# Toloka Review: Is Toloka Legit? Pay, Mindrift and Data

> Is Toloka legit? Yes: backed by a $72M round led by Bezos Expeditions. How it pays through Mindrift ($15 to $100+ an hour) and whether it buys company data.

Canonical: https://origindatapartners.com/guides/toloka-review
By: Origin Data Partners
Status: Published
Published: 2026-11-10
Updated: 2026-11-12
Sources checked: 2026-11-10

## Quick answer

Yes, Toloka is a legitimate AI training-data company: Amsterdam-based Toloka AI BV raised $72 million in a round led by Bezos Expeditions in May 2025 and names Anthropic, Amazon and Microsoft as clients. It pays individuals through its Mindrift platform, $15 to $100+ an hour, twice a month. It publishes no program for buying company records.

## Key points

- Toloka is a real, funded company that spun out of the Yandex group; Nebius keeps what SiliconANGLE called a "significant majority economic stake" but no longer has majority voting control.
- Its task platform for individuals has moved to Mindrift, which pays per accepted task, twice a month, through Payoneer or Tipalti (PayPal).
- Toloka sells data services to AI labs; it publishes no program, price or terms for buying a company's records.
- The most serious report on record is a 2024 investigation into tasks done for two sanctioned Russian facial recognition firms, which Toloka said ran through a Russian subsidiary.

## Is Toloka legit? The short answer

Yes. Toloka is a funded company with named investors and named clients, and it cites more than ten years of experience running a crowd work platform. Most people who search "is Toloka legit" want to know whether task work pays. Fewer are business owners who saw Toloka on a list of AI data companies and wonder whether it buys company data.

The answer differs for each. Toloka pays individuals, now through a platform called Mindrift. It sells datasets and data services to AI labs, but it does not publish any program for buying a company's records. Facts below were checked on 10 November 2026.


## What Toloka is: ownership, funding and clients

SiliconANGLE describes "Toloka AI BV, a Dutch provider of datasets for artificial intelligence projects", which in May 2025 "today announced that it closed a $72 million investment" led by Bezos Expeditions, with Shopify's chief technology officer participating ([SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/05/07/ai-data-provider-toloka-raises-72m-funding/)). Toloka had been part of Nebius Group, the former parent of the Russian search engine Yandex; after the round "Nebius will no longer have majority voting control of Toloka", though it keeps a "significant majority economic stake".

Toloka says it has served "global technology leaders, including Anthropic, Amazon, Microsoft, poolside, Recraft, Shopify, and more", and that it manages the work of "over 200K experts and annotators" across 100+ countries and 40+ languages ([Toloka](https://toloka.ai/blog/toloka-strategic-investment-led-by-bezos-expeditions/)). It began as a general crowdsourcing platform and now focuses on expert data, AI agent training and evaluation environments.

Its homepage lists agent trajectories, RL environments, safety red-teaming and "Expert-captured workflows from real teams and tooling" among its products ([Toloka](https://toloka.ai/)).

Source: [SiliconANGLE: AI data provider Toloka raises $72M (May 2025)](https://siliconangle.com/2025/05/07/ai-data-provider-toloka-raises-72m-funding/)

## How much Toloka pays: Mindrift rates

The old Toloka task app has been folded into Mindrift, which Toloka built. Mindrift tells former users: "The tasks and projects from Toloka and Toloka Annotators have moved to Mindrift", and that accounts and balances moved automatically ([Mindrift](https://mindrift.ai/welcome)).

Mindrift publishes rates by level: "Entry-level: $15-30 per hour" and "Domain experts: $60-100+/hr", with some STEM and consulting projects advertised at several thousand dollars a month ([Mindrift](https://mindrift.ai/)). Simple all-access tasks pay less and are open to everyone; specialized projects need qualification tests. Every task shows a fixed reward before you start, and "You're paid only for tasks that are completed and accepted" ([Mindrift](https://mindrift.ai/welcome)).

| Work type | Who can do it | Published pay | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| All-access tasks (rating, labeling, short videos) | Anyone who signs up | Fixed reward per task, shown in advance | Mindrift |
| Entry-level AI training projects | Contributors who pass qualifications | $15 to $30 an hour | Mindrift |
| Domain expert projects (STEM, law, coding, medicine) | Experts after a CV review and assessment | $60 to $100+ an hour | Mindrift |
| Company records | No published program | Not published | [Toloka contact page](https://toloka.ai/talk-to-us) |

Sources for this table: [Mindrift: Tolokers, welcome, read 10 Nov 2026](https://mindrift.ai/welcome); [Mindrift (built by Toloka): get paid to train AI, read 10 Nov 2026](https://mindrift.ai/).

Source: [Mindrift (built by Toloka): get paid to train AI](https://mindrift.ai/)

## How and when Toloka pays: requirements and payment method

Mindrift says payment goes through "Payoneer or Tipalti (PayPal)", depending on the withdrawal method you pick. Payouts are twice a month for completed and accepted tasks, with cycles from the 1st to the 15th and the 16th to month end, "with payments processed on the 5th and 20th" ([Mindrift](https://mindrift.ai/welcome)).

Mindrift is clear that the work is not a job: "No. Mindrift is a project-based platform where domain experts earn extra income contributing to AI training." There is no employment contract and no fixed hours ([Mindrift](https://mindrift.ai/)). Joining is free. Toloka also publishes eligibility and geographic restrictions, so check that your country is accepted before you invest time in qualification tasks.

Source: [Mindrift: Tolokers, welcome](https://mindrift.ai/welcome)

## Complaints and concerns on record

The most serious report is a March 2024 investigation by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism with Follow The Money and Paper Trail Media. It found that "Between 2019 and 2023", two Russian facial recognition companies obtained data-labeling services from Toloka, and noted that "In July 2023, the EU placed Tevian and NTechLab under sanctions" ([TBIJ](https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-03-27/online-gig-work-is-feeding-russias-surveillance-machine)). Toloka told the Bureau that the contract sat with its Russian subsidiary and that the work "during the transition period by the two companies was immaterial, both financially and in terms of the number of tasks". Russian clients were moved to a separate Yandex platform from December 2023.

On pay, the model itself is the main thing to understand: Mindrift pays only for accepted tasks, so rejected work earns nothing, and simple tasks pay far less than expert projects. Read each project's acceptance rules before you start. We found no named news report or court filing alleging that Toloka withheld pay for accepted work.

Source: [The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: online gig work is feeding Russia's surveillance machine (Mar 2024)](https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-03-27/online-gig-work-is-feeding-russias-surveillance-machine)

## Is Toloka work worth it? Who it suits

Toloka suits two kinds of people. The first is anyone who wants occasional paid tasks they can do from a phone or laptop, such as rating AI answers or labeling content; the reward per task is small but shown in advance, and there is no interview. The second is a professional with a degree or deep experience in a field such as medicine, law, coding, mathematics or finance, for whom expert projects pay at professional hourly rates.

It suits people who need a steady wage less well. Projects open and close with client demand, qualification tests come before the better-paid work, and pay depends on each task being accepted. Treat it as flexible extra income and keep records of every task and payout for tax purposes, since contributors are not employees.


## Toloka compared with other AI data companies

Toloka sits in the same market as several companies people search for by name. They differ most in whom they pay. The table sets out what each publishes, as checked on 10 November 2026.

- Reviews of each: [Invisible Technologies review](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/invisible-technologies-review), [Defined.ai review](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/defined-ai-review) and [Kled review](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/kled-review).
- For the labeling firms that do run company data programs, see the [Appen enterprise data review](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/appen-enterprise-data-review).

| Company | Pays individuals | Pays companies for records | Published pay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Toloka (Mindrift) | Yes, per accepted task or by the hour | No published program | $15 to $100+ an hour |
| Invisible Technologies (Meridial) | Yes, as independent contractors | A data-sales program; no price published | Rate range per project; no company price range |
| Defined.ai (Neevo) | Yes, through the Neevo app | Yes, licensing fees on marketplace sales | $10 to $15 an hour average; $600K+ average partner revenue |
| Kled | Yes, per accepted upload | No | Varies by task; $25 minimum cashout |


## Does Toloka buy company data?

Not through any published program. Toloka's "Become a data partner" link leads to a general contact form for sales and partnerships, which lists its certifications, "ISO 27001 & ISO 27701 certified", and SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA and HIPAA compliance ([Toloka](https://toloka.ai/talk-to-us)), but no terms, price range or process for licensing a company's records.

Toloka mostly produces data to order: its experts write, label, evaluate and record, and it sells the result to AI labs. It may license an existing dataset in a specific case, but an owner should expect a custom negotiation with no published benchmark. That is a weaker starting position than a program with published terms.

If your records come from real operations (support tickets, workflows in business software, engineering or claims files), compare buyers that publish company programs in [company data buyers compared](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/company-data-buyers-compared), [Mercor competitors](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/mercor-competitors) and [AI data companies](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/ai-data-companies). Records that capture how work is done can also feed [RL environment companies](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/rl-environment-companies), which Toloka competes with.


## Next step

For individuals, Toloka's Mindrift platform is a legitimate source of project-based income with published rates. For a business, Toloka is a possible buyer to contact, not a program to apply to, so check any offer with [how to vet an AI data buyer](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/how-to-vet-an-ai-data-buyer) before you share samples.

Not sure whether a buyer or an offer is sound? Origin checks who the buyer is, what the license allows and how the price compares with published deals before anything is signed. [Get a free estimate and a second opinion](https://origindatapartners.com/check-fit).

Origin Data Partners works with companies that own data and helps get it bought. We are independent of the services on this page, and a buyer may pay us when a deal closes ([how Origin is paid](https://origindatapartners.com/referral-disclosure)). [See what your data is worth](https://origindatapartners.com/check-fit).


## Questions and answers

### Is Toloka legit or a scam?

Toloka is legitimate, not a scam: Toloka AI BV raised $72 million in a round led by Bezos Expeditions in May 2025 and names Anthropic, Amazon and Microsoft among its clients. It pays contributors through Mindrift, twice a month, for accepted tasks.

### How much does Toloka pay?

Through Mindrift, Toloka's platform, entry-level AI training work pays $15 to $30 an hour and domain-expert projects $60 to $100+ an hour, according to Mindrift. Simple tasks pay a fixed reward per task, shown before you start.

### How does Toloka pay you?

Mindrift pays through Payoneer or Tipalti (PayPal), twice a month, for completed and accepted tasks. Payments are processed on the 5th and the 20th, adjusted for weekends and holidays.

### What happened to the Toloka app?

Toloka moved its tasks and projects, including Toloka Annotators, to Mindrift, a platform it built. Existing accounts, balances and history moved to Mindrift automatically, and users log in with the same details.

### Who owns Toloka?

Toloka AI BV is an Amsterdam-based company. After a $72 million round led by Bezos Expeditions in May 2025, Nebius Group, the former Yandex parent, kept what SiliconANGLE called a significant majority economic stake but gave up majority voting control.

### Does Toloka buy data from companies?

Toloka publishes no program, price or terms for buying a company's records. It mainly produces data to order with its expert network and sells it to AI labs, and its data partner link leads to a general contact form.

### Is Toloka connected to Russia?

Toloka was part of the Yandex group, and a 2024 investigation found its Russian subsidiary had served two Russian facial recognition firms later sanctioned by the EU. Toloka said that work was immaterial, and Russian clients moved to a separate Yandex platform from December 2023.

### Is Mindrift, Toloka's worker platform, legit?

Yes. Mindrift is owned by Toloka and pays per accepted task on the 5th and 20th of each month. Our [Is Mindrift legit?](https://origindatapartners.com/guides/is-mindrift-legit) review covers pay, sign-up, the countries it excludes and what a 2025 investigation found about waiting for work.

## Sources

- [SiliconANGLE: AI data provider Toloka raises $72M (May 2025)](https://siliconangle.com/2025/05/07/ai-data-provider-toloka-raises-72m-funding/)
- [Toloka: investment led by Bezos Expeditions (May 2025)](https://toloka.ai/blog/toloka-strategic-investment-led-by-bezos-expeditions/)
- [Toloka: homepage](https://toloka.ai/)
- [Mindrift (built by Toloka): get paid to train AI](https://mindrift.ai/)
- [Mindrift: Tolokers, welcome](https://mindrift.ai/welcome)
- [Toloka: talk to us (data partner and sales contact)](https://toloka.ai/talk-to-us)
- [The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: online gig work is feeding Russia's surveillance machine (Mar 2024)](https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-03-27/online-gig-work-is-feeding-russias-surveillance-machine)

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