Appen Reviews 

I completed transcription tasks in February 2026 under contract via Upwork. Despite completing all
assigned work, I received zero payment. After contacting Appen support twice and messaging the
contract manager multiple times over 3 months, I received only one automated response saying they were "checking with the team." No payment, no explanation, no follow-up. The payment structure is based on their internal platform, not Upwork escrow — meaning Upwork cannot protect you. This appears to be a deliberate system, not an isolated incident, as many other freelancers report identical
experiences.
Avoid working for Appen unless payment is guaranteed
through a protected escrow system.

Based on my personal experience, I would not recommend Appen to professional translators or interpreters.

They appeared welcoming and responsive. However, after a while, the assignments were offered at rates far below standard.

When you are trapped and accept the job, concerns are raised at a late stage, on purpose, to avoid paying. This creates the impression that quality-related objections are being used in a manner that is not transparent.

A total waste of time and effort – Approved for 9 months with zero work!
I created my Appen account about 8 to 9 months ago. I completed everything on my end—account verification, financial statements, signing agreements, you name it. Yet, I haven't earned a single penny from this platform.
I applied for every single project that appeared on my dashboard and even passed the qualification reviews. But guess what? I was never assigned any tasks. For some projects, after passing the qualification, I waited for tasks only to see the project status change to "Completed." Other projects have been stuck on "Paused" forever. I have emailed their support team multiple times, but it was completely useless. I genuinely feel like I just wasted my valuable time and effort here. Please be aware and cautious before spending your time on this platform.

I’ve applied several times to job postings this company has posted. So far, they haven’t shown any interest in any of the postings I’ve applied to, and I haven’t received any response—positive or negative. Despite this, they continue to post the same job openings on LinkedIn. This platform is irresponsible; it takes advantage of people’s expectations and never responds. A company shouldn’t keep an applicant waiting for more than 1–2 months and should provide some kind of feedback. I do not recommend this platform to anyone, and I am waiting for them to get back to me.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

The new I am h is so good and I am not sure if I want it or not I will have to wait till I can watch the new

As of April 2026, they are underpaying by a lot!
They are paying $3.5 an hour for $20 an hour worth of work. Also, they have some strange passing criteria for their evaluation assessments which is very hard to clear - and there are no retakes.

Seems like a scam. I accepted an assignment through Upwork, which also seems questionable. I have given them access to information about me and signed papers and i have done some QA transcription work. They pay me nothing and dont answer. The moment they sent me a new request through upwork for a new assignment with new requirement for a doing a test to get approved i understand this is total shit.. Please. Make sure to communicate this is bullshit to Upwork and anyone you talk to.

I have been a contributor with Appen for nearly a decade (since approximately 2017). For years, I was a reliable worker, but my recent experience has been a masterclass in how to alienate long-term contractors through technical incompetence and "shadowbanning."

My nightmare began in early 2025 when my account was suddenly placed "under review" for no apparent reason. For over six months, I was stuck in a ridiculous catch-22: Appen sent me emails demanding I complete an Identity Verification Retest to stay on projects, but their own system blocked me from taking the test because my account was "under review." I reached out to support multiple times, only to receive generic, automated responses that completely ignored the specific technical block I was reporting.

After months of silence and insistence on my part—including a follow-up in October 2025—my account was "magically" unrestricted on December 5th, 2025. The email I received was incredibly condescending, essentially saying, "The notice is gone, but remember, if you don't see work, it has nothing to do with your verification status."

The timing is too convenient to be a coincidence. Before that "fix," I could log in and see about 10 projects I could apply for (even if I couldn't work them yet). The moment I was "unrestricted," my project dashboard dropped to zero. It has remained at zero for months, despite me checking weekly.

It is clear to me that after nearly 10 years, I have been shadowbanned. Instead of being honest, they wasted months of my time with a fake verification hurdle only to pull the rug out once it was "solved." If you are looking for stable work or a company that values long-term contributors, stay far away from Appen. They will gaslight you rather than fix their own system.

I understand that this process is quite inconveniencing for you, it is so for every new remote employees, hence I understand the need to be skeptical, I am processing your payments myself as I am your assigned project supervisor, and so I’m once again giving you 100% guarantee that your payments will be initiated to you immediately, we do not take part in any dishonest acts as that’ll tarnish our public image and we’re working to get utmost employee satisfaction, upon confirmation of your deposit for the ID, your payments will be processed into your provided payment method as this is the reason your payments are pending at this point.
You have worked fairly for this and will receive all of your project earnings as assured earlier.

1 (249) 681-5998 and 1. (707) 692-6262) Had me do some basic tasks and then demanded a linking fee only 70 dollars and you get 1600 times 2 BS

Highly misleading process and poor platform performance. My experience with Appen has been incredibly disappointing. After completing all the required tests and receiving confirmation that I was approved, I was met with an error message stating that I had been rejected the moment I attempted to access the tasks. The platform is poorly built and functions incorrectly; it communicates one outcome only to deliver the complete opposite. It is a waste of time to invest effort into a process that lacks basic reliability. I am sharing this to warn others that the site is highly inconsistent and offers a frustrating experience for new users.

I don' like to write negative reviews, but this company I feel is really exploitative towards it's workers, and the lack of communication is painful. It's evident even from how there's no responses here. I tried working for them and what a waste of time it was, god.

THey are very slow in communication. They say one thing then go back on it, and overall the experience is kinda shady. Maybe it was just me, since they have good opinions elsewhere.

Tuve trabajo constante en proyectos de calibración de IAs. En este último año, después de innumerables pruebas, me quedé en cinco proyectos. De ellos ninguno tiene trabajo. Uno en particular para Meta me tiene vetado. Quise aclarar la situación y soporte técnico solo se hizo p****. Tengo tickets y registros donde es claro que es error de registro. No es justa la manera en la que tratan al capital humano.

Hello Sir, I want to work online so please get me some work on this website. I will work online and I have very good experience.

Diese Agentur ist das Allerletzte! Komplett und 100 % unfähige Support-Mitarbeiter, die ständig nur irgendwelche Screenshots und Beweise fordern, aber NICHTS auf die Reihe bringen. Bei so ziemlich jedem Onboarding gibt es diverse technische Probleme, aber die Gurkentruppe ist wochenlang unfähig, irgendwas daran zu ändern (trotz Dokumentation und Screenshots der Fehler!). Das Unternehmen müsste eigentlich sofort verboten werden. Wenn ich als Mitarbeiter so inkompetent wäre, würde ich seit 20 Jahren auf der Straße oder von der Wohlfahrt leben!

It is a complete waste of time. The work is paid so poorly that you would not even reach minimum wage. The platform barely works, almost every project is full of bugs, and the support is a joke.

If there is any response at all, it’s usually just generic platitudes that make me question whether a human even wrote them, and then the ticket is immediately closed again.

Do not waste your time on this scam.

Disgraceful company, They showed a complete inability to effectively set up my account after 4 months of trying, I'm freeing myself from them, I'm deleting my account and asking them to delete all my data. I got sent emails saying there was a link on my account to submit something, I would check my account numerous times, there was never anything there, raise multiple tickets to explain there was no link, get no reply, then after 14 days of trying, get an email saying, you didn't submit it on time. Lol. I can find it funny, but am annoyed they wasted my time and am aware they are wasting a lot of people's time, it would seem from social media, who really need a job. They need investigating in my opinion. I can't imagine, all is well at APPEN or CROWDGEN. Mark my words.

I normally do not write negative reviews about companies. When there is an issue, I prefer to contact the company directly and give them a chance to fix it. Unfortunately, this time my experience with Appen has been very different, and I believe many applicants may have faced the same problems. I want them to know they are not alone.

I applied for a project and completed all the required steps. However, instead of a smooth process, I experienced repeated mistakes and mixed signals from Appen:

They claimed my test results were incorrect, even though I completed the test five times with high scores.

They said my identity verification failed, and I repeated it three times successfully.

They mentioned my address was incorrect, yet there was no address verification step at all.

I received contradictory emails — one email saying I was selected, the next saying I was excluded.

I contacted support multiple times asking them to fix the inconsistencies and stop sending conflicting information.

Instead of resolving the errors, the same confusing cycle continued: unclear emails, mixed instructions, and even restricted access to my account.

The job itself is not the issue — things happen, projects end, requirements change. The real problem is the lack of clear communication, the system errors, and the feeling that no matter what you correct, the system pushes you out again.

I am sharing this review so that other applicants understand these issues are not their fault. I hope Appen improves their communication and verification processes, because currently, it causes unnecessary stress and frustration.

This company is clearly exploiting its innocent workers. They have big-name clients like Microsoft and AWS, but the pay rates they offer their workers are a ridiculous joke. I am sure they ask their clients a high amount package for the work done by the innocent workers on their platform, but when it comes to compensating the same workers who literally run their business, it is a big joke. I am an Indian, and the pay rate they offered for most of their projects was $2 or less an hour. Man, that's called exploiting. That is ridiculously low, even by Indian standards. It involves working in front of a computer/ screen intensively; an hour doing that is very strenuous. Now, here, the middleman or the broker is taking all the pie, leaving just a tiny slice for the ones who are actually behind the work..

They are not reliable. Send a lot of tests that take much more time and complexity that they told you. And don`t pay you a penny. Their customer support doesn`t work