How to get paid for AI training work outside the US

The rate on a listing is in US dollars. What reaches your bank in Manila, Pune, Lagos, Nairobi or Bogotá is smaller, and how much smaller depends on the payout method the platform uses and the one you pick. I checked what six AI training platforms say about payouts, and the fee pages of the services they pay through, on 9 October 2026.

This is general information, not financial or tax advice. Fees and rules change, and they differ by country. For tax, talk to an adviser where you live.

What each platform says it pays through

A platform can only pay you through the services it supports in your country, so check this before you apply, not after a week of work. From each platform's own pages, checked 9 October 2026:

Platform	Payout methods it names	When it pays
Outlier	PayPal, Airtm or ACH bank transfer	Weekly, on Tuesdays
DataAnnotation	PayPal only	"Within a few days" after you request it
Alignerr	Stripe or PayPal, one per country	Weekly, by the following Friday
CrowdGen by Appen	Bank transfer, PayPal, Payoneer, Airtm "and more"	Not published on its home page
micro1	Contracts and pay through Deel (payroll.micro1.ai)	Twice a month, around the 5th and 20th
Welo Data	"Secure, verified online payment platforms"	"Confirmed during your project onboarding"

A few details from the same pages:

• Outlier pays "weekly on Tuesdays for work completed the previous Tuesday through Monday (midnight UTC)". Its FAQ lists PayPal, Airtm and ACH. The role pages I checked, for India and for a global machine learning role, mention only PayPal and Airtm.
• DataAnnotation pays only through PayPal, and the email on your DataAnnotation account must match your PayPal email. If PayPal doesn't work for you, there's no other option.
• Alignerr's help centre says "Only one payment provider is enabled per country", and "If Stripe is shown, PayPal will not be available (and vice versa)." You see which one you get on your Alignerr home page.
• CrowdGen says "Most earnings are stated in US dollars and paid in your local currency."
• micro1's payroll page says work from the 1st to the 15th is paid around the 20th, and work from the 16th to the month's end around the 5th. You sign your contract through Deel and must upload "all required documentation" so pay isn't delayed.

None of these pages publishes a minimum payout amount. If you need one, ask the platform's support before you start.

What the payout services charge

These are the services' own published fees, checked 9 October 2026. Your account may show different fees, so check there too.

PayPal

PayPal has a separate fee page for each country. The pages for the Philippines, Kenya and Nigeria were all dated 28 September 2026.

• Currency conversion: 3.0% above the base exchange rate when PayPal converts payments you receive, or your balance, into another currency. That's on all three pages.
• Philippines: withdrawing to a local bank account is free for 7,000 PHP or more, and costs 50 PHP below that, when no conversion is involved.
• Kenya: withdrawing to a bank is free over 20,000 KES and costs 105 KES below that. Withdrawals through third-party providers to a bank or wallet cost 2.0% + $1.50.
• Nigeria: the page lists the same 2.0% + $1.50 for third-party withdrawals, but it also says personal transactions "may not be available in some markets" and that withdrawals "may not be possible in all markets." It doesn't clearly say Nigerian accounts can receive payments. Check your own account before you pick a platform that pays only by PayPal.
• India: PayPal India's consumer fee page also shows a 3.0% conversion markup, but it was last updated on 31 May 2021. Treat it as old.

The 3% conversion markup is the fee most people miss. If your platform pays $500, PayPal's conversion alone takes about $15 before any withdrawal fee.

Payoneer

Payoneer's pricing page (last updated 1 January 2026) says:

• Fees for payments from a marketplace or platform "vary by marketplace".
• Receiving US dollars into your Payoneer receiving account is free if USD is your local currency. Otherwise it's 1%, with a minimum of $1.
• Withdrawing to a local bank costs $1.50 for same-country, same-currency withdrawals. Other withdrawals cost 1.2% to 4%, and some countries have a minimum fee of up to $20.
• There's a $29.95 annual fee if your account receives less than $6,000 in any 12 months in a row.

That annual fee matters for part-time work. If you earn a few hundred dollars a month, you may stay under $6,000 a year.

Wise

Wise's pricing pages say it uses "the mid-market rate" and that receiving money into a Wise account is free. Receiving USD domestic (non-wire) payments is free. Receiving a USD wire or Swift payment costs a fixed $6.11.

Two limits:

• Where you can hold money. Wise's help centre lists the countries where you can keep a balance. On 9 October 2026 the list included the Philippines, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil (BRL only if you live in Brazil). For India it says you can hold money "when travelling overseas". Nigeria, Kenya and Mexico were not on the list.
• None of the six platforms above names Wise on the pages I checked. Wise is useful only if your platform can pay into a bank account that Wise gives you. Ask before you rely on it.

Airtm

Airtm's fees page doesn't publish fee amounts. It says to "check the available methods within the app or from your account dashboard." Outlier and CrowdGen both name Airtm. If you use it, compare what you'd get with the mid-market rate on the day before you withdraw.

Stripe and Deel

Alignerr pays through Stripe in some countries, and micro1 pays through Deel. I couldn't load Deel's withdrawal fee page on 9 October 2026, so I've left its numbers out. Your Deel account shows the fee for each withdrawal method before you confirm.

Avoid losing money on the exchange rate

• Convert once, not twice. Moving dollars from PayPal to another service and then to your bank can mean two conversions. Each one costs you.
• Compare with the mid-market rate. Search "USD to PHP" (or your currency) and compare it with the rate the service shows you. The gap is a fee, even if it isn't called one.
• Don't withdraw small amounts. In the Philippines, a 6,900 PHP PayPal withdrawal costs 50 PHP and a 7,000 PHP one costs nothing. Fixed fees hit small withdrawals hardest.

Notes by country

These are only what the pages above say. They are not a complete list of what works in each country.

• Philippines: PayPal has a Philippine fee page, and the Philippines is on Wise's list for holding money. PayPal's fixed fee applies under 7,000 PHP.
• India: PayPal's India fee page is from 2021. Wise only lets you hold money while travelling. Ask your platform which methods it offers in India before you start.
• Nigeria: PayPal's page doesn't clearly confirm receiving, and Nigeria isn't on Wise's list for holding money. Platforms that pay only by PayPal, such as DataAnnotation, may not work for you. Check first.
• Kenya: PayPal lists bank withdrawals in KES and third-party withdrawals to a bank or wallet. Kenya isn't on Wise's list for holding money.
• Latin America: Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil are on Wise's list. Mexico isn't. Outlier's Airtm option is the alternative its FAQ names.

Tax forms: what the W-8BEN is

If a US-based platform pays you and you live outside the US, it may ask you for Form W-8BEN. Here is what the IRS says about it, nothing more:

• You give it to "the withholding agent or payer" if you are "a foreign person" receiving the payment. The instructions say: "Do not send Form W-8BEN to the IRS."
• It's for individuals. US citizens, even if they live abroad, use Form W-9 instead. Companies use Form W-8BEN-E.
• Line 6a asks for your foreign tax identifying number (FTIN), the tax number from the country where you're tax resident.
• It generally stays in effect until the last day of the third calendar year after you sign it, unless something changes.
• If your details change and the form becomes wrong, you must tell the payer within 30 days and give a new form.

The current version is the October 2021 revision.

What the platforms say: Outlier's and DataAnnotation's FAQs don't describe tax forms. Alignerr's payment FAQ links to a separate article for US tax residents. Outlier's FAQ says you work as an independent contractor, and contractors usually handle their own tax where they live. How that works depends on where you live. Ask a local tax adviser, or your tax authority, before your first payout. Our guide to how AI training pay works covers contractor status.

Pay scams

A real platform pays you. It never asks you to pay to get paid.

The US Federal Trade Commission says job scams that make you deposit money "to complete your next set of tasks" before you can withdraw drove reported losses of over $220 million in the first half of 2024. Its advice is short: "Never pay anyone to get paid." It also says to ignore unexpected texts or WhatsApp messages about jobs.

The platforms say the same:

• DataAnnotation: "We will never ask you for money or any other form of payment," and it asks for financial details "only" when you're logged into its platform.
• CrowdGen: "We will never ask you to pay anything to join our projects."
• Welo Data says it "will never ask you to pay fees."

So if anyone asks for a fee to "release" or "verify" your earnings, or asks for your PayPal password, stop. Add payout details only inside the platform's own site, never through a link in a message. Our guide to spotting a remote AI job scam has more.

Before your first payout

• Check which payout method the platform offers in your country.
• Open that account in your own name, matching your ID and your platform account.
• Check that account's fee page for your country.
• Fill in any tax form the platform asks for, inside the platform.
• Start a record of every payout: date, dollars sent, amount that reached your bank, fees.

For what each platform pays, see the pay explorer.

Sources we checked (9 Oct 2026)

• Outlier, FAQ; role pages for Hindi, India and machine learning experts
• DataAnnotation, FAQ and Trust & Safety
• Alignerr help centre, payment FAQs and when do I get paid (updated 30 March 2026)
• CrowdGen by Appen, home page
• micro1, payroll policy and Deel (payroll.micro1.ai)
• Welo Data, join the community
• PayPal fee pages: Philippines, Kenya and Nigeria (each updated 28 September 2026), India (updated 31 May 2021)
• Payoneer, pricing (updated 1 January 2026)
• Wise, pricing, receive pricing and where do I need to live to hold money with Wise?
• Airtm, fees
• IRS, About Form W-8BEN and Instructions for Form W-8BEN (Rev. October 2021)
• US Federal Trade Commission, Paying to get paid: gamified job scams drive record losses (December 2024)