Chainguard
Mid (~350)
Scale AI
Large (~1,200)
Best For
Chainguard
Best for: Security-minded engineers who want remote-first open-source work with strong comp
Scale AI
Best for: Ambitious builders who want critical AI infrastructure work serving top-tier clients
Ratings
ChainguardScale AI
4.5
3.5
Overall
4.2
2.7
Work-Life Balance
4.3
2.9
Culture & Values
4.2
3.5
Comp & Benefits
4.1
2.8
Senior Mgmt
4.0
3.6
Career Opps
👍 88% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Dan Lorenc)
👍 56% Recommend
👤 60% CEO Approval (Alexandr Wang)
Culture Values
Chainguard only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🔓 Open Source💎 Strong Comp & Equity⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Scale AI only
🎯 Direct Product Impact🌱 Learning & Growth🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven
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
Scale AI
- Building critical AI data infrastructure used by OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government
- Strong compensation for engineers — competitive base + equity
- Work-life balance rated 2.7/5 — long hours common during client deadlines
- Culture and values scored 2.9/5 — inconsistent management quality
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.
Scale AI
Choose Scale AI if you want to build data infrastructure for OpenAI and the US government — but expect long hours and inconsistent management.
Open Roles
Chainguard — 63 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
27
💻 Engineering
24
📣 Marketing
3
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
Scale AI — 175 jobs
💻 Engineering
64
🧠 ML / AI
25
📋 Product
16
💼 Sales / GTM
14
⚙️ Operations
7
⚖️ Legal
5
📣 Marketing
4
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
👤 HR / People
2
🎨 Design
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
Chainguard scores 4.5/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.2 work-life balance rating. Scale AI scores 3.5/5.0 overall with a 2.7 WLB. That’s a 1.0-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven. Chainguard also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Open Source, Strong Comp & Equity, Work-Life Balance. Scale AI also emphasizes Direct Product Impact, Learning & Growth, Ship Fast & Iterate.
On the hiring front, Chainguard has 63 open roles and Scale AI has 175 open roles.