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Appen reviews · checked 28 Oct 2026

Is Appen a good place to work?

Mostly. Appen is an established ASX-listed firm that pays its crowd monthly, but its EGO collector gigs are short onsite contracts with no benefits, crowd workers rate it 1.5/5 on Trustpilot, and projects can stop without notice. The work is not steady: you are an independent contractor, projects fill up or stop without warning, and pay can lag, as in late 2024 when a platform switch left many contributors paid late or only in part.

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Appen, reviewed

Researched October 2026 · 21 sources

It pays $3.6/hr in checked postings (stated by the employer).

Actively listing 1 open role today
Who is behind it

Appen Limited, founded in Sydney in 1996 and on the ASX (APX) since 2015, sells AI training data made by a crowd of contractors (CrowdGen says over 500,000) paid). Ryan Kolln became CEO in February 2024, weeks after Google, about 30%) of revenue, said it would end its contract. 2025 revenue was US$230.8 million; January to June 2026 brought US$119.9 million, up 17%), mostly from its China business. Appen names robotics among its new areas of work.

Getting paid

Crowd workers are independent contractors paid for approved hours or tasks, with no benefits. CrowdGen pays a month's earnings by day 14 of the next, to PayPal, Payoneer, Airtm or a local bank, less fees. Google raters at Appen earned $14 to $14.50 an hour after a January 2023 raise, capped at 29 hours a week (NPR).

Worker ratings

Glassdoor (corporate staff and crowd contractors together) 3.5/5 (2,193 reviews) · Indeed (corporate staff and crowd contractors together) 3.5/5 (about 1,275 reviews) · Trustpilot (appen.com, mostly crowd workers) 1.5/5 (about 370 reviews) · Trustpilot (CrowdGen, Appen's crowd platform) 1.5/5 (104 reviews) · Blind (corporate staff) 3.0/5 (21 reviews). Read October 2026.

Verified active

1 open role on Appen, independently checked 28 Oct 2026.

Who can join

Global remote.

Fake Appen recruiters

Appen warns of rising scams aimed at job seekers. Its crowd roles are posted at jobs.lever.co/appen, its own emails come from @appen.com, and crowdgen.com is its contributor site. A request for money to apply or begin, or a check mailed to you to deposit before a project, marks a scam, not Appen.

What people praise

  • An independent contractor (Glassdoor, August 2025, 4 stars) titled their review "Good for flexible remote work, but not reliable long-term", praising fully remote work with flexible hours.
  • A contractor training language models (Glassdoor) wrote that hourly rates on most projects, LLM work above all, beat what they had seen at other companies.
  • The EGO collector posting asks for no experience, hands you the camera device on site, and has a project team guide you through each session.

What people complain about

  • The same contractor (Glassdoor, August 2025) found pay low for the effort and work availability inconsistent: projects can suddenly stop.
  • CrowdGen reviewers on Trustpilot report ID checks that never clear, late pay, finished tasks vanishing from their records, and support that answers with automated replies.
  • On Indeed, job security and advancement is Appen's lowest score (2.3/5) and pay and benefits 2.8; reviewers write that the work dried up (April 2026) and that projects and pay steadily went down.
  • The EGO collector posting (near Kuala Lumpur) is a short onsite contract: four full 9 AM to 6 PM days, own transport, address only once selected. On Oct 28, 2026 it was still up, months after its June dates.

What has gone wrong

  • June 2023. Appen fired six Google raters on May 31, 2023, citing "business conditions". Their union, the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, said they were fired for speaking out about their conditions and filed labor charges against Appen and Google on June 14. On June 23 Appen agreed to give the six their jobs back and pay them for the time lost.
  • January 2024. Google told Appen in January 2024 that it would end their contract on March 19, 2024. The work brought in US$82.8 million in 2023, about a third of Appen's revenue, and at least 2,000 subcontracted workers did Alphabet work. The decision caught Appen off guard.
  • October 2024. Appen moved its crowd from Appen Connect to its new CrowdGen platform in September 2024. Payment data did not migrate cleanly: many September payments were late or partial. The CEO apologised, said over two-thirds were paid on time, and promised a channel to report unpaid September hours.
  • August 2026. Appen's half-year results showed revenue outside China down 27% on a year earlier, to US$43.7 million, and about US$12 million a year of further cost cuts from using AI in its own operations, most due by the end of 2026.
Who it suits

Best for: People near an Appen collection site who want a few paid days of hands-on recording, or remote side income on a flexible schedule, and who can live with gaps between projects and pay once a month. Not for: Anyone who needs steady hours, a regular income or benefits, or who cannot reach an onsite session at their own cost: Appen's crowd work runs project by project and can stop without notice.

Honest catches

  • Pay here is stated by the employer, not measured live from a job feed, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a guaranteed rate.
Sources for this review

Got a message from Appen?

Its real sites: appen.com · crowdgen.com · jobs.lever.co/appen. Real email from @appen.com, @crowdgen.com. Paste the message to check the links, the sender and the pay.

Check a message

Appen's job board, measured

Its public job board has 1 job open, checked 28 Oct 2026.

Common questions about Appen

Is Appen a good place to work?

Mostly. Appen is an established ASX-listed firm that pays its crowd monthly, but its EGO collector gigs are short onsite contracts with no benefits, crowd workers rate it 1.5/5 on Trustpilot, and projects can stop without notice. The work is not steady: you are an independent contractor, projects fill up or stop without warning, and pay can lag, as in late 2024 when a platform switch left many contributors paid late or only in part.

Is Appen legit?

Yes. Appen Limited, founded in Sydney in 1996 and on the ASX (APX) since 2015, sells AI training data made by a crowd of contractors (CrowdGen says over 500,000) paid). Ryan Kolln became CEO in February 2024, weeks after Google, about 30%) of revenue, said it would end its contract. 2025 revenue was US$230.8 million; January to June 2026 brought US$119.9 million, up 17%), mostly from its China business. Appen names robotics among its new areas of work.

Is Appen a scam?

No. Appen is a real company. Appen warns of rising scams aimed at job seekers. Its crowd roles are posted at jobs.lever.co/appen, its own emails come from @appen.com, and crowdgen.com is its contributor site. A request for money to apply or begin, or a check mailed to you to deposit before a project, marks a scam, not Appen.

Does Appen pay?

Yes. Established global crowd platform. Payouts: Contractor payments per project. Crowd workers are independent contractors paid for approved hours or tasks, with no benefits. CrowdGen pays a month's earnings by day 14 of the next, to PayPal, Payoneer, Airtm or a local bank, less fees. Google raters at Appen earned $14 to $14.50 an hour after a January 2023 raise, capped at 29 hours a week (NPR).

How do employees rate Appen?

Glassdoor (corporate staff and crowd contractors together) 3.5/5 (2,193 reviews) · Indeed (corporate staff and crowd contractors together) 3.5/5 (about 1,275 reviews) · Trustpilot (appen.com, mostly crowd workers) 1.5/5 (about 370 reviews) · Trustpilot (CrowdGen, Appen's crowd platform) 1.5/5 (104 reviews) · Blind (corporate staff) 3.0/5 (21 reviews), as read in October 2026. Praised: An independent contractor (Glassdoor, August 2025, 4 stars) titled their review "Good for flexible remote work, but not reliable long-term", praising fully remote work with flexible hours. Criticised: The same contractor (Glassdoor, August 2025) found pay low for the effort and work availability inconsistent: projects can suddenly stop.

Has Appen had any problems or incidents?

June 2023: Appen fired six Google raters on May 31, 2023, citing "business conditions". Their union, the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, said they were fired for speaking out about their conditions and filed labor charges against Appen and Google on June 14. On June 23 Appen agreed to give the six their jobs back and pay them for the time lost. January 2024: Google told Appen in January 2024 that it would end their contract on March 19, 2024. The work brought in US$82.8 million in 2023, about a third of Appen's revenue, and at least 2,000 subcontracted workers did Alphabet work. The decision caught Appen off guard. October 2024: Appen moved its crowd from Appen Connect to its new CrowdGen platform in September 2024. Payment data did not migrate cleanly: many September payments were late or partial. The CEO apologised, said over two-thirds were paid on time, and promised a channel to report unpaid September hours. August 2026: Appen's half-year results showed revenue outside China down 27% on a year earlier, to US$43.7 million, and about US$12 million a year of further cost cuts from using AI in its own operations, most due by the end of 2026.

How can I tell a real Appen recruiter from a fake one?

Appen warns of rising scams aimed at job seekers. Its crowd roles are posted at jobs.lever.co/appen, its own emails come from @appen.com, and crowdgen.com is its contributor site. A request for money to apply or begin, or a check mailed to you to deposit before a project, marks a scam, not Appen.

Does Appen have jobs open now?

Yes. Its public job board has 1 Appen job open (checked 28 Oct 2026).

Who is Appen a good fit for?

A good fit: People near an Appen collection site who want a few paid days of hands-on recording, or remote side income on a flexible schedule, and who can live with gaps between projects and pay once a month. A poor fit: Anyone who needs steady hours, a regular income or benefits, or who cannot reach an onsite session at their own cost: Appen's crowd work runs project by project and can stop without notice.

Keep reading about Appen