Cognition
Medium (~300)
Mercury
Large (~1,300)
Best For
Cognition
Best for: Elite engineers who want to build frontier AI coding agents and own a meaningful equity stake
Mercury
Best for: Engineers who want product ownership and fast growth building startup banking infrastructure
Ratings
CognitionMercury
3.8
4.3
Overall
3.2
3.8
Work-Life Balance
3.9
3.9
Culture & Values
3.8
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.8
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.9
Career Opps
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Scott Wu)
👍 79% Recommend
👤 85% CEO Approval (Immad Akhund)
Culture Values
Cognition only
No unique values
Mercury only
🌱 Learning & Growth🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate💎 Strong Comp & Equity🎯 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
Mercury
- Strong talent density with smart, motivated teammates and genuine autonomy and ownership
- Great Place to Work certified — product-first mindset with meaningful scope for every engineer
- Still figuring out how to scale processes — expect some ambiguity and shifting priorities
- Work-life balance rated 3.8/5 — periods of higher intensity during rapid growth phases
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.
Mercury
Choose Mercury if you want product ownership, fast growth, and to build banking infrastructure for startups — but expect growing pains and occasionally intense workloads.
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
Mercury — 70 jobs
💻 Engineering
15
💼 Sales / GTM
13
👤 HR / People
4
📋 Product
4
🎨 Design
3
⚖️ Legal
3
⚙️ Operations
3
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
📣 Marketing
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
Cognition scores 3.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.2 work-life balance rating. Mercury scores 4.3/5.0 overall with a 3.8 WLB. That’s a 0.5-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Strong Comp & Equity, Direct Product Impact. Mercury also emphasizes Learning & Growth, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Cognition has 62 open roles and Mercury has 70 open roles.