Adyen
Large (~4,770)
Granola
Small (~50)
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
Granola
Best for: Craft-focused generalists who love native macOS development and want to build a consumer-quality AI product people genuinely love
Ratings
AdyenGranola
3.8
4.8
Overall
4.1
4.5
Work-Life Balance
3.9
5.0
Culture & Values
3.8
4.5
Comp & Benefits
3.6
5.0
Senior Mgmt
3.6
4.7
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Ingo Uytdehaage)
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Sam Stephenson)
Culture Values
Adyen only
⚖️ Work-Life Balance🌱 Learning & Growth
Granola only
💎 Strong Comp & Equity🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact
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
Granola
- Users absolutely love the product — everyone at Granola genuinely cares about quality
- Plenty of opportunities to work on things that make a real difference on a small team
- 5 days in office by default (with flexibility for life circumstances)
- Small team, so things can be busy — you'll wear many hats
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.
Granola
Choose Granola if you want to work on one of the most loved AI products with a small, London-based, in-office team obsessed with craft — but note the 5-days-in-office policy is explicit and non-negotiable.
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
Granola — 16 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
6
💻 Engineering
4
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
⚖️ Legal
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Summary
Adyen scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.1 work-life balance rating. Granola scores 4.8/5.0 overall with a 4.5 WLB. That’s a 1.0-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact. Adyen also emphasizes Work-Life Balance, Learning & Growth. Granola also emphasizes Strong Comp & Equity, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Adyen has 279 open roles and Granola has 16 open roles.