The Amazon Mechanical Turk shutdown is now official. Amazon Mechanical Turk, better known as MTurk, permanently closes on September 30, 2026, ending a platform that allowed people to earn money online by completing small digital tasks for businesses, researchers, and other requesters.
For workers who still have money, completed tasks, pending approvals, or records connected to MTurk, the shutdown does not mean everything disappears immediately.
Amazon has established several important deadlines covering payments, pending Human Intelligence Tasks — commonly called HITs — bonuses, tax documents, and transaction records.
Amazon Mechanical Turk Is Permanently Closing
Amazon confirms in its official Mechanical Turk closure FAQ that MTurk will permanently close on September 30, 2026.
The company has also placed the closure notice throughout its AWS Mechanical Turk documentation.
MTurk operated as an online marketplace connecting two groups.
Requesters posted digital jobs that required human judgment.
Workers completed those jobs in exchange for payment.
Individual tasks were called Human Intelligence Tasks, or HITs.
Those tasks could include activities such as categorizing information, completing surveys, identifying objects in images, checking data, transcribing information, evaluating search results, or performing other work that could be completed through a computer.
For workers, MTurk provided a flexible way to make money online without committing to a traditional work schedule.
That opportunity now ends with the platform’s closure.
Will MTurk Workers Still Get Paid?
Yes.
Amazon says workers will still receive payment for completed and approved HITs.
According to the company’s closure FAQ, approved earnings will continue to be distributed according to each worker’s existing payment schedule.
That makes one account setting especially important.
Amazon is telling workers to verify their payment preferences inside the MTurk Worker Portal.
Workers should make sure they have both:
- A valid payment method
- A transfer frequency or payment schedule set up
Workers who have never configured a transfer schedule should go to their account settings and manage their payment preferences before relying on the post-shutdown payment process.
The shutdown also does not eliminate tax reporting.
Amazon says MTurk will continue distributing applicable tax-related documents through its established procedures and deadlines.
What About MTurk Bonuses?
Bonuses will not stop immediately on September 30.
Amazon says requesters can continue awarding bonuses for completed HITs through October 30, 2026.
That means a worker who previously completed qualifying work could still receive an additional payment after the primary MTurk marketplace closes.
Workers should therefore continue monitoring their payment activity after September 30 instead of assuming every MTurk-related transaction has ended.
