Good benefits terrible tech - Senior Software Engineer Airbnb Employee Review

3.0
Apr 2, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

As a company, Airbnb is an awesome place to work. Bunch of benefits, good salaries, stock options...

Cons

The company hired too many fresh grads which end up becoming managers and have no other experience other than Airbnb. That led to an immature technical background to the solutions of the company (still running mainly on rails after 10 years). Also, add a lot of corporate management (coming from Google/IBM/Microsoft...) and you get the re-write of the whole thing into... java? pretty weird.

Explore other reviews about Airbnb

5.0
Jun 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Airbnb's mission of creating a world where anyone can belong anywhere strongly resonates with me. I'm excited by the opportunity to build products that operate at global scale and directly impact millions of users. My background in full-stack engineering, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and AI-powered applications aligns well with Airbnb's focus on innovation, reliability, and exceptional user experiences. I am particularly attracted to Airbnb's engineering culture, emphasis on ownership, and commitment to solving complex technical challenges while delivering meaningful value to hosts, guests, and communities worldwide.

Cons

One challenge of working at Airbnb is the complexity that comes with operating a global platform at scale. Engineering teams must balance reliability, performance, compliance, and user experience across many markets and stakeholders. While this can make development and decision-making more complex, it is also one of the aspects that makes the work technically interesting and professionally rewarding.

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