Is Appen Legit?

Welcome to my website and thank you for checking the Appen review on my site. 

Most likely you are searching for ways how to find another stream of income and you are wondering whether the Appen is the right solution for you. 
I am glad that you do your due diligence since it is easy to fall for a scam these days. 

What do I mean by that? Does it mean that Appen is a scammy site? 

Or, Is Appen Legit?

Let’s do the research on Appen. 

Jump to:

• What is Appen
• Founders of Appen
• Who is Appen For?
• How does it work once you join the Appen?
• How Much Can You Earn with Appen?
• Appen Reviews
• Is Appen Legit? 
• Can you Make a Consistent Income from Appen?
• What are the Appen Pros & Cons?

By the time, you are done reading this post, you will have a full picture of what Appen is as one of the “work-from-home” opportunities. 

Disclaimer
Please note, that I am not a member or an affiliate of Appen. This review is based on research and information available online in the public domain.
Any recommendations and conclusions are only opinions and may not apply to all persons or situations.

Appen Quick Overview

Name: Appen 
Website: www.appen.com
Price to Join: $0
Recommended: Yes, if you want a freelance job

What is Appen?

Appen is a work-at-home company offering a lot of projects for people from all over the world. 

is a company that collects data to create and enhance the most innovative artificial systems. They gather data from human interactions and implement it, for example, into bots.

This means that when you want to order something online and have questions, you might notice a chat feature available on the website. In many cases, there is no human operator on the other side; instead, you are communicating with artificial intelligence.

The quality of this communication varies, and that’s where Appen comes in. They specialize in improving these bots so they can communicate at a higher level. If a bot is unable to answer a question, it will forward the query to a real person.

In a nutshell, this is what Appen does. But for you, as a potential contractor, it’s important to know that Appen offers a variety of projects you can participate in.

Appen collaborates with more than 1 million contractors who speak over 180 languages and dialects. The company employs over 700 direct employees spread across nine offices worldwide.

If you want to work part-time for Appen, here are 3 main categories you can choose from: 

Projects

Within the projects, you can find simple surveys or long-term projects. 
Depending on the project there are different skills required, from people who use social media on a regular basis to candidates with college degrees in linguistics. 

The project you might be working on depends on your location/country. 

Let me share with you a few jobs as examples:

• Translation
• Lexicon Annotation
• Speech Evaluation
• Social and/or Search Media Evaluation

Micro Tasks

Before you can do the micro-tasks, you must create a contributor portal account.
You are going to need your full name and email. 

A contributor must be at least 18 years old and has to verify the account via SMS. To get paid it is necessary to connect the PayPal account. 

After getting to the portal you get access to a list of tasks that you can complete from home. 

Surveys and Data Collection

Depending on a specific project, you need to register and there are certain requirements: 

• Computer with Windows (Vista, or 7+)
• 3 to 5 years of residency in the country
• Windows Live ID

Then you can go ahead and perform simple tasks, or you can record your voice ( for example, with your cell phone).

Besides these 3 categories above you can also search for a corporate job.
These positions are mostly in

• Engineering
• Sales
• Finance
• and Marketing niche.

With all that being said, it looks like Appen is a legit company and if you want to find a job, this is a good opportunity for you. 

Let’s go a bit deeper. 

Founders of Appen

Appen was founded in 1996 in Australia Sydney by Dr. Julie Vonwiller and Chris Vonwiller.

It was formerly known as Appen Butler Hill. 

Dr. Vonwiller was a linguist at the University of Sydney and Mr. Vonwiller worked as an engineer at Telstra.

Back in 2018, the company’s earnings were a little over $70 million, and in 2019 the revenue grew by 60%. 

The current CEO is Mark Brayan who joined Appen in July 2015. 

According to Mark, the company’s growth, “was a result of the accelerating AI market”. 

Let’s see what he has to say about Appen

With that being said, Appen is a well-established company with the potential to grow in the upcoming years. 
That means more projects and more jobs for contractors. 

Who is Appen for?

Appen is a great opportunity for anyone who wants to work online as an independent contractor looking for 2nd stream of extra income or needs to solve his/her current financial situation.

I am not saying that this is the best company for freelancers, but nobody is perfect, right? Later, I will be sharing with you some complaints about the Appen so you have a full picture. 

Let’s focus at the moment on the positive aspects;
If you have any of the following skills you can check the available jobs within the Appen site.

• expert in the language(s) 
• analytical thinking
• Internet savvy 

These are general skills, so that means that anyone can apply. 
The thing is that not everyone will be accepted. 

You would need to pass the assessment. Usually, there are 2 of them. 
People with average skills don’t have problems passing the assessments. 

Generally speaking, there are always a lot of projects going on, from simple ones to more complex ones. 
Be prepared to work on 1 project for a week or two, but also some can take as long as half a year.
It does not mean that you have to be 12 hours in front of the computer.
Remember, you are a freelancer so sometimes you can work 2 hours per day, sometimes 8 hours. 

Let’s elaborate a bit more on how it works:

How to Join Appen and How does Appen work?

It is easy to join Appen, but it takes a little bit of effort to get onto a specific project. 

The first thing you need to do is to select the country of your residence and complete the registration form. 

You will go through a bunch of questions like what is your primary language and dialect. 
In case you speak any additional languages, don’t forget to add another language. It will widen your options. 

Then proceed to the registration form that includes your

• contact information (name, address),
• telephone,
• residence history,
• education,
• experience,
• your references (if you have any)
• and upload your CV

Now, you can just submit your application and wait.

You should get feedback within a week or so on whether you are accepted or not. 
Let’s assume you are accepted (as it is highly likely). Now you can start applying for different projects that suit you the best. 

Make sure to keep checking the Appen site, since every day they are new project added.

How do I know if I am qualified?

You get an email with an official invitation to qualify for a specific project or more projects. 
Each project will have its own guidelines. Then you can access the training assessments. 

These are not paid, but you have to go through them to be able to start with the project. 

Now, you can start working on your project and get paid. 

How Much Can You Earn with Appen? 

This depends on the job or project you are involved in. 

But basically, it is about $12 to $14 per hour. The highest would be about $30 an hour – but it is rare.

Also, take into consideration that you might get paid for 3 hours. However, the actual time you spend on the project is more than 3 hours. (In other words, no one pays for the additional time).

With that being said, it may help you with your current situation but it won’t solve your problem down the road.
Especially when you have been already thinking about starting an online business. 
Meaning – your own internet marketing business. 

But I digress.

When it comes to an Appen payday, it is worth mentioning that you are paid once per month.
This is particularly important for those folks who are used to getting a paycheck weekly. 

Also, it is important to realize that you are not an employee. That means that you are responsible for paying the taxes. 
So if you perform your work from the USA, at the end of a year the company provides you with the 1099 form.

A lot of people sign up for Appen, they are accepted and then they complain about taking the training and not being paid.
Again, this is a contractor’s job. 

Appen Reviews

When you search for Appen Reviews on Google, you will likely come across numerous negative reviews, such as those on Trustpilot.

Having thoroughly examined all the reviews from 2023, here is the summary

• Some users criticize Appen for spamming job listings and paying users for referrals, leading to excessive spam and wasting people’s time.
• Others complain about poor organization and slow customer support, with some users not receiving payment even after several months.
• There are concerns about the company’s access to freelancers’ personal data and the disclosure of confidential information.
• Some reviewers express hesitation or disappointment in their experiences with Appen, citing issues with payment, project allocation, and lack of work opportunities.
• Several users mention difficulties in contacting support and resolving technical issues during the onboarding process.
• Some individuals question the legitimacy and appeal of the projects offered by Appen, with doubts about the earnings potential and the usability of the Chinese platform.
• Many users feel that Appen does not provide enough work, leading to frustration and an inability to earn money despite receiving emails about incentives and bonuses.
• Some reviewers warn against signing up with Appen due to a perceived lack of support, delays in processing referrals, and contract termination without valid reasons.
• There are allegations of Appen requesting sensitive personal information and subsequently deleting user accounts, leading to suspicions of potential scams.

This is the most recent review as of this Appen review update:

Is Appen Legit? 

Despite the negative reviews, I must say that Appen is a legit system.

There are some cases where people pretend to be Appen representatives, promising to give you Apple phones or similar gadgets.

Do not trust them. These are the real scammers and not genuine Appen members.

Can you Make a Consistent Income from Appen?

Appen is a great opportunity if you are looking for a freelance job.

The disadvantage is that the workload might fluctuate and you still depend on an hourly wage. 
And even if you can work anytime, you can’t scale it up to the next level. 

Meaning that there are only so many hours per day that you can work and therefore the income potential is limited. 

Where am I getting with that? 

Did you know that these days it is very easy to build a website? 
A website is considered digital real estate and depending on the content the value of such a site varies. 

My point is that you can be the owner of such a site and you can create content – so people will find you after googling a specific keyword. 
What you need to do, is to choose your niche. 

Think about your experience, hobby, or passion.
That is something you want to build your site around. 

I know that it may sound simple, but what I would like to show you is the potential of the Internet. 
Billions of people go online these days looking for information advice or a good tip. 

You can provide these people with specific information and once your site has enough visitors you can monetize that. 
To put it in perspective – I know people who within 1 and a half years make 4 or 5 digits per month. And they did not have prior experience in the internet marketing 

You can also create a website and in a few years sell it for a couple of grand. 

Everything is possible and with proper education, it can be done easier than you currently think. 

So I think it is OK to work as a freelancer for a while, but in the meanwhile, it is advisable to invest time into education and today the biggest asset is internet marketing. 
Once you learn how to sell without being salesy online, you can make millions in the long run.

The key would be to outsource the work and focus on what you do best or you can take a few weeks off, even a month. 
If you love to travel as I do, just spend a few hours per week on the laptop to oversee the guys working for you. 

Spend some quality time with your family. In other words, you want a business online that generates enough income so you can outsource some work, to free up your time. 

What I like about Appen

• Appen is a well-establish company with the potential to grow in the next few years
• They pay decent money (but it depends on your expectation) 
• Great as a second source of income
• Location flexibility

What I don’t like about Appen

• You can’t rely on Appen as a source of stable income on a month-to-month basis
• Some projects take too long and they might be time-consuming
• Too many complaints from former (and possibly current) contractors

Conclusion

Appen is a legitimate company, also well-established. If you want to work from home as a freelance I can recommend the Appen. 

The application process is not that easy and it may take a few weeks until you get onto a project. 
Also, the workload changes, so it can happen that you won’t find a suitable job for a week. It could be a waste of time.

With the current events though I think it is safe to say that there will be even more projects down the road,  so it is a great opportunity to join the Appen. 

In case you would like to start your own business, let me know in the comment section below, or just check the link at the bottom. 

Hopefully, you find this Appen review helpful, but should you have any more questions regarding the Appen leave your question below. 

I will be more than happy to provide you with feedback. 

Thank you for reading,
Mike.