Airbnb
Large (~7,300)
Mercury
Large (~1,300)
Best For
Airbnb
Best for: Engineers who want Live Anywhere flexibility with strong comp and no pay cuts
Mercury
Best for: Engineers who want product ownership and fast growth building startup banking infrastructure
Ratings
AirbnbMercury
4.1
4.3
Overall
4.0
3.8
Work-Life Balance
4.2
3.9
Culture & Values
4.2
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.5
3.8
Senior Mgmt
3.5
3.9
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 87% CEO Approval (Brian Chesky)
👍 79% Recommend
👤 85% CEO Approval (Immad Akhund)
Culture Values
Airbnb only
🌐 Remote-Friendly⚖️ Work-Life Balance🌈 Diverse & Inclusive🔓 Open Source
Mercury only
🎯 Direct Product Impact⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🌱 Learning & Growth🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
💎 Strong Comp & Equity
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
Mercury
- Strong talent density with smart, motivated teammates and genuine autonomy and ownership
- Great Place to Work certified — product-first mindset with meaningful scope for every engineer
- Still figuring out how to scale processes — expect some ambiguity and shifting priorities
- Work-life balance rated 3.8/5 — periods of higher intensity during rapid growth phases
Bottom Line
Airbnb
Choose Airbnb if you want genuine remote flexibility and travel perks — but promotions are slow and bureaucracy is growing.
Mercury
Choose Mercury if you want product ownership, fast growth, and to build banking infrastructure for startups — but expect growing pains and occasionally intense workloads.
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
Mercury — 70 jobs
💻 Engineering
15
💼 Sales / GTM
13
👤 HR / People
4
📋 Product
4
🎨 Design
3
⚖️ Legal
3
⚙️ Operations
3
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
📣 Marketing
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
Airbnb scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.0 work-life balance rating. Mercury scores 4.3/5.0 overall with a 3.8 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Strong Comp & Equity. Airbnb also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Work-Life Balance, Diverse & Inclusive, Open Source. Mercury also emphasizes Direct Product Impact, Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Learning & Growth, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Airbnb has 244 open roles and Mercury has 70 open roles.