GitLab
Large (~2,500)
Scale AI
Large (~1,200)
Best For
GitLab
Best for: Engineers who want a fully remote, async-first culture with radical transparency
Scale AI
Best for: Ambitious builders who want critical AI infrastructure work serving top-tier clients
Ratings
GitLabScale AI
3.9
3.5
Overall
3.9
2.7
Work-Life Balance
4.0
2.9
Culture & Values
3.8
3.5
Comp & Benefits
3.5
2.8
Senior Mgmt
3.7
3.6
Career Opps
👍 75% Recommend
👤 70% CEO Approval (Sid Sijbrandij)
👍 56% Recommend
👤 60% CEO Approval (Alexandr Wang)
Culture Values
GitLab only
🌐 Remote-Friendly📡 Async-First🪟 Transparent🔓 Open Source⚖️ Work-Life Balance
Scale AI only
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🎯 Direct Product Impact🌱 Learning & Growth🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
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
Scale AI
- Building critical AI data infrastructure used by OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and the US government
- Strong compensation for engineers — competitive base + equity
- Work-life balance rated 2.7/5 — long hours common during client deadlines
- Culture and values scored 2.9/5 — inconsistent management quality
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.
Scale AI
Choose Scale AI if you want to build data infrastructure for OpenAI and the US government — but expect long hours and inconsistent management.
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
Scale AI — 175 jobs
💻 Engineering
64
🧠 ML / AI
25
📋 Product
16
💼 Sales / GTM
14
⚙️ Operations
7
⚖️ Legal
5
📣 Marketing
4
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
👤 HR / People
2
🎨 Design
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
GitLab scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Scale AI scores 3.5/5.0 overall with a 2.7 WLB. That’s a 0.4-point gap on overall satisfaction.
On the hiring front, GitLab has 195 open roles and Scale AI has 175 open roles.