Mercury
Large (~1,300)
Tailscale
Small (~290)
Best For
Mercury
Best for: Engineers who want product ownership and fast growth building startup banking infrastructure
Tailscale
Best for: Systems engineers who value location-equal pay, generous parental leave, and working on deeply technical networking problems
Ratings
MercuryTailscale
4.3
4.4
Overall
3.8
4.5
Work-Life Balance
3.9
4.5
Culture & Values
4.0
4.4
Comp & Benefits
3.8
4.2
Senior Mgmt
3.9
4.2
Career Opps
👍 79% Recommend
👤 85% CEO Approval (Immad Akhund)
👍 88% Recommend
👤 92% CEO Approval (Avery Pennarun)
Culture Values
Mercury only
🎯 Direct Product Impact🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate🌱 Learning & Growth🧩 Wears Many Hats
Tailscale only
🌐 Remote-Friendly⚖️ Work-Life Balance🌈 Diverse & Inclusive🪟 Transparent
Shared
⚙️ Engineering-Driven💎 Strong Comp & Equity
Pros & Cons
Mercury
- Strong talent density with smart, motivated teammates and genuine autonomy and ownership
- Great Place to Work certified — product-first mindset with meaningful scope for every engineer
- Still figuring out how to scale processes — expect some ambiguity and shifting priorities
- Work-life balance rated 3.8/5 — periods of higher intensity during rapid growth phases
Tailscale
- Same pay worldwide with 26 weeks parental leave and genuine work-life balance
- Brilliant, nerdy CEO who deeply understands the tech — culture is intellectual and respectful
- Career progression limited — only 3.0/5 on career opportunities
- Middle management still developing — some growing pains as the org scales
Bottom Line
Mercury
Choose Mercury if you want product ownership, fast growth, and to build banking infrastructure for startups — but expect growing pains and occasionally intense workloads.
Tailscale
Intellectual, engineer-led culture with same pay worldwide and 26 weeks parental leave — but career progression is limited and middle management is still maturing.
Open Roles
Mercury — 70 jobs
💻 Engineering
15
💼 Sales / GTM
13
👤 HR / People
4
📋 Product
4
🎨 Design
3
⚖️ Legal
3
⚙️ Operations
3
📊 Data
2
💰 Finance
2
📣 Marketing
2
🧠 ML / AI
1
🎧 Support
1
Tailscale — 52 jobs
💻 Engineering
25
💼 Sales / GTM
11
⚙️ Operations
4
📋 Product
4
📊 Data
2
🎨 Design
2
📣 Marketing
2
Summary
Mercury scores 4.3/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.8 work-life balance rating. Tailscale scores 4.4/5.0 overall with a 4.5 WLB. That’s a 0.1-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Engineering-Driven, Strong Comp & Equity. Mercury also emphasizes Direct Product Impact, Ship Fast & Iterate, Learning & Growth, Wears Many Hats. Tailscale also emphasizes Remote-Friendly, Work-Life Balance, Diverse & Inclusive, Transparent.
On the hiring front, Mercury has 70 open roles and Tailscale has 52 open roles.