Adyen
Large (~4,770)
Descript
Medium (~250)
Best For
Adyen
Best for: Payments and backend engineers who value a no-nonsense engineering-first culture with above-average WLB and the challenge of processing global financial transactions at massive scale
Descript
Best for: Product-focused engineers and designers who want to work on AI-powered audio and video editing tools loved by millions of creators
Ratings
AdyenDescript
3.8
3.9
Overall
4.1
3.8
Work-Life Balance
3.9
4.0
Culture & Values
3.8
3.7
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.7
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.6
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Ingo Uytdehaage)
👍 75% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Andrew Mason)
Culture Values
Adyen only
⚖️ Work-Life Balance🎯 Direct Product Impact🌱 Learning & Growth
Descript only
🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats🌐 Remote-Friendly
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Pros & Cons
Adyen
- Smart, humble colleagues with high standards and a market-leading payments product
- Good work-life balance with trust-based culture, free lunch, and international team trips
- Below-market compensation (~20% less than peers) with poor stock options
- Middle management quality issues as company scaled — inexperienced managers and internal politics
Descript
- Talented and collaborative team
- Remote-friendly with great async culture
- Direction can change quickly
- Some roles stretch thin across projects
Bottom Line
Adyen
Adyen's engineering culture is well-regarded in fintech — principled, WLB-conscious (4.1/5), and technically rigorous — but expect a methodical Amsterdam-centric culture rather than a high-growth startup vibe.
Descript
Choose Descript if you want to ship polished creator tools at a small SF-based AI company with a 3.9 Glassdoor and strong product DNA — but expect fast pace and evolving org structure.
Open Roles
Adyen — 279 jobs
💻 Engineering
80
💼 Sales / GTM
65
⚖️ Legal
19
💰 Finance
14
⚙️ Operations
12
📋 Product
12
👤 HR / People
11
📊 Data
10
🎨 Design
5
📣 Marketing
2
🧠 ML / AI
2
Descript — 24 jobs
💻 Engineering
8
💼 Sales / GTM
5
📋 Product
3
📊 Data
1
🎨 Design
1
💰 Finance
1
⚖️ Legal
1
Summary
Adyen scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.1 work-life balance rating. Descript scores 3.9/5.0 overall with a 3.8 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate. Adyen also emphasizes Work-Life Balance, Direct Product Impact, Learning & Growth. Descript also emphasizes Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats, Remote-Friendly.
On the hiring front, Adyen has 279 open roles and Descript has 24 open roles.