Granola
Small (~50)
Helsing
Mid (~660)
Best For
Granola
Best for: Craft-focused generalists who love native macOS development and want to build a consumer-quality AI product people genuinely love
Helsing
Best for: AI/ML engineers motivated by national security and defense who want to apply frontier AI to high-stakes real-world problems in a mission-driven team
Ratings
GranolaHelsing
4.8
4.0
Overall
4.5
3.6
Work-Life Balance
5.0
4.1
Culture & Values
4.5
4.0
Comp & Benefits
5.0
3.8
Senior Mgmt
4.7
3.8
Career Opps
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Sam Stephenson)
👍 80% Recommend
👤 84% CEO Approval (Gundbert Scherf)
Culture Values
Granola only
🧩 Wears Many Hats
Helsing only
🌱 Learning & Growth
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate💎 Strong Comp & Equity🎯 Direct Product Impact
Pros & Cons
Granola
- Users absolutely love the product — everyone at Granola genuinely cares about quality
- Plenty of opportunities to work on things that make a real difference on a small team
- 5 days in office by default (with flexibility for life circumstances)
- Small team, so things can be busy — you'll wear many hats
Helsing
- Highest talent density of any tech company — world-class AI and engineering leadership
- Extremely important mission with rewarding impact and competitive salary
- Ridiculous expectations of work hours — high salaries do not mean constant overtime
- Some management not experienced enough to lead; lacking in performance feedback
Bottom Line
Granola
Choose Granola if you want to work on one of the most loved AI products with a small, London-based, in-office team obsessed with craft — but note the 5-days-in-office policy is explicit and non-negotiable.
Helsing
Strong engineering culture with a clear mission — but that mission (AI for defense) is not for everyone. Research the ethics carefully before applying; those aligned will find unusually meaningful work.
Open Roles
Granola — 16 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
6
💻 Engineering
4
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
⚖️ Legal
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Helsing — 103 jobs
💻 Engineering
53
🧠 ML / AI
8
💰 Finance
3
⚙️ Operations
3
📋 Product
3
👤 HR / People
2
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
⚖️ Legal
1
💼 Sales / GTM
1
🎧 Support
1
Summary
Granola scores 4.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.5 work-life balance rating. Helsing scores 4.0/5.0 overall with a 3.6 WLB. That’s a 0.8-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Strong Comp & Equity, Direct Product Impact. Granola also emphasizes Wears Many Hats. Helsing also emphasizes Learning & Growth.
On the hiring front, Granola has 16 open roles and Helsing has 103 open roles.