Databricks
Large (~7,000)
GitLab
Large (~2,500)
Best For
Databricks
Best for: Data engineers who want strong comp and deep technical pedigree at scale
GitLab
Best for: Engineers who want a fully remote, async-first culture with radical transparency
Ratings
DatabricksGitLab
4.1
3.9
Overall
3.9
3.9
Work-Life Balance
4.0
4.0
Culture & Values
4.3
3.8
Comp & Benefits
3.8
3.5
Senior Mgmt
3.9
3.7
Career Opps
👍 82% Recommend
👤 88% CEO Approval (Ali Ghodsi)
👍 75% Recommend
👤 70% CEO Approval (Sid Sijbrandij)
Culture Values
Databricks only
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🌱 Learning & Growth💎 Strong Comp & Equity🌈 Diverse & Inclusive🎯 Direct Product Impact
GitLab only
🌐 Remote-Friendly📡 Async-First🪟 Transparent🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Shared
None
Pros & Cons
Databricks
- Engineers who built Spark, Delta Lake, MLflow — deep technical pedigree
- Strong compensation and equity packages consistently above market
- Hypergrowth means org changes are constant — teams restructure frequently
- Some legacy Spark-era tech debt that can slow down new features
GitLab
- Best-in-class all-remote culture — truly async-first with genuine flexibility
- Radically transparent company with a public handbook and open processes
- Revenue organization has seen quota chaos and low morale
- Some leadership instability at the C-suite level
Bottom Line
Databricks
Choose Databricks if you want elite data infrastructure work with strong equity — but brace for constant org changes.
GitLab
Choose GitLab if you want the gold standard of all-remote work with public handbook and async processes — but expect bureaucracy at scale and comp below top-tier.
Open Roles
Databricks — 842 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
353
💻 Engineering
284
📋 Product
39
📣 Marketing
34
📊 Data
22
👤 HR / People
12
🧠 ML / AI
12
⚙️ Operations
11
🎨 Design
6
💰 Finance
5
⚖️ Legal
5
GitLab — 195 jobs
💻 Engineering
79
💼 Sales / GTM
67
📋 Product
10
⚖️ Legal
5
📊 Data
4
🎨 Design
4
📣 Marketing
4
👤 HR / People
2
⚙️ Operations
2
Summary
Databricks scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. GitLab scores 3.9/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
On the hiring front, Databricks has 842 open roles and GitLab has 195 open roles.