Granola
Small (~50)
Modal
Small (~110)
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
Modal
Best for: Systems engineers who want to build developer-loved cloud infrastructure with elite teammates
Ratings
GranolaModal
4.8
4.0
Overall
4.5
3.8
Work-Life Balance
5.0
4.2
Culture & Values
4.5
3.8
Comp & Benefits
5.0
4.0
Senior Mgmt
4.7
3.5
Career Opps
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Sam Stephenson)
👍 82% Recommend
👤 88% CEO Approval (Erik Bernhardsson)
Culture Values
Granola only
💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Modal only
🎧 Deep Work / Low Meetings🔓 Open Source
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🎯 Direct Product Impact🧩 Wears Many Hats
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
Modal
- World-class engineering team — includes creators of Luigi, Seaborn, and olympiad medalists
- High-impact product with 50x revenue growth — developers widely praise the platform
- Early-stage startup dynamics — roles shift quickly, requires high self-direction
- Limited HR infrastructure — benefits and career ladders still being developed
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.
Modal
Choose Modal if you want world-class engineering peers and 50x revenue growth — but expect early-stage startup dynamics.
Open Roles
Granola — 16 jobs
💼 Sales / GTM
6
💻 Engineering
4
📣 Marketing
2
🎨 Design
1
👤 HR / People
1
⚖️ Legal
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Modal — 28 jobs
💻 Engineering
14
📣 Marketing
3
💼 Sales / GTM
3
🧠 ML / AI
2
⚙️ Operations
2
💰 Finance
1
Summary
Granola scores 4.8/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 4.5 work-life balance rating. Modal scores 4.0/5.0 overall with a 3.8 WLB. That’s a 0.8-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Ship Fast & Iterate, Direct Product Impact, Wears Many Hats. Granola also emphasizes Strong Comp & Equity. Modal also emphasizes Deep Work / Low Meetings, Open Source.
On the hiring front, Granola has 16 open roles and Modal has 28 open roles.