Chainguard
Mid (~350)
Cognition
Medium (~300)
Best For
Chainguard
Best for: Security-minded engineers who want remote-first open-source work with strong comp
Cognition
Best for: Elite engineers who want to build frontier AI coding agents and own a meaningful equity stake
Ratings
ChainguardCognition
4.5
3.8
Overall
4.2
3.2
Work-Life Balance
4.3
3.9
Culture & Values
4.2
3.8
Comp & Benefits
4.1
3.6
Senior Mgmt
4.0
3.6
Career Opps
👍 88% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Dan Lorenc)
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Scott Wu)
Culture Values
Chainguard only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Cognition only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Pros & Cons
Chainguard
- Fully remote with outstanding benefits — 100% employer-paid insurance for employees and families
- Founders are practitioners who understand what engineers and security teams need
- Growing so fast that some inefficiencies exist, though improving
- Fully remote means you miss in-person interactions with teammates
Cognition
- Elite engineering team with strong equity
- Cutting-edge AI agent work
- High-intensity startup pace
- In-person SF expectations
Bottom Line
Chainguard
Choose Chainguard if you want to build supply chain security tools in a remote, open-source-first culture with strong equity — but expect a fast-moving startup pace.
Cognition
Choose Cognition if you want world-class AI agent research (makers of Devin) with strong equity upside — but expect top-tier intensity and mandatory in-person in San Francisco.
Open Roles
Chainguard — 63 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
27
💻 Engineering
24
📣 Marketing
3
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
Cognition — 62 jobs
💻 Engineering
21
💼 Sales / GTM
10
📊 Data
3
⚖️ Legal
2
⚙️ Operations
2
💰 Finance
1
👤 HR / People
1
📣 Marketing
1
🧠 ML / AI
1
Summary
Chainguard scores 4.5/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.2 work-life balance rating. Cognition scores 3.8/5.0 overall with a 3.2 WLB. That’s a 0.7-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Strong Comp & Equity. Chainguard also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Open Source, Work-Life Balance. Cognition also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact.
On the hiring front, Chainguard has 63 open roles and Cognition has 62 open roles.