Adyen
Large (~4,770)
Fireworks AI
Small (~100)
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
Fireworks AI
Best for: Engineers who want to work with ex-Meta AI infrastructure engineers on LLM inference
Ratings
AdyenFireworks AI
3.8
4.2
Overall
4.1
3.3
Work-Life Balance
3.9
4.3
Culture & Values
3.8
4.2
Comp & Benefits
3.6
4.2
Senior Mgmt
3.6
4.0
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Ingo Uytdehaage)
Culture Values
Adyen only
⚖️ Work-Life Balance🎯 Direct Product Impact
Fireworks AI only
🧩 Wears Many Hats🎧 Deep Work / Low Meetings
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🌱 Learning & Growth
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
Fireworks AI
- World-class team of ex-Meta AI infrastructure engineers — technically very strong peers
- Working on LLM inference optimization which is one of the hottest areas in AI infrastructure
- Early-stage startup intensity with long hours expected and high performance bar
- Small team and rapidly evolving product means less structure, process, and career laddering
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.
Fireworks AI
Choose Fireworks AI if you want to work with ex-Meta AI infrastructure engineers on cutting-edge LLM inference — but expect early-stage startup intensity and limited structure.
Open Roles
Adyen — 302 jobs
💻 Engineering
82
💼 Sales / GTM
67
👤 HR / People
16
⚖️ Legal
15
📋 Product
14
💰 Finance
12
📊 Data
11
⚙️ Operations
11
📣 Marketing
5
🎨 Design
4
🧠 ML / AI
2
🎧 Support
1
Fireworks AI — 29 jobs
💻 Engineering
7
💼 Sales / GTM
5
⚙️ Operations
3
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
📣 Marketing
1
🧠 ML / AI
1
📋 Product
1
Summary
Adyen scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.1 work-life balance rating. Fireworks AI scores 4.2/5.0 overall with a 3.3 WLB. That’s a 0.4-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Learning & Growth. Adyen also emphasizes Work-Life Balance, Direct Product Impact. Fireworks AI also emphasizes Wears Many Hats, Deep Work / Low Meetings.
On the hiring front, Adyen has 302 open roles and Fireworks AI has 29 open roles.