Appen review
Appen keeps a US office in Kirkland, Washington and runs one of the largest annotation crowds; it began in Sydney in 1996.
- Located in
- Kirkland, Washington and Sydney, Australia
- File types
- Rating AI chatbot answers, Photos, Medical scans, Video, Text, Audio, 3D laser scans (LiDAR)
- Security audits by third parties
- SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001
- Pricing approach
- Every job is priced on its own
Our sources: en.wikipedia.org, Appen (company) article · appen.com, about us · appen.com, data annotation · appen.com, data security
Is Appen a good fit?
Appen suits multilingual speech and text work, along with large image or LiDAR jobs where many people are needed quickly.
A good match if
- The data you're labeling is audio, text, video, photos, medical scans, 3D laser scans (LiDAR) or chatbot answers to rate.
- What you need: SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA named on the company's own pages.
Check with Appen first if
- You'd prefer a free test first: ask Appen about its pilot terms (vendors that publish one).
- A price has to come before any sales call: jobs are quoted after a sample is reviewed.
- Satellite and map images are what you need: Appen does not list them, so check.
More about Appen
- Laws it reports following
- HIPAA, GDPR
- The way it operates
- Private data stays in secure offices; the crowd behind it numbers more than 1 million people working online
- Team
- Six countries hold its 14 offices, and there's a secure facility in Cavite, Philippines
What this kind of work costs on the market
- Every object gets a box., per box
- A team based outside the US.:$0.02 to $0.12Our estimate for a US team.:$0.04 to $0.48
- Each object tracked across frames., per tracked object per frame
- Non-US team.:$0.05 to $0.25We estimate a US team at$0.10 to $1.00
- Marking names, places or amounts., per document
- Teams based outside the US.:$0.04 to $0.30Our estimate, US team.:$0.08 to $1.20
- Typing out speech, with who spoke., per minute of audio
- A non-US team.:$0.10 to $1.50Our estimate for a US team.:$0.20 to $6.00
Other labeling companies publish these rates for the work Appen lists; our estimate for a US team sits beside them. That estimate multiplies the low end by two and the high end by four, the markups Habile Data says US teams charge. The figures here are market rates rather than a quote from Appen.
Two things to know about Appen
- Appen says its customers include 80% of the top LLM builders worldwide.
- Its speech annotation spans more than 100 languages and 500 locales, a reach few vendors can match.
What Appen offers for data annotation
- Audio, video, images and text
- Camera footage paired with 3D laser scans (LiDAR), plus pictures matched with text
- Rating answers from chatbots (RLHF)
- Industrial, consumer, medical and autonomous driving images
Appen alternatives
| Company | Located in | File types | Security audits by third parties | Price and free test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AppenThis page | Kirkland, Washington and Sydney, Australia | Rating chatbot answers, Medical scans, Photos, Video, Text, Audio, 3D laser scans | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 | Quoted after a sample |
 Label Your Data | Wilmington, Delaware | Photos, Text, Audio, 3D laser scans, Satellite photos | ISO 27001 | Boxes start at $0.02 each; hourly work starts at $6.You get a free trial job, with no fee to begin. |
 CloudFactory | Reading, England | Photos, Video, Text, Satellite photos | ISO 27001, SOC 2 (the type isn't stated) | Set a yearly budget; you pay only for work once it's finished.As a test, a few of your files get labeled free. |
 iMerit | San Jose, California | Rating chatbot answers, Medical scans, Photos, Video, Text, Audio, 3D laser scans | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, TISAX | Quoted after a sample |
 Shaip | New York, New York | Rating chatbot answers, Medical scans, Photos, Video, Text, Audio, 3D laser scans | ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II | Quoted after a sample |
Direct comparisons: Appen vs TELUS Digital · Scale AI vs Appen
Prices and companies for the files Appen labels
What to ask Appen before you sign
- Which teams would label our data, and where are all your teams based?
- What share of labels gets a second-person check, and how do you measure accuracy?
- Would a pilot be free, and could we start with one?
- Will you share your SOC 2 Type II report with us before we send any of our files?
- How do you price this kind of work: per label, per hour or per project?
Work like this: getting quotes
- Describe the job once: the data type, the labels and the total item count.
- We pick up to three companies that label that kind of data, and email you their names before we pass the brief on.
- Every company requests a few sample files, then gives you a price.
Prefer to start with a free test? Two companies publish one: Label Your Data and CloudFactory.
Comparing Appen with others? Describe the job once, and three annotation companies that label your kind of data reply with prices.
Get quotes from companies like AppenSend one brief, hear from three vendors
Describe your data once and we pass it to three annotation vendors that label that kind of data, so you can compare quotes side by side.
One short form instead of three sales calls. Matched on data type, volume and security needs. You choose who to talk to.