Data-collection networks · Record-and-earn data app
Instawork
About Instawork
Instawork, a large US staffing marketplace, recruits workers for robot-training data projects. In March 2026 the Los Angeles Times found an Instawork manager handing out phone-mount headbands in downtown Los Angeles for work recording household chores at home, paying $80 for two hours of footage. Instawork says its IRL Pros collect hundreds of thousands of hours of real-world task data every month. In India, its Instawork Robotics Labs team hires on-site Data Collector & Annotators in Marathalli, Bengaluru, who record structured video of household and kitchen tasks with an iPhone on a chest mount and annotate it, for a fixed ₹25,000 a month on morning and evening shifts or ₹27,000 on night shifts, plus daily performance incentives (postings checked October 29, 2026).
Outside reports
, RobotTraining.jobs shows 2 Instawork jobs open.
Live Instawork roles
Updated 1 Nov 2026, 06:01 UTCRoles like these you can apply to today
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Car-Mounted 360° Video Recorder (opens the job details)
micro1 · Demonstration Collection · Remote· 4w agoDetails
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micro1 · Egocentric Capture · Remote· 1w agoDetails
$6 per accepted video-hour360° Video Recorder (Insta360 / GoPro MAX) (opens the job details)
micro1 · Demonstration Collection · Remote· 1mo agoDetails
$20 per accepted video-hourAt-Home Video Recorder (opens the job details)
micro1 · Egocentric Capture · Remote· 1w agoDetails
$15 per accepted video-hour
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Data Collector & Annotator - Night Shift (opens the job details)
Demonstration Collection · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India· 5mo agoDetails
Data Collector & Annotator — Morning / Evening Shift (opens the job details)
Demonstration Collection · Bengaluru, Karnataka, India· 5mo agoDetails
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Instawork jobs by country
Its open roles that accept applicants in each country.
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Is Instawork a good place to work?
Researched October 2026 · 5 sourcesMostly. Instawork is a large, real US staffing company whose Robotics Lab pays people in the US and India to record tasks for robots, but terms vary by project and some Bengaluru recorders saw their rate cut without notice. The main risk is unsettled terms: Bengaluru market vendors told Newslaundry they had only a verbal agreement and saw the hourly rate fall from Rs 300 to about Rs 200, without notice. It pays Reported: $80 for two hours of footage.
Actively listing 2 open roles todayInstawork is a San Francisco staffing marketplace, led by co-founder and CEO Sumir Meghani, that says it has more than ten million workers. In April 2026 it launched Instawork Robotics Lab, which places workers to collect robot training data and keep robot fleets running; it says over 20,000 are certified. Its India team works from Bengaluru.
Terms differ by project. Its Bengaluru Data Collector & Annotator posting pays a fixed ₹25,000 a month plus daily performance incentives, on morning or evening shifts. Bengaluru market vendors were offered Rs 300 an hour, later mostly Rs 200. In Los Angeles, the LA Times reported $80 for two hours of footage.
Low-barrier recording work; pay depends on footage passing review.
2 open roles on Instawork, independently checked 1 Nov 2026.
United States: reported in Los Angeles, with projects offered through the Instawork app, so check what is available near you. India: on-site shifts in Marathalli, Bengaluru for Instawork Robotics Labs.
Instawork's robotics openings are on its own job board on Greenhouse. Treat anyone who asks you to pay for a phone, a camera mount or training as a scammer, as the FTC warns.
What people praise
- The Bengaluru posting states a fixed monthly salary, set shifts and full training before day one, and welcomes freshers with a 10+2 education.
- A Los Angeles recorder told the LA Times the chore-filming job was relatively easy, at $80 for two hours of footage.
- Instawork told Newslaundry that contributors can withdraw and ask for their data to be deleted, as applicable law allows.
What people complain about
- Bengaluru market vendors told Newslaundry their agreement was verbal, with no written contract or agreed rate, and the hourly rate was cut without notice.
- One vendor had worked five days and been paid for two when Newslaundry reported, and some said they were paid Rs 100 an hour.
- The Bengaluru Airbnb and kitchen roles repeat the same assigned task for the whole shift, standing, naming each task aloud on camera.
What has gone wrong
- June 2026. Newslaundry reported that Instawork paid vendors at Bengaluru's New Thippasandra market to wear head-mounted iPhones at work for a three-month project, and that none of the workers knew of a way to withdraw or delete their data. Instawork said rates vary by time and location and that withdrawal and deletion are available.
Best for: People in Bengaluru with a 10+2 education who want a fixed monthly salary and set shifts, or US Instawork workers near a project who want short paid recording jobs. Not for: Anyone who needs written terms before starting, or who is not comfortable being filmed at work or at home to train robots.
Honest catches
- Pay here is outside reports, not measured live from a job feed, so treat it as a benchmark rather than a guaranteed rate.
Sources for this review
- Instawork (Greenhouse): Data Collector & Annotator, Morning / Evening Shift, Bengaluru (₹25,000 a month), read Oct 28, 2026
- Instawork via Newswire: Instawork Robotics Lab opens the physical AI economy to its 10 million workers (Apr 16, 2026)
- Newslaundry: Bengaluru market vendors hired to train AI robots that could replace them (Jun 16, 2026)
- Los Angeles Times via AOL: Why hundreds of people in L.A. are strapping phones to their heads (Mar 12, 2026)
- FTC: That job offer text is probably a scam (Apr 30, 2026)
What Instawork pays
Outside reports · updated 2026-10-07Researched rate card (outside reports), updated 2026-10-07
From Los Angeles Times reporting on one Los Angeles project (March 2026); footage that fails review can go unpaid. Instawork publishes no company-wide rate for robotics recording. In India its own Data Collector & Annotator postings (October 29, 2026) state a fixed ₹25,000 a month for morning and evening shifts and ₹27,000 for night shifts, plus daily performance incentives.
| Role | Work type | Researched pay |
|---|---|---|
| Chore recording project (Los Angeles, reported) | Egocentric Capture | $80 per two hours of footage |
| Data Collector & Annotator (Bengaluru, India, on-site shifts) | Egocentric Capture | ₹25,000 a month (₹27,000 on nights) plus incentives |
Wondering where a number comes from? Read how researched rate cards are sourced and graded.
Kinds of work at Instawork
Open any of them for the day-to-day tasks, every employer hiring for it and market-wide pay.
First time doing this kind of work? Read the beginner guides or line up pay at every employer.
What our research records about Instawork
26 dated facts from public sources (the company itself, filings, regulators, courts and the press), each kept with the publication it comes from in one of our research reports. Newest first; the newest is from 27 Aug 2026.
- India data collection10
- Paid recording programs8
- Robot data prices3
- Robot data deals2
- Robot data vendors2
- Data capture hardware1
Business Today reports Instawork's customers for robot data are primarily robotics companies, including foundation-model, full-stack robot and specialised-system builders.
Source: Business Today · In India data collection
Instawork Robotics Lab introduced Instacore in India on 25 August 2026, a wearable five-camera system for capturing robot training data in kitchens, warehouses, hotels and factories.
Source: CXOToday · In India data collection
Instawork says commercial businesses hosting Instacore data collection are compensated for every hour of data captured, with no upfront hardware cost.
Source: CXOToday · In India data collection
Instawork's launch release says the industry collected roughly 100,000 hours of robot training data in 2024 and about one million hours in 2025, with 20 million projected for 2026.
Source: CXOToday · In India data collection
Instawork launched its Instacore wearable data capture system in India in August 2026, with participating businesses paid for every hour of data captured.
Source: CXOToday · In Paid recording programs
Instawork paid vendors in Bengaluru's New Thippasandra market to wear head-mounted phone cameras while they worked, generating egocentric footage for robot training; the hourly rate fell from Rs 300 to about Rs 200 within days.
Source: Newslaundry (The News Minute) · In Robot data deals
All 26 facts about Instawork
Instawork: Workers told the News Minute the pay at New Thippasandra market started at Rs 300 per hour for five hours, Rs 1,500 a day.
Source: Newslaundry (republished from The News Minute) · In India data collection
Instawork: By the time the News Minute visited, the rate had settled at Rs 200 per hour for most workers, with no written rate agreed.
Source: Newslaundry (republished from The News Minute) · In India data collection
One hour of first-person work footage (initial rate): Rs 300 per hour, paid by Instawork to Market vendors in Bengaluru wearing head cameras.
Source: The News Minute · In Robot data prices
One hour of first-person work footage (later rate): Rs 200 per hour, paid by Instawork to Market vendors in Bengaluru wearing head cameras.
Source: The News Minute · In Robot data prices
The News Minute reports Instawork is paying Bengaluru market vendors to wear head-mounted cameras and record their work to train AI robots, with similar roles in private Airbnbs.
Source: The News Minute · In India data collection
The News Minute reports Instawork has raised more than USD 160 million from investors including Benchmark, Greylock and TCV and has over seven million workers in its network.
Source: The News Minute · In India data collection
Bengaluru market vendors who joined Instawork's camera project were first paid Rs 300 an hour for five hours a day, a rate that later fell.
Source: The News Minute · In Paid recording programs
Instawork's Instacore rig, announced 9 June 2026, has five synchronized cameras (head, chest and both wrists) wired to a compute backpack built to last a full work shift.
Source: Instawork (press release via Newswire) · In Paid recording programs
Instawork's Bengaluru job post for a Data Collector and Annotator (Marathalli, iPhone on a chest mount) offers a fixed monthly salary of Rs 25,000 plus incentives.
Source: Instawork (Greenhouse job board) · In India data collection
Instawork's Bengaluru night-shift Data Collector and Annotator post offers a fixed monthly salary of Rs 27,000 plus incentives.
Source: Instawork (Greenhouse job board) · In India data collection
Instawork, a staffing marketplace, began paying workers to record videos of themselves doing housework to help train humanoid robots.
Source: Spectrum News · In Robot data vendors
Spectrum News reported that Instawork pays workers for housework videos only when each task video runs between 2 and 15 minutes.
Source: Spectrum News · In Paid recording programs
Instawork opened Instawork Robotics Lab on 16 April 2026, offering its more than ten million hourly workers (Pros) robotics data collection and robot technician work.
Source: Instawork (press release via Newswire) · In Paid recording programs
Instawork said more than 20,000 of its Pros were already certified for robotics work in the first weeks of its certification program.
Source: Instawork (press release via Newswire) · In Paid recording programs
Instawork participants who film household chores earn about 80 US dollars for roughly two hours of usable video.
Source: TechSpot · In Robot data vendors
The Los Angeles Times reported that Instawork hands out headbands with phone mounts so people in Los Angeles can film their chores at home as robot training data.
Source: Los Angeles Times · In Data capture hardware
Staffing marketplace Instawork handed out headband phone mounts to Los Angeles residents and paid them to film themselves doing chores as robot training data; one worker was paid $80 for two hours of footage.
Source: Los Angeles Times · In Robot data deals
Two hours of head-mounted chore footage: $80 for two hours of footage, paid by Instawork to Gig workers in Los Angeles recording chores.
Source: Los Angeles Times · In Robot data prices
The LA Times reported an Instawork home-chores recording gig in Los Angeles paying $80 for two hours of footage.
Source: Los Angeles Times · In Paid recording programs
For home chore recording, Instawork handed workers headbands with phone mounts so they could film from their own point of view.
Source: Los Angeles Times · In Paid recording programs
From the forum
Ask the people doing Instawork work what only they can tell you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Instawork a good place to work?
Mostly. Instawork is a large, real US staffing company whose Robotics Lab pays people in the US and India to record tasks for robots, but terms vary by project and some Bengaluru recorders saw their rate cut without notice. The main risk is unsettled terms: Bengaluru market vendors told Newslaundry they had only a verbal agreement and saw the hourly rate fall from Rs 300 to about Rs 200, without notice.
Is Instawork legit?
Yes. Instawork is a San Francisco staffing marketplace, led by co-founder and CEO Sumir Meghani, that says it has more than ten million workers. In April 2026 it launched Instawork Robotics Lab, which places workers to collect robot training data and keep robot fleets running; it says over 20,000 are certified. Its India team works from Bengaluru.
Is Instawork a scam?
No. Instawork is a real company. Instawork's robotics openings are on its own job board on Greenhouse. Treat anyone who asks you to pay for a phone, a camera mount or training as a scammer, as the FTC warns.
Does Instawork pay?
Yes. Large US staffing marketplace; says its IRL Pros collect hundreds of thousands of hours of real-world task data a month. Payouts: Project terms are set in the Instawork app; confirm how footage is reviewed and paid before you start.
How much does Instawork pay?
Reported: $80 for two hours of footage. From Los Angeles Times reporting on one Los Angeles project (March 2026); footage that fails review can go unpaid. Instawork publishes no company-wide rate for robotics recording. In India its own Data Collector & Annotator postings (October 29, 2026) state a fixed ₹25,000 a month for morning and evening shifts and ₹27,000 for night shifts, plus daily performance incentives.
Is Instawork worth it?
Pay at Instawork: Reported: $80 for two hours of footage. It works best as flexible, project-by-project income, since each project sets its own pay, equipment and eligibility. Worth knowing: Low-barrier recording work; pay depends on footage passing review.
How does Instawork pay out?
Project terms are set in the Instawork app; confirm how footage is reviewed and paid before you start.
Where is Instawork open to workers?
United States: reported in Los Angeles, with projects offered through the Instawork app, so check what is available near you. India: on-site shifts in Marathalli, Bengaluru for Instawork Robotics Labs.
Other ways to get paid to film yourself
Instawork is one of the companies that pay people to film themselves doing chores. Compare what each pays, which countries it takes, how it pays out and which ones charge to join.
Compare every app and employer that pays you to film your choresHow Instawork stacks up against similar employers
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Wear an Insta360 X5 on your head and film ten-minute stretches of your ordinary day (cooking, cleaning, errands) for an hourly rate set per country.
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A European expert network whose robotics program pays remote annotators to describe what robot and human hands do in short video clips.
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Wear a headstrap with your phone, press record, and go about your day: paid per accepted hour of first-person video for robot training.
Paid per accepted hour of footageStated by the employerSorted by what an application there is likely worth to you, with a referral lift for employers that pay us a referral fee; your pay is never affected.
Hiring for Instawork? We find the people (you contract them yourself) or we run the project (we deliver the robot data).
Or feature Instawork's roles for 30 days ($99 for one role, $299 for every open role): a labelled Featured block above the lists and the first roles in the weekly job email.