Mercor
Small (~200)
Vast AI
Small (~30)
Best For
Mercor
Best for: Engineers who want to build AI hiring infrastructure at a $10B rocketship with extreme ownership and MIT-founder energy
Vast AI
Best for: Scrappy generalists who want a front-row seat to the AI compute revolution
Ratings
MercorVast AI
3.9
5.0
Overall
3.9
3.8
Work-Life Balance
3.6
5.0
Culture & Values
4.0
5.0
Comp & Benefits
3.5
5.0
Senior Mgmt
3.7
5.0
Career Opps
👍 74% Recommend
👤 82% CEO Approval (Brendan Foody)
👍 100% Recommend
👤 100% CEO Approval (Jake Cannell)
Culture Values
Mercor only
No unique values
Vast AI only
🧩 Wears Many Hats
Shared
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate⚙️ Engineering-Driven🤝 Flat Hierarchy💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Pros & Cons
Mercor
- Massive impact at an AI company growing at breakneck speed
- Top-tier compensation with strong equity at $10B valuation
- Intense 9/9/6 work schedule — long hours are the norm
- Work-life balance is a real sacrifice at this stage
Vast AI
- Front-row seat to the AI compute revolution — demand for GPU cloud is surging
- Strong compensation and generous equity stakes for a bootstrapped startup
- Processes are still being defined — expect ad hoc workflows
- Intense workload — the team explicitly values high output
Bottom Line
Mercor
Choose Mercor if you want outsized impact on AI-era hiring at a tiny, fast-moving team — but the 9/9/6 schedule is real, and work-life balance is genuinely sacrificed for speed.
Vast AI
Choose Vast AI if you want perfect Glassdoor scores and generous equity at a tiny GPU marketplace — but expect startup chaos.
Open Roles
Mercor — 49 jobs
💻 Engineering
20
🧠 ML / AI
6
💼 Sales / GTM
5
👤 HR / People
3
📊 Data
2
📣 Marketing
2
📋 Product
2
🎨 Design
1
⚙️ Operations
1
Vast AI — 9 jobs
💻 Engineering
6
🧠 ML / AI
2
Summary
Mercor scores 3.9/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.9 work-life balance rating. Vast AI scores 5.0/5.0 overall with a 3.8 WLB. That’s a 1.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Ship Fast & Iterate, Engineering-Driven, Flat Hierarchy, Strong Comp & Equity. Vast AI also emphasizes Wears Many Hats.
On the hiring front, Mercor has 49 open roles and Vast AI has 9 open roles.