Chainguard
Mid (~350)
Linear
Small (~80)
Best For
Chainguard
Best for: Security-minded engineers who want remote-first open-source work with strong comp
Linear
Best for: Craftspeople who value deep work, async communication, and minimal meetings
Ratings
ChainguardLinear
4.5
4.6
Overall
4.2
4.4
Work-Life Balance
4.3
4.8
Culture & Values
4.2
4.3
Comp & Benefits
4.1
4.5
Senior Mgmt
4.0
4.0
Career Opps
👍 88% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Dan Lorenc)
👍 95% Recommend
👤 95% CEO Approval (Karri Saarinen)
Culture Values
Chainguard only
🔓 Open Source💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Linear only
🎧 Deep Work / Low Meetings📡 Async-First🎯 Direct Product Impact
Shared
🌐 Remote-Friendly⚙️ Engineering-Driven⚖️ Work-Life Balance
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
Linear
- Obsessive product craft — building the best-in-class PM tool teams genuinely love
- Deep work culture with no standups and minimal meetings — actually practiced
- Very small team = limited roles available at any given time
- High hiring bar means slow growth — patience required
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.
Linear
Choose Linear if you want obsessive product craft with genuine work-life balance — but the team is tiny and hiring bar is extreme.
Open Roles
Chainguard — 63 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
27
💻 Engineering
24
📣 Marketing
3
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
Linear — 19 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
8
💻 Engineering
5
🎨 Design
3
📋 Product
2
⚖️ Legal
1
Summary
Chainguard scores 4.5/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.2 work-life balance rating. Linear scores 4.6/5.0 overall with a 4.4 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Remote-Friendly, Engineering-Driven, Work-Life Balance. Chainguard also emphasizes Open Source, Strong Comp & Equity. Linear also emphasizes Deep Work / Low Meetings, Async-First, Direct Product Impact.
On the hiring front, Chainguard has 63 open roles and Linear has 19 open roles.