Should you license company data through a broker or directly to a buyer?
Quick answer, updated
Going direct to an AI data company means one contract, one price and, at several of them, a stated promise of no fees. A broker can put your data in front of more than one buyer, but it is paid either by you, as a commission when a deal closes, or by the buyer, which ties its income to that buyer. Of the 21 brokers in the index, two publish their commission rate, and almost none say who ends up with the data. Ask any broker who pays it, how much and which buyers it works with before you sign a mandate.
By David Persson, editor of Data Licensing Index.
Two routes to the same labs
An AI data company licenses your data and delivers it to AI labs, or trains on it itself. You sign with it, it pays you. A broker or intermediary introduces you to one or more of those buyers and takes a fee or a share. The index lists 24 AI data companies and 21 brokers, and the type is on every row.
Here is what each type publishes, counted from the index:
| Type | Buyers | Publish a range | Publish a seller fee | Publish a minimum size | Say who they sell to | Established tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI data company | 24 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 15 |
| broker or intermediary | 21 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 2 |
| marketplace | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| shutdown service | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
How brokers get paid
Brokers use three models, and the model decides whose side the broker’s money comes from.
| Model | What it means for you | Brokers that publish it |
|---|---|---|
| You pay a commission when a deal closes | The broker earns more when you are paid more. You know the cost only if the rate is published. | AIData Broker: “15% of the first $250,000 you are paid, less above that”. DataDeals: 10% of seller cash proceeds, capped at $100,000. Databounties, Corpus Bridge, Smelted and Supersoniq take a commission but publish no rate. |
| The buyer pays the broker | Nothing comes out of your payment, but the broker’s income comes from the buyer side. | Pewter, Regulr, DillisData, DataPaid and License My Data. |
| Revenue share | The broker licenses your data onward and you share in each sale. | Protege and Troveo. Troveo says no fees or deductions but does not publish its share. |
The rest do not say how they are paid. Montlake Licensing states $0 to the seller, and Sell Business Data says it takes part only when a deal closes, without publishing terms. AI26, DataReferrals, Grepped, Maryah, Miro Advisory and License Your Data publish no fee model at all; License Your Data sets compensation in a separate written agreement.
One practice stands out. DataDeals says that if it “receives compensation from a buyer or referral partner on the same transaction, we disclose it and credit it against the seller’s fee”. That is the question to put to every broker: are you paid by anyone else on this deal, and does it reduce what I pay you?
What “free to the seller” means
Pewter says its licensing partner “pays Pewter a fee when a deal closes”. Regulr says “the buyer pays Regulr a fee; the business owner pays nothing”. DillisData says the program “pays our referral fee on top of what it pays you. It never comes out of your money.”
That is a common and legitimate model, and it is how we plan to earn money too (our disclosure sets out the rules). What it means for you: a broker paid by the buyer is paid only when you sign with a buyer that pays it. Ask which buyers those are, how much they pay, and whether the fee changes what you are offered.
Who ends up with your data
Almost no broker in the index says who it sells to. Two examples of what you do see:
- License Your Data shows OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, SpaceX, Microsoft and Scale AI logos under “The labs buying in this market”, without saying which of them buy through it.
- Maryah says on its own business-partners page that Troveo handles the data process, buyers and licensing, and the licensing agreement linked from its business-data page is described as the Troveo business data licensing agreement.
Two brokers, DataPaid and DataReferrals, present their payout ranges as the published tiers of a buyer they do not name. The direct buyers are not much more open about the final lab: almost none of the AI data companies in the index name their customers either. But with a direct buyer you at least know who holds the license.
Going direct
Several AI data companies state that the seller pays nothing:
- Mode “buys the agreed copy directly and charges no broker fee”, sets the amount and payment schedule in writing before export, and “generally expects about three months from the first conversation through payment”.
- Mercor states “no upfront costs, setup fees, or deductions from the payment”.
- Appen, Centific, Polyshares, Corpus Data, Longitude Labs and Anthroly also state no fee to the seller.
The cost of going direct is your time. Each buyer has its own minimums, data wish list and contract, and one buyer gives you one price. To see what several direct buyers publish for a company your size, use the buyers by company size guide, or compare Handshake AI, micro1 and Mercor side by side.
Which route fits
| Your situation | Leans toward | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You meet a direct buyer’s published minimums | Direct | Fewer parties, no broker fee, a known counterparty. |
| Your company is below most published minimums | Broker or marketplace | They may reach buyers that publish no size rule. |
| You want buyers to compete on price | Either | A broker that shops your data to several buyers, or several direct buyers asked in parallel. |
| You must know who holds the license | Direct | Brokers rarely name the buyer before you sign. |
| You are closing and short of time | Broker, if its terms are clear | A broker runs the outreach to buyers for you. Read the mandate’s exclusivity and term first. |
Questions for any broker
- Who pays you on this deal, how much, and when? Is any buyer payment credited against my fee?
- Which company will hold the license, and will you name it before I sign?
- Is my mandate with you exclusive, for how long, and can I still talk to buyers directly?
- Who runs the export and the removal of personal data, and where is the data stored before it is licensed?
- Will I see the buyer’s own contract, or only yours?
The offer checklist covers the clauses to read in the license itself.
Where we fit
We are neither a broker nor a buyer. We never buy, hold or resell data, and we do not negotiate for either side. We publish what every buyer and broker says about itself, then, if you ask, introduce you to the buyers you choose. Sellers never pay us. If you already hold an offer from a broker or a buyer, paste it for a free review. It never goes to a buyer.
Frequently asked questions
Do data brokers charge the seller a fee?
Some do. AIData Broker publishes 15% of the first $250,000 you are paid, less above that, and DataDeals publishes 10% of seller cash proceeds, capped at $100,000, both only if a sale closes. Others are paid by the buyer and charge the seller nothing. Most publish no rate at all.
If a broker is free to the seller, who pays it?
The buyer. Pewter, Regulr and DillisData, for example, say the licensing firm, the buyer or the program pays their fee. That is a normal model, and it is also ours, but it means the broker is paid by the side you are negotiating with. Ask how much and which buyers pay it.
Do data brokers tell you who buys your data?
Rarely. Almost every broker in the index publishes nothing about who it sells to. Ask for the name of the company that will hold the license, and the AI lab if it is known, in writing before you sign.
Is it better to sell company data directly to an AI data company?
It is simpler when your company meets a direct buyer’s published requirements: fewer parties, no broker fee and a clear counterparty. A broker can help when your company falls outside published minimums or you want several buyers to compete.
Is Data Licensing Index a data broker?
No. We never buy, hold or resell data, and we do not negotiate for either side. We compare what buyers publish and introduce you to the buyers you choose. Sellers never pay us; buyers may pay us a referral fee, and a buyer that does is marked on its row.
Sources
- 1.AIData Broker Accessed .
- 2.DataDeals: About Accessed .
- 3.Pewter Accessed .
- 4.Regulr Accessed .
- 5.DillisData Accessed .
- 6.Mode (BizBuyData) Accessed .
- 7.Mercor: Data Accessed .
- 8.License Your Data Accessed .
- 9.Maryah: Data partners Accessed .
What is your company’s data worth?
Answer a few questions about the company. We reply with an estimated range, the buyers that fit and the contract terms to watch. Free for sellers, and we never ask for data, credentials or exports.