GitLab
Large (~2,500)
Samsara
Large (~5,200)
Best For
GitLab
Best for: Engineers who want a fully remote, async-first culture with radical transparency
Samsara
Best for: Sales and ops professionals who thrive in a high-growth public company selling real IoT hardware+software to physical industries
Ratings
GitLabSamsara
3.9
4.0
Overall
3.9
3.9
Work-Life Balance
4.0
4.1
Culture & Values
3.8
4.0
Comp & Benefits
3.5
3.8
Senior Mgmt
3.7
3.8
Career Opps
👍 75% Recommend
👤 70% CEO Approval (Sid Sijbrandij)
👍 80% Recommend
👤 84% CEO Approval (Sanjit Biswas)
Culture Values
GitLab only
🌐 Remote-Friendly📡 Async-First🪟 Transparent🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Samsara only
🎯 Direct Product Impact🌱 Learning & Growth🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Shared
None
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
Samsara
- Clear career trajectory with frequent promotions in sales
- Real-world product impact building IoT for physical operations
- Engineers rate WLB at only 2.9/5 despite company average of 3.9
- Remote work used to justify overwork including weekends
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.
Samsara
Strong sales culture and real-world product impact at massive scale, but engineers report significantly worse WLB than the company average suggests.
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
Samsara — 383 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
188
💻 Engineering
60
📋 Product
36
📣 Marketing
11
🧠 ML / AI
10
📊 Data
7
⚙️ Operations
7
🎧 Support
5
👤 HR / People
3
⚖️ Legal
2
🎨 Design
1
Summary
GitLab scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Samsara scores 4.0/5.0 overall with a 3.9 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
On the hiring front, GitLab has 195 open roles and Samsara has 383 open roles.