Baseten
Small (~100)
Datadog
Large (~6,000)
Best For
Baseten
Best for: Engineers who want high ownership building ML inference infrastructure
Datadog
Best for: Engineers who want strong comp and interesting scale challenges in cloud observability
Ratings
BasetenDatadog
4.3
4.2
Overall
3.5
3.8
Work-Life Balance
4.3
4.3
Culture & Values
4.0
4.4
Comp & Benefits
4.2
3.8
Senior Mgmt
4.0
4.0
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 87% CEO Approval (Olivier Pomel)
Culture Values
Baseten only
🧩 Wears Many Hats🤝 Flat Hierarchy
Datadog only
🌱 Learning & Growth💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact
Pros & Cons
Baseten
- Cutting-edge ML inference infrastructure — deploying models at scale for real production customers
- Small team means high ownership and direct impact on product direction and company strategy
- Limited resources compared to larger competitors — can feel stretched thin on multiple fronts
- Fast-moving product roadmap means priorities shift frequently as the market evolves
Datadog
- Excellent compensation and equity — stock has been a genuine wealth builder for early employees
- Strong engineering culture with smart coworkers and interesting technical challenges at scale
- Fast pace can lead to long hours and pressure to deliver, work-life balance varies by team
- Rapid growth has led to organizational growing pains and bureaucracy creeping in
Bottom Line
Baseten
Choose Baseten if you want high ownership building ML inference infrastructure at an early-stage startup — but expect startup intensity and shifting priorities.
Datadog
Choose Datadog if you want strong comp, interesting scale challenges in observability, and a fast-paced engineering culture — but expect long hours and growing bureaucracy.
Open Roles
Baseten — 48 jobs
💻 Engineering
21
💼 Sales / GTM
10
🧠 ML / AI
3
⚙️ Operations
3
📣 Marketing
2
📋 Product
2
📊 Data
1
Datadog — 451 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
217
💻 Engineering
118
📋 Product
28
📣 Marketing
15
👤 HR / People
8
🧠 ML / AI
8
🎨 Design
7
⚙️ Operations
6
⚖️ Legal
3
📊 Data
1
💰 Finance
1
Summary
Baseten scores 4.3/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.5 work-life balance rating. Datadog scores 4.2/5.0 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, Direct Product Impact. Baseten also emphasizes Wears Many Hats, Flat Hierarchy. Datadog also emphasizes Learning & Growth, Strong Comp & Equity.
On the hiring front, Baseten has 48 open roles and Datadog has 451 open roles.