Handshake AI

225 active listings

The Handshake AI Fellowship is built around academic credentials — graduate students, postdocs, recent PhDs, and early-career researchers. Engagements are structured part-time (typically 10–20 hrs/week, fixed term, defined scope) rather than spot-market gigs, paying $75–$125/hr. Applications go through Handshake's career platform. A strong fit for academic schedules and for researchers who want predictable hours.

fellowshipacademicPhDpredictable hours
Visit Handshake AIIs Handshake AI legit? ↓What it pays ↓Read our Handshake AI review →
Open listings
225
refreshed daily
Median top rate
$125/hr
from 4 priced listings
Open worldwide
100%
state no country restriction
Newest listing
November 6
date added

How to join Handshake AI

After you apply
Applications go through Handshake's career platform. Engagements are part-time and fixed-term — typically 10–20 hours a week.

Applied through us? Track where you are and what comes next on your dashboard.

Active Handshake AI listings

Showing the 60 most recent of 225 Handshake AI listings. See all Handshake AI jobs →

What Handshake AI pays

4 of Handshake AI’s open listings publish an hourly rate. Their median top-of-range rate is $125/hr against $65/hr across every platform we track. These are the rates listings advertise, not what anyone has earned; Handshake AI sets individual pay after you apply. See how every platform compares →

Median top rate
$125/hr
Middle half of listings
$70–$138/hr
Highest advertised
$150/hr
Lowest advertised
$15/hr

Is Handshake AI legit?

Researched October 14, 2026 · 5 sources

Legit company, serious 2026 pay disputes

Use caution. Handshake is a large, well-funded company, but Business Insider's 2026 reporting and Trustpilot reviewers describe sudden suspensions with unpaid work.

Who is behind it

Handshake is a campus recruiting network founded in 2013 and led by CEO Garrett Lord. Handshake AI launched in January 2025 to supply expert contractors to AI labs. Sacra reports a $200 million Series F in January 2022 led by Coatue and Valiant Peregrine Fund at about $3.3 billion, and about $435 million raised in total; we found no company press release and no confirmed 2026 round.

Getting paid

Handshake's support pages say fellows are paid directly by Handshake through Stripe and are 1099 contractors, with hourly rates of $30 to $125. Third-party guides describe a weekly cycle but some name Deel, PayPal or Wise instead of Stripe, so confirm in your Payments tab. Payment is not owed for work Handshake later deems to have violated its requirements.

Worker ratings

  • Trustpilot: 1.8 / 5

    28 reviews, 7% five-star and 86% one-star, 24 in the past 12 months, and Handshake has not replied to negative reviews. This is the joinhandshake.com profile, categorised as a recruitment service, so some reviews may concern the older campus product; review dates in headers often conflict with dates in the text. The same page shows separate profiles for handshake.ai (2.8, 3 reviews) and app.joinhandshake.com (1.2).

Checked October 14, 2026. Review sites change daily; follow the link for the current figure.

What people praise

  • One recent reviewer praises payment speed, the interface and the support forum
  • Support pages are detailed about pay basis, payout setup and eligibility

What people complain about

  • Unpaid or delayed wages, including large outstanding balances, reviewers report
  • Accounts suspended or banned after alleged AI use, with no appeal
  • Hourly pay reduced by timers workers say they cannot see
  • Few projects, US-only work and unresponsive support

What has gone wrong

  • March 2026. Business Insider reported that five contractors on OpenAI projects said Handshake AI suspended their accounts between late December and January and withheld pay of up to several thousand dollars each. Support told one worker the decision was final with no appeal; Handshake declined to comment. The article also describes two small-claims cases, one reportedly resulting in a $6,475 award.
  • July 2026. A litigation tracker site reports a proposed class and collective action filed July 20 in the Northern District of California alleging AI annotators were misclassified as independent contractors. We found it only on tracker sites and could not check the court docket, so treat it as an unconfirmed allegation.

Who it suits

Best for: Credentialed academics and professionals with US work authorisation who want high hourly rates and can keep a record of hours worked and tasks submitted.

Not for: Anyone outside the US, anyone who relies on AI tools in their work, or anyone who cannot absorb a suspension with unpaid hours.

Sources for this review

Worker complaints are what reviewers report, not findings by us. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Pay by kind of work

Handshake AI’s open listings grouped by the AI-training work they involve. Pay is the median top-of-range rate, shown when at least five listings of that kind state one.

Kind of workOpen rolesMedian top rateHighest
Rating AI answers137$150/hr$150/hr
Expert consultation29——
Data collection3——
Software demos3——
Red-teaming1——

Highest-paying Handshake AI roles right now

What Handshake AI hires for

Every listing is classified by the background it asks for. This is how Handshake AI’s 225 open roles break down, with the median top rate wherever at least five listings publish one. Each category links to the matching roles across all platforms.

CategoryListingsMedian top rate
Engineering60—
Science & research24—
Business & consulting22—
Medicine & healthcare20—
Finance & accounting19—
Miscellaneous19—
Design & creative12$125/hr
Data science9—
General (no specialty)8$15/hr
Software engineering6$150/hr
Customer support & admin5—
Education4—
Languages & translation4—
Cybersecurity3—
Law3—
Mathematics3—
Humanities2—
Writing & editing2—

Language-specific roles: Indonesian (1), Japanese (1), Korean (1), Spanish (1).

Where you can work for Handshake AI

None of Handshake AI’s current listings name a country, so they are open to applicants anywhere. Individual listings can still carry their own eligibility rules.

Compare Handshake AI with

Side by side: pay, open roles, who can join and what comes after you apply.

Handshake AI jobs: frequently asked questions

Answers are generated from the live listings, so they change when the data does.

Is Handshake AI legit?
Use caution. Handshake is a large, well-funded company, but Business Insider's 2026 reporting and Trustpilot reviewers describe sudden suspensions with unpaid work.
How many Handshake AI jobs are open right now?
225 Handshake AI listings are open on AI Training Jobs Finder right now, the newest added on November 6, 2026. The list refreshes daily, so roles that close drop off and new ones appear without you needing to check Handshake AI's own site.
How much does Handshake AI pay?
Across 4 Handshake AI listings with a published hourly rate, the median top-of-range rate is $125/hr. The middle half of listings top out between $70 and $138/hr, and the highest advertised rate is $150/hr. That is 92% above the $65/hr median across all platforms we track. These are advertised rates, not earnings; our pay report explains how they are calculated.
What kind of work does Handshake AI offer?
The most common categories among current Handshake AI listings are engineering (60), science & research (24) and business & consulting (22). Language-specific roles are most often Indonesian, Japanese and Korean. Each category links to every matching role across all platforms.
Can I work for Handshake AI from my country?
None of the Handshake AI listings currently state a country restriction, so they are open to applicants anywhere. Always check the listing itself for local eligibility rules.
How do I apply to Handshake AI?
Every Handshake AI listing on AI Training Jobs Finder links straight to Handshake AI's own application page. Applying costs nothing and happens on Handshake AI's platform, not ours. Our Handshake AI review covers what the screening process involves and how long it takes.

Read more about Handshake AI