Cognition
Medium (~300)
Cursor (Anysphere)
Small (~50)
Best For
Cognition
Best for: Elite engineers who want to build frontier AI coding agents and own a meaningful equity stake
Cursor (Anysphere)
Best for: Generalist engineers who want extreme ownership at the most-loved AI code editor
Ratings
CognitionCursor (Anysphere)
3.8
4.0
Overall
3.2
3.5
Work-Life Balance
3.9
4.0
Culture & Values
3.8
4.2
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.8
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.5
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Scott Wu)
👍 85% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Michael Truell)
Culture Values
Cognition only
💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Cursor (Anysphere) only
🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact
Pros & Cons
Cognition
- Elite engineering team with strong equity
- Cutting-edge AI agent work
- High-intensity startup pace
- In-person SF expectations
Cursor (Anysphere)
- Building the most-loved AI code editor — massive developer love and daily impact
- Tiny team, extreme ownership — every person shapes the product directly
- Extremely small team = no specialists; everyone does everything
- Intense pace — the speed of shipping can be relentless
Bottom Line
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.
Cursor (Anysphere)
Choose Cursor if you want to shape the future of AI-assisted coding on a tiny team — but the pace is relentless.
Open Roles
Cognition — 62 jobs
💻 Engineering
21
💼 Sales / GTM
10
📊 Data
3
⚖️ Legal
2
⚙️ Operations
2
💰 Finance
1
👤 HR / People
1
📣 Marketing
1
🧠 ML / AI
1
Cursor (Anysphere) — 77 jobs
💻 Engineering
33
💼 Sales / GTM
19
📊 Data
3
🧠 ML / AI
3
🎨 Design
2
👤 HR / People
2
⚖️ Legal
2
⚙️ Operations
2
📣 Marketing
1
Summary
Cognition scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.2 work-life balance rating. Cursor (Anysphere) scores 4.0/5.0 overall with a 3.5 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact. Cognition also emphasizes Strong Comp & Equity. Cursor (Anysphere) also emphasizes Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Cognition has 62 open roles and Cursor (Anysphere) has 77 open roles.