Elastic
Large (~4,000)
GitLab
Large (~2,500)
Best For
Elastic
Best for: Professionals interested in Elastic
GitLab
Best for: Engineers who want a fully remote, async-first culture with radical transparency
Ratings
ElasticGitLab
4.0
3.9
Overall
4.1
3.9
Work-Life Balance
4.1
4.0
Culture & Values
4.0
3.8
Comp & Benefits
3.8
3.5
Senior Mgmt
3.8
3.7
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 84% CEO Approval (CEO)
👍 75% Recommend
👤 70% CEO Approval (Sid Sijbrandij)
Culture Values
Elastic only
💎 Strong Comp & Equity
GitLab only
🪟 Transparent
Shared
🌐 Remote-Friendly🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance📡 Async-First
Pros & Cons
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
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
Elastic
Elastic — check Glassdoor for detailed reviews.
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
Elastic — 198 jobs
💻 Engineering
87
💼 Sales / GTM
67
📣 Marketing
8
📋 Product
7
👤 HR / People
4
🎨 Design
3
🧠 ML / AI
3
📊 Data
2
GitLab — 195 jobs
💻 Engineering
79
💼 Sales / GTM
67
📋 Product
10
⚖️ Legal
5
📊 Data
4
🎨 Design
4
📣 Marketing
4
👤 HR / People
2
⚙️ Operations
2
Summary
Elastic scores 4.0/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.1 work-life balance rating. GitLab scores 3.9/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Remote-Friendly, Open Source, Work-Life Balance, Async-First. Elastic also emphasizes Strong Comp & Equity. GitLab also emphasizes Transparent.
On the hiring front, Elastic has 198 open roles and GitLab has 195 open roles.