Stellar AI

Company Profile

What Stellar AI Is

Stellar AI (joinstellar.ai) is a remote AI training and data annotation platform offering flexible, project-based work. Like DataAnnotation and Outlier, it focuses on supplying human feedback, RLHF, and domain expertise to train large language models. The platform is designed for self-service, allowing independent contractors to pick up tasks and build experience in the AI industry whenever they have free time — provided projects are available.

The work spans from generalist data annotation and creative writing to highly specialized software engineering and machine learning model evaluation. Annotators have open-ended contracts with no fixed schedule or set duration.

How Stellar AI Pays

Stellar AI pays an hourly rate, with compensation scaled to the technical complexity of the project. Unlike per-task platforms, Stellar operates heavily on an hourly model and is known to pay competitively on a weekly basis.

For highly specialized technical roles such as Senior Software Engineers and ML Engineers, Stellar AI has begun offering specific Guaranteed Hours Contracts, providing a degree of income predictability unavailable to generalist contractors.

*Rates based on platform listings and community self-reports. Your actual rate is tied directly to the specific project or the tier you qualify for and is not negotiable.

Getting In: Qualification & Tests

Getting into Stellar AI is similar to DataAnnotation — it relies on asynchronous skill tests and assessments rather than live interviews.

1. Apply online — Register on the Stellar AI website and select the role that matches your background.
2. Complete the skill match test — An initial assessment designed to evaluate your reasoning, attention to detail, or technical skills depending on the track you applied for.
3. Enter the waiting pool — Passing the assessment does not guarantee immediate work. You enter an annotator pool and wait for client demand to align with your specific skills.
4. Onboarding — When a suitable project opens up, you are onboarded to that specific project and provided with comprehensive, self-service training materials and guidelines.

What Changed After the Early 2026 Surge

As Stellar AI scaled and onboarded more workers in late 2025 and early 2026, it experienced the classic growing pains of the AI gig economy.

• The Empty Queue hit hard — Around February 2026, many workers experienced a massive drop-off in task availability. Projects were suddenly paused without warning as client batches ended, leaving even high-rated annotators with nothing to work on.
• Support bottlenecks — During EQ periods, workers reported a significant lack of communication from support. Highly rated annotators often found themselves without any timeframe for when projects would return.
• Shift to Guaranteed Hours Contracts — For highly specialized technical roles (Senior Software Engineers and ML Engineers), Stellar AI began offering specific "Guaranteed Hours Contracts" to lock in top talent — a departure from the purely open-ended, log-in-whenever model offered to generalists.

Frequently Asked Questions