The Posted-Work Atlas

The strike list

Everything that survived verification — the verified pillars plus the alive-and-paying new finds. These are the 12 markets that earn actual hours; the atlas below is the full terrain they sit in.

PURSUEVERIFIED

Superteam Earn

bounties, USDC

Core pillar. Filter AGENT_ALLOWED + low-submission listings. $50–90/op-hr.

The pillars

PURSUEVERIFIED

Reddit r/slavelabour + r/forhire

$5–300/task

Fastest cash. 50% upfront over $20, check Universal Scammer List.

The pillars

PURSUEVERIFIED

Opire

100% of posted bounty

Small but low competition; Stripe payout on merge.

The pillars

PURSUEVERIFIED

OnlyDust

$1–3K/mo for regulars

Twice-weekly payout post-KYC; ODHack weeks concentrate paid issues.

The pillars

PURSUEVERIFIED

Solana Foundation USA Grants / Instagrants

avg $7,985/grant

Keep asks <$5k. Needs 2–3 shipped bounties as proof-of-work. $60–120/op-hr.

The pillars

PURSUEALIVE

Metaculus FutureEval bot tournament

$50K/season + $1K MiniBench

AI-native, sponsored model credits, fully async. Squared payout = lottery, but best structural fit in the sweep.

Data, ML & forecasting competitions

PURSUEALIVE

Gray Swan Arena

$100 min; pools $40–170K

Real lab-funded cash. Manual entry only (~50/50 human/AI, not a Claude-90% pipeline).

AI red-team & bug bounties

PURSUEALIVE

Devpost online hackathons

$1K–50K+ pools

57 open events (Jul 2026). AI required, not banned. ~2% win rate → lottery layer; pick low-visibility, high prize/submission events.

AI build hackathons

PURSUEALIVE

US Bankruptcy Court unclaimed funds

10–35%, $50–100K+

Federal (no state registration), uncapped fee. Defunct-business research AI does well; one notarized POA. Highest-ceiling new find.

Unclaimed asset / heir / surplus recovery

PURSUEALIVE

Tax-sale / foreclosure surplus funds

10–30%, $500–20K/case

Highest $/case; guru-saturated. Pick permissive states (GA), attorney partner, >90-day lag.

Unclaimed asset / heir / surplus recovery

PURSUEALIVE

Heir-search firm subcontract (Heir Pros)

$30–100/hr

Firm does the outreach; you deliver research — paid on acceptance, no contingency risk.

Unclaimed asset / heir / surplus recovery

SIDE-BETALIVE

Unified Patents PATROLL

$2K (often split $1K)

Winner-take-all vs. repeat pros; Pearl chart tool mandatory (AI leverage → search only). 1–2 calibration entries on obscure contests.

Research, prior-art & bounty boards

The full atlas — 14 terrains

Every market found, organized by what you deliver. Filter by verdict, AI-leverage, or contact; search by name. Green = pursue, blue = side-bet, amber = monitor, rust = skip.

The pillars

Prior-verified base income — objective acceptance-triggered bounties.

Superteam Earn VERIFIED bounties, USDC

PURSUE acceptance / win async AI HIGH

Core pillar. Filter AGENT_ALLOWED + low-submission listings. $50–90/op-hr.

Reddit r/slavelabour + r/forhire VERIFIED $5–300/task

PURSUE delivery async AI HIGH

Fastest cash. 50% upfront over $20, check Universal Scammer List.

Opire VERIFIED 100% of posted bounty

PURSUE merge async AI HIGH

Small but low competition; Stripe payout on merge.

OnlyDust VERIFIED $1–3K/mo for regulars

PURSUE reward allocation async AI HIGH

Twice-weekly payout post-KYC; ODHack weeks concentrate paid issues.

Solana Foundation USA Grants / Instagrants VERIFIED avg $7,985/grant

PURSUE written app + demo async AI HIGH

Keep asks <$5k. Needs 2–3 shipped bounties as proof-of-work. $60–120/op-hr.

govcon product middleman KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

Needs ~$9k float fronted before net-30. GPC channel gutted (EO 14222).

SBIR/STTR Phase I KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

Real 6–12mo R&D obligation; AI = research-misconduct exposure (NIH NOT-OD-25-132).

Etsy digital downloads KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

June 2025 Creativity Standards killed templated/AI bulk listings.

eBay / book flipping KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

Un-AI-leverageable labor; new-seller caps + 21–31 day holds.

Creative & design contests

Client-run design / naming / art / video / music contests; win or get selected.

99designs $299–1,299+

MONITOR win async AI MED

Many contests flag no-AI; low new-account win rate.

DesignCrowd $100–1,000

SKIP win async AI MED

AI banned for logos / full artwork.

Freelancer.com Contests $50–500 typ

MONITOR win async AI HIGH

No AI ban, but massive cheap-contest competition.

crowdspring $200–1,000

MONITOR win / finalist async AI MED

Finalist splits help; AI policy unclear.

Atom.com naming (ex-Squadhelp) ~$300/win

MONITOR win no contact AI HIGH

Zero contact, AI names ubiquitous, low win rate until tier rises.

Threadless $300/selection, $20K grand

MONITOR selection no contact AI MED

Licensed-IP challenges repeatable; AI down-scored.

Spoonflower mostly store credit

SKIP vote no contact AI ✕

AI forbidden, prizes not cash.

Minted up to $10K + 6–10% royalty

MONITOR win + royalty no contact AI LOW

Best royalty economics; anti-AI voting community.

Vocal.media $100–5K

SKIP win no contact AI ✕

AI detector DQs entries + paywall.

Reedsy Prompts $250/wk

SKIP win no contact AI ✕

AI-banned; use its directory as an index only.

Tongal $500–25K+

MONITOR selection → delivery some calls AI MED

Idea/pitch phases AI-leverageable; production needs gear + calls.

Genero $1K–20K+

MONITOR selection → delivery some calls AI MED

Treatments AI-friendly; animation briefs most feasible.

Talenthouse REFUTED DEAD

SKIP — — AI —

Bankrupt Feb 2026.

Songtradr sync briefs $50–5K+

MONITOR selection no contact AI MED

Rare case-by-case AI-music acceptance; confirm gen-tool license.

Sync libraries (Musicbed/Epidemic/Pond5) 50% splits

SKIP acceptance → royalty async AI ✕

AI music rejected.

TAXI Music $100–5K+

SKIP selection no contact AI LOW

$299/yr fee eats float.

LEGO Ideas 1% royalty

SKIP selection async AI LOW

Multi-year; physical build AI can't do.

BrickLink Designer 5% royalty

SKIP vote + crowdfund async AI LOW

~1% advance rate; expert craft.

MarketBlast / Edison Nation 2–10% royalty

SKIP selection + license some calls AI MED

Fees, years-long, tiny acceptance.

Data, ML & forecasting competitions

Models / forecasts scored on leaderboards or judged; prize on placement.

Metaculus FutureEval bot tournament ALIVE $50K/season + $1K MiniBench

PURSUE leaderboard no contact AI HIGH

AI-native, sponsored model credits, fully async. Squared payout = lottery, but best structural fit in the sweep.

Kaggle featured comps $25K–100K typ

MONITOR leaderboard no contact AI HIGH

Gen-AI allowed, but pro teams dominate big pools; niche comps winnable.

Kaggle frontier mega-prizes (ARC/AIMO) $1M+

SKIP benchmark no contact AI HIGH

AI-research; ~0 EV for a generalist.

Metaculus human cash tournaments $5K–30K

MONITOR leaderboard no contact AI HIGH

AI-assist standard; entrenched top forecasters cap $/hr.

Bridgewater Open (x Metaculus) $30K pool

MONITOR top-50 no contact AI HIGH

2026 closed; next ~Jan 2027; AI permitted.

RAND INFER Pro Forecaster $200/mo+

MONITOR stipend / selection async AI MED

Reliable cash but needs a 6-mo track record first.

WorldQuant BRAIN $2K–8K/qtr per alpha

MONITOR acceptance + perf async AI HIGH

Async, no capital risk; months to Master tier.

CrunchDAO / ADIA Lab $6K/qtr pool → $40K first

MONITOR leaderboard no contact AI HIGH

No capital risk, USDC, recurring quarterly shots.

Numerai stake-proportional

SKIP perf / royalty no contact AI HIGH

Requires NMR stake (capital risk); trivial income sub-$500.

Quantiacs 10% of profits

SKIP win → perf no contact AI HIGH

Payout lag measured in years.

DrivenData $10K–100K

MONITOR leaderboard no contact AI HIGH

Smaller fields than Kaggle; generous pools.

Zindi $1K–10K

MONITOR win no contact AI HIGH

Thin fields improve odds; check Africa-only eligibility.

AIcrowd $5K–50K

MONITOR win no contact AI HIGH

Research-flavored, favors specialists; small fields.

Codabench $500–10K

MONITOR win no contact AI HIGH

Tiny academic fields (<50); payment reliability varies.

Solafune $5K–20K

MONITOR win no contact AI HIGH

Niche geospatial; thin competition.

ThinkOnward (ex-Xeek) $10K–50K

MONITOR win no contact AI HIGH

Small energy-sector fields; judged write-ups.

Topcoder Marathon $250–10K

MONITOR leaderboard no contact AI MED

Elite field; only ~4 matches/yr.

Tianchi / Signate / Bitgrit $10K–100K

SKIP win no contact AI HIGH

Chinese/JP banking gates US payout.

AI red-team & bug bounties

Break / exploit models; paid on verified finding.

Gray Swan Arena ALIVE $100 min; pools $40–170K

PURSUE verified break / rank no contact AI HIGH

Real lab-funded cash. Manual entry only (~50/50 human/AI, not a Claude-90% pipeline).

HackAPrompt 2.0 $40–100K pools

MONITOR win / rank no contact AI HIGH

Episodic; catch the next season.

Anthropic Model Safety Bounty up to $15K

MONITOR accepted finding async AI HIGH

Public since May 2026; few universal jailbreaks ever verified.

OpenAI Safety Bounty $200–20K, up to $100K

MONITOR accepted report async AI HIGH

Higher bar (real safety impact, not pure jailbreak); $1M pool.

xAI / Grok Bounty $200–100K

MONITOR accepted async AI HIGH

Rewards model-behavior issues.

Microsoft AI Bounty (Copilot) $250–30K

MONITOR accepted async AI HIGH

Covers model behavior.

Google AI VRP $500–30K

MONITOR accepted async AI MED

Security-impact only; jailbreaks out of scope.

0din (Mozilla) $500–15K

MONITOR accepted async AI HIGH

Purpose-built for the jailbreak / model-behavior class.

Apart Research Sprints $2–3K/sprint

MONITOR selection async AI HIGH

Small cash, recurring, fellowship pathway.

RedTeam Arena (LMSYS) $0

SKIP rank no contact AI HIGH

No money; skill-building only.

Global Prompt Engineering Championship up to ~$272K

MONITOR win in-person AI HIGH

Online quals remote; final in-person (Dubai).

AI build hackathons

Ship an AI-built app/agent to a sponsor brief; judged payout.

Devpost online hackathons ALIVE $1K–50K+ pools

PURSUE judged win async AI HIGH

57 open events (Jul 2026). AI required, not banned. ~2% win rate → lottery layer; pick low-visibility, high prize/submission events.

lablab.ai hackathons $10K–60K+

MONITOR judged win async AI HIGH

AI-builder-native sister ecosystem; ≤90-day payout.

Berkeley AgentX / Microsoft Agents League $1K–55K

MONITOR judged async AI HIGH

Emerging agent-league category.

DoraHacks BUIDL $500–100K+

MONITOR win / selection async AI HIGH

Crypto Devpost; AI submissions normal.

Build with Gemini XPRIZE $50K–500K, $2M pool

SKIP judged in-person AI HIGH

Requires a real revenue business + LA finale (Sept 25 2026).

Research, prior-art & bounty boards

Research / scraping / micro-task deliverables; paid on acceptance, selection, or merge.

Unified Patents PATROLL ALIVE $2K (often split $1K)

SIDE-BET win no contact AI HIGH

Winner-take-all vs. repeat pros; Pearl chart tool mandatory (AI leverage → search only). 1–2 calibration entries on obscure contests.

RWS AOP Connect $100–5K

MONITOR selection no contact AI HIGH

PATROLL competitor; verify current study volume.

Cloudflare Project Jengo $500–15K+

SKIP selection no contact AI HIGH

Dormant; ideal when open — standing watch.

Polkadot / Kusama child bounties tens–low thousands

MONITOR acceptance async AI HIGH

Healthiest on-chain DAO board; DOT volatility.

Bountycaster (Farcaster) $1–200

MONITOR acceptance async AI HIGH

Micro-tickets, instant USDC; optional escrow = nonpayment risk.

Zealy Earn $1–50

SKIP acceptance async AI MED

Bot competition; sub-$20 tickets.

Layer3 quests cents–few $

SKIP per-session no contact AI LOW

Marketing dust.

Dework $20–2K

SKIP acceptance async AI HIGH

Landing page is a shell; skip pending proof.

Gigafact fact briefs ~$50–150/brief

MONITOR acceptance some calls AI MED

Ethical paid fact-check; AI-tool-friendly training.

Gengo / Lionbridge translation $0.03–0.08/word

SKIP acceptance no contact AI ✕

Raw MT/AI banned; English-only operator.

DoltHub Data Bounties $25–10K

SKIP merge no contact AI HIGH

Dead Sept 2023 (category prototype).

Replit Bounties $20–2K+

SKIP acceptance async AI HIGH

Dead; migrated to Contra.

Spec-submission writing & art markets

Standing open calls; paid on editorial acceptance or contest win. AI mostly banned here.

Blue Mountain Arts poetry $300/poem

MONITOR acceptance no contact AI MED

High rate; needs heavy human curation, low acceptance.

Humor greeting cards (Oatmeal/Snafu) REFUTED $50–250/idea

SKIP acceptance no contact AI ✕

Shrunk to Oatmeal ($100, AI-banned); Calypso/Viabella dead.

NYT Crossword $500–2,250

SKIP acceptance async AI ✕

AI-assisted construction discouraged; elite craft.

Indie / syndicated crosswords $50–500

MONITOR acceptance async AI MED

Software-assist normal; slow queues.

McSweeney's ~$50/piece

MONITOR acceptance no contact AI MED

Fast, byline value; AI-flat gets rejected.

Reader's Digest jokes/stories $25–100

SKIP selection no contact AI ✕

Explicit AI ban; lottery.

Per-acceptance op-ed / essay outlets $100–600

MONITOR acceptance async AI MED

Op-eds AI-leverageable; personal essays need lived material.

Recipe contests (Taste of Home) $100–500

MONITOR win no contact AI MED

Must cook + photograph; AI does concept only.

Wirestock Challenges REFUTED was $10–250

SKIP win / royalty no contact AI HIGH

Discontinued Apr 9 2026.

Adobe Stock gen-AI track 33% royalty

SKIP royalty no contact AI HIGH

Slow royalty tail; saturated.

EyeEm Missions REFUTED DEAD

SKIP — — AI —

Shut down Dec 2025.

GrabCAD Challenges mostly non-cash

SKIP win no contact AI LOW

Hands-on CAD craft; prizes skew non-cash.

Institutional & academic prizes

Sponsor / foundation / agency competitions; judged selection.

Vesuvius Challenge ALIVE $1K–20K progress, $60K headline

MONITOR selection / milestone async AI HIGH

Alive + paying monthly, but prizes go to repeat experts; ~$2–5/op-hr.

NASA Tournament Lab (Freelancer) $50–5K

MONITOR win no contact AI HIGH

Small purses, many entrants, cheap AI entries.

DrivenData (federal) $10K–100K

MONITOR leaderboard no contact AI HIGH

Smaller fields; social-impact sponsors.

Topcoder (NASA) $500–25K

MONITOR placement no contact AI HIGH

Shrunk but pays; NASA matches recur.

Zindi / AIcrowd (institutional) $1K–50K

MONITOR leaderboard no contact AI HIGH

Thinner fields = better odds on open comps.

Berggruen Prize Essay $50K

MONITOR win no contact AI MED

Rare adult-open big-purse essay; check AI rules.

EA Forum / Manifund micro prizes $500–10K

MONITOR selection async AI MED

Thin competition; disclosed AI OK. Watch the 'bounties' tag.

Erdős Problems bounties $250–10K

MONITOR community-verified proof async AI MED

2026 AI-assisted solves landing; low $/hr but historic.

DARPA prize challenges $500K–2.5M

SKIP win trials in-person AI LOW

Hardware costs; in-person.

XPRIZE flagships $11M–101M

SKIP milestone some calls AI LOW

Multi-year team relationship.

NineSigma / yet2 scouting RFPs rarely fixed cash

SKIP selection → contract some calls AI LOW

IP-scouting funnel.

MIT Solve $10K+

SKIP selection some calls AI MED

Funds ventures; cohort program.

Wazoku / InnoCentive KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

Purses are pitch-gated vendor scouting (prior research).

HeroX / Challenge.gov KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

Prior-verified / killed; Challenge.gov sunset Mar 2026.

Referral, finder & content-clipping

Refer candidates / intros / leads or post promo clips; paid on conversion.

Whop Content Rewards ALIVE $1–2 CPM

MONITOR brand approval no contact AI HIGH

View lottery, ~$0 month one; filter out crypto-gambling briefs.

Draftboard REFUTED was $25–10K

SKIP interview / hire async AI HIGH

Pivoted to B2B SaaS ~Nov 2025; referral board dead.

Paraform $10–30K/placement

MONITOR hire some calls AI HIGH

Hot if admitted; recruiter vetting gate.

HeadRace $10K+/placement

MONITOR hire some calls AI HIGH

Lighter vetting; verify 2026 activity.

PartnerHQ ~$500/intro

MONITOR intro accepted async AI MED

Network-bound; zero post-intro mgmt.

IntroBridge $150–900/meeting

MONITOR qualified meeting async AI MED

Network-bound; deal-close lag.

SearchFunder finder fees $10K–100K+

SKIP deal closes async AI MED

Owner prospecting + 6–12mo lag + broker-dealer risk.

Reivesti Bird Dog $500–2K

MONITOR investor closes async AI MED

Legal if referral-only; verify state rules.

Billo / JoinBrands $20–60/video

SKIP brand accepts async AI LOW

Face-on-camera requirement; AI ~10%.

Insense $100–500/brief

SKIP accept async AI LOW

Needs an established creator account.

Game UGC & mod marketplaces

Assets / mods / experiences accepted into a store or contest; royalties or prizes.

CurseForge Author Rewards download points → cash

MONITOR upload approval no contact AI HIGH

Highest AI-leverage — Claude writes Forge/Fabric mods. Slow build.

Roblox UGC + DevEx 70%/sale

MONITOR acceptance → sales no contact AI HIGH

AI-embraced; discovery bottleneck; low median.

Roblox cash contests $10–15K

MONITOR judged no contact AI HIGH

Luau via Claude; recurring official contests.

Fortnite UEFN Creator Economy 40% + in-island sales

MONITOR review → engagement no contact AI HIGH

Verse via Claude; winner-take-most discovery.

Minecraft Marketplace Partner 70%/sale

MONITOR program + pack acceptance async AI HIGH

Best mechanic (acceptance → royalty); needs entity + portfolio.

Meta Horizon Worlds $50M fund bonuses

MONITOR acceptance + engagement no contact AI HIGH

Meta subsidizing hard; gen-AI welcomed; low competition.

Bethesda Verified Creator royalty share

MONITOR program + acceptance async AI MED

Papyrus via Claude; acceptance gate.

Nexus Mods Donation Points small $/1K downloads

MONITOR upload no contact AI MED

No acceptance gate; AI-assist OK except voice cloning.

GGMods contests / grants / salary

MONITOR win / selection async AI MED

Launched Jan 2026; early-mover; AI policy unknown.

CS2 / Dota2 Steam Workshop $10–100K+

SKIP acceptance no contact AI LOW

Elite 3D art; AI-hostile community.

Second Life Marketplace ~$0.004/L$

SKIP listing → sales no contact AI MED

No acceptance gate; declining economy; 2026 fee hikes.

Crowdtesting (pay-per-bug)

Find / report bugs on real devices; paid on customer acceptance.

Test IO (EPAM) $5–50/bug

MONITOR customer accepts no contact AI HIGH

Officially provides an AI bug-report tool; human must operate device. $50+/hr on critical hunting.

uTest / Applause $20–40 base + bug bonuses

MONITOR approval async AI MED

Largest community; rating ladder gates invites.

TesterWork (Global App Testing) low single-$ – $20/item

MONITOR validated no contact AI MED

Race-to-claim; sporadic cycles.

Testbirds Nest €10–50 + €1/bug

MONITOR accepted no contact AI MED

Fixed report fee decent; thin US invites.

BetaTesting.com $15–30/test

MONITOR completion some calls AI MED

Flat per-test; selection lottery.

PlaytestCloud $5–9/15min

MONITOR per-session no contact AI LOW

Voice narration = AI can't do it.

Pay4Bugs $5–50/bug

SKIP approval no contact AI HIGH

Perfect model but a ghost town (~7 clients).

Testlio (TestLions) $18/hr US

SKIP hours some calls AI LOW

Hourly-capped; scheduled windows.

UserTesting KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

Recorded human think-aloud; no AI leverage (prior research).

Paid human input / research studies

Your genuine self in interviews / surveys / studies; per-session pay. AI leverage ~zero — dead-minute filler only.

Respondent.io ALIVE $50–400/study

MONITOR per-session some calls AI ✕

Real + paying, ~5% acceptance; AI answers bannable. Screener-apply in dead minutes.

User Interviews ALIVE $50–150/hr

MONITOR per-session some calls AI ✕

~3.4% acceptance; some non-payment reports; gift cards.

20|20 Panel ALIVE $50–350

MONITOR per-session some calls AI ✕

40-yr firm; qualification lottery; webcam + recruiter calls.

dscout $25–200/mission

MONITOR completion async AI LOW

Async diary; authentic selfie-video.

Wynter $5–50 survey / $90–180hr

MONITOR per-completion async AI ✕

Needs a verifiable B2B role; polices AI.

OnlineVerdict $20–60 case, $200–700 trial

MONITOR per-completion async AI LOW

Async mock juror; low-volume filler.

Userlytics $30–90 moderated

MONITOR per-session some calls AI LOW

Moderated tier clears ~$60/hr.

PlaybookUX $30–60/session

MONITOR per-session some calls AI LOW

Fast payer; modest volume.

Overnight sleep studies $100–300/night

MONITOR completion in-person AI LOW

Paid while asleep; site-gated.

Phase I clinical trials $3–15K/study

MONITOR completion in-person AI LOW

Biggest single payout; run AI portfolio during confinement. In-person + medical risk.

Rare Patient Voice ~$120/hr

MONITOR per-completion some calls AI LOW

Only if a genuine condition match.

eJury $5–10/case

SKIP completion async AI LOW

~$10/hr.

Prolific KILLED —

SKIP — — AI —

AI use = ban; ~$10–15/hr honest (prior research).

Field verification & one-off local gigs

In-person single visits (photos / inspections / serving); paid on report acceptance. AI ~zero.

Gigwalk $3–100

MONITOR approval in-person AI LOW

Only ~$50/hr with metro clustering + streetcred.

Stringr $50–100/clip

MONITOR media buys in-person AI LOW

$50/15min plausible but unreliable.

Newsflare ~$30–125, up to $1,900

MONITOR license no contact AI LOW

Async except filming; viral upside.

ABC Legal (process serving) $20–80/serve

MONITOR completion in-person AI LOW

$50/hr in dense zones; falling rates; door-knocking.

Notary signing agent $75–200/signing

MONITOR completion in-person AI LOW

~$50–65/hr; $200–500 startup near float cap.

WeGoLook / ProxyPics / iVueit $5–75

SKIP approval in-person AI LOW

~$10–20/hr after drive time.

Insurance loss-control (Mueller/EXL) $10–40

SKIP QC accept in-person AI LOW

High mileage, low pay.

Unclaimed asset / heir / surplus recovery

Research owners/heirs of unclaimed funds; contingency or per-case fee. AI-friendly research; closings need one-off contact.

US Bankruptcy Court unclaimed funds ALIVE 10–35%, $50–100K+

PURSUE court release async AI HIGH

Federal (no state registration), uncapped fee. Defunct-business research AI does well; one notarized POA. Highest-ceiling new find.

Tax-sale / foreclosure surplus funds ALIVE 10–30%, $500–20K/case

PURSUE disbursement some calls AI HIGH

Highest $/case; guru-saturated. Pick permissive states (GA), attorney partner, >90-day lag.

Heir-search firm subcontract (Heir Pros) ALIVE $30–100/hr

PURSUE acceptance async AI MED

Firm does the outreach; you deliver research — paid on acceptance, no contingency risk.

UK Bona Vacantia estates 10–25%, $1.5–25K

MONITOR distribution some calls AI HIGH

AI genealogy fit but 6–24mo lag + heir outreach.

US state unclaimed property finder 10–15% cap, $50–1.5K

MONITOR state pays async AI HIGH

One-off disclosure letters OK; screen PI-license states.

Mineral-rights / royalty heir research $25–60/hr or contingency

MONITOR acceptance / release async AI HIGH

Less competed; TX PI-license trap.

Surplus-recovery firms hiring researchers commission $250–3K/deal

MONITOR payout some calls AI HIGH

Take research-only roles; reject cold-calling agent roles.

HUD/FHA premium refund tracing 10–30% of ~$700

SKIP HUD pays async AI HIGH

Aged pool; can't reach $50/hr.

Judgment recovery / assignment ~50%

SKIP collection some calls AI MED

Debt collection; FDCPA/licensing; capital risk.

PI-license-gated states (AZ/NC/IL/TX/FL) $0 without license

SKIP — no contact AI ✕

Serve only via the subcontract route.

// no markets match those filters

What separates winners from losers

Five structural tells, drawn across the whole universe. Use them to judge any market that isn't on this map yet.

Payout-trigger objectivity beats prize size

The reliable earners pay on a near-deterministic event — a merge, a validated bug, a court release. The losers dress up as bounties but pay on a subjective judged win, collapsing to lottery odds where 90–98% of entries earn nothing regardless of quality.

AI-native › AI-tolerated › AI-banned

The only true fits are markets where AI use is the point or explicitly sanctioned. A large, seductive slice — every paid research study, all UGC video, mock juries, greeting-card and fiction markets — bans AI in substance, because the product is authentic human judgment. Those contribute zero to a Claude-90% strategy no matter how legit the payout.

Entrant-pool size sets the real win rate

Thin fields are winnable; giant open pools are not. And where entrenched repeat professionals dominate — PATROLL's top searchers, superforecasters, skin artists — a newcomer's odds crater even inside a “small” field.

An institutional payer predicts you actually get paid

Lab-funded, platform-administered, or government-backed channels have near-zero non-payment risk. Optional-escrow or reputation-dependent channels carry real stiff-risk that no amount of AI leverage offsets.

The unicorn is build-once, runs-async, objective-trigger, AI-is-the-deliverable

Only Metaculus bot tournaments cleanly hit all four — and even it is gutted by a top-heavy payout curve. Absent that, the durable strategy is the acceptance-bounty pillars for base income, with red-team arenas, hackathons, and surplus/estate research as objective-or-lumpy upside layers on top.

pursue side-bet monitor skip VERIFIED fact-checked this sweep KILLED refuted / dead

Compiled from three adversarial research sweeps (75 agents total), July 2 2026. Payout ranges and win-rate notes reflect real 2025–2026 user reports, not marketing copy. Verdicts are calibrated to one operator: <$500 float, ~5 hrs/week, AI producing ~90% of each deliverable. Treat every unverified row as a lead to check, not a promise.