Chainguard
Mid (~350)
Samsara
Large (~5,200)
Best For
Chainguard
Best for: Security-minded engineers who want remote-first open-source work with strong comp
Samsara
Best for: Sales and ops professionals who thrive in a high-growth public company selling real IoT hardware+software to physical industries
Ratings
ChainguardSamsara
4.5
4.0
Overall
4.2
3.9
Work-Life Balance
4.3
4.1
Culture & Values
4.2
4.0
Comp & Benefits
4.1
3.8
Senior Mgmt
4.0
3.8
Career Opps
👍 88% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Dan Lorenc)
👍 80% Recommend
👤 84% CEO Approval (Sanjit Biswas)
Culture Values
Chainguard only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🔓 Open Source⚙️ Engineering-Driven⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Samsara only
🎯 Direct Product Impact🌱 Learning & Growth🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Shared
💎 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
Samsara
- Clear career trajectory with frequent promotions in sales
- Real-world product impact building IoT for physical operations
- Engineers rate WLB at only 2.9/5 despite company average of 3.9
- Remote work used to justify overwork including weekends
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.
Samsara
Strong sales culture and real-world product impact at massive scale, but engineers report significantly worse WLB than the company average suggests.
Open Roles
Chainguard — 63 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
27
💻 Engineering
24
📣 Marketing
3
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
Samsara — 383 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
188
💻 Engineering
60
📋 Product
36
📣 Marketing
11
🧠 ML / AI
10
📊 Data
7
⚙️ Operations
7
🎧 Support
5
👤 HR / People
3
⚖️ Legal
2
🎨 Design
1
Summary
Chainguard scores 4.5/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.2 work-life balance rating. Samsara scores 4.0/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.5-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Strong Comp & Equity. Chainguard also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Open Source, Engineering-Driven, Work-Life Balance. Samsara also emphasizes Direct Product Impact, Learning & Growth, Ship Fast & Iterate.
On the hiring front, Chainguard has 63 open roles and Samsara has 383 open roles.