Descript
Medium (~250)
GitLab
Large (~2,500)
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
GitLab
Best for: Engineers who want a fully remote, async-first culture with radical transparency
Ratings
DescriptGitLab
3.9
3.9
Overall
3.8
3.9
Work-Life Balance
4.0
4.0
Culture & Values
3.7
3.8
Comp & Benefits
3.7
3.5
Senior Mgmt
3.6
3.7
Career Opps
👍 75% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Andrew Mason)
👍 75% Recommend
👤 70% CEO Approval (Sid Sijbrandij)
Culture Values
Descript only
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats
GitLab only
📡 Async-First🪟 Transparent🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance
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
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
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.
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
Descript — 24 jobs
💻 Engineering
8
💼 Sales / GTM
5
📋 Product
3
📊 Data
1
🎨 Design
1
💰 Finance
1
⚖️ Legal
1
GitLab — 195 jobs
💻 Engineering
79
💼 Sales / GTM
67
📋 Product
10
⚖️ Legal
5
📊 Data
4
🎨 Design
4
📣 Marketing
4
👤 HR / People
2
⚙️ Operations
2
Summary
Descript scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.8 work-life balance rating. GitLab scores 3.9/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. They’re tied on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Remote-Friendly. Descript also emphasizes Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats. GitLab also emphasizes Async-First, Transparent, Open Source, Work-Life Balance.
On the hiring front, Descript has 24 open roles and GitLab has 195 open roles.