Chainguard
Mid (~350)
Decagon
Small (~210)
Best For
Chainguard
Best for: Security-minded engineers who want remote-first open-source work with strong comp
Decagon
Best for: Builders who want to ship AI customer support agents directly to F500 customers with technical founders deeply involved
Ratings
ChainguardDecagon
4.5
3.9
Overall
4.2
3.7
Work-Life Balance
4.3
3.8
Culture & Values
4.2
3.2
Comp & Benefits
4.1
3.7
Senior Mgmt
4.0
3.7
Career Opps
👍 88% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Dan Lorenc)
👍 75% Recommend
👤 85% CEO Approval (Jesse Zhang)
Culture Values
Chainguard only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Decagon 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
Decagon
- Strong engineering-driven culture with technical founders still deeply involved
- Ship meaningful AI features to enterprise customers every week
- Intense workload and high expectations — not a typical 40-hour week
- SF-centric; most roles expect in-office presence
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.
Decagon
Choose Decagon if you want intense builder energy at a $4.5B Series D AI agents startup with real enterprise revenue — but expect SF office-centric culture and cash comp that trails top AI labs.
Open Roles
Chainguard — 63 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
27
💻 Engineering
24
📣 Marketing
3
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
Decagon — 95 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
32
💻 Engineering
25
📋 Product
7
🧠 ML / AI
6
⚙️ Operations
3
⚖️ Legal
2
📣 Marketing
2
📊 Data
1
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
Summary
Chainguard scores 4.5/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.2 work-life balance rating. Decagon scores 3.9/5.0 overall with a 3.7 WLB. That’s a 0.6-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. Decagon also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact.
On the hiring front, Chainguard has 63 open roles and Decagon has 95 open roles.