Datadog
Large (~6,000)
Grafana Labs
Large (~1,700)
Best For
Datadog
Best for: Engineers who want strong comp and interesting scale challenges in cloud observability
Grafana Labs
Best for: Engineers who want open-source impact with fully remote flexibility and strong WLB
Ratings
DatadogGrafana Labs
4.2
4.1
Overall
3.8
4.3
Work-Life Balance
4.3
4.1
Culture & Values
4.4
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.8
3.6
Senior Mgmt
4.0
3.8
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 87% CEO Approval (Olivier Pomel)
👍 78% Recommend
👤 71% CEO Approval (Raj Dutt)
Culture Values
Datadog only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Grafana Labs only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🔓 Open Source🪟 Transparent⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🌱 Learning & Growth
Pros & Cons
Datadog
- Excellent compensation and equity — stock has been a genuine wealth builder for early employees
- Strong engineering culture with smart coworkers and interesting technical challenges at scale
- Fast pace can lead to long hours and pressure to deliver, work-life balance varies by team
- Rapid growth has led to organizational growing pains and bureaucracy creeping in
Grafana Labs
- 100% remote-first across 40+ countries with generous PTO (~30 days) and mandatory shutdown days
- Engineers rate it 4.9/5 — absurdly talented colleagues with strong open-source culture
- Career progression above staff level can be challenging with limited upward mobility
- Product management is sometimes marginalized with engineers holding disproportionate power
Bottom Line
Datadog
Choose Datadog if you want strong comp, interesting scale challenges in observability, and a fast-paced engineering culture — but expect long hours and growing bureaucracy.
Grafana Labs
Choose Grafana Labs if you want deep open-source impact, fully remote flexibility, and excellent WLB — but expect limited career progression above staff level.
Open Roles
Datadog — 451 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
217
💻 Engineering
118
📋 Product
28
📣 Marketing
15
👤 HR / People
8
🧠 ML / AI
8
🎨 Design
7
⚙️ Operations
6
⚖️ Legal
3
📊 Data
1
💰 Finance
1
Grafana Labs — 133 jobs
💻 Engineering
66
💼 Sales / GTM
35
📣 Marketing
6
🎨 Design
5
⚖️ Legal
4
👤 HR / People
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Summary
Datadog scores 4.2/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.8 work-life balance rating. Grafana Labs scores 4.1/5.0 overall with a 4.3 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Learning & Growth. Datadog also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact, Strong Comp & Equity. Grafana Labs also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Open Source, Transparent, Work-Life Balance.
On the hiring front, Datadog has 451 open roles and Grafana Labs has 133 open roles.