GitLab
Large (~2,500)
Hugging Face
Small (~400)
Best For
GitLab
Best for: Engineers who want a fully remote, async-first culture with radical transparency
Hugging Face
Best for: Open-source enthusiasts who value remote flexibility over top comp
Ratings
GitLabHugging Face
3.9
3.8
Overall
3.9
4.1
Work-Life Balance
4.0
4.2
Culture & Values
3.8
3.4
Comp & Benefits
3.5
3.6
Senior Mgmt
3.7
3.5
Career Opps
👍 75% Recommend
👤 70% CEO Approval (Sid Sijbrandij)
👍 78% Recommend
👤 85% CEO Approval (Clement Delangue)
Culture Values
GitLab only
⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Hugging Face only
🤝 Flat Hierarchy🕐 Flexible Hours🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
🌐 Remote-Friendly📡 Async-First🪟 Transparent🔓 Open Source
Pros & Cons
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
Hugging Face
- True open-source DNA — you work on things millions of developers actually use
- Remote-first and async culture that actually works across time zones
- Below-market comp compared to FAANG
- Career progression is unclear — no well-defined ladder
Bottom Line
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.
Hugging Face
Choose Hugging Face if you want to build tools millions of ML devs use with true remote freedom — but comp lags FAANG.
Open Roles
GitLab — 195 jobs
💻 Engineering
79
💼 Sales / GTM
67
📋 Product
10
⚖️ Legal
5
📊 Data
4
🎨 Design
4
📣 Marketing
4
👤 HR / People
2
⚙️ Operations
2
Hugging Face — 9 jobs
🧠 ML / AI
6
💻 Engineering
2
Summary
GitLab scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Hugging Face scores 3.8/5.0 overall with a 4.1 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Remote-Friendly, Async-First, Transparent, Open Source. GitLab also emphasizes Work-Life Balance. Hugging Face also emphasizes Flat Hierarchy, Flexible Hours, Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, GitLab has 195 open roles and Hugging Face has 9 open roles.