Descript
Medium (~250)
Elastic
Large (~4,000)
Best For
Descript
Best for: Product-focused engineers and designers who want to work on AI-powered audio and video editing tools loved by millions of creators
Elastic
Best for: Professionals interested in Elastic
Ratings
DescriptElastic
3.9
4.0
Overall
3.8
4.1
Work-Life Balance
4.0
4.1
Culture & Values
3.7
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.7
3.8
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.8
Career Opps
👍 75% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Andrew Mason)
👍 80% Recommend
👤 84% CEO Approval (CEO)
Culture Values
Descript only
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats
Elastic only
🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance📡 Async-First💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Shared
🌐 Remote-Friendly
Pros & Cons
Descript
- Talented and collaborative team
- Remote-friendly with great async culture
- Direction can change quickly
- Some roles stretch thin across projects
Elastic
- Fully distributed from day one — genuine remote-first culture across 40+ countries
- Open-source DNA means engineers contribute to community, not just internal products
- Cross-timezone coordination means occasional early/late meetings
- Recent leadership shifts have introduced more process and oversight
Bottom Line
Descript
Choose Descript if you want to ship polished creator tools at a small SF-based AI company with a 3.9 Glassdoor and strong product DNA — but expect fast pace and evolving org structure.
Elastic
Elastic — check Glassdoor for detailed reviews.
Open Roles
Descript — 24 jobs
💻 Engineering
8
💼 Sales / GTM
5
📋 Product
3
📊 Data
1
🎨 Design
1
💰 Finance
1
⚖️ Legal
1
Elastic — 198 jobs
💻 Engineering
87
💼 Sales / GTM
67
📣 Marketing
8
📋 Product
7
👤 HR / People
4
🎨 Design
3
🧠 ML / AI
3
📊 Data
2
Summary
Descript scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.8 work-life balance rating. Elastic scores 4.0/5.0 overall with a 4.1 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Remote-Friendly. Descript also emphasizes Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats. Elastic also emphasizes Open Source, Work-Life Balance, Async-First, Strong Comp & Equity.
On the hiring front, Descript has 24 open roles and Elastic has 198 open roles.