Payment trigger
If cash timing matters, Mercor publishes wire on buyer delivery, typically 2–4 weeks after signing. Handshake AI: No numerical end-to-end payout timeline verified.
Handshake AI vs Mercor
Direct licensing meets direct licensing. Neither advertised amounts nor a public seller route establish what your business will receive.
Jump to the terms ledger ↓Research comparison; limited public terms. Pair-level evidence and scenario review is pending. Published fields alone do not meet our indexing threshold. This page is noindex and absent from the sitemap, not a negative verdict.
The terms ledger.
| Criterion | Handshake AI | Mercor |
|---|---|---|
| Operating records | Published AutoCAD, Figma, Gmail, Drive, NetSuite, Notion, QuickBooks, ServiceTitan and Slack Source ↗ | Published Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, GitHub, Notion, contracts, clinical notes and QA logs Source ↗ |
| Company eligibility | Published 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years operating. Source ↗ | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources: No numerical employee minimum published on inspected data page. Ask the provider; missing terms do not establish acceptance, free fees or a payment deadline. Inspection URLs remain in the profile source list. |
| Seller geography | Published Estimator lists USA/Canada/Europe/Other; not a guaranteed acceptance list. Source ↗ | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. |
| Published compensation | Provider claim $100K–$4M+ advertised range; USD context not separately currency-verified. Calculator is indicative, not an offer; period not specified. Source ↗ | Provider claim Individually quoted; no public dollar rate card. Source ↗ |
| Fees & net proceeds | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. | Published No upfront/setup fees or deductions; provider covers extraction, anonymization and transfer. Source ↗ |
| Timeline & payment trigger | Provider claim No numerical end-to-end payout timeline verified. Source ↗ | Provider claim Wire upon delivery of anonymized dataset to buyer; typically 2–4 weeks from signed agreement. Source ↗ |
| Preparation & seller effort | Published Intake → scoping call → existing data transfer → cleaning → confidential lab delivery. Source ↗ | Published Scope → connect 100+ supported tools → extraction/de-identification → delivery/payment. Source ↗ |
| Ownership & permitted use | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. |
| Privacy & approval | Provider claim Training/evaluation only, not public. Removes direct/indirect identifiers but acknowledges re-identification risk; seller must ensure lawful transfer. Source ↗ | Provider claim No data leaves until approval; encryption, access logs, session-isolated credentials; SOC 2 Type II claimed, audit not inspected. Source ↗ |
| Exclusivity | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. |
| Retention & deletion | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. | Unknown Not published / not established Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted. |
| HQ / published contact | Published Mailing address: San Francisco, CA, US; not independently verified operational HQ. Source ↗ | Published San Francisco, CA named in program footer; US. Source ↗ |
Operating records
Company eligibility
MercorUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources: No numerical employee minimum published on inspected data page. Ask the provider; missing terms do not establish acceptance, free fees or a payment deadline. Inspection URLs remain in the profile source list.Seller geography
Handshake AIPublished
Estimator lists USA/Canada/Europe/Other; not a guaranteed acceptance list.
Source ↗MercorUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.Published compensation
Fees & net proceeds
Handshake AIUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.MercorPublished
No upfront/setup fees or deductions; provider covers extraction, anonymization and transfer.
Source ↗Timeline & payment trigger
Preparation & seller effort
Ownership & permitted use
Handshake AIUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.MercorUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.Privacy & approval
Handshake AIProvider claim
Training/evaluation only, not public. Removes direct/indirect identifiers but acknowledges re-identification risk; seller must ensure lawful transfer.
Source ↗MercorProvider claim
No data leaves until approval; encryption, access logs, session-isolated credentials; SOC 2 Type II claimed, audit not inspected.
Source ↗Exclusivity
Handshake AIUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.MercorUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.Retention & deletion
Handshake AIUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.MercorUnknown
Not published / not established
Not established in inspected sources. Ask for the actual agreement; unknown does not mean free, unrestricted or accepted.HQ / published contact
Which difference matters to your company?
Data fit
For your existing records, start with category fit: Handshake AI lists AutoCAD, Figma, Gmail, Drive, NetSuite, Notion, QuickBooks, ServiceTitan and Slack; Mercor lists Slack, Gmail, Salesforce, GitHub, Notion, contracts, clinical notes and QA logs. Ask each which subset has active demand before preparing exports.
Shared diligence, not shared guarantees.
Both routes need lawful rights to the material. Removing names does not remove confidentiality obligations or re-identification risk. Require sample approval, buyer-use restrictions, precise payment triggers and downstream retention/deletion terms.
Seller-outcome evidence
Handshake AI: No independently audited operating-business payout established in this research. Provider cases and partnership confirmations do not establish a typical seller outcome.
Mercor: No independently audited operating-business payout established in this research. Provider cases and partnership confirmations do not establish a typical seller outcome.