Grafana Labs
Large (~1,700)
Writer
Mid (~400)
Best For
Grafana Labs
Best for: Engineers who want open-source impact with fully remote flexibility and strong WLB
Writer
Best for: Professionals interested in Writer
Ratings
Grafana LabsWriter
4.1
3.5
Overall
4.3
2.7
Work-Life Balance
4.1
3.6
Culture & Values
4.0
3.5
Comp & Benefits
3.6
3.3
Senior Mgmt
3.8
3.3
Career Opps
👍 78% Recommend
👤 71% CEO Approval (Raj Dutt)
👍 70% Recommend
👤 74% CEO Approval (CEO)
Culture Values
Grafana Labs only
🌐 Remote-Friendly🪟 Transparent⚖️ Work-Life Balance🌱 Learning & Growth
Writer only
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate
Shared
🔓 Open Source⚙️ Engineering-Driven
Pros & Cons
Grafana Labs
- 100% remote-first across 40+ countries with generous PTO (~30 days) and mandatory shutdown days
- Engineers rate it 4.9/5 — absurdly talented colleagues with strong open-source culture
- Career progression above staff level can be challenging with limited upward mobility
- Product management is sometimes marginalized with engineers holding disproportionate power
Writer
- Real AI engineering with proprietary LLMs — not just wrapping OpenAI APIs
- Strong enterprise traction and visionary product direction
- Intense work culture with very high expectations and limited work-life balance
- Growing management layers creating organizational friction
Bottom Line
Grafana Labs
Choose Grafana Labs if you want deep open-source impact, fully remote flexibility, and excellent WLB — but expect limited career progression above staff level.
Writer
Writer — check Glassdoor for detailed reviews.
Open Roles
Grafana Labs — 149 jobs
💻 Engineering
92
💼 Sales / GTM
32
📣 Marketing
6
👤 HR / People
1
⚖️ Legal
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Writer — 49 jobs
💻 Engineering
16
💼 Sales / GTM
12
🎨 Design
1
⚙️ Operations
1
📋 Product
1
Summary
Grafana Labs scores 4.1/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.3 work-life balance rating. Writer scores 3.5/5.0 overall with a 2.7 WLB. That’s a 0.6-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Open Source, Engineering-Driven. Grafana Labs also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Transparent, Work-Life Balance, Learning & Growth. Writer also emphasizes Ship Fast & Iterate.
On the hiring front, Grafana Labs has 149 open roles and Writer has 49 open roles.