About Software Side Hustles
An independent guide for developers exploring technical AI training and evaluation work.
Last updated 16 Oct 2026
What we do
Software Side Hustles is an independent guide for software engineers and technically skilled people who want to understand technical AI training work — reviewing AI-generated code, comparing solutions and explaining judgements — and decide whether it is for them.
We do three things:
- Explain the work honestly, including what it pays according to the platforms' own published information, and what it does not guarantee.
- Help you practise the underlying skills with original, interactive exercises. The core lab is free.
- Offer optional extras — premium practice and one-to-one tutoring — for people who want more structured preparation.
Our independence
We are not affiliated with or endorsed by DataAnnotation, Alignerr, Mercor or any other platform we cover. Platforms decide who they accept; we have no influence over that. Some of our links may be referral links that can earn us compensation; we label them and explain how they work in our Affiliate Disclosure.
Editorial policy
- Sources and dates. Statements about a platform's requirements, process or pay are taken from that platform's public pages, linked as sources with the date we checked them.
- No invented proof. We do not publish fabricated testimonials, ratings, acceptance rates or earnings screenshots. Testimonials appear only when the person has given permission and we have verified the context.
- Original exercises. Every practice exercise is written by us. Code outputs stated in explanations are verified by running the code. We never use or sell confidential assessment content.
- Corrections. If something is wrong or out of date, tell us using the "Correction" topic. We review corrections promptly and update the "last updated" date.
Who runs the site
[OWNER INPUT REQUIRED: a short author biography — name, relevant engineering background and any personal experience with AI training platforms that you can substantiate.]
Business details: [OWNER INPUT REQUIRED: legal name, address and contact email]. See also our Terms and Privacy Policy.