Sources

Our sources, all of them

Every factual claim on this platform traces to a public source. Page-level citations sit at the foot of each guide and profile; this page is the consolidated register — the standing invitation to check our work.

Vendor profile sources

Scale AI

• Scale AI company review and key facts — hokai.io
• Scale AI vs Surge AI comparison — Reverbico

Appen

• Appen company profile — Kalkine (ASX: APX)
• Appen vs alternatives comparison — SourceBae
• Appen 2026 AGM CEO address — ASX announcements

Mercor

• Mercor funding history and valuation — RevenueMemo
• Mercor company profile — CapFinch
• Mercor deep dive — Value Add VC

Micro1

• Micro1 vs SME Careers — Para Labs comparison
• Micro1 review: process, pay and vetting — gig.fish

Surge AI

• Scale AI vs Surge AI — Reverbico
• Surge AI business breakdown — Contrary Research
• Surge AI review — hokai.io

Zeton

• Metaclade Research: Best LLM Training Data Providers (2026) — press release

Labelbox

• Labelbox pricing, read from its documentation — UsagePricing
• Labelbox review and pricing tiers — TopReviewed

Snorkel AI

• Snorkel AI review — TopReviewed
• Snorkel AI pricing guide — eesel AI

Prolific

• Prolific pricing — prolific.com
• Data labeling and human evaluation vendors — Seminal.ai reference

CleverX

• Best expert data providers for AI labs — CleverX
• CleverX platform and pricing summary — cleverx.com llms.txt

Kili Technology

• Kili unveils annotation platform, raises $7M — VentureBeat (2020)
• Kili raises $25M Series A led by Balderton — BigDATAwire (2021)

SuperAnnotate

• SuperAnnotate pricing & features profile — Softwares.com (accessed Nov 2026)
• SuperAnnotate (SME) review, researched 8 Nov 2026 — AITraining.jobs

Encord

• Encord company profile — Dealroom (accessed Nov 2026)
• Encord profile incl. Series C — 7wData (2026)

CVAT

• CVAT anniversary history — cvat.ai blog (2025)
• Best Computer Vision Annotation Tools 2026 (CVAT cloud pricing) — Humans in the Loop

Label Studio (HumanSignal)

• Label Studio / HumanSignal pricing profile — G2 (2026)
• Data labeling, RLHF and human evaluation vendors — seminal.ai reference (checked Sep 2026)

Lightly AI

• Lightly company profile — CB Insights (accessed Nov 2026)
• Best Data Annotation Companies in 2026 — Lightly blog (vendor-published, read critically)

iMerit

• iMerit Technology profile — YesPress (2026)
• Inside India’s quiet new export: human intelligence for artificial minds — Mint via iMerit press (2025)

Sama

• Sama company review — Label Your Data (accessed Nov 2026)
• Sama — the human backbone of enterprise AI — YesPress (2026)

CloudFactory

• Best Data Labeling Companies for Fintech and Financial AI (CloudFactory profile) — Helpware (2026)
• CloudFactory company profile — DataAnnotationCompanies.com (accessed Nov 2026)

Cogito Tech

• Cogito Tech LLC profile — The Manifest (accessed Nov 2026)
• Inside India’s quiet new export (Cogito Tech section) — Mint via iMerit press (2025)

Label Your Data

• Label Your Data vs Kili Technology (published rates) — labelyourdata.com (accessed Nov 2026)
• Top Data Annotation Companies in USA (Label Your Data profile) — Tinkogroup (2026)

Zilo AI

• Data Annotation Platform: 10 Options Compared (Zilo AI profile) — ziloservices.com (Oct 2026)
• Text Annotation Services: Top 10 Providers in 2026 — ziloservices.com (2026)

BasicAI

• BasicAI company profile — CB Insights (accessed Nov 2026)
• BasicAI Inc company overview — LeadIQ (accessed Nov 2026)

V7

• Kognic vs V7: annotation platform comparison (pricing, founding) — Kognic (2026)
• V7 Darwin pricing — G2 (2026)

Dataloop

• Dataloop raises $16M for its AI data platform — TechCrunch (2020)
• Dataloop company profile incl. Dell acquisition — CB Insights (accessed Nov 2026)

TELUS Digital

• TELUS Digital — Wikipedia (accessed Nov 2026)
• TELUS Digital AI Community profile — Thriveth (updated Aug 2026)

FileYield

• Sell Data to AI Companies: The 2026 Guide — fileyield.com (accessed Nov 2026)
• FileYield for Investors (take-rate claims) — fileyield.com (accessed Nov 2026)
• Data Monetization Companies: 71 Compared (FileYield watch-outs) — Bright Info (Nov 2026)

DataVendor (HUD)

• AI Data Marketplaces: Where to Sell and How They Work — datavendor.ai (accessed Nov 2026)
• Companies that buy data, and what they pay (DataVendor terms) — Who Sells Data (accessed Nov 2026)

Troveo

• How to Sell Your Videos for AI Training — troveo.ai (Oct 2026)
• Data Monetization Companies: 71 Compared (Troveo terms) — Bright Info (Nov 2026)

Nyne AI

• Data partnerships — nyne.ai (accessed Nov 2026)
• How to Sell Company Data to AI Companies and Labs (Nyne profile) — AIData.Broker (Nov 2026)

Versos AI

• Versos AI announces AWS Marketplace availability — GlobeNewswire (Oct 20, 2026)
• AI’s Streaming Stack: Versos AI profile — Streaming Media (2026)

Guides, pricing & market sources

• Data annotation pricing: what buyers actually pay — ypai.ai
• Data annotation cost: pricing models & rates — HabileData
• AI Annotation Market Report — Grand View Research
• Data Annotation Tools Market outlook — Grand View Research
• Data Annotation and Labeling, Global Strategic Business Report — Research and Markets
• Surge AI business breakdown — Contrary Research
• Data labeling, RLHF and human evaluation vendors — Seminal.ai reference

How we treat sources

Filings and vendors' own published terms outrank reporting; reporting outranks review sites. Company-reported numbers are labeled company-reported wherever they appear. Sources were last gathered on November 8, 2026 for the launch edition; pages carry their own dates. If a link dies or a vendor changes its terms, tell us at contact@bestdataannotation.com — the register is maintained, not archived.

Last updated: November 8, 2026