Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a pioneer in the gig economy and a platform that provided hidden labor for modern technology, is closing its doors permanently after two decades of operation.

Launched in 2005 to handle digital tasks that early software couldn’t manage, Mechanical Turk became a go-to marketplace for researchers, remote freelancers, and data labelers worldwide. Its closure is evoking a mix of nostalgia and concern among its users.

The platform was built on the concept of “Human Intelligence Tasks” (HITs), offering small jobs like transcription, image labeling, and survey responses that often paid only a few cents each. It served as a bridge between human judgment and computing power long before advanced AI models emerged.

However, with the rise of AI tools automating these simple tasks and workers turning to AI for assignments, the platform’s original purpose became less clear. Amazon ceased onboarding new clients earlier this year and recently confirmed the full shutdown, leaving long-time users searching for new flexible work opportunities.

On online platforms like Reddit’s r/mturk, users expressed surprise, fond memories, and disappointment over the closure of Mechanical Turk. Here are some reflections from the community on the end of an era:

“End of an era. MTurk was a huge part of my daily routine for a long time, and seeing it shut down genuinely feels like losing a piece of my life. It wasn’t just about the extra cash — it was the habit, the community, and knowing I could log on anytime to put work in.”

“I had to leave my job when our twins were born and in the nicu. I didn’t know what we were going to do. We barely kept our heads above water until I found Turk. I made enough to pull us out of the debt we created and then I was able to do enough to cover our mortgage and car. It was a huge blessing at that time. I haven’t worked on there since 2021 when it started going downhill, but I will always be so thankful for it. I’m so sad about it shutting down.”

“Mturk gave me time to recover during a very rough patch in my life and was the gateway to being able to work remotely for the last ten years. I stopped using it regularly around 2023, and last did any hit around March, but will always be thankful for the impact that it had.”

“I once got paid $5 to listen to recordings of robots laughing and rate each one for how realistic it sounds. Each and every audio clip was the stuff of nightmares.”

“I made almost $700 in a day once off a batch of MLData HITs where I had to rate clothes and shoes on different aspects. I used it to buy myself a new laptop!”

“I truly am sad to see this place go. I found it years ago when a very close loved one passed away. It took my mind off the loss and I made $15k doing it part time whenever I had the energy. I was always so grateful for it. That’s why I hate to see it go. I really appreciated it. I wonder why Amazon didn’t just sell it to another company.”

“I have to admit this announcement hit me harder than it really should. I’ve barely done any turking over the last four years yet losing turk altogether feels like such a huge change. It’s just always been there for so long.”

“It also helped me quit smoking because my rule when I quit was, I could go buy cigarettes but had to make the money for them on MTurk first. And seriously, after grinding out to make that money, no f*ckin’ way I was going to go blow that money on cigs!”

“Ended up making 19.6k on this site. Was hoping to get to 20k but it just slowed down so much over the last two years. … Ended up making 11k in one month back in 2023, and still have some of it saved. I don’t if I’ll ever experience pay like that again.”

“I remember my highest paying hit was like $20 and it felt like CHRISTMAS.”

“Still waiting for that email from MTurk saying they’ve reversed their decision and will continue the platform with new updates and improvements.”