Image annotation jobs pay you to label pictures so AI can learn to see: drawing boxes around cars, tracing the outline of a leaf, tagging a scene or marking every pixel of a road. Plenty of these jobs exist, but few are remote. On September 15, 2026, Naukri’s search for image annotation jobs returned 1,311 vacancies, and only 109 were marked remote. So look beyond job boards. If you already have the skills, approach an annotation company such as Zilo AI. If you are starting out, Remoter.me and Hive Micro focus on image tasks, while OneForma, Mindrift and Remotasks mix them with other work.
This guide sticks to image and video work. It leaves out Amazon Mechanical Turk, a staple of older lists including an earlier version of this one, because it closes on September 30, 2026.
What do image annotation jobs involve?
You label images so a computer vision model learns what they contain and where each object sits. The label types you will meet most:
- Bounding boxes: a tight rectangle around each object, such as every car in a street photo.
- Polygons: an outline traced point by point, for irregular shapes.
- Semantic segmentation: a class for every pixel, so road, sky and people are each marked separately.
- Keypoints: single points on features such as joints or facial landmarks.
- Classification: one tag for what the whole image shows.
- Video tracking: the same object followed from frame to frame.
The work is repetitive and rule-bound. Each project has guidelines, and on most platforms your pay depends on how closely your labels follow them.
Image annotation jobs at a glance
| # | Where | Image work | How you get in | How you are paid (September 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zilo AI | Boxes, polygons, polylines, landmarks, segmentation | Contact Zilo | Not published |
| 2 | Remoter.me | Boxes, polygons, video tracking | ID check and compulsory training | Per task in US dollars, $50 minimum withdrawal |
| 3 | Hive Micro | Boxes, image categories, segmentation, video tracking | A 10 to 15 minute test per task type | Weekly, by PayPal or Bitcoin |
| 4 | OneForma | Image labeling, boxes on forms, text in images | Five-minute profile | Rate shown before you accept, twice a month |
| 5 | Mindrift | Image annotation among all-access tasks | Register, no CV | Fixed reward per accepted task, twice a month |
| 6 | Remotasks | Image labeling | Online courses and free training | Weekly, by PayPal or AirTM |
| 7 | iMerit | Medical imaging, AI image evaluation | Apply to a listed role | $5 to $35 an hour on September 2026 listings |
| 8 | Upwork | Client projects, such as bounding boxes | Profile, then proposals | Agreed with each client, minus a 0% to 15% fee |
1. Zilo AI
Zilo is an annotation company rather than a task site: it labels data for clients in industries from retail to banking and healthcare. Its image annotation work covers 2D and 3D bounding boxes, polygons, polylines, landmark annotation and semantic segmentation, and the Bangalore team also handles text and voice annotation plus audio, video and multilingual transcription. Zilo says its team includes more than 1,600 trained annotation and speech recognition experts.
If you already know your way around boxes and polygons, skip the task queues and contact Zilo to ask about image annotation work.
Best for: skilled annotators who would rather approach a company than compete in a task queue. See Zilo’s services.
2. Remoter.me
Remoter.me, run by Label Your Data, is the most image-focused platform here. Its tasks use images and video: drawing bounding boxes to detect objects, tracing polygons to outline them and tracking objects through video. No experience is needed. You verify your identity with a document, complete compulsory training and start on simple tasks, and harder, better-paid ones open up as your level rises.
A reviewer checks your annotations, and your reward depends on their accuracy. You are paid per task in US dollars, not by the hour. You can withdraw to your bank account once you reach $50.
Best for: beginners who want training and nothing but visual work.
3. Hive Micro
Hive Micro, run by Hive, lists mostly image jobs: drawing boxes around objects, sorting scenes into categories, classifying every pixel of an image and following one object across video frames. Each task type has its own qualifier test of about 10 to 15 minutes, and Hive suggests starting with logo labeling and categorization.
Joining and cashing out are free, and once you pass the payout threshold you are paid weekly through PayPal or Bitcoin. There are Android and iOS apps. You must be 18 or older and work from the country on your profile.
Best for: short image tasks that fit into spare minutes on your phone.
4. OneForma
OneForma, a Centific company, lists image labeling and bounding boxes among its annotation work. In September 2026 it was recruiting Form Document Annotators, who draw boxes around the fields, checkboxes and labels in digital forms. The role paid a fixed hourly rate, was open to native speakers of 11 languages in countries including India, and needed no annotation experience. A worldwide OCR project asked people to find text inside images and transcribe it.
Your profile takes about five minutes and needs no resume. You see the rate before you accept a project, and pay arrives twice a month with no fees and no minimum threshold.
Best for: bilingual people who want image work that also uses their language.
5. Mindrift
Toloka’s tasks have moved to Mindrift, so if an older list sent you to Toloka for image tagging, start here. Mindrift says image annotation is among its all-access tasks, which you can start as soon as you register, with no CV or application. Each task shows a fixed reward before you begin, and you are paid only for accepted work.
Mindrift is open about the trade-off: all-access tasks tend to pay less than specialized projects, which need domain knowledge proven through qualifications. Payouts go out twice a month through Payoneer or Tipalti, which handles PayPal. Read its eligibility rules first, because some countries, including Kenya, are not supported.
Best for: beginners who want to start the same day.
6. Remotasks
Remotasks, powered by Scale AI, pays people to label images, transcribe audio and annotate data. You learn through quick online courses and free hands-on training, and harder, better-paid tasks open up as you train for them. Pay arrives weekly through PayPal or AirTM, and the site says it is available in more than 90 countries.
Confirm it accepts sign-ups where you live before you put hours into training. In 2024 it shut down entirely in Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan and stopped new sign-ups in Thailand, Vietnam and Poland, Rest of World reported.
Best for: beginners who want structured training before paid image work.
7. iMerit
iMerit, now part of EXL, hires people for annotation teams that turn images, video and text into training data, and runs iMerit Scholars, a pool of remote contractors with domain knowledge. Its image roles lean on expertise, including medical imaging work for licensed clinicians. In September 2026 it also listed fully remote, three-week contracts for AI Image Evaluation Analysts, who rank AI answers to image-based prompts, in six countries from Norway to Vietnam.
Best for: doctors and other specialists who want image work paid for their expertise.
8. Upwork
On Upwork, clients post their own image annotation projects, from bounding-box labeling to computer vision work, and you pitch for each one. Once Upwork accepts your application to join, proposals cost Connects, its application tokens, which sell for $0.15 each, and the number needed varies by job. Upwork also takes a service fee of 0% to 15% per contract, which you see before you commit.
You compete on your profile, not a qualifier test, so this route works best once you have annotation work to show.
Best for: experienced annotators who want to find their own clients.
Image annotation jobs on Naukri, Indeed and LinkedIn
Job boards carry salaried and contract image annotation roles, but on Naukri, as the figures above show, most are office-based. Its search also pulls in radiologist and teaching jobs, so read each listing. Set Naukri’s work mode filter to remote, and add “remote” or “work from home” to your search on Indeed and LinkedIn. Check the system requirements too: one remote freelance annotation listing on Naukri asked for your own laptop running Windows 11.
How much do image annotation jobs pay?
Task platforms mostly pay per task rather than per hour, so your earnings depend on your accuracy, your speed and how much work is available. The better ones tell you the rate first: Mindrift shows a fixed reward on each task, and OneForma shows the rate before you accept a project. Expect to be paid only for work that passes review.
Where you live can matter as much as what you know. In September 2026, iMerit advertised its three-week AI Image Evaluation Analyst role, with the same job description in each country, at $35 an hour in Norway, $25 in France, $20 in Japan, $7 in Mexico, $6 in Turkey and $5 in Vietnam. On Upwork you agree a price with each client, minus Upwork’s fee.
How to get image annotation jobs from home with no experience
- Learn the label types. Boxes are the usual start, and polygons and segmentation take more care. Our guides to polygon annotation and image segmentation show how each one works.
- Practice for free. CVAT has a free online plan and a free open-source edition, and Label Studio is open source, with templates for image classification, bounding boxes, polygons, keypoints and object tracking. Label a batch of your own photos until tight boxes feel routine.
- Apply to two or three places at once. If you already have annotation experience, contact Zilo AI. Remoter.me, Hive Micro and Mindrift all take beginners and are free to join. If you would take text, audio or chatbot rating work too, our list of remote data annotation jobs has more platforms.
- Treat every test as the job. Hive Micro tests you on each task type, and Remoter.me opens harder, better-paid tasks only after you do simple ones well.
- Specialize when you can. Mindrift says its specialized projects pay more than all-access tasks.
How to spot fake image annotation jobs
In a task scam, the FTC says, scammers ask you to do simple, repetitive tasks, such as liking videos or rating product images online. They may pay you a little, usually $5 to $20, to win your trust, then tell you to deposit your own money, usually in crypto, to reach the next tasks or withdraw your “earnings.” That deposit is lost.
- Ignore job offers that arrive out of the blue. Real employers never contact you through unexpected texts, WhatsApp or Telegram messages, the FTC says.
- Never pay to get paid. The FTC calls it a sure sign of a scam. Hive Micro, Remoter.me and Mindrift are all free to join.
- Keep ID checks on the platform. Remoter.me, for example, verifies your identity inside its own sign-up. Don’t send ID documents to a recruiter over chat.
- Report it. In the US, use ReportFraud.ftc.gov. In India, call the national cybercrime helpline on 1930 or file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in.
Frequently asked questions
What is an image annotation job?
It is paid work labeling images and video so computer vision models can learn to recognize objects. Typical tasks are drawing bounding boxes, tracing polygons, tagging scenes and marking the pixels that belong to each object.
Can I do image annotation jobs from home with no experience?
Yes. Remoter.me says you need no prior experience and trains you first, Hive Micro opens each task type through a short test, and Mindrift lets anyone start its all-access tasks without an application.
How much do image annotation jobs pay?
It depends on the platform, your skills and where you live. Most task platforms pay per task, while iMerit’s September 2026 listings for AI image evaluation ranged from $5 an hour in Vietnam to $35 in Norway.
Does Remoter.me pay per hour?
No. Remoter.me pays per task, according to how accurate your annotations are, and you can withdraw once you have earned $50. Its site describes visual work, images and video, rather than text or audio tasks.
Are image annotation jobs legit?
Many are, but any “job” that asks you to pay before you can work or withdraw is a scam, the FTC says. Be especially wary of unexpected WhatsApp or Telegram messages offering money for rating product images.