Mistral AI
Small (~100)
Perplexity AI
Mid (~500)
Best For
Mistral AI
Best for: Researchers who want to build open-weight models at a fast-moving European AI lab
Perplexity AI
Best for: Builders who thrive on speed and want massive user-facing impact at a rocketship
Ratings
Mistral AIPerplexity AI
4.0
4.7
Overall
3.6
3.3
Work-Life Balance
4.2
4.8
Culture & Values
4.0
4.5
Comp & Benefits
3.8
4.5
Senior Mgmt
3.5
4.2
Career Opps
👍 80% Recommend
👤 85% CEO Approval (Arthur Mensch)
👍 92% Recommend
👤 95% CEO Approval (Aravind Srinivas)
Culture Values
Mistral AI only
🤝 Flat Hierarchy🧩 Wears Many Hats🔓 Open Source
Perplexity AI only
🎯 Direct Product Impact💎 Strong Comp & Equity🌱 Learning & Growth
Shared
🚀 Ship Fast & Iterate⚙️ Engineering-Driven
Pros & Cons
Mistral AI
- Small team punching way above weight — Mixtral, Mistral Large
- European AI champion with strong research DNA
- Very early-stage — processes are minimal
- Paris-centric with limited remote options
Perplexity AI
- Fastest-growing AI product — real users, real revenue, genuine product-market fit
- Small team, massive impact per engineer — your work ships to millions quickly
- Startup intensity — expect long hours and high expectations
- Growing pains as the team scales — roles and responsibilities shift frequently
Bottom Line
Mistral AI
Choose Mistral if you want small-team impact at Europe's top AI lab — but expect minimal process and Paris-first culture.
Perplexity AI
Choose Perplexity if you want the fastest-growing AI product and huge per-engineer impact — but expect startup intensity.
Open Roles
Mistral AI — 150 jobs
💻 Engineering
51
💼 Sales / GTM
14
🧠 ML / AI
13
⚖️ Legal
11
📋 Product
8
👤 HR / People
7
📣 Marketing
6
⚙️ Operations
4
💰 Finance
3
📊 Data
2
🎨 Design
2
Perplexity AI — 74 jobs
💻 Engineering
37
🧠 ML / AI
8
📊 Data
5
⚖️ Legal
4
📣 Marketing
3
⚙️ Operations
3
💼 Sales / GTM
2
🎧 Support
2
👤 HR / People
1
📋 Product
1
Summary
Mistral AI scores 4.0/5.0 on Glassdoor with a 3.6 work-life balance rating. Perplexity AI scores 4.7/5.0 overall with a 3.3 WLB. That’s a 0.7-point gap on overall satisfaction.
Both companies share these culture values: Ship Fast & Iterate, Engineering-Driven. Mistral AI also emphasizes Flat Hierarchy, Wears Many Hats, Open Source. Perplexity AI also emphasizes Direct Product Impact, Strong Comp & Equity, Learning & Growth.
On the hiring front, Mistral AI has 150 open roles and Perplexity AI has 74 open roles.