercor vs Together AI (2026): Pricing, Features & Which to Choose

Who comes out ahead

Based only on the facts in our directory. The right pick still depends on the job you need done.

Lower starting price
Not comparable
Not comparable: Mercor does not list a price
Free plan
Together AI
Only Together AI has one
Higher rating
Together AI
4.1 against 4.3
Same job?
Yes
Both are AI Infrastructure & Agent Tooling tools

Side by side

Compared on	Mercor	Together AI
Our rating	4.1	4.3Better
Starts at	Not listed	Free
Free plan	No	YesBetter
Category	AI Infrastructure & Agent Tooling	AI Infrastructure & Agent Tooling
Plans	See pricing	Serverless InferencePay-per-token Dedicated InferenceFrom $5.49/GPU-hr GPU ClustersFrom $3.99/GPU-hr
Key features	Marketplace matching AI labs with vetted domain experts, not generalist crowdworkers Pool of roughly 300,000 professionals across engineering, medicine, law, and other fields Built for reinforcement-learning feedback and evaluation work, not just raw labeling 30% recruiting fee model scales with contracted expert labor $350M Series C at a $10 billion valuation	Platform for training, fine-tuning, and running open-source AI models at scale Usage-based pricing per token or GPU-hour depending on the service $1.15B in annual bookings as of mid-2026 $8.3B valuation after an $800M Series C in July 2026 Customers include Cursor, Cognition, and Decagon
Pros	Domain-expert focus fits specialized training data needs generalist labeling vendors can't serve Rapid valuation growth signals strong demand from frontier AI labs Recruiting-fee model aligns pricing directly with the caliber of expert engaged	Strong focus on open-source models reduces dependence on closed providers Massive, fast-growing customer base including major AI companies Free tier lowers the barrier to testing before committing to production spend
Cons	Recruiting-fee pricing model means costs scale unpredictably with expert seniority and volume Built for AI labs at training scale, not a fit for smaller one-off labeling projects Expert-marketplace model depends on the quality of Mercor's own vetting, which is not independently auditable by customers	Usage-based pricing requires careful monitoring at production scale Open-model focus means less access to the newest closed frontier models directly Best suited to teams with in-house ML engineering capacity to fine-tune models
Company	Mercor, founded 2023	Together AI, founded 2022

Prices come from each vendor's pricing page, last checked 20260716. Check the vendor before you buy.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Is Mercor better than Together AI?

In our reviews Mercor scores 4.1 and Together AI scores 4.3. The better pick depends on the job. Mercor: Reached a $10 billion valuation organizing 300,000 human experts to train frontier AI models. Together AI: Crossed $1.15B in annual bookings, serving Cursor and Cognition among its customers.

Which is cheaper, Mercor or Together AI?

Mercor: see pricing. Together AI: free.

Do Mercor and Together AI have free plans?

Only Together AI has a free plan.

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