Refery vs Mercor
Hiring your team, or delivering an AI project?
Start with the work you need done. Finding an employee to own your product and bringing in experts to evaluate an AI system are different buying decisions.
Short answer: Refery recruits Engineering, AI, and GTM employees for VC-backed Seed to Series B companies. Mercor’s current public offering includes expert staffing, AI evaluations, and enterprise AI delivery. Compare the engagement scope first, not just the word “talent.” [1][2]
Written by Refery. Reviewed . Sources and scope.
The current offer
What Mercor describes today.
Mercor’s human-data page describes two engagement models: embedded specialists directed by the client, and managed evaluation work priced by task. Its enterprise offering also covers identifying AI opportunities, deploying agents, and improving production systems. [1][2]
Those services can sit alongside an internal engineering team. They are not automatically equivalent to a recruiting search for an employee. Ask Mercor directly whether it supports your exact employment arrangement; this comparison does not assume that an unlisted service is unavailable.
How Refery works
Recruiting specialists. Operator context.
Refery is a startup recruiting network for VC-backed Seed to Series B companies hiring Engineering, AI, and GTM talent. It combines specialist independent recruiters with referrals from founders, operators, and investors.
Send us the role and what this person needs to own. Refery coordinates the search, screens candidates, and provides context on why each person fits. Recruiter-led sourcing and personal referrals are different sources of evidence; the candidate brief should make that distinction clear.
Companies pay 15% to 25% of first-year base salary on a successful hire. No retainer. No exclusivity. A 90-day guarantee under the client agreement. See Refery’s fees and guarantee.
At a glance
Compare the actual scope.
Public positioning, not a negotiated quote. On smaller screens, scroll the table horizontally.
| Compare | Refery | Mercor |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | A recruiting search for a startup employee. | Expert staffing, evaluation delivery, or enterprise AI work, depending on the engagement. [1][2] |
| Who does the work | Specialist independent recruiters plus founder, operator, and investor referrals. | Domain experts for evaluations; enterprise engagements also use forward-deployed engineers. [1][2] |
| Fee basis | 15% to 25% of first-year base salary, paid on a successful hire. | Request a scoped quote. The human-data page describes staffing and per-task delivery, not a universal placement percentage. [1] |
| Terms to check | No retainer. No exclusivity. A 90-day guarantee under the client agreement. | Confirm the staffing or delivery terms, acceptance criteria, and any employment or conversion provisions in the proposal. |
How to choose
Start with the role. Then the model.
If this person will own your roadmap, work through the tradeoffs with your founders, and grow with your team, write an employee brief. Define the first thing they must ship, the decisions they will own, and who will assess their work. That is the starting point for a Refery search.
If your immediate need is a defined evaluation project or additional specialist capacity, write a statement of work. Specify the deliverable, the reviewer, the data-access boundaries, and how you will judge completion. Use that brief to compare a service proposal with building the capability in-house.
Do not compare a salary-based recruiting fee with a project budget as though they cover the same thing. Separate the hire’s salary, the search fee, and any ongoing service costs. You may need an internal owner and an external delivery team.
Building an early team? Explore startup recruiting, AI recruiting, and founding engineer hiring.
Ask before starting
- Do we need an employee, embedded specialist capacity, or a finished deliverable?
- Who directs the work, and who is accountable for the result?
- What is included in the quoted price, and what creates additional cost?
- What happens if the scope changes or the engagement ends?
Questions
Common questions.
Is Refery an alternative to Mercor?
Does Mercor offer permanent employee recruiting?
What does Refery cost for an AI or engineering hire?
Refery charges 15% to 25% of first-year base salary on a successful hire, with no retainer and no exclusivity. The 90-day guarantee is governed by the client agreement. Agree the rate and terms before starting the search.
Sources
Sources and scope.
This comparison is written by Refery, not an independent reviewer. Competitor descriptions summarize the official pages below, checked on September 19, 2026. Our recommendations are editorial judgment, not measured performance rankings.
Public pages and commercial terms can change. Confirm the scope, fee basis, and guarantee conditions directly before signing. We do not rank providers by unverified placement counts, candidate volume, or hiring speed.
Start a search
Tell us what this hire needs to own.
A job description, a Notion doc, or a paragraph is enough to start the conversation. We’ll discuss the brief, search approach, and terms with you.