Cursor (Anysphere)
Small (~50)
Poolside
Small (~150)
Best For
Cursor (Anysphere)
Best for: Generalist engineers who want extreme ownership at the most-loved AI code editor
Poolside
Best for: AI researchers who want frontier code generation work with genuine remote flexibility and Paris offsites
Ratings
Cursor (Anysphere)Poolside
4.0
3.8
Overall
3.5
3.5
Work-Life Balance
4.0
3.9
Culture & Values
4.2
3.8
Comp & Benefits
3.8
3.6
Senior Mgmt
3.5
3.6
Career Opps
👍 85% Recommend
👤 90% CEO Approval (Michael Truell)
👍 76% Recommend
👤 80% CEO Approval (Jason Warner)
Culture Values
Cursor (Anysphere) only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact
Poolside only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🌱 Learning & Growth
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats
Pros & Cons
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
Poolside
- Remote-first with monthly Paris gatherings
- Cutting-edge code generation research
- Early-stage with limited structure
- Comp may trail larger AI labs
Bottom Line
Cursor (Anysphere)
Choose Cursor if you want to shape the future of AI-assisted coding on a tiny team — but the pace is relentless.
Poolside
Choose Poolside if you want cutting-edge code AI research on a remote-first flat team (ex-GitHub CTO leadership) — but expect early-stage ambiguity and comp that trails the larger AI labs.
Open Roles
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
Poolside — 12 jobs
💻 Engineering
9
📊 Data
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
Summary
Cursor (Anysphere) scores 4.0/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.5 work-life balance rating. Poolside scores 3.8/5.0 overall with a 3.5 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats. Cursor (Anysphere) also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact. Poolside also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Learning & Growth.
On the hiring front, Cursor (Anysphere) has 77 open roles and Poolside has 12 open roles.