Appen Reviews 369

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

WASTE OF TIME!!!!! STAY AWAY!!!

APPEN SUPPORT STAFF ARE THIEVES. I request for a payout and they asked me to submit documents which I did. After that my balance is missing an no where can be found and all my messages got ignored. Don't apply for this company. They will steal your hard earned money.

I am very disappointed with my experience with CrowdGen. I submitted all the required documents for ID verification, and while the website clearly states that the process takes 15 minutes to 2 business days, I have been waiting far beyond that with no resolution.

This is not the first time I have faced this issue. In the past, I had to delete a previous account because my verification was stuck for more than two months. Now the same problem is happening again.

What makes this worse is that other users who submitted the exact same type of documents were approved immediately, while my application is repeatedly delayed without explanation. Every time I contact support, I only receive automated responses or vague answers about “backlog,” with no clear timeline for resolution.

This is misleading and unprofessional. If you cannot process verifications in the promised time, you should stop advertising that you can. Right now, the process feels unfair, unreliable, and not transparent.

I am sharing my experience here because I want other people to be aware before investing their time. Unless CrowdGen takes action to resolve these delays and provide honest communication, I cannot recommend them to anyone.

Pathetic company. I worked on Appens' major projects as a self-employed contractor with household-name businesses, initially through another company and had been doing so for many years. Then, unfortunately, in 2017/18, Appen purchased this business, and things immediately started to go downhill. We went from an organised workforce to a rudderless ship. They promised new projects, but these would come and go quickly or, in many cases, just never get off the ground. Their change to a new online platform was a disaster, project application processes were broken, and when you asked support for help, you either got ignored or they answered totally unrelated questions. Then in 2024, Appen somehow managed to lose 2 huge projects, 1 I had been on for over 11 years and another 6 years, promised to replace them with more projects, but their website is a ghost town these days, trying to farm you out to their Chinese division for pathetic rates of pay. There are no redeeming qualities to this company; management seems clueless, look at their share price over the last 5 years for proof. Destroyed the company I contracted to before they took over, and are not even a serious player in the AI workspace that most of us ex-contractors have moved on to since losing the bulk of their work at the end of 2024. Avoid and look to the other reputable AI training businesses.

Ótima empresa.
Super recomendo