Sama review
Sama, an annotation company based in San Francisco and founded in 2008, recruits workers from low-income areas. It turns them into full-time labelers and puts that team on your project.
| Based in | San Francisco, California |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| How it works | People hired full-time from low-income areas and trained to label data |
| Kinds of files | Photos, Video, Text, 3D laser scans (LiDAR) |
| Audits and laws it names | ISO 9001, ISO 27001, TISAX, GDPR |
| How it prices | Per project |
| Team | A full-time team; according to Sama, more than 15,000 people have been trained since it began |
Sama in two facts
- As a Certified B Corporation, Sama carries a label for companies audited for their treatment of workers; it says customers remain for an average of eight years.
- On 15 September 2026 it shut its centers in Kenya and Uganda, so check where your project would be labeled today.
Who it suits
Projects in computer vision or sensor data that want a stable, full-time team will find it a good fit.
Sources for these facts:
Companies like Sama
| Company | Based in | Kinds of files | Audits and laws it names | How it prices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sama | San Francisco, California | Photos, Video, Text, 3D laser scans (LiDAR) | ISO 9001, ISO 27001, TISAX, GDPR | Per project |
| Scale AI | San Francisco, California | Photos, Video, Text, 3D laser scans (LiDAR), Satellite and map images, Rating AI chatbot answers | SOC 2 Type II | Per project |
| Appen | 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 |
| iMerit | 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 |
| Shaip | 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 |
Questions for Sama before signing
- Where do your teams work, and which of them would label our data?
- How is accuracy measured, and what portion of labels gets a second-person check?
- Could we begin with a pilot, and would it cost nothing?
- Will you show us your ISO 27001 report before any of our files reach you?
- What is your pricing for this kind of work: per project, per hour or per label?
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