Descript
Medium (~250)
Figma
Large (~2,800)
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
Figma
Best for: Ambitious engineers who want world-class technical challenges on a beloved product
Ratings
DescriptFigma
3.9
3.7
Overall
3.8
3.1
Work-Life Balance
4.0
4.0
Culture & Values
3.7
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.7
3.2
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.5
Career Opps
👍 75% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Andrew Mason)
👍 73% Recommend
👤 95% CEO Approval (Dylan Field)
Culture Values
Descript only
🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats🌐 Remote-Friendly
Figma only
🌱 Learning & Growth🎯 Direct Product Impact
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Pros & Cons
Descript
- Talented and collaborative team
- Remote-friendly with great async culture
- Direction can change quickly
- Some roles stretch thin across projects
Figma
- World-class talent and technically ambitious problems — real-time multiplayer, WebAssembly rendering
- Strong product mission that employees genuinely believe in — Figma is loved by its users
- Work-life balance rated 3.1/5 — 60+ hour weeks common, especially near deadlines
- Hypergrowth growing pains — product suite doubled without proportional hiring
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.
Figma
Choose Figma if you want WebAssembly-level challenges on a product people love — but expect 60+ hour weeks during crunch.
Open Roles
Descript — 24 jobs
💻 Engineering
8
💼 Sales / GTM
5
📋 Product
3
📊 Data
1
🎨 Design
1
💰 Finance
1
⚖️ Legal
1
Figma — 155 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
46
💻 Engineering
27
👤 HR / People
11
🎨 Design
9
📣 Marketing
6
⚖️ Legal
5
📊 Data
4
📋 Product
4
💰 Finance
2
🎧 Support
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
Summary
Descript scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.8 work-life balance rating. Figma scores 3.7/5.0 overall with a 3.1 WLB. That’s a 0.2-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate. Descript also emphasizes Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats, Remote-Friendly. Figma also emphasizes Learning & Growth, Direct Product Impact.
On the hiring front, Descript has 24 open roles and Figma has 155 open roles.