Data annotation companies
Data annotation companies add labels to your photos, videos, text and sound recordings. An AI model (a program that learns from examples) uses those labels to learn what each file shows. Three things set them apart: the country their staff work in, the types of files they handle and the security audits they've passed. Our table covers 15 of them and lists only what each company says on its own website.
Choosing a company for your project
Begin with the kind of files you have. For a self-driving car project, pick a company whose staff label street video every day, not one that mostly handles documents.
Then look at security. Two outside audits show that a company protects client data well: SOC 2 and ISO 27001. When patient records are involved, ask for proof that the company meets HIPAA, the US law for medical records.
Last, ask for a pilot, which is a small trial run. It lets you check how good the labels are before you sign a contract.
Quick picks by need
- You want a price before any sales call: Label Your Data
- Your files hold patient records: iMerit or Shaip
- Your project is self-driving or car data: TELUS Digital or Sama
- You want a team that works only on your files: Mindy Support
- You want a yearly budget and to pay only for finished work: CloudFactory
- You need people to rate chatbot answers: Surge AI or Toloka
- You need someone to record new footage first: Keymakr
Audit names explained
- SOC 2 a check by an outside auditor of how a company protects its clients' files. Type I checks a single day; Type II checks several months, so it tells you more.
- ISO 27001 a worldwide data-safety standard; an independent auditor confirms the company follows it.
- ISO 27701 adds checks on personal details, such as names and addresses, on top of ISO 27001.
- ISO 9001 checks the steps a company uses to keep its work consistent. It does not cover keeping your files safe.
- HIPAA a US law that protects patients' medical records.
- TISAX a security check that car manufacturers ask their suppliers to pass.
- GDPR the EU's data protection law.
- CCPA a California law on consumer privacy.
| Company | Based in | Kinds of files | Audits and laws it names | How it prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scale AIscale.com | San Francisco, California | Photos, Video, Text, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Satellite and map images, Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2 Type II | Per project |
| Appenappen.com | Sydney, Australia and Kirkland, Washington | Photos, Video, Text, Sound, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Medical scans, Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR | Per project |
| TELUS Digitaltelusdigital.com | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | Photos, Text, Sound, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2, TISAX, ISO 27001 | Per project |
| iMeritimerit.ai | San Jose, California | Photos, Video, Text, Sound, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Medical scans, Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, HIPAA, GDPR, TISAX | Per project |
| Samasama.com | San Francisco, California | Photos, Video, Text, 3D laser scans (LiDAR) | ISO 9001, ISO 27001, TISAX, GDPR | Per project |
| CloudFactorycloudfactory.com | Reading, England | Photos, Video, Text, Satellite and map images | ISO 9001, ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR | You agree a yearly budget with them and pay only for the work they finish; a few of your files labeled free as a test |
| Label Your Datalabelyourdata.com | Wilmington, Delaware | Photos, Text, Sound, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Satellite and map images | ISO 27001, GDPR | From $0.02 per box, or from $6 for each hour a labeler works; free trial job; no setup fees |
| Shaipshaip.com | New York, New York | Photos, Video, Text, Sound, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Medical scans, Rating AI chatbot answers | ISO 27001, ISO 9001, SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA | Per project |
| Cogito Techcogitotech.com | Levittown, New York | Photos, Text, Medical scans, Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA | Per project |
| Mindy Supportmindy-support.com | Limassol, Cyprus | Photos, Video, Text, Sound, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2, GDPR | Per project; teams start at about 5 people working full time on your files |
| Tolokatoloka.ai | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Photos, Video, Text, Sound, Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 27701 | Per project |
| Surge AIsurgehq.ai | San Francisco, California | Text, Rating AI chatbot answers | GDPR | Per project |
| Innodatainnodata.com | Ridgefield Park, New Jersey | Photos, Video, Text, Sound, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Medical scans, Satellite and map images, Rating AI chatbot answers | ISO 9001, ISO 27001 | Per project |
| Keymakrkeymakr.com | New York, New York | Photos, Video, 3D laser scans (LiDAR) | ISO 9001, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA | Per project; a few labeled examples you can check first |
| Anolyticsanolytics.ai | Levittown, New York | Photos, Video, Text, Sound | SOC 2 Type I | Per project |
Most companies first look at a sample of your files, then give you one price for the whole job ("per project"). Fill in the short form one time and get prices back from three of them.
Reputation and reviews
A lot of the reviews you come across online come from people employed at these companies, not from customers. They tell you how a company treats its workers, and workers who are treated well tend to do better work. But they say nothing about how well that company handles a project for a buyer.
If you want to hear from buyers, ask each company to put you in touch with two past clients who had a similar project.
Common questions about data annotation companies
Which data annotation companies are located in the USA?
Anolytics, Keymakr, Innodata, Surge AI, Cogito Tech, Shaip, Label Your Data, Sama, iMerit and Scale AI keep their main office in the US. Nearly all of them run teams abroad as well.
Which data annotation companies are based in India?
Anolytics and Shaip list a main office in New York, and both also have staff in India: Anolytics in the city of Noida and Shaip in Ahmedabad. Mindy Support, based in Cyprus, runs a center in India too.
Do data annotation companies make their prices public?
Few do. Label Your Data lists two ways to pay: from 2 cents for each box a worker draws around an object, or from $6 for an hour of one worker's time. After a call or a trial job, most others will tell you the price.
Send 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