Head to head
Scale AI vs Surge AI in 2026
Scale AI and Surge AI are the two names that come up most for frontier RLHF. Scale is the broad, full-stack incumbent; Surge is the selective premium workforce. Here is how they differ, and where an EU-based option fits.
Scale is the larger, broader vendor with government and physical-AI programs and a managed workforce; after Meta's 2025 stake some labs run a second vendor alongside it. Surge is selective, premium, and known for careful task design, at a price and access level that is not for everyone.
Neither offers full EU data residency, which is where a European option comes in. The table sets all three side by side.
incumbents compared
with full EU data residency
EU-based alternative (Pathwize)
items in a free Pathwize pilot
Vendor facts come from the vendors' own material and widely cited public sources as of October 2026; pricing is per quote unless the vendor publishes it. Pathwize is EU-native: all data stays within the EU.
How we compared
01
Workforce model
Open crowd, vetted crowd, curated expert network, or software only. This decides the quality ceiling and the price floor.
02
Pricing model
Per task, per hour, platform fee plus reward, or SaaS. Hourly with time tracking makes cost per item visible; per task hides it.
03
EU data residency
Whether the vendor can keep storage, processing and worker access inside the EU. An EU parent alone is not residency.
04
Verification
How the vendor proves qualified humans did the work: tests on your data, recorded interviews, time per item, an audit trail.
The shortlist
| Vendor | Model | Best for | Pricing | EU residency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Scale AI San Francisco, US | Managed workforce plus expert programs, full-stack lab engagements Meta took a minority stake in 2025; several labs diversified away as a result, according to public reporting. | Large lab programs, government, physical AI | Per quote | Partial |
Surge AI San Francisco, US | Curated, vetted contractor workforce with careful task design Selective about clients; positioned at the top of the quality and price range. | Premium RLHF and expert feedback for frontier labs | Per quote; expert work reported at $85 to $200+ per hour | Partial |
Pathwize Cologne, Germany | Credentialed experts and students from a 200k+ network, qualification test on your own data, paid per hour The EU-based third option; experts are tested on your data and each label carries who produced it and how long it took. | Expert feedback in regulated fields with EU residency and visible cost per item | Per hour, quoted per task; free pilot on 50 items | Yes |
Scale AI
San Francisco, US
Managed workforce plus expert programs, full-stack lab engagements
Best for: Large lab programs, government, physical AI
Pricing: Per quote
Meta took a minority stake in 2025; several labs diversified away as a result, according to public reporting.
Surge AI
San Francisco, US
Curated, vetted contractor workforce with careful task design
Best for: Premium RLHF and expert feedback for frontier labs
Pricing: Per quote; expert work reported at $85 to $200+ per hour
Selective about clients; positioned at the top of the quality and price range.
Pathwize
Cologne, Germany
Credentialed experts and students from a 200k+ network, qualification test on your own data, paid per hour
Best for: Expert feedback in regulated fields with EU residency and visible cost per item
Pricing: Per hour, quoted per task; free pilot on 50 items
The EU-based third option; experts are tested on your data and each label carries who produced it and how long it took.
Where Pathwize fits
Pathwize is the EU option on this list. The company is based in Cologne, data stays in the EU, and experts work from Europe under clean contractor classification.
Every task starts with a qualification test on your own data, not on a generic sample. You see each candidate's answers, notes and time per item, and you approve who joins. Items can get a second rater on a sample, disagreements go to a reviewer.
Provenance is built in: each label carries who did it, when, and how long it took; AI interviews are recorded and checked for undisclosed AI use; exports come as CSV, JSON or COCO, with an API and webhooks for pipelines.
It is not a fit for everything. If you need a million crowd labels by Friday, a crowd platform is cheaper. Pathwize is for work where the answer depends on domain knowledge: medicine, engineering, law, finance, the sciences.
FAQs
Scale is the broad, full-stack incumbent with a large managed workforce and lab, government and physical-AI programs. Surge is a selective, premium contractor workforce focused on careful RLHF and expert feedback. Scale is bigger and more general; Surge is narrower and higher-end.
For large, varied programs Scale; for top-end expert feedback with careful task design Surge. Many labs use both against a gold set. For EU data residency and credentialed experts tested on your data, Pathwize is the European alternative to either.
Both offer only partial EU residency. Pathwize is based in Cologne, Germany with full EU data residency and experts working from Europe.
Usually within a few days. You send the task, the classes or rubric and a few examples; qualified experts take the test on your data; you approve who continues. A 50-item pilot is free.
Per hour of expert work, quoted per task depending on the domain and the complexity. Time is tracked automatically per item, so you see cost per item and per class in the dashboard and in the export.
In the EU. Pathwize is based in Cologne, Germany; storage and processing run on EU infrastructure, and experts work from Europe. Sensitive data can be worked in a no-download environment.
Related