Airbnb
Large (~7,300)
Descript
Medium (~250)
Best For
Airbnb
Best for: Engineers who want Live Anywhere flexibility with strong comp and no pay cuts
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
AirbnbDescript
4.1
3.9
Overall
4.0
3.8
Work-Life Balance
4.2
4.0
Culture & Values
4.2
3.7
Comp & Benefits
3.5
3.7
Senior Mgmt
3.5
3.6
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 87% CEO Approval (Brian Chesky)
👍 75% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Andrew Mason)
Culture Values
Airbnb only
⚖️ Work-Life Balance🌈 Diverse & Inclusive🔓 Open Source💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Descript only
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
🌐 Remote-Friendly
Pros & Cons
Airbnb
- Live and Work Anywhere policy — genuine remote flexibility with no pay cuts
- Strong compensation and benefits with quarterly travel credits and educational stipends
- Limited career growth — senior roles often filled externally, promotions are slow
- Post-IPO cultural shift — increasing bureaucracy and internal politics at mid-to-senior levels
Descript
- Talented and collaborative team
- Remote-friendly with great async culture
- Direction can change quickly
- Some roles stretch thin across projects
Bottom Line
Airbnb
Choose Airbnb if you want genuine remote flexibility and travel perks — but promotions are slow and bureaucracy is growing.
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
Airbnb — 244 jobs
💻 Engineering
76
📊 Data
23
📋 Product
14
🎧 Support
14
🧠 ML / AI
12
⚖️ Legal
11
⚙️ Operations
11
📣 Marketing
10
💼 Sales / GTM
9
💰 Finance
3
👤 HR / People
3
🎨 Design
2
Descript — 24 jobs
💻 Engineering
8
💼 Sales / GTM
5
📋 Product
3
📊 Data
1
🎨 Design
1
💰 Finance
1
⚖️ Legal
1
Summary
Airbnb scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.0 work-life balance rating. Descript scores 3.9/5.0 overall with a 3.8 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Remote-Friendly. Airbnb also emphasizes Work-Life Balance, Diverse & Inclusive, Open Source, Strong Comp & Equity. Descript also emphasizes Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Airbnb has 244 open roles and Descript has 24 open roles.