Is Appen a good company to work for?

Appen has an overall rating of 3.5 out of 5, based on over 6,234 reviews left anonymously by employees. This rating has decreased by 1% over the last 12 months. 61% of employees would recommend working at Appen to a friend and 49% have a positive outlook for the business. The best reviews about Appen have been left by employees working as Linguist , Social Media and Appen Social Media Evaluator .

Does Appen pay their employees well?

According to anonymously submitted Glassdoor reviews, Appen employees rate their compensation and benefits as 3.0 out of 5. Find out more about salaries and benefits at Appen. This rating has decreased by 4% over the last 12 months.

How satisfied are employees working at Appen?

61% of Appen employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews . Employees also rated Appen 3.8 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.2 for culture and values and 3.0 for career opportunities.

What are the top reviewed jobs at Appen?

Social Media Evaluator (684) , Search Engine Evaluator (599) , Independent Contractor (283) , Web Search Evaluator (238) , Freelancer (193) , Transcriptionist (91) , Avaliador De Mídia Social (90) , Appen Social Media Evaluator (80) , Project Manager (61) , Avaliador De Anúncios (59) , Ads Quality Rater (58) , Transcriber (54) , Contributor (49) , Independent Consultant (48) , Internet Analyst (43)

What are the pros of working at Appen according to real employee reviews?

"flexible and perfectly work from home" ((in 590 reviews)); "Remote and flexible hours for FTEs (many reviews seem like they come from ICs but this is true for FTEs as well)" ((in 304 reviews)); "Great for a little bit of extra money but not a sole source of income." ((in 100 reviews)); "home office and flexible time" ((in 78 reviews)); "Flexibility was great and remote" ((in 46 reviews))

What are the cons of working at Appen according to real employee reviews?

"Low pay (depending on project); subject to termination without notice or sufficient explanation" ((in 374 reviews)); "Communication is poor" ((in 110 reviews)); "Low salary and help tickets are rarely reviewed." ((in 92 reviews)); "Lots of unpaid training and not much employee support or feedback" ((in 66 reviews)); "Poor management and extremely high employee attrition." ((in 54 reviews))

What are employees saying about Appen layoffs in 2026?

Explore Glassdoor’s employee reviews to understand what current and former employees are saying about Appen layoffs and their outlook for job security at Appen in 2026.

What are the top reviewed Appen locations?

New York , San Francisco , Remote , Los Angeles , Atlanta , Miami , Seattle , Chicago , Dallas , Kirkland , Houston , Charlotte , Austin , Orlando , Jacksonville , Tampa , Detroit , Washington , Columbus , Bellevue , San Antonio , Bothell , Indianapolis , Baltimore , Sunnyvale , Birmingham , Virginia Beach , Raleigh , San Jose , Colorado Springs

Appen reviews

3.5

61% would recommend to a friend

(2,200 total reviews)

Ryan Kolln

48% approve of CEO

49% positive business outlook

Ratings by category

3.8

Work/Life balance

3.6

Diversity & inclusion

3.2

Culture & values

3.0

Senior management

3.0

Compensation and benefits

3.0

Career opportunities

Appen has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 2,200 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Appen employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Ratings by demographic groups

Race / Ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation

Disability

Parent or family caregiver

Veteran status

Reviews by job title

2K reviews

5.0

Sep 28, 2017

Appen is a total scam and ripoff of your valuable time.

Anonymous employee

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

Working at home on the computer.

Cons

Lack of proper communication. No phone communication whatsoever, only by sending in tickets and emails. They hired me for a project for me to review advertisements and I worked hard at this task and always looked back at the materials as a guideline to keep all my answers as per how they want them to be. However, this was not good enough for them and I was retested. Of course, I knew they would fail the retest and fire me immediately. In addition, I have been putting in my house on my time sheet and they have not paid me once. They claim I will be paid for the hours I billed for but I have not seen any money yet. I am giving up on seeing any pay and my working with Appen has been a total waste of my time when I could have been putting in my efforts working for someone else.

Appen Response

8y

We’re very sorry to hear about your negative experience with Appen! Please feel free to contact us at feedback@appen.com; we would love to hear more information about your situation in hopes that it will help us improve our processes. - HR Manager

5.0

May 9, 2018

Associate Project Manager at Kirkland WA

Associate project manager

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

At Appen I have learned so much about technology business and data administration that is put to use in the improvement of tools that millions of people use every day. Now, every time I think of a person going over a search online it makes me proud to feel like I possibly made that search more accurate and reliable in a way. Appen offers a great working environment with great office space, phenomenal people, and flexibility. At Appen, my expertise is much appreciated and always welcome, we build our teams to be diverse and provide different points of view for each and every decision.

Cons

If you are going into Appen thinking that working from home is basically having a pc on and watching Netflix then this is NOT for you. Appen provides challenging work and it will keep you engaged. (This is not really a con but more of an FYI for future applicant's consideration)

Appen Response

8y

Thanks for this excellent review and for your continued work here at Appen!

1.0

Jun 2, 2017

COMPANY IS A SCAM

Search engine evaluator

Recommend

CEO approval

Business Outlook

Pros

None that are worth mentioning.

Cons

I went through their unpaid training only to be able to work 1 day at 9.00 an hour for only 4 hours. They never had available tasks after my first day and when I would contact management, I was told to be patient and that they were investigating the issue. This went on for several weeks. I was told to report my hours as NO WORK AVAILABLE, which I did. Then I just received an email terminating my employment due to not being able to meet their accuracy metrics. Impossible! I only worked for 1 day and that was almost a month ago! Clearly they knew there was an issue on their end as to the many emails I received regarding such, so instead of correcting the problem, I was fired. I have never been fired in my life!!!! I have seen others posting similar stories to mine and I can't help but to think there is something fishy going on. It was a complete waste of my time and I don't recommend anyone else making the same mistake!

Viewing 1 - 3 of 2,200 Reviews

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

IBM

3.6★Compensation & Benefits

Dell Technologies

3.5★Compensation & Benefits

Concentrix

3.5★Compensation & Benefits

Booz Allen Hamilton

3.7★Compensation & Benefits

Appen

Appen reviews

Ratings by category

Ratings by demographic groups

Reviews by job title

Appen is a total scam and ripoff of your valuable time.

Associate Project Manager at Kirkland WA

COMPANY IS A SCAM

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Appen reviews FAQs

Want the inside scoop on your own company?

Bowls

Followed companies

Job searches

Top companies for "Compensation and Benefits" near you

Appen reviews FAQs